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 15:45.  This horn is a 5 minute signal for Spin fleet (starting at 15:50).  It is a 10 minute signal for Fleet A (starting at 15:55) 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

 

 

JANUARY 20, 2026 THE DEFINITIION OF "LIGHT AND VARIABLE WIND"

 

JANUARY 20, 2026

THE DEFINITION OF “LIGHT AND VARIABLE WIND”

Predictions for wind were dismal, and the limp flags confirmed the forecast.  It looked so weak that some boats opted to not come out.  As we left the harbor around 2pm there was a breeze developing by the wharf and we had a break in the predominant heavy cloud cover.  As the clock ticked down, there was a mild 5-6 knot breeze.  The wind was coming from 240 degrees, so we decided to set an offset mark about a quarter mile roughly upwind and called for a course of: S/F>offset mark>Mile>S/F.  We blew the five-minute horn which seemed to be a signal for the wind gods to go back to sleep.  We had 9 boats out for the drift-fest. At the start, boats were drifting across the start line in a 3-4 knot breeze.  Fortunately, as we sailed further out, the wind seemed to increase with close to 9 knots as we approached Mile.   As we rounded  Mile, the wind died and the finish at S/F seemed out of reach as most boats bobbed with no forward movement.

Despite the curse of no wind, 3 boats actually finished the complete course.  I offered the option of taking the finish time at Mile so everyone could stop bobbing.  The first boat to round Mile was Flexi Flyer, then Aboriginal.  Though Main Squeeze sailed and finished the long course, their track froze so I could not report a finish time for them.  The afternoon sail was a definition of “Light and Variable wind”.

 

Jennifer Kinsman photo of the drift-fest

                                           

The track for this afternoon can be reviewed at:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=20.1.2026%2015:00:00&language=en&defaultspeed=5&loop=no

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS : SHORT COURSE: FINISH AT MILE COURSE DIST .965NM

PLACE                BOAT                               PHRF                  ET                         CORRECTED

1            FLEXI FLYER                                96                        19:05                  17:32

2            ABORIGINAL                                33                        19:12                  18:40

3            PERFECT 36                                  144                      25:06                  22:47

4            AVATAR                                         132                      25:03                  22:56

4            ROSIE                                            162                      25:33                  22:56 (TIE)

6            AQUAVIT                                       72                       24:10                  23:01

7            SAILING PAIR A DICE                180                      27:15                  24:21

8            SAGITTARIUS                                120                   26:25                  24:29

LONG COURSE FINISHERS:  COURSE LENGTH 1.930NM

1            ABORIGINAL                                33                         46:17                  45:13

2            FLEXI FLYER                                96                         52:26                  49:21

 

Next Tuesday will be the last Tuesday of the month and we are back on track to have our end of month BARBECUE.  Bring your best grilling food to cook and share.  Pray for fair winds and good weather!

ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA

PRISM SENTENCES

In geometry, a prism is a 3 dimensional solid shape, with flat, parallel, polygonal ends connected by parallel sides.  A simple example would be the edges of a straight 2 x 4, with parallel ends.  In yacht design, aside from length, beam, and draft, the prismatic coefficient, or Cp, may be the one of the most descriptive statistics when it comes to hull shape. It basically represents how tapered the ends are, as a ratio, relative to the hull’s largest underwater cross section. A vessel  with no change in shape from bow to stern, like a barge (or an un-tapered 2 x 4), has a Cp of 1, or close to it.  The more tapered the shape is at the ends, the lower the number.  

 

Like wetted surface, Cp is difficult to calculate unless you have lines and a CAD program. For many designs it’s proprietary. But, just roughly, sailboats with low numbers tend to have finer ends, more rocker, less wetted surface, and lower top speeds.  Those with higher numbers have fuller ends, less rocker, more wetted surface, and higher top speeds. For example, the Cp of  a SC50 is around .56, while those of similar sized IOR designs could be down in the low .50’s. That’s because Cp is a hull-speed indicator, and lowering it by pinching the ends produced lower ratings. Then, there’s the tricky part, depending on its shape, a yacht’s Cp can change dramatically as it heels (scow bow anyone?).  

 

Modern performance designs, like sprit-polers and, now, foilers, have very high Cp’s, edging towards .60.  The further apart a designer can push the crests of a hull’s bow and stern waves, the faster her “wave train” travels. (Think of a super tanker, where the crest of the bow wave is often ahead of the hull itself.) For a given length, the higher the Cp, the longer the wavelength, resulting in a higher hull-speed, The higher the hull speed, the sooner a boat can achieve her planing or foiling speed. Once that threshold is crossed, theoretical speed limits go out the window..  

 

If you want to view examples of prismatic extremes, just pay a visit to the Club’s Junior Yard, where Optimists and El Toros are stored side by side. Although both designs have hard chines, Optimists are ‘bricks’ with flat bottoms, and little rocker, (high Cp) —they are slugs in light air.  El Toros are tapered, with more rocker and more dead-rise (lower Cp) — they’re faster, until conditions get ‘sporty’ when they become difficult to control. And then, of course, locally there’s the ultimate light-air speedster, the Jester Dinghy, which may have the world record lowest Cp.

 

By the way, the Club is selling a few of its El Toros.  They are ‘well-seasoned’, but you might want to take a look.

Thank you Paul!

I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday and at the BBQ at the club.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

 

JANUARY 15, 2026 REGATTA HERO MANUAL BY DOUG MAHONE

Winter ’26 Update on Regatta Hero:

 

For those sailors and skippers who are participating in the Tuesday races want to use Regatta Hero (RH) to track your starts, finishes and results, here are a few notes to help you get the most out of RH.

 

1. If you haven’t already downloaded and installed RH, it works on both iPhones and most Android phones.  Go to your iPhone App Store or Android Play Store and download Regatta Hero.  When you first start it up, follow the instructions for the one-time setup procedures.  You’ll be asked to enter your Organization: “scyc” and your Passcode: “517949” (without the quotes). You’ll also be asked to edit your Registration Data; it’s self-explanatory.  The only thing that’s new this season is we no longer ask you to enter your boat name in the Sail Number field, or your sail number in the Boat Name field.  That was a work-around to get the reporting and playback features to better identify the boats, but those problems have been fixed, so now just enter the information straight, as the app requests. For “Team”, enter whatever you like (e.g., the skipper’s name). For “Handicap”, enter your PHRF rating.

 

2. One part of the initial one-time setup that’s less intuitive, are the special settings your phone needs to have adjusted in order for its GPS to accurately record your track. 

 

1. These are described on the “Welcome to Regatta Hero” screen shown to new users. For existing users, press the “About Regatta Hero” button to review this screen. 

 

2. Also on this screen is a button urging you to “Read Installation Tutorial (!)”. That takes you to a screen with a button labeled “App Installation”. You’ll be shown specifics for both iOS Apple phones and for Android phones. 

 

3. If you have an Android phone, please pay special attention to the setup instructions for location tracking.  As you will learn, there are specialized tracking issues due to the fact that the Android operating system is open source, and so each manufacturer is free to tweak their tracking settings.  Some of them have made tweaks that actually defeat some RH functionality and cause some really bizarre (and useless) tracks to be recorded.  RH provides detailed instructions for re-enabling proper GPS tracking on your particular phone.

 

3. For those of you who have been successfully using the RH app for Tuesday races (most of our racers), I hope you have been enjoying it and taking advantage of its features both to participate in the races, and to study the replays after each race. To review some recommendations and Tuesday race practices:

 

4. Before the race, be sure your phone is charged and carried on your person (floating waterproof bags are sold at West Marine).  Log in to RH at least a half hour before the start.  For the current winter races, the start time is 3:00p. Because fewer boats are racing now, due to the early start time, we are currently only running one fleet and one start time. When asked to “Choose Regatta”, there’s currently only one choice, “Tues Fleet B”.  When we get back to summer racing, we’ll re-active the A Fleet and the Spinnaker fleet.

 

5. Also, note the course selected for the race. The Race Officer typically sends out an announcement on the app, identifying the course, which corresponds to one of those on the Course Card you received after you signed up for the Tuesday races. After you select the “Participate” button, you’re taken to the race start screen (orange header), which indicates the chosen Course (e.g., “S5”), and shows the start time in big, bold letters.  As the start approaches, it switches to a countdown timer, accompanied by horns and verbal announcements.  The start time is announced and reinforced by a horn.  To hear these events, be sure that your speaker volume is turned all the way up (same volume as for your ring tone).

 

6. If, as the start horn sounds on your app, you see that you are over early, it’s on you to go back and start again.  The app is not designed to call out racers who are over early.  But this is sail racing, where much of it depends on the honor system, and racers are expected to obey the rules even if nobody is watching.

 

7. When you reach the finish line, it’s only marked by one buoy, and is the imaginary extension of a line running from a landmark on the shore, extending through the finish mark, and running 200 feet beyond.  As you pass through that line, it’s advisable to sail straight on until you hear the app blow a horn and announce that you’ve crossed the finish.  Some boats have instead rounded the finish mark and immediately turned for the harbor, and RH did not catch their finish, so they were marked DNF.

 

8. After the last boat in the fleet finishes, RH blows a horn on all sailors’ apps and displays an announcement that lists all boats, the order of finish (by corrected time), and everybody’s time.

 

9. All boats can immediately access the RH race replay, by clicking on the Share icon at the top of the screen. This takes you to a screen called “Mapviewer URL (Spectator)”. From there, you can open the link in your phone’s browser, or you can send it to yourself or others by text, email or other means.  It’s possible to view on a phone, but much better on a larger screen. Racers and others can also view the Mapviewer live during the race, although this is quite distracting if you’re trying to race a boat.

 

10. The race replay has loads of useful information, too much to go into here. I recommend you go to the online help to learn more. The “About Regatta Hero” button will take you there (see item #2 above).

 

11. After you’ve finished racing, please remember to “Leave the regatta” (on the racing screen), and then to “Log out”.

 

4. There have been several useful new features added to RH this year.  Some of the most requested are:

 

12. Save multiple Logins (useful for people who race, but also serve as mark setters, or as race officers, or who race under a different organization). To save different logins, or to access those you’ve saved, before you hit the orange “Log in” button, instead touch the “Enter login data” button. On the small pop-up screen that appears, you’ll see a small button with three dots at the right end of the Organization line. Touch it and you’ll be shown all the different logins you’ve used before. Select one, then click Ok, and you’re ready to Log in.

 

13. Save multiple boats (useful for people who race on more than one boat). After you’ve logged in and chosen your regatta, the next step is to touch little triangle on the orange Participate button.  If you’ve saved more than one boat, you can select your choice for the current race, and its Registration data will be used.  Tought the Participate button and proceed to the racing screen (the orange Participate button will indicate your choice by saying “Participate as <boat name>”.  To add a new set of registration data, there’s an option on the list of boats that says “New…”.

 

5. As always, I’m happy to assist with any questions you may have about RH.  Please feel free to call, text or email me, or find me at the club.

 

Doug Mahone, Avatar

doug@dmahone.com

(916) 541-6607

JANUARY 13, 2026 AT LEAST A NICE BEAT TO WEATHER

 

JANUARY 13, 2026

AT LEAST A NICE BEAT TO WEATHER

Predictions were for 1-9 knot winds but when I arrived at the harbor at noon, the flags were limp.  As the afternoon progressed, so did the wind and by the time we left the harbor at 2pm, there was a nice breeze developing across the bay.  We determined the wind was coming from 270 but predicted to shift toward 240 so we set a start line that was square to about 260 as boats streamed out of the harbor for another sunny winter sail.

We called for course W5:  S/F>Schuyler>SF  as all thirteen boats jockeyed for position for the start at 3pm.  It was great to be sailing in wind again as we had up to 15 knots of apparent wind.  As we rounded the windward mark, the wind seemed to decrease as usual when changing from a beat to downwind sail. In fact, the wind was decreasing as the last finishing boats drifted very s-l-o-w-l-y toward the finish line.  Oh well, at least we had a nice beat to weather on a sunny day.

The track for this sail can be seen at:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=13.1.2026%2015:00:00&language=en

 

Jennifer Kinsman photo of Sagittarius on a nice beat

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:   COURSE W5  DISTANCE 2.4NM

PLACE                BOAT                                 PHRF                  ET                         CORRECTED

1            ABORIGINAL                                33                         30:40                  29:21

2            TRUE LOVE                                   72                         36:29                  33:36

3            SAGITTARIUS                               120                      38:40                  33:51

4            ZOOP                                               144                      40:56                  35:10

5            MAIN SQUEEZE                            72                         39:08                  36:15

6            AVATAR                                           132                      42:23                  37:06

7            BIG MAC                                         222                      56:14                  47:21

8            NIDAROS                                        118                      55:22                   50:36

9            WIND II                                           213                      1:00:32             52:00

10          SAILING PAIR A DICE                  180                      1:01:50             54:38

11          AQUAVIT                                         72                         1:01:43             58:50

12          ROSIE                                               162                      1:07:47             1:01:18

 

 ZOOP SCOOP  by Paul Tara

DECISIONS & RUTS

 

Racing off Santa Cruz always presents the same conundrum, over and over — inside or outside. And it always comes up at the same two points in the race, the start and the weather mark.  It’s easy to fall into a rut.

 

Tuesday’s start was unusually vexing. The port end was favored. So, the question became, go for the best start and head outside or, give up distance at the start for an early tack onto port.  True Love made the best start and headed out into more pressure before tacking. The breeze appeared to have filled to the beach, so we went for the latter.  This gave us a long lane of clear air and we were able to clear the end of the Wharf and lay Schuyler with only one tack, rounding just behind Sagittarius and ahead of Main Squeeze.  But the distance given up at the start was too much; True Love was long gone.

 

After rounding, we jibed onto the compass course and set our pole to port, as did Sagittarius. Why? Because that’s what we always do (and what True Love had done). Meanwhile, Main Squeeze headed further out, jib reaching on starboard.  Out into more breeze. At first, it seemed as though we were holding our own.  But then, fitst Main Squeeze, then followed by Sagittarius, began to gain — a lot. In retrospect, it wasn’t that they were getting more wind, we were getting less.  The breeze was dying inshore and we were the furthest in.  Force of habit had sent us into less wind.  

 

In the past I’ve expounded on sailing the shortest course, which usually is the compass course to the mark. But you can’t be myopic about it.  Keep your eyes out of the boat. If conditions change, be prepared to change your plan.  Don’t get stuck in a rut.

 

Thank you Paul.

Starting next Tuesday, the club is supposed to be open and offering food after our races.

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

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JANUARY 6, 2026 A SURPRISE WIND

 

JANUARY 6, 2026

A SURPRISE WIND

Once again, predictions were for a light breeze and as we left the harbor at about 2 there was a very light breeze.  As we approached the start area, the wind was even less, close to no wind at all.  Preparing for a no-wind situation, we set a temporary mark for a very short course.  We saw the wind was coming from 290 degrees.  As the clock ticked down, the wind was increasing so we called for course S5: Start>Mile>finish at S/F.  It was a beautiful day on the bay with a 10-14 knot breeze.  After a whole week of incessant rain and stormy conditions, we finally had a clear, sunny day for a sail with a surprise wind.

The track for this evening can be reviewed at:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=6.1.2026%2015:00:00&language=en

Jennifer Kinsman photo
BEAUTIFUL BLUE SKY AFTER A WEEK OF RAIN

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:  COURSE S5 COURSE LENGTH 1.929NM

PLACE                BOAT                                 PHRF                  ET                         CORRECTED

1            FLEXI FLYER                                  96                         24:43                  21:37

2            AVATAR                                            132                      27:13                  22:58

3            AQUAVIT                                         72                         26:08                  23:49

4            PERFECT 36                                    144                      29:05                  24:27

5            NIDAROS                                        118                      28:31                  24:43

6            SAILING PAIR A DICE                  180                      30:42                  24:54

7            WIND II                                           213                      33:06                  26:15

8            PACIFIC SPIRIT                             165                      31:35                  26:16

 

ZOOP SCOOP BY Paul Tara

OUTRIGGER AMBUSH!

Rule 55.3 says it’s illegal to sheet to an outrigger, which is anything that exerts “outward pressure” beyond the edge of the deck or hull.  Note the word sheet. A few miles from the finish of last month’s Sydney Hobart Race, the overall corrected time leader, a JPK 10.80  (a really cool French 36 footer), rigged with both a short bowsprit and a conventional pole, decided to pole out her asymmetric kite to port, wing on wing. Totally OK, so far. The pole is not an outrigger because the sail is not being “sheeted” to it.(even though the kite is asymmetrical, the clew automatically becomes the new tack, and the sheet automatically becomes an after-guy when the pole goes out). But, simultaneously, the original tack becomes the new clew, which makes the original tack line into, you guessed it, the new sheet, still led to the end of the bowsprit.  Now, a bowsprit or sprit pole is a “hull spar” which does exert outward pressure. You can tack a jib or an asymmetrical to it — no problemo — but not sheet to it. Easy remedies would have been to sail wing on wing without the pole, or lead the tack line (now the sheet) back to the stem-head, thereby eliminating the outward pressure, but they were unaware of 55.3. Unfortunately, you only get one tack and one clew per sail. The protest committee assessed enough of a  time penalty that the rule breech cost them first overall in IRC. Bummer.

 

WIN BY A WHISKER

If there’s wind, our races don’t usually end at the weather mark.  To be competitive downwind in a non-spinnaker fleet, boats need to consider a whisker pole.  So, what’s legal? PHRF is not homogeneous — it’s composed of regional committees — some areas control the length. But San Francisco Bay PHRF Rules simply state, “Whisker pole may be of any length.” 

 

To me, this makes sense. It avoids the hassle of trying to compensate for adjustable length poles which, in a sense, are self-regulating. If you extend one too far, it will suffer catastrophic compression failure.  (Ask Barry — and wear a helmet if you plan on sitting under one.) A popular misconception is that whisker poles are not highly loaded (only real men sail with spinnakers) but that’s not true.  The compression load on a spinnaker pole does increase as the pole goes forward, but it can be controlled by easing the sheet and luffing the sail.  The same is true of a whisker pole, but there’s no back door. The pole is trapped by the tension on the jib foot and the sheet.  Easing the sheet makes little difference;  the sail stays powered-up and will not luff until it’s flogging out forward of the headstay.  A quick by-the-lee bear away can momentarily unload the pole, but crew need to be on their toes.  A good adjustable pole can help; shortening it can take the load off. Another place an adjustable might come in handy could be tacking downwind in light air with the pole set to leeward, where the ability to shorten it might allow a tighter reaching angle.  I don’t know, Zoop doesn’t have one.   I also don’t know why a whisker pole set to leeward is no longer “sheeting to an outrigger”. Maybe it’s because it’s a “spar-spar” as opposed to a “hull-spar”.  But I suspect it’s because the rule makers just gave up and went with popular demand. 

 

Our pole is double-ended, and is rigged with both topping-lift and fore-guy bridles. We jibe end-for-end. The fore-guy acts as the jib’s vang; it controls the amount of twist, and can make a big difference. Without it, when there’s a puff, the pole end rises, the jib leech twists off at the top and dissipates power. Conversely, in light air, no topping lift means the weight of the pole is carried by the jib leech, making it straight and unresponsive.   The helmsman’s job in light air is to find the right compromise between leech tension and apparent wind angle so that the sail stays full and relatively stable. 

Thank you Paul.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice