FEBRUARY 24, 2026 CURRENT EVENTS

 

FEBRUARY 24, 2026

CURRENT EVENTS

After two weeks of no sailing, it was a blessing to see sunshine rather than rain even though predictions were for a light breeze.  As we left the harbor around 2pm there was a building breeze of about 7 knots.  Just enough to have a race.  We set a temporary mark about 1/3 mile directly into the wind which was coming from 235 degrees.  We were considering an ambitious course:  S/F>temp west>Mile>S/F.  As the clock ticked down closer to our start time, the wind was getting light.  We decided to shorten the course to: S/F>temp west>S/F. We entered the new course into RH and announced it over the radio.  For the start, it was very interesting with just enough wind to move boats very slowly.  As boats made their way toward the temp-west mark the wind died even more and we shortened course to finish at temp-west.  Though there were some boats that were slowly moving toward the mark, other boats drifted aimlessly.  Aboriginal was the first boat to round the mark to finish.

At the club I chided Bret (Aboriginal) about having an electric motor installed because his boat was moving so well.  He said “we were not sailing, we found a 2 knot current that was flowing directly to the mark.”  Lesson learned: Pay attention to current events!

 

                                              Jennifer Kinsman photo GLASSY CONDITIONS

                                                   

 To review the track for this evenings:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=24.2.2026%2015:00:00&language=en&defaultspeed=5&loop=no

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS: RACE LENGTH 0.318NM

PLACE     BOAT                                            PHRF                  ET          CORRECTED TIME

1            ABORIGINAL                                33                         25:03                  24:52

2            FLEXI FLYER                                96                         31:21                  30:51

3            ROSIE                                             162                       52:00                  51:08

4            BIG MAC                                         222                      53:10                  51:58

After the race, we had an awesome BBQ at the club celebrating the last Tuesday of the month. With Mike Gross’s mastery overseeing the grill, we had multiple dishes that were excellent. Maggie’s pork loin was scrumptious along with soup from Christina Shaw.  It was amazing the turnout we had at the BBQ with only 7 boats out for the drift-fest.

NEW SEASON:

After the time change on March 8, we will be starting a new  season.  This requires each boat to sign up and pay for a new season of Tuesday Night Sailing.  To register your boat and crew, go to this site:     https://scyc.org/regatta/Lfy9pa0mIX/#entry-list

 You need to register to get a new course card, which is crucial with many changes this year.  I am looking forward to another season of sailing on Tuesday Nights.

ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA



ON & OFF (AGAIN)

Last week’s discussion of the term “on the wind” omitted an important point.  If you aren’t “on the wind” what are you? Remember, it’s a switch — a toggle switch.  If you’re “off” the wind, you’re “on” the compass. This might be just a visual sighting to the next mark but, nevertheless, it’s a bearing. Think about a typical race.  Up until the weather mark, every ounce of energy aboard is focused on getting to weather as fast as possible — the wind and jib telltales dictate the course — woe unto the helm who misses a shift! But once around, the question that immediately arrises (at least in the skipper’s mind) is, “Where In hell’s the next mark?  Or, “What course?”  On the wind = off the compass; off the wind = on the compass. 

 

 

BOWS & BREASTS 

How now brown scow? The word bow (as in scow) is commonly used to describe the forward portion of a vessel; it’s derived from  the Norse word boeg or bog, for shoulder.  In English, vessels are often described as “shouldering through heavy seas”. The word bowline (rhymes with oh) refers to the knot used to secure the bowlines to the luff of a square sail, flattening its entry and enabling the vessel to point higher. To sail “on-a-bowline” is to sail close-hauled.  Note the term is bowline, not bow line.

 

So, why are the lines that hold the bow (as in scow) in position when a vessel is secured to a dock called breast lines and not bow lines? Aside from the fact that there are already bowlines, it sort of makes sense, anatomically.  First came the head, (As in the beak-head or figurehead, which projected forward of the stem beneath the bowsprit.) then the shoulders, and then the breasts. The buttocks, way aft, address the shape of the stern. The shoulders were too far forward for securing mooring lines; too much other gear in the way, (catheads, anchors, bowsprit shrouds, etc.). Even today, the mooring cleats on most boats are set back from the stem head to relieve congestion.  Speaking of breasts, by modern standards, old sailing ships had lines that were, shall we say, “full-figured”.  This provided the buoyancy needed to support the weight of guns, ground tackle, and head rigging.  When encountering a head-sea (not a clogged w.c. reference) a vessel was said to first shoulder it aside, then breast it as she pushed through the crest.

 

Today, the term bow line is used more commonly than breast line, especially if there’s just a single line (maybe it takes a pair?). But there’s a lower limit — dinghies don't use either — they use painters — from the French pentour “to hang” as in a painting or pendant. 

  

Thanks Paul.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

February 19, 2026 ANOTHER YEAR

 

FEBRUARY 17, 2026

ANOTHER YEAR

We are quickly approaching the time change and the beginning of a new season of Tuesday Night Sailing.  Every year, at this time, we analyze our event to see how we can improve and continue to grow.   Ideas for improvement often arise when one of our many participants approaches me with a suggestion for improvement.  We may not have the ability to solve problems beyond our control, like another windless evening, but we can attempt to accommodate problems that may arise. So what changes are in store for this year?

Spinnakers:  People have always asked for a spinnaker division for Tuesdays.  There has been interest, but some people say that Spinnakers on Tuesday would be competing with Wednesday nights.  The last thing I want to do is compete or detract from the Wednesday Beer can races, but it is time to accommodate those that want to compete flying spinnakers on Tuesday Night Sailing.  We will have three fleets this year. Spin fleet starts first with a 17:50 start.

The starting sequence.  This year, the signal horn will be blown at 17:45.  This horn is a 5 minute signal for Spin fleet (starting at 17:50).  It is a 10 minute signal for Fleet A (starting at 17:55) and a 15 minute horn for Fleet B (starting at 18:00).

Regatta Hero: This app is very accommodating and working well for us.  All courses on the course card are entered into the app, making it easy to implement courses. Regatta Hero also backs up our starting sequence announcing count-downs for each fleets start. It is important to run this app when competing on Tuesday Nights.

Shortening courses: One suggestion for improvement was to have longer races.  This is a challenging proposition.  I have always called for courses that allow every serious racer to finish.  This strategy has failed resulting in some 20 minute races.  As our conditions (and wind) get more variable, it is impossible to predict what is going to happen. We can start in great wind which can dissipate to no wind.  Then there is the very light wind which increases through the evening.  Both situations are challenging, but Regatta Hero may be our savior since we can easily shorten course.  We can call for a longer course and if conditions do not allow it, we can shorten course to allow boats to finish.

TIPS: To this point we have had sailing instructions on the back of the course card.  As the SI’s have grown, we now have “TIPS” on the back of the course card.  The SI’s for the season can be found online in clubspot under regattas. TIPS expresses pertinent information to assist sailors around the course. VHF radio channel to monitor, timing of announcements, how to finish and even tips on using Regatta Hero.

Tuesday Night Sailing is often referred to as “Barry’s Tuesday Night” event.  I wish I could claim full credit but I cannot. Around this time of year I have what I call my “Brain Trust”. A group of very respected sailors to meet and discuss problems and resolutions.  This year Fred Molnar, Chris Hofmann, Paul Tara, Doug Mahone, Mark McCord and Hilarie DeGroot gave invaluable assistance in our deliberations.

I encourage you to check out the new 2026 NOR, SI’s and TIPS in Clubspot.  Go to  https://scyc.org/regatta/Lfy9pa0mIX to view these documents.  While on the site,  go ahead and register for the new season.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

FEBRUARY 3, 2026 WHAT A DAY FOR A SAIL!

 

FEBRUARY 3, 2026

WHAT A DAY FOR A SAIL!

I arrived at the harbor at around noon and saw limp flags once again.  Oh well, just deal with what you get!  When we left the harbor at about 2pm there was a nice, 8 knot breeze filling the bay from 230 degrees with sunny, warm conditions.   We set a start line square to the wind and set an offset mark about a quarter of a mile directly into the wind for the windward mark. We called for a course: Start>offset mark> Mile finish at S/F.  All boats got off to a clean start.   With our 3pm start, the wind lasted just long enough for all boats to finish. Conditions were so awesome, many boats stayed out to sail for awhile after the race.  What a day for a sail!

To view the replay go to:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=3.2.2026%2015:00:00&language=en

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS: COURSE LW2  DISTANCE 2.089NM

PLACE                BOAT                  PHRF                  ET                         CORRECTED

1            ABORIGINAL                  33                         21:53                  20:44

2            SAGITTARIUS                120                      25:00                  20:49

3            ZOOP                                144                      25:56                  20:55

4            AVATAR                            132                      25:44                  21:08

5            MAIN SQUEEZE             72                         23:53                  21:22

6            FLEXI FLYER                  96                         24:59                  21:38

7            SAILING PAIR A DICE  180                     28:37                  22:20

8            ROSIE                              162                      28:52                  23:13

9            PACIFIC SPIRIT             165                      29:28                  23:43

10          PERFECT 36                   144                      29:13                  24:12

11          BIG MAC                         213                      32:05                  24:21

12          AQUAVIT                        72                         27:05                  24:34

13          NIDAROS                       108                      28:27                  24:41

14          WIND II                          213                      32:15                  24:49

15          WIND LUST                    66                       32:43                  30:25

 

RACE START TIME:

Several people have asked for a 4pm start time.  I empathize with these participants and I understand the conundrum of people working and starting at 3pm.  I also sincerely appreciate all the support for our Tuesday sailing.  With the fickle winds  we have experienced and trying to maintain consistency, we will maintain the 3pm start time until time changes in a few weeks.

_)                                              _)                                                               (_                                   (_

Paul Tara’s

ZOOP SCOOP

TUESDAY’S RACE - UPWIND SLALOM 

“That can’t be it!” or “Never trust the Race Committee.”

 

ON OR OFF

My father, who learned to sail on Navy whaleboats, while anchored in Pacific lagoons during WW II, only ever gave me one sailing lesson. “Upwind, pull it in tight; downwind, let it out.”  There’s a plethora of terms that describe sailing upwind — beating, braced sharp up, close-hauled, full-and-bye, hard-on-the-wind, on-a-bowline, on-the-wind, sheeted-in, tacking, up-the breeze— all essentially refer to the same thing.  Underlying them all is the fundamental concept that, to a sailing vessel, the wind is a hill. It’s a hill to all vessels, (a fact that many powerboat operators fail to appreciate, until it’s too late) but only sailing vessels beat up it, reach across it, or run down it.  (Nobody in my age group runs uphill.) One of the reasons that racing sailboats is so interesting is that the uphill gradient is never constant. Some days it’s steeper on the left, others on the right. And it can change in an instant.  Imagine playing pickleball while the court boundaries and net height are constantly changing.

 

Anyway, back to terms. “Hard-on-the-wind” is not a sexual reference. In the days before modern winches it took a lot more effort to actually trim sails in to “close-hauled”.  Note that term is not “close-winched” — everything was tackle and muscle — there were no ball-bearings.  “On-a-bowline” is a square-rigger term. It does not refer to docking.  A bowline is not only a knot. It’s a line, or series of lines (a bowline bridle) leading forward from the luff (windward edge) of the lower square sails (courses) on a square-rigged ship. These were hauled taught, in concert with the “tack line,” so as to tension the luff and produce a cleaner leading edge. To sail “on-a-bowline” was therefore to sail close-hauled.  And, clearly, the “tack line” wasn’t invented with the asymmetrical spinnaker.  Why not just have another yard across the foot of the sail, like the “Maltese Falcon”?  Simple —no carbon fiber for free-standing masts — those pesky shrouds were in the way.  

 

Two terms I find most interesting are on and off the wind.  Some modern autopilots are capable of steering a close hauled course more accurately than a human.  If you dial in a close-hauled course, the key input is apparent wind, which the auto-pilot will follow faithfully, subject to the boat’s polars, even if it shifts.  It is constrained to sailing “on-the-wind”.  Same is true for humans, if the skipper gives the command to  steer “close-hauled,” “on-the-wind,” or “mind-your-luff”. “Full-and-bye” is similar in concept.  Sail bye the wind, but don’t pinch. The course that can be steered is constrained to that dictated by the wind.  Sail as high as you can (as far up the wind hill), but stay out of the no-go zone.  In contrast, when sailing in a direction not dictated by the wind, that constraint is turned off, and a vessel is said to be “off-the-wind”.   She can then sail any compass course she wishes independent of wind direction; all of which are reaching or running. It’s like a toggle switch — on or off.     

 

A bowline is not a forward dock line.  That’s a breast line.   Another topic.     

Thank you Paul!

I hope to see you next Tuesday for a 3pm start.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice