TUESDAY APRIL 25: A GUSTY NORTH

TUESDAY APRIL 25

 A GUSTY NORTH!

I don’t know about everyone else, but on Tuesdays I am always watching the trees all day in anticipation of what wind we will get on the water.  On this Tuesday the trees were whipping around all day and when I got to the harbor I knew we would not be disappointed.  The wind was blowing steadily from the North.  Being a Barbecue night, I was thinking it would be a good time to conduct a starting clinic.  We got other marks all set to go so we could have a proper start line and planned on setting a rounding mark a couple hundred yards to windward.

When the starting clinic was proposed to the other boats, it was flatly refused.  Why futz around with a starting clinic when we could actually be sailing!  I could not agree more.  We settled on course G2: start, Gov, Blacks finish.  On Pair A Dice, I got us too far from the start line.  Actually our timing would have been perfect if we could have sailed directly toward the start pin, but my boat does not sail directly into the wind too well.  A total mis-judgement on wind angle on my part.  I learned a long time ago to not get too far from the start line, but this vital lesson somehow slipped my mind this night!  Oh well, last one off the line once again.

We had quite a few boats out and the wind was steadily from the north with plenty of gusts you could see on the water. All of the boats had to tack over to take Gov to port and Homer (Equanimity) was the first around the mark with Pacific Spirit close behind. Though we were able to close the gap between us and some of the boats, we did not seem to pass many of them. 

At the finish it was Equinimity, Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Makani, Kicks, Pair A Dice, Odonata, Tara, Aeolian and Toad.  We all had a great time at the barbecue afterwards.

Tactics and boat handling:

Rather than giving tips, I should be taking lessons at this point.  As noted, even in great wind always stay close to the start line keeping in mind the rules of the road to avoid fouling other boats.

 

In the gusty conditions we had this night,  my main-sheet trimmer was hard at work.  One of the things most important in racing is keeping the boat sailing at the same angle of heel.  In gusty conditions, this is accomplished by the main-sheet trimmer releasing the traveler to ease the load on the boat with each gust.  How does this work to make the boat go fast?.  Originally, it made sense to me that letting the boats angle of heel change would take incredible amounts of energy which should be used to propel the boat.  This is true but also consider what happens under the boat with the keel and rudder.  You will get much better speed if the foils under the boat work as well as the foils above the boat.  It really helps to try to maintain the same angle of heel!

Other Regattas:

This Saturday, April 29 will be the commodore’s cup.  This is a reverse PHRF start and should be a lot of fun. The weather should be great. You can register for this race on the SCYC web site. Click on Regatta and follow the lead to register for this regatta.

Pair A Dice was out for the first of the SCORE races.  These are races put on by SCYC and are really a lot of fun.  I know many people did not know about this race and we were the only ones in the Jib and Main fleet.  We ran the course but did not cross the finish line (DNF) for both races so other boats can come out for the next race days and we are all starting from scratch.  Register and come out for the fun!

See you next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

VACATION RECAP FOR APRIL 4 RACE

VACATION RECAP

I am finally back from our extended vacation.  While I was gone, Mike Gross was kind enough to write me a recap of the events for the April 4 sail.  From the sounds of it, the night must have been excruciating with such light wind.   At least they were lucky to have two buoys to limit the line.

I was not there, so will not judge but we are doing everything we can do to maintain the integrity of the start line.  As I have written before, not being OCS is as simple as siting the line to set up a range.  Once this range is established, you can easily determine if you are over early.  We will start sighting the line for OCS boats on occasion and announce the OCS boats.  If announced as OCS, you must go back and restart in order to be considered for that night.

Another issue we need to work on is VHF radio protochol.  I know everyone likes to comment on the selected course, as well they should!  This is not a dictatorship and we are open to suggestions.  A problem occurs when this dialog continues right up to the start time.  We should attempt to be finished with all discussions about the course by 5:50 so we can get set up with our minimal 5 minute horn.   Maybe we can give a five minute warning on stopping all radio transmissions until the start.  Obviously this is a work in progress.

It sounds like it was an interesting race with many tactical and strategic decisions.  Though Mike gave a thorough recap (thanks Mike) I cannot comment since I was not there.  At the finish Equinimity was first with Pair A Dice close on her heels.  The next three boats were Makani, Pacific Spirit and Perfect 36 all overlapped with each other.   Next were Kicks and Aeolian followed by Sea Quake and Odonata.

Sailing in light wind is certainly Challenging!

OTHER REGATTAS:          

It is time for everyone to show our prowess on a proper course.  Santa Cruz Yacht Club has an active race schedule.  When you excel in these regattas, you actually get to take home some hardware (trophies).  I know this is short notice, but the next regatta series is quickly approaching on Sunday April 23.  This is the first day of the spring SCORE series.  These are always fun races.  Make sure to sign up so we can have a good representation of the “Jammers”.   It is important to race in all of the race days of the series.  Missing one day of racing can dramatically affect your standings overall, so sign up and we will see you Sunday!

Another regatta that is quickly is our Commodore’s cup on April 29.  Some of you know that I am the current SCYC Commodore so this is “my race” with all of the fixings of an actual regatta complete with committee boats and all.  Please sign up and race in this regatta!

Thanks to all of your for being part of the Catalina group!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair a Dice

THIS COMING TUESDAY NIGHT (APRIL 25) IS A BARBECUE NIGHT. PLEASE PLAN ON ATTENDING AND BRINGING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING ITEM.

March 27, 2017: A STERN RE-VIEW

A STERN RE-VIEW

With my wife’s grandiose plans for a long vacation, tonight’s sail was going to be my last for a while.  The forecast for wind looked good with people commenting all day long about how blustery it was outside.  Would the 155 jib be too much?  It seemed that I was getting multiple text messages and phone calls with one question: “Do you have room for one more on your boat?”  I never discourage people from coming out on Tuesday nights, but when I showed up and we had about a dozen people looking for rides, I was feeling the pinch.  Thankfully one more boat was going out which lightened the load for everyone.  Barbecue night and finally a night with wind was stoking the crowd.  The wind was flowing in puffs basically from the North.

I have worked hard my whole life and have followed all the rules so I am not accustomed to getting stern reviews.  Little did I know what a stern re-view I was in for on this night! 

As I fumbled through the courses, it is amazing anyone understood my gibberish, but the communication was finally made: Start, Gov, Finish.   My mind had slipped off on vacation early I guess. Thanks to Kathy for calling to clarify that the final mark was to be taken to port, the way we normally finish on the run from gov to the start mark finish. Chris Hoffman was kind enough to set a start mark for us which was basically square to Black point.  I did not count the boats but it seemed like about a dozen.

Everyone was milling around for the start.  On our first run toward the start we felt we were too early so we tacked back for a second run.  At the start many boats seemed to be late to the line with Pair A Dice being the latest of all.  Variable, puffy, unpredictable winds and being last in line was not working.  We thought we saw more wind toward shore and tacked over to get inside and to get clean air and got headed so badly that we were actually sailing away from Gov.  I am sorry, but we were so far back and so intent on sailing our boat, I did not see who rounded Gov first.  Talk about a stern view!  We were last to round Gov and then we were getting our stern Re-view as all boats were ahead of us. 

Most of the boats sailed inside and about three of us decided to gamble on running outside. On a night as unpredictable as this, anything was worth a try.  All of the boats that went inside had to buck the waves to get back to the mark.  Many people were claiming victory and I am sorry I missed the barbecue because I am sure there were some interesting discussions.  The guys on my boat said they were going to tell everyone that I was so humiliated I was selling my boat and moving to Kansas!  It was bad, but not THAT bad!  

Aside from being such a stern re-view, losing on a Tuesday night can be a beneficial experience if you analyze and learn from your experience.  So this is my post- race analysis of my errors.

1)          Know your start line!  I did not analyze this element at all before the race.  I should have done a line sight to set up a range to tell when we were on the line.  This is the only way to properly estimate such a long line and one that is new to our group.  Another way to do this would be to have someone with a puck compass knowing the bearing to Black point to give an estimate to how close you are to the line.

2)      When wind is coming in puffs, they will invariably hit you at the wrong time like when you are trying to start!  I should have dumped sails to slow down rather than tack back as I did.

3)      Focus on the race.  My mind was obviously not on the race, and my poor steering showed it.  Anyone trying to follow the course instructions I gave on the radio could tell I was already on vacation.

4)      I believe I was correct in tacking over for the “more wind” further toward shore.  When in last place you are forced to gamble and go for fliers and this one did not work to our advantage.   In short this was an unpredictable night for all of us and I just made bad predictions. 

I will be gone for a few weeks on a different kind of cruise.  My boat will be going out and hopefully she can do better in my absence.

Have fun sailing on Catalina Tuesdays.

Barry Keeler

MARCH 21: THE FIRST SAIL OF THE SEASON AND COURSE CHARTS

FIRST SAIL OF THE SEASON

Last Tuesday, we tried but failed miserably.  There is something about pea soup fog allowing only 50 yards of visibility combined with no wind that dampens the sailing spirit.  Still, Pair A Dice and Kicks motored out to the start area just to be sure.

The predictions for tonight were 12 to 15 knots of breeze and the predictions were spot on!  We motored out of the harbor with 5 or 6 boats out.  There was no start buoy so we dropped one attempting to be square with the wind and the lighthouse jetty.  The course was called: Start mark to Mile, Gov then finish at the start mark.  A five minute horn was given and everyone set up for their start.

Pair A Dice came off the line further down from Equanimity and Odonata and just leeward and behind Kicks.  We quickly realized it was going to be a long slog with Kicks giving us bad air so we tacked over just as we crossed the line.   Everyone else sailed out for a bit before tacking over.  As we sailed out, we found we were nearly going to make mile on port tack.  We ultimately tacked over for mile and actually cleared the whole fleet.  Kicks had retired due to mechanical issues.  Pair a dice was first around Mile followed by Homer on Equanimity.  We continued our slog toward Gov and Homer did a stint wing on wing DDW.  Homer passed us and rounded Gov ahead of us and was off to the start mark.

At the finish, it was Homer followed by Pair A Dice, Odonata and Aeolian.  We had a great time at the Crows nest after the sail.

Tactics:

I have found when Homer does something unusual in sailing, it is best to pay attention.  Rounding mile right behind us, the natural inclination is for most sailors to try to steal the wind from the boat in front.  We see it all the time, two boats tangling with each other going down wind and with all of the maneuvering both boats get slowed down.  Homer did the smart thing: sailed his boat away to separate from the competitor in front and it paid off for him. I’m going to remember this for future use.

Other Regattas:

We are all bringing our game up.  Sailing better, using tactics and generally racing better!  The SCYC will be having their Commodores regatta this year on April 29.   This is just like the Big Brothers Big Sisters regatta being a reverse PHRF start.  I love these “pursuit races” where slower boats get a head start and the faster boats do what they can to pass the slower boats.  It would be awesome to see a large representation of the Catalina fleet in this race.  You can register for this regatta on the club website at SCYC.org.

NEXT WEEK IS THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH: CATALINA BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE CLUB.  BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD.  BAR WILL BE OPEN.

For those that did not get a course card, the information is copied below.

2017 Catalina Tuesday Courses                                         e=mc²

Whiskey, NW wind, 1st mark Wharf (start line SM & S 330M)	Miles
W 1       Start, Wharf, Mile, Blacks, Finish(stb)	4.04
W 2       Start, Wharf, Mile, Gov(stb), Finish	3.93
W 3       Start, Wharf, Blacks, Finish(stb)	3.23
W 4       Start, Wharf(stb), Gov(stb), Finish	3.07
W 5       Start, Wharf, Finish	2.68
W 6        Start, Finish at Gov (stb) (line from Gov to SC Wharf)	1.31

Mike, S wind, 1st mark Mile  (Start line SM & JLH 310M)

M 1       Start, Mile(stb), Gov(stb) (finish line is end of SC Wharf to Gov)		2.24
M 2       Start, Mile, Finish		2.17
M 3        Start, Finish at Mile (Line from Mile to Wharf)                Bravo, E wind, 1st mark Blacks (Start line SM & BP 352M)		1.06
B 1         Start(stb), Blacks(stb), Mile(stb), Gov(stb), Finish		4.03
B 2        Start(stb), SC3,Blacks, Finish(stb)		3.04
B 3         Start(stb), Blacks(stb), Mile(stb), Finish		2.72
B 4         Start(stb), Blacks, Gov, Finish		2.43
B 5         Start(stb), Blacks, Start, Blacks, Finish(stb)		1.12
B 6         Start(stb), Blacks, Finish(stb)		0.55
Golf, N wind, 1st mark Government             G 1        Start, Gov, Mile, Blacks, Finish	(start line SM & BP 352M) (stb)                                            4.03
G 2        Start, Gov, Blacks, Finish(stb)			2.45
G 3        Start, Gov, Finish			1.98
G 4            Start, Finish at Gov (Line from Gov and Wharf)                      1.31 Oscar, Other F 1         Start at Mile(stb) (start line contains Mile and JLH),  Wharf (stb)     1.48				0.96
Gov(stb) (finish line is end of SC Wharf to Gov)
F 2          Start at Mile (start line mile and sc wharf),			1.50
Wharf,  Mile (finish line mile and sc wharf)

                        2017 Catalina Tuesday Courses p2                             f=ma

1.  All marks are left to Port unless designated (stb) which shall be rounded to Starboard.

2.  Both the start and finish line shall be a line containing Start mark and designated landmark. There may be a temporary mark placed to designate the other of the line (will be announced)

3.  When starting, the start mark shall be passed within 10 boat lengths per the course description.

4.  When finishing, the finish mark shall be passed within 5 boat lengths per the course description.

Any foul shall be exonerated by one tack and one jibe in the same direction, executed as soon as clear from other boats.   (a 270° turn)

Monitor VHF channel 69 at start time. There may be a boat sighting the line to call “over early” boats.  If called over early and do not restart properly, you will not be given a finish.

                                   MARK DESCRIPTIONS AND LANDMARKS

Wharf= Wharf Mark       SC Wharf= End of Pier         BP=Blacks point

S= White House at Schwan Lagoon   JLH=Jetty light House    SM=Start Mark

Blacks	Yellow Ball	36º 57.22' N   121º 59.29' W
Gov	White Ball	36º 57.47' N   122º 00.72' W
Mile	Whistling Buoy	36º 56.35' N   122º 00.56' W
SC3	Yellow Can	36º 56.49' N   121º 58.00' W
Start/Finish	Yellow Ball	36º 57.09' N   121º 59.62' W

s

For Basic  Racing Rules see:   https://www.latitude38.com/YRASchedule/rules.html

OCTOBER 25, 2016: SO-SO SAIL, GREAT BARBECUE

OCTOBER 25, 2016

SO-SO SAIL, GREAT BARBECUE

As we left the harbor, I knew we were in trouble.  Big waves from the south were nearly breaking across the harbor entrance and the wind was barely existent.  It is a bad combination, very little light, big waves creating choppy conditions and no wind.  It was amazing that there were nearly 15 boats out for this mayhem.  What a group of fantastic people we have on Catalina Tuesday, ready to give it a go in such lousy conditions!  I was really stymied on what course to call as the wind switched from northwest to north, realizing that any course into the waves would be dead with such light wind.  The crowd insisted on a race, so “race” we did.  We gave a 5 minute horn to race to Gov, then to the barbecue.

About 45 minutes into it, I realized we would not finish the race AND have a barbecue so decided that at least Pair A Dice would abandon the race.  For the last barbecue of the season, I really wanted to have a big discussion like we have had for every “last barbecue” for the last several years. I was not disappointed!  The crowd was large and volunteered many comments for a lively discussion.

The consensus is that most boats do not want to take part in the running of the race.  We will once again this year come up with new course cards for next year.  This is your opportunity to convey any courses you would like to see on next year’s course card.   I do not want to call courses like a dictator.  What right do I have to do that?  There are many course options, lets get them on the course cards for next year.  I will make even more course cards next year so everyone should have one.  We will call out a course number and people should have the course.

With my many discussions around the room, one thing that has been missing is a start   line that is close to square to the wind.  One option is to drop a mark for the other end of the line which would be close to square to the wind.   I thought of another option to square up the line.  What if each course card had an image of the “skyline of the land”?  Each major landmark would be labeled A,B,C etc.  Landmarks would be things like Wharf end, Casino flag, lighthouse on Jetty , Flag on crows nest, Blacks point, radio towers etc.  With an outline of the land skyline on the course card, there should be no confusion which landmark to use.  The new protocol would be to call the course with the other end of the line designated.  “ whiskey 1 with Alpha line” should be simple enough.Please comment and weigh in with your ideas on this.

With a square line, the temptation to be OCS should be minimized.  We will monitor OCS situations next year.  I sincerely do not want our Catalina Tuesdays to turn into the mayhem of Wednesdays.  The only way to learn is to start properly.  The motto on Tuesday nights should be: start right, sail right, win right!  There will be times next year where I will run the line from outside the start mark and call boats that are OCS.  If boats are OCS, they will have the choice of restarting or be DSQ’d.  If DSQ’d and are not racing, please respect the boats that are still racing.

I want to thank all participants this year.  This has been an awesome year.  I think everyone is learning a lot and it is time to parlay your knowledge to the next level.  It looks like many of us will participate in the midwinter regatta this year.  There are some great sailors in our group and it will not be easy to win, but I guarantee you will have fun and you will learn.  The races are on the third Saturday of every month, up to 3 races a day.  First day of racing will be November 19.  We will see you out there!

If the group feels it would be beneficial to have a rundown of how the flags and horns work in a real race, let me know and I could lay it all out in next weeks blog.

We will try for one last race next Tuesday.  I am looking forward to a short race to end this phenomenal season we have had.  Thanks to all of you for your participation and patience.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

OCTOBER 18, 2016: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

                                                          OCTOBER 18, 2016
                                                    THOUGHT FOR DISCUSSION


I was away on vacation this last week so do not have any comments on the action last week. I did get a response from one of our sailors on my previous blog which I would like to share with all of the Catalina crew.  If possible, I would like to use this response as a springboard for discussion after our barbecue on Tuesday night.

Hi Barry,

Read your blog for this week and wanted to share a few thoughts.

http://sailingpairadice.blogspot.com/2016/10/october-11-2016-short-colorful-sail.html

It has been interesting to see the evolution of the fleet in the short
time I've participated.  It does seem like skills and racing knowledge
have increased quite a bit and I think you should be proud of the work
you have done to increase participation and create a "wonderful vibe" on
Tuesday nights.  I've really enjoyed participating.

Skills and rules knowledge have improved in the time I've watched and
the starts have become much more aggressive on occasion.

As I've mentioned in previous mail, I do think setting a fair line would
improve starting skills and result in better starting line behavior.
Most starting line problems get created when the boats haven't really
worked on time and distance to the line or pin ends and unfamiliarity
with barging and luffing and responding rules and then get into improper
situations.

When placed in these kind of improper situations I think the first the
casual response is that since its an informal race lets just keep going.

The next evolution is to keep going but then to decide to retire later
in the race as we saw Pacific Spirit do a few weeks ago.

After that an evolution might be to actually return to the line and
clear it after they've made a mistake in time/distance judgement.

But it make take quite a while for this to work though the entire fleet.
  Your blog is a great way to learn about how and why things can go
wrong and how to correct, so it might not take as long as I'm
suggesting.  But that would mean that Sailing Pair-A-Dice would have to
be over early some race and talk about returning, but then winning the
race and writing a blog about it. ;-)  I think I've seen this already
happen with your continued mention about port tack ducking is really ok
and doesn't cost you that much if done effectively and as a planned
maneuver.  The behavior on Tuesday night is so much different  than Wed
nights and I think its in large part to your coaching the fleet via your
blog.

I agree that a rabbit start is a poor way to actually building starting
and racing skills.  The problem becomes one of asking questions about
how to directly take on some skill building around starting racing.

So we need to build some confidence that returning to start is ok no
matter how costly it might be.

One more suggestion is to also have a gun/horn at the start as well as
doing it at the 5 minute warning.  This would help all boats to
uniformly start to head up from reach to pointing angles off the line.
In the heat of battle its easy for boats to jump the gun and start
harding up.  This happens in any fleet racing with RC or not.  A horn
would help give that audible signal that would hold boats back from
jumping the gun instead of seeing a few boats take off and then join the
party.  All this is happening when crews are watching other boats,
getting ready to trim in and control their own boat, and also trying to
watch the clock.  On Tuesday nights when sailing short handed I've
found myself seeing other boats take off and saying "I guess the start
happened, so lets go...."  There is a lot of sensory overload with many
things going on and that audible horn would help synchronize actions on
all boats.

Next thing would be to work on would be to get more races that have fair
(square to wind/first mark) and shorter start lines that allow all the
boats to get good position on the line and a chance to accelerate off
the line uniformly  at the gun.  I definitely agree with the idea that
shorting the line with a temp buoy or anchored start boat would also
help in skippers and crews being able to judge the line and time and
distance to the line.

Longer lines make it harder to determine over early unless you are at
one end or the other of the fleet, and shorter the line the more obvious
this becomes to all boats in the fleet until you get down to a line when
all boats can just barely fit into the line and all the boats need to be
right next to each other for a fair start.

dumping a fender/small inflatable bouy/crab pot marker in the water in
the kelp bed near the start mark and leaving there for the season might
not comply with regulations but wouldn't create a hazard to navigation
and would give us an easier line to judge thats a few hundred feet long
instead of a 1/2 mile.

Now that 8-10  or more boats sail each week seems reasonable to rotate
responsibility for setting a line, calling the course and starting the
race.  That would also be a good experience for the start boat and crew
to learn a few basic RC duties.  I've learned just as much about racing
and starts from observing as a RC member as being on the race course.  I
would volunteer as a boat to get this started, and to coach others that
might be interested in occasionally taking on the responsibility in a
regular rotation.  It could also just be an option for some races and
the fleet could revert back to current starting setup/rules if there was
not a starting boat for any one evening.

One more thought on improving start skills would be to have "start
clinic Tuesday nights" in these last weeks before DST ends, and in the
spring just after DST starts up.  Since we have limited light in Oct and
March we could run these start clinics to get off maybe 5 or 6 starts,
race for a few hundred yards, then return for another round.  This
should help people get better judgement on time and distance to the
line, understand maneuvering to good spots on the line and other start
skills to keep them out of getting into trouble, but then figuring out
how to recover and do the right thing if they do get into trouble.  The
key in these nights would be to build some confidence in skills and make
these night fun, emphasizing the idea that the start is one of the most
fun, and challenging, and complicated part of racing.

I'd also volunteer to serve as the start boat for these "start clinic
nights."

A chalk talk at the club about different starting strategies and how to
get the best idea about time and distance to the line for different
conditions, situations, and fleet size.  These
talks/discussions/debriefs could also be added before or after the
"start clinic nights."

Thanks again for all the great work you have done to make Tuesday nights
a fun and enjoyable time on the water.  I've really enjoyed those nights
that I've been able to get out there the last few years.

-Chris

It is coming up on the close of the season, so do whatever you can to make it this Tuesday.

BARBECUE AT THE CLUB AFTER THIS TUESDAY NIGHT RACE.  BRING YOUR BEST GRILLING FOOD, THE BAR WILL BE OPEN.

Thank you to everyone for participating in our Catalina Tuesdays.

Barry L.Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

OCTOBER 11, 2016: SHORT COLORFUL SAIL

OCTOBER 11, 2016

SHORT COLORFUL SAIL

When I approached the harbor, there was apparently enough wind to have a race.  The wind was from the normal direction, about 240 from the northwest.   I love a lot of wind when daylight is limited so this was going to be a great night for a sail. We had plenty of boats out for the fun and we called the course: Start, Wharf, Blacks, Start with a 6:00 start time and gave a 5 minute horn at 5:55.

With the orientation of the wind, there was only one way to start: Starboard tack and all  boats started this way all, spread down the line.  Once we all started and went a ways out, one by one we all tacked over for the inside run.  By the time we got to the layline, Sagitarius had quite a lead on everyone followed by equinamity,  Pacific Spirit and Makani.  Pair A Dice rounded just ahead of Perfect 36, but just behind Vern and Judy on Seabird. On the long run to Blacks we set the pole but could not pass Seabird until we jibed away from them.  Even with our most fervent prayers we could not close the gap on Makani.  At the finish it was Sagittarius, Equinamity, Pacific Spirit, Makani, Pair A Dice, Perfect 36 Seabird and Kicks.

On the way to the harbor, it was a gorgeous red sunset setting the stage for a short colorful sail.

Integrity:

A great racing sailor once said something to the effect of: “If you win the race but do not win the respect of your competitors, you have not won”.  I had the pleasure of helping out with the local “505” regatta this past weekend.  Talk about a bunch of competitive sailors!  Despite being competitive, they were all friendly and were having a great time sailing against each other.  Total respect was displayed by all competitors on the water and on land and they had a blast, even though races were cut short due to fog. There was not a protest filed during the whole regatta. Witnessing the starts was awesome.     

Everyone knew the rules and there was not a whole lot of shouting. A few guys were OCS, but when called back they came back and dipped the line to exonerate themselves. I have witnessed the same respect and comradery in the Santana fleet, everyone respecting rules demonstrating complete respect for each other.  Truly a thing of beauty.  Is it the fact that someone is sighting the line that keeps everyone “honest”?

Catalina Tuesdays is a very unique situation.  I believe we all are having a great time competing and learning together.  We do not have anyone sighting the line, so it is all an honor system.  It is very difficult to determine if another boat is “OCS” (On Course Side) at the start when we all are charging the line side by side.  People will often call other boats over early, but how can you tell without someone sighting the line?  On this particular night Pair A Dice was closer to the start mark than many of the boats that were spread down the line.  We were right on the mark, at the start time I sighted back toward the lighthouse on the jetty and almost all boats were way over the start line at the start. 

Being OCS is a huge, unfair advantage in racing.  You may think, we were only 30 feet over the line, but everyone behind you is getting bad air, so this 30 foot lead grows over the course to a huge advantage.

I have done everything I can to make Catalina Tuesdays a fun, learning experience.  I desperately do not want Catalina Tuesdays to turn into the mayhem of Wednesday nights where everyone is out for show, not rounding marks or observing rules.  I feel that without observing rules, you will never be an effective racer.  Indeed, the closer you follow the rules, the more you will learn and ultimately win more races and win  honestly!

Some people have suggested a rabbit start, others have recommended a shorter start line.  I personally do not feel anything is to be learned by rabbit starts.  I would like input from as many participants as possible.  How do we observe rules without having an umpire or line sighter?  Am I wrong in wanting this? Should we just have a rally where we are all out for a sail without racing?  Our final barbecue is coming up.  I would like a group discussion at this barbecue for input from everyone on these issues and what direction we should take next year.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice