DECEMBER 9, 2025 SURPRISE WIND

                                                                   DECEMBER 9, 2025

SURPRISE WIND

Once again, predictions were for light 1-6 knot winds.  Initially it looked like the predictions were accurate and a windward mark was set halfway to Mile.  As the clock ticked down to the start, the wind seemed to increase so the course was changed to S5: start>mile>S/F.

Once again all boats were sailing in a single fleet of about 12 boats.  All boats got off to a clean start in the 8-10 knot winds. It was a beautiful sunny day to be sailing and, even though the wind seemed to die a little on the run back to S/F, all boats finished.  Such is life when you get a surprise wind.

 

Jennifer Kinsman photo

 

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

ALL BOATS IN ONE FLEET  COURSE S5   COURSE DISTANCE 1.929NM

PLACE          BOAT                             PHRF             ET             CORRECTED TIME

1         MAIN SQUEEZE                    72           35:58                 33:39

2         ABORIGINAL                         33           35:28                34:25               

3         RIO                                          141        42:21                 37:48

4          WIND II                                  213        44:41                37:50

5          SAILING PAIR A DICE        180         45:01               39:13

6          AQUAVIT                              72            41:38              39:19

7          PERFECT 36                         144         48:42               44:04

8          MAYBE                                 249          52:38             44:37

9          OLD ENOUGH TKB            243         56:16              48:27

10       SIMPATICO                           165          55:39             50:20 

 

THE ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA

MORE SLOW HORSES (not a spy novel)

Here’s a present for the Holidays; a line-up of usual suspects.  The data was gleaned from sailboatdata.com (an addictive website if there ever was one). I started with the B fleet, but then just kept adding boats I remembered until I pooped out.

 

 

 

Speed increases from top down.  The year represents the design’s age, not when a specific boat was built. The “s” number is a theoretical estimate of a boat’s relative speed based on it’s design characteristics; it sort of tracks the PHRF rating, but inversely. “S” goes up with speed, whereas PHRF goes down — the difference being that PHRF is empirical, or based on actual race results.  SA/Displacement is the number to watch; it represents power to weight. Once it goes above 20, we’re talking about different animals. That’s the crossover point where  design focus shifts from cruising to racing. 

 

Chronologically, that point corresponds with the 1970s’ spread of the influence of Ultra Light Displacement Boats. A good comparative example of this is the C&C 35 with the Santana 35.  The C&C is the only boat in our fleet designed in the 1960’s to the Cruising Club of America (CCA) Rule.  While still relatively light, she’s narrower (10.58’), and carries a higher percentage of ballast lower.  The Santana went into production in 1978. Her ton (!) less displacement and greater beam (11.92’) reflect an increasing reliance on human ballast as a substitute for keel weight.  The problems inherent in this trend only became apparent a year later, when a fleet of similarly ballasted yachts encountered disaster in the 1979 Fastnet Race — out of 303 boats, 75 capsized, 5 sank, and 15 sailors died. 

 

If you’re interested, I heartily recommend John Rousmaniere’s  Fastnet, Force 10, and Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts by the Technical Committee of the Cruising Club of America.  The “capsize screening number” shown in the last column of the table came out of the work of that committee.  The higher the number, the greater the risk of capsize in extreme sea states. Over 2 is not considered ideal.    

 

In summary, the fleet represents quite a cross section of production yacht design over the past fifty years. Not only does this speak to durability, but also to the effectiveness of the PHRF rating system. It also shows that there’s no free lunch.  Every design is a compromise. The trick is to find the right match. Or, hey, you know how they say, “It’s all about money.”  New boats are really expensive — we might  just be a bunch of  Sailing Scrooges.  Happy Holidays.

 

Thank you Paul

SEASONS GREETINGS:

We are planning on sailing, conditions permitting, every Tuesday through the holiday season.  Unfortunately the club will not be serving food until the latter part of January and several Tuesdays will not even be open.  If we want to socialize after the races, we will need to meet at restaurants.  Johnnies on the East side of the harbor has an excellent “Taco Tuesdays” that is very reasonably priced.  On the West side of the harbor, there are several excellent restaurants at the Seabright/ Murray Street intersection.

                                             

DECEMBER 2, 2025 AN ULDB DAY

 

AN ULDB DAY

Predictions for the afternoon were for 1-10 knot winds.  The flags confirmed that there was at least some breeze.  As we left the harbor at 2 o’clock there was a consistent light breeze of about 7-10 knots.  The question, as always was “what does the future hold?”.  With the wind coming from roughly 230 degrees, we got ambitious and called for W5: S/F>Schuyler>S/F.  I had posted in the blog and announced on the radio that it was a single fleet race and that the horn would blow at 5 minutes to the 3:00 start.  I also instructed to register as Fleet B in Regatta Hero. All but one boat followed the instructions. 

All of “B fleet” got off to a clean start and tacked their way to Schuyler.  After rounding Schuyler, all boats sailed down-wind to the finish.  It was a challenging down wind run with all boats experiencing very light patches of wind.  Homer once told me that if you knew exactly what conditions there will be for a race, you can design a boat specifically for those conditions that will win.   This afternoon presented conditions that was definitely a ULDB  (Ultra Light Dispacement Boat) day.

 To review the track for Fleet B:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=2.12.2025%2015:00:00&language=en

 

 Photo by Jennifer Kinsman

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

FLEET B (ALL BOATS) COURSE W5  DISTANCE 2.4NM

PLACE                BOAT                                 PHRF                  ET             CORRECTED TIME

1            RIO                                                 141                      49:06                  43:28

2            PERFECT 36                                  144                      49:25                  43:39

3            ROSIE                                            162                      50:14                  43:45

4            YELLOW BELLY                          141                      49:33                  43:54

5            ZOOP                                              144                      50:46                  45:00

6            AVATAR                                          132                      50:40                  45:23                                               

7            SAILING PAIR A DICE                 180                      53:23                  46:10

8            SIMPATICO                                    165                      53:33                  46:56

9            AQUAVIT                                        72                         53:25                  50:32

10          WINDLUST                                     66                         1:00:25             57:46

NEXT TUESDAY WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER SINGLE FLEET RACE. PLEASE BE CERTAIN TO ENTER FLEET B IN REGATTA HERO AND BE CERTAIN YOUR PHRF IS CORRECT.  ALSO MONITOR THE VHF CHANNEL 69 FOR ANY PERTINENT ANNOUNCEMENTS.  A SINGLE HORN WILL BE SOUNDED AT 2:55 FOR A 3PM START.

THE ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA

HORSES & COURSES

It has been hinted by some that one of the reasons Zoop sails in the B fleet is that we are “afraid of getting beat”. (Betcha I got your attention with that!) While we have enjoyed success in the B fleet, that’s not the reason.  There are actually two, Perfect 36 (a Catalina 36 Mk I), and Avatar (an Olson 911).  Zoop rates 144, P-36 the same, and Avatar rates 132 (she owes us 12 sec/mile).  Depending on conditions, and crew performance, it’s anybody’s game.  Two weeks ago and again this week P-36 sailed a very nice race and beat us quite handily, while this week we finished overlapped with Avatar.   

 

Let’s take a look.  P-36 displaces 13,500 lbs. (44.4% ballast), on a 30.25’ waterline, with a SA/Disp ratio of 15.71 and a Disp/L ratio of 217.73.  Zoop displaces 13,450 lbs. (40.5% ballast) on a 28.25’ waterline, with a SA/Disp ratio of 16.35 and a Disp/L ratio of 266.1.  Avatar displaces 7,500 lbs. on a 27’ waterline, with a SA/Disp ratio of 20.45 and a Disp/L ratio of 205.7.  P-36 is longer, lighter for her length, but has a little less power for her weight.  Zoop is shorter, heavier for her length and has a little more power for her weight, while Avatar is shorter, but only about half as heavy, and has a much more power for her weight.  

 

So, why doesn’t Avatar just speed away?  The answer is in the kind of races we’re sailing — predominantly moderate air windward leewards.  Upwind, if there’s breeze, the two bigger boats with their longer waterlines, have an advantage. Downwind, the advantage should shift to the much lighter Avatar.  But, as they say, the devil is in the details.  One of those is wetted surface, which is a key factor in light/moderate air. Unfortunately, it is also very difficult to calculate absent a set of lines or a CAD design program.  Suffice it to say, for a given displacement, the geometric shape with the least wetted surface is a sphere, ie round boats have less wetted surface.  Wide flat boats have more. Compared to the other two, Zoop is actually quite round.

 

 

Which brings up the next question. Why isn’t P-36 faster upwind? She’s longer, and has more ballast.  But Zoop carries hers lower. She draws about 6” more, has a significant bilge (stubby) above the lead, and her keel is a ‘camouflaged bulb’, having a much thicker section at the bottom. Many light displacement boats have no bilge, because their canoe bodies have been made as shallow as possible to shed displacement. But, hey, there’s no free lunch. This adds wetted surface, while at the same time placing the ballast higher, where it’s less effective. Unless, of course you have a true fin/bulb where all the ballast is at the bottom.    

 

But, every design is a compromise.  I’m sorry, I can't resist — “What kelp?”

 

Thank you Paul.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

NOVEMBER 25, 2025 QUITE THE SURPRISE!

 

NOVEMBER 25, 2025

QUITE THE SURPRISE!

With predictions of 1-7 knot winds for the afternoon, I was expecting another light wind drifter.  When I got to the harbor, as usual I checked the flags and saw a light breeze. When we left the harbor at 2pm there was a good 9-10 knots of wind across the bay.  We determined the wind direction of 230 and there was talk of calling for course W5: (Schuyler and back), but as the wind has been known to drop off, I called for a shorter course S5; (Mile and back).  We had 8 boats in Fleet B, 1 boat in fleet A and 2 boats in spinnaker fleet and all boats got off to a clean start.

As it turned out, boats that started on the starboard end of the line could lay  Mile with no tacks which was a huge advantage.  Maybe, Schuyler being more to weather would have been better, but I did notice the wind decreasing as we progressed on the shorter course.  Still, when expecting very light wind, is was quite the surprise to have 8-13 knot winds. 

It was such a beautiful afternoon on the water, we went for a sail after the race. How could anything be better?  Answer: a buffet of excellent soups offered at the club after the race.  This was organized by Mike Gross and we had multiple (excellent) soups provided by superior cooks. Mike brought Jambalaya and Christina Shaw brought split pea soup. Tortilla chicken Soup was by Maggie Rathman and vegetable  from Casey and Dolce Dekessian. What a way to finish a day after an awesome sail!

We are about one month into the Winter afternoon sails.  We have tried three fleets but it is excessive to have three fleets when we only have about 10 boats participating.  Next week we will try a single fleet race starting at 3pm.  Be sure to register in Regatta Hero for “Fleet B”.  We will also blow the horn at 2:55 which will be the 5 minute horn.  All three fleets will start at the same time.

 

                                             PHOTO BY JENNIFER KINSMAN

 To view the tracks for Fleet B:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=25.11.2025%2015:00:00&language=en

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:  COURSE S5  DISTANCE 1.929NM

PLACE                BOAT                  PHRF                  ET                         CORRECTED

FLEET A:

1            SAGITTARIUS                 120                      22:40                  18:48

FLEET B:

1            WATTS MOORE              150                      22:42                  17:52

2            ABSOLUTE O5                117                      23:34                  19:48

3            AVATAR                            132                      24:45                  20:30

4            PERFECT 36                    144                      25:30                  22:52

5            BIG MAC                          222                      28:52                  21:43

6            SAILING PAIR A DICE   180                      27:39                  21:51

7            SIMPATICO                      165                      29:31                  24:12

8            WINDLUST                      66                         40:11                  38:03

SPINNAKER FLEET:

1            ROSIE                                162                      25:01                  19:48

2            DUET                                 100(?)                34:40                  31:27

The ZOOP SCOOP by Paul Tara

A TURKEY’S TURN

We did not sail this week, but for those of you who saw last week’s blog, I would just like to thank Jennifer Kinsman for her great photo of Zoop. (I categorically deny bribing Barry to use it). Marine photography is challenging and we should all appreciate Jennifer’s “have camera, will sail” attitude.

 

The photo was taken on the approach to Schuyler from Aquavit, shortly before she drove over the top of us. We’re sailing with max backstay, flattener, and our 130% # 2. About 7-8 lengths out of the photo to the right is Perfect 36, which had been covering us very effectively for the whole starboard tack approach. At this point we are laying the mark.  But a close look will reveal that the weather jib telltales are lifting, as I try to work up, in anticipation of what was coming.  After Aquavit rolled us, her exhaust prevented us from laying. We tried to shoot the mark, but stalled out and ended up hitting it.

 

When I started racing, in the 1960’s, if you touched a mark you were immediately DSQ’d. Period. Full-Stop.  This rather hard-ass attitude came from the fact that the racing rules derived from the navigation rules for sailing ships, where ‘marks’ were often points of land, and ‘touching’ was often fatal. So, if you hit a mark, you were considered ‘wrecked’. Now, if a boat touches a mark, she may exonerate herself by completing a 720° penalty turn. Most RC’s, including ours, amend this to a single 360. To count, each turn must include one tack and one jibe. 

 

That one vs two turn distinction was a factor in our decision to shoot the mark.  I knew, in that much wind, there was a limited chance of success.  But, I also knew that our other option, executing two tacks in quick succession with our attenuated crew, would take more time than a single 360° penalty turn. Sure enough, we came to a full stop at head to wind, and slid down onto the mark as we bore off around it. Note, when attempting this maneuver, it’s critical for the heads’l sheets to be freed, thereby minimizing the chance of accidentally going aback and tacking onto port. Because the last thing you want is to fail to round the mark, even if you have to bulldoze it out of the way to manage it. Bad seamanship, but how the game is now played. Once we slithered around, we saw we had just enough room to keep clear of the boats coming up astern, and immediately jibed and tacked, coming out of our penalty turn still on starboard. One might say we were basted and stuffed, but not quite in the oven.  If the penalty had been a 720, we’d have been cooked for sure.

 

It’s Thanksgiving. I’m very thankful Schuyler is a light foam mark and not a giant steel one like Mile Buoy. Practice those penalty turns. Sooner or later they’ll come in handy. I’m also very thankful to Barry, Doug, Fred, Chris, and Mark for making another season of Tuesday’s possible.

 

Thanks Paul and thanks for the kind words.

I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday starting around 3pm.

 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

NOVEMBER 18, 2025 FINALLY, SAILING WITH WIND!

 

NOVEMBER 18, 1925

FINALLY,  SAILING WITH WIND!

As November has been living up to its reputation as the No-winder month, I was not surprised to see limp flags as the afternoon progressed.  Predictions were for better winds to arrive later in the afternoon.  As we left the harbor we saw some gusts up to 16 knots as the wind was filling in.   The direction was from 230 so we called for course W5: Start>Schuyler>S/F.  We blew the 10 minute horn and had two boats in Fleet A, but one boat had no RH track.  B Fleet got off to a clean start as all boats tacked their way to Schuyler as the wind continued to build up to 20 knots.   It was AWESOME to be sailing again with wind! 

JENNIFER KINSMAN PHOTO OF ZOOP ACTUALLY HEELING OVER WITH WIND

  

To  review the tracks for Fleet B:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=18.11.2025%2015:00:00&language=en

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   ET         CORRECTED RESULTS

FLEET A      COURSE W5  DISTANCE 2.4nm

1             WATTS MOORE                                             150                       31:56                  25:55

FLEET B:

1             PERFECT 36                                                    144                       30:56                  25:10

2             SAILING PAIR A DICE                                  180                       33:31                  26:18

3             ZOOP                                                               144                       32:10                  26:24

4             BIG MAC                                                         222                       35:32                  26:39

5             AVATAR                                                           132                       33:11                  27:54

6             AQUAVIT                                                        72                          31:09                  28:16

SPINNAKER FLEET:

1             WINDLUST                                                       66                          40:26                  37:47

THE ZOOP SCOOP  BY PAUL TARA

POST-FRONTAL BREEZE MEETS POST-YOUTHFUL FLEET

When I arrived at the Harbor, around 1300, there was a light southerly and the sky was filled with beautiful cumulus clouds left over from the previous day’s cold front.  By the time we exited the Harbor at 1430 the wind had veered to due west, was strengthening considerably (15-20 knots), and the temperature was plummeting. During the race, the wind continued to veer until, when I left the Harbor at 1700, the flag at the Crows Nest  was showing west-northwest, indicating a shift to the right of 130 to 140 degrees over 4 hours — a classic Santa Cruz post-frontal event.  

 

Aboard Zoop, we were late and went right immediately, basically because we didn’t want to get wet. Plus, there was plenty of breeze all the way to the beach and the swim buoys have been pulled. Okay, okay, the shift may have been a factor; it paid a big dividend even though we were unable to capitalize on it due to boat handling issues. Our struggles (judging by the track, we weren’t alone) got me thinking. On the whole, the demographics of the 1500 start insure that a fleet that races primarily in light air is now suddenly sailing in the winter, at the time of day when the most wind is likely, with the least fit crew.   Stamina and ability versus the prevailing conditions is now something to consider more seriously before making the decision to race.

 

BOTTOM UP SELF HELP

‘How to make your boat move faster’ was a recent suggested topic. It’s not like there aren’t thousands of books and videos. But after thinking hard about what, in terms of time invested, would absolutely return the greatest benefit, how about we start at the bottom, say around the seat-of-your-pants? 

 

“Lead is dead.” If your sailing experience involves sailing only on keelboats, you are at a competitive disadvantage. The biofeedback, or ‘feel’ necessary for good helmsmanship and crewing ability has, historically, always come from small boat experience. There are exceptions, but they prove the rule. There’s no substitute for the instant response dinghies offer. This is important because a lot of people today get started in sailing by taking lessons or riding along in keelboats. 

  

I’m a seat-of-the-pants small boat sailor. Most of my racing has been in 5o5’s and El Toros. Zoop has no instruments other than her depth sounder. But she does have telltales, a masthead windex, and a compass. I sail by the feel of the wind, the angle of heel, the telltales/windex, and the sound of the bow wave. If there’s a shift, I glance at the compass.  When we ran the El Toro program at Pinto Lake, I would tell the kids to “feel the wind” and “listen for the chuckle at the knuckle”.  Next time you’re out, close your eyes. Feel. Listen. Try to hold a course. Tack and repeat. You’ll be surprised.

 

Log some dinghy time this winter.  An El Toro, RS Tera, Laser, CFJ, or similar would be some choices. The smaller the better.  A UCSC dinghy class would be another.  Since the Club’s switch to Optis (Yuck!) there are a lot of unused El Toros scattered around the dry storage yard, and a rumor the Club might run some in-harbor winter racing. (Who knows? Anything is possible with enough Advil.) But, hey, it’s winter; personally I say go to Baja and rent a Laser for a week. By the end, you’ll either have decided that racing cruising sailboats is really stupid, you’ll have drowned, or you’ll be a lot better. And, you might even get a tan.

Thank You Paul!

I hope to see you sailing next  Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice 

NOVEMBER 11, 2025 WAVES OF WIND

 

NOVEMBER 11, 2025

WAVES OF WIND

I was encouraged to see predictions of 9 knot wind through the afternoon.  As we left the harbor, there was a steady 10 knot breeze across the bay.  Would we actually have wind for a race? We determined the wind was coming from 190 degrees and were considering a course: S/F>MILE>SF.  As the clock ticked down, the wind decreased also so we set a temp mark halfway to mile.   As we approached the start time, the wind was increasing  and decreasing creating challenging conditions.  At least there was some wind, though not steady wind.  We established  3 separate fleets (Fleet A, B and Spinn) even though there was only one boat in Fleet A and Spinn.  We had 4 boats in Fleet B and as it turned out, there was enough wind to finish the short course in 15 minutes so we set Regatta Hero to have another race with all three fleets sailing together.  There was enough wind to finish the course even though the wind was coming in surges and lulls like waves of wind.

To review the first B Fleet:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=11.11.2025%2015:00:00&language=en

To review the second race with all 3 fleets together:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=11.11.2025%2015:25:22&language=en

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS: S/F>temp  mark>S/F  course length=0.512nm

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   ET                          CORRECTED

1             YELLOW BELLY                             141                       11:37                  10:24

2             ZOOP                                                  144                       12:26                  11:12

3             TRUE LOVE (SPINN)                   72                          14:47                  14:10

4             PERFECT 36                                    144                       15:34                  14:20

5             BIG MAC                                            222                       16:41                  14:47

6             SAILING PAIR A DICE                180                       20:29                  18:56

 

Paul Tara’s

ZOOP SCOOP

FOGGY FALSE TALES 

More fog this week. Not as thick as last week. Which reminds me, I forgot to mention another reason why, in dense fog, the magnetic compass is your friend. Skippers are notoriously myopic about jib telltales. If they’re streaming, they’ll blindly follow them anywhere; especially in fog, when there’s no other frame of reference. And, if the fog is thick enough, its droplets will slyly laminate the telltales to the jib, making it easy to believe you’re  always in the groove. Nobody’s that good a helmsman. Keep an eye on your compass. 

 

WINTER BREEZE (Barely)

The sun makes the wind.  Hot air rises, leaving a void, which sucks. Less sun, less suck. Like Tuesday — grey on grey — fog under high cirrus preceding Wednesday’s on-comlng front. In the morning there was no hope. But then, around 1300, a light southwesterly began to trickle in. At one point MB disappeared, but the breeze held.  Barry set a short weather mark and we were able to get two short races in.  Aboard Zoop, with the double layer of overcast, we felt there was little chance the breeze would build and veer, so we elected to go left, which worked. Except in the second race, when we had to duck Yellow Belly and ended up second.  There was a moment, when we had extended on her after the start, that we probably could have crossed (but one does not tack an Islander 36 lightly). The two races together amounted to just about the time it took us to rig the boat. But, they really demonstrated the value of Regatta Hero, which allowed Barry and Doug to organize the spontaneous second start in even less time. 

 

NORTH BY NORTHEAST (an actual REAL yotting scoop!)

Santa Cruz had a strong presence in last weekend’s RTC (Round The County) in the San Juan Islands (120 boats!). First in ORC A and Second Overall was the SC52 “Rosebud” with Mike Holt (skipper) Bruce Edwards, Jack Halterman, and Mackenzie Cook aboard. Rumor has it “Rosebud” will soon be making her way south to her new digs on E dock. 

 

First in ORC C and First Overall was “Setri” a centerboard (!??!) Swan 46 owned by Peter Dennis of Lopez Island, with Matt and Ben Lezin, Steve Burdow, and Patrick Tara aboard.  Setri won the race with a move that came just after the 0830 Saturday morning start. Industrial smoke near Bellingham indicated a predicted northeasterly was filling. While the fleet short-tacked against along Orcas, she broke away and sailed north, across to the new breeze, where she actually anchored for a short time near Lummi Island while it filled.  Then, under kite, she reached over the fleet, ending up abeam of Rosebud and ahead of most of the fleet. Rosebud gradually sailed away, but at the Roache Harbor half-way stop, Setri (which was the only ORC C boat to make the time limit) still had 39 minutes in the bank.

 

 

Thanks Paul

I hope to see you sailing  next Tuesday afternoon  around 3pm.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice