JUNE 25, 2024 FOG BANK WIND

 

JUNE 25, 2024

FOG BANK WIND

Predictions for the evening wind were not much different from usual: 11-12 knot winds decreasing through the evening with 19 knot gusts.  It was quite a surprise when we left the harbor shortly after 5pm and saw the bay filled with white caps.  We determined the wind was coming from 230 and set a line square to this.  There was a huge fog bank starting a  little more than  a mile offshore.  It was amusing watching boats come out of the harbor expecting another drifter and swap their jibs out for smaller sails when they saw the wind.

We called for course Whiskey 2: start>Schuyler>Mile>Blacks and finish at S/F to starboard.  We blew the “10 minute horn” at 5:50 and watched as A fleet got off to a clean start.  B Fleet seemed to have everyone crowded toward the red ball end of the line and several barging boats got closed out.  All boats tacked their way to Schuyler and A Fleet rounded with Aboriginal first followed by Ethos, Double Espresso, Duet, Magic and Yellow Belly.  Fleet B was led by Zoop then Big Mac, Makani, Avatar, Nidaros, Sweet Pea, Wind Goddess, Kicks, Pacific Spirit, Hamachi,  Pair A Dice  and Toad.

After rounding Schuyler all boats reached off to round Mile then set poles for the run to Blacks.  At the finish, Fleet A was led by Aboriginal 39:05 then Ethos  45:50, Double Espresso 46:51, Duet 49:58, Magic 50:15 and  Yellow Belly 50:55.  B Fleet was led by Zoop 45:40 then Makani 51:25, Avatar 53:19, Big Mac 54:47, Blonde Ambition 54:56, Sweet Pea 55:34, Pacific Spirit 55:43,  Nidaros 56:18, Hamachi 57:11, Wind Goddess 58:08, Kicks 58:34, Pair A Dice 59:03 and TOAD 1:01:29.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 4NM.

It was awesome to actually have wind to race in.  The one thing that was different about this evening was the huge fog bank sitting just offshore.  Were we just sailing in fog bank wind?

We had a fantastic “last Tuesday of the month” barbecue with great food and fantastic participation.  A note of recognition and thanks to Mike Gross for his great food, assisting at the grill and cleaning everything up after  the crowd left.

BOATS LEAVING THE FOG BANK AFTER THE RACE

PHRF CORRECTED RESULTS

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

FLEET A:

1             ABORIGINAL                                   33                          36:53

2             DOUBLE ESPRESSO                       99                          40:15

3             DUET                                                 141                       40:34

4             MAGIC                                              141                       40:51

5             ETHOS                                               72                          41:02

6             YELLOW BELLY                              141                       41:31

FLEET B:

1             ZOOP                                                  144                       36:04

2             BIG MAC                                            222                       39:59

3             HAMACHI                                          243                       40:59

4             MAKANI                                             147                       41:37

5             BLONDE AMBITION                        165                       43:56

6             AVATAR                                              132                       44:31

7             SWEET PEA                                       165                       44:34

8             PACIFIC SPIRIT                                 165                       44:43

9             KICKS                                                 180                       46:10

10          WIND GODDESS                                168                        46:56

11          PAIR A DICE                                        180                       47:03

12          NIDAROS                                             118                       48:26

13          TOAD                                                    150                       51:29 

 

RACE QS:

To have race QS work correctly, it is best to mount the phone face up with the top of the phone facing the bow.  I also like to preset the start, so the track starts before the start of the race.  The track for this evening can be reviewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=100000&updatedAt=2024-06-26T02:33:56Z&dt=2024-06-25T17:45:02-07:00..2024-06-25T19:27:34-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1719364180954&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Makani&tab=fleet&view=match

RULE 31 TOUCHING A MARK:

We had a boat that touched the finish mark at the finish.  Now this was after the bow had crossed the finish line “finishing the race”, but contact was made with the beam of the boat. Since the race was “finished” did she need to exonerate?

This is covered by rule 31 in section 3 of the rule book.    Rule 31 reads: While racing, a boat shall not touch a starting mark before starting, a mark that begins, bounds or ends the leg of the course on which she is sailing, or a finishing mark after finishing.

In this race, the boat was exonerated with a turn including one tack and one gybe, and then crossed the finish line to establish a correct finish time.

I hope to see you out there sailing next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair  A Dice

JUNE 18, 2024 DISSIPATING WIND

 

JUNE 18, 2024

DISSIPATING WIND

As usual I was monitoring the wind as the afternoon progressed and was not encouraged.  While there seemed to be wind on the water, it certainly was not a strong wind.  As we left the harbor at 5,  I was encouraged to see a southeastern  wind filling the bay  and planned for a start from GOV.  As we approached GOV, the wind was already starting to die so we came back to the S/F area and with 10 knot winds we called for an ambitious course Echo 1: Start>SC3>Blacks>finish at S/F.   As the clock ticked down, at about 13 minutes until 6, the wind was quickly dying so I changed the course to sail  to Blacks and back, twice around.  Halfway to Blacks it was apparent that twice around was too ambitious so I shortened course to just sail to Blacks and back to S/F.

Many of the more experienced sailors sailed in closer to shore since the Easterly usually fills in there first, but on this night it was a trap and the boats got stuck with even less wind inside. The first of A fleet to round Blacks was Aboriginal, then Sweetheart, Yellow Belly, Duet, Odonata and Magic.  The first of Fleet B to round Blacks was Big Mac, then Avatar, Hot Tuna, Makani, Animal House, Gold Rush, Toad, Pair A Dice, New Perspective, Nidaros and Zoop.

All boats inched their way back to the finish as the wind seemed to die even more.  At the finish the first A fleet boat was Aboriginal 20:58 then Sweetheart 25:22, Duet 27:36, Yellow Belly 28:27, Magic 29:34 and Odonata 30:25 and Wind II 30:55.   B Fleet was led by Big Mac 21:20, then Avatar 21:47, Makani 21:53, Animal House 22:31, Hot Tuna 22:33,  Gold Rush 22:41, TOAD 23:46, Sailing Pair A Dice 24:12, Zoop 24:14, Nidaros 24:29 and New Perspective 25:29.  All times elapsed and the course distance was 0.94NM.

While the wind was excellent at the beginning of the evening, multiple options had to be avoided as we were all suffering from a dissipating wind. 

 

  

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                                   CORRECTED TIME

FLEET A:

1             ABORIGINAL                                   33                                          20:27

2             DUET                                                 141                                        25:23

3             SWEETHEART                                 -6                                           25:27

4             YELLOW BELLY                              141                                       26:14

5             ODONATA                                         243                                       26:36

6             MAGIC                                               141                                       27:21

7             WIND II                                              213                                       27:34

FLEET B

1             BIG MAC                                            222                                       17:51

2             HOT TUNA                                         243                                       18:44

3             MAKANI                                            147                                       19:34

4             AVATAR                                              132                                       19:42

5             GOLD RUSH                                      126                                       20:42

6             ANIMAL HOUSE                               96                                         21:00

7             SAILING PAIR A DICE                     180                                       21:22

8             TOAD                                                  150                                       21:25

9             ZOOP                                                   144                                       21:58

10          NIDAROS                                             118                                       22:38

11          NEW PERSPECTIVE                           144                                       23:13

 

 RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be viewed at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=99704&updatedAt=2024-06-19T01:55:45Z&dt=2024-06-18T17:45:19-07:00..2024-06-18T18:54:08-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1718760525401&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Makani&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.952236&lon=-121.991589&tilt=5&range=812&heading=257

DUCK OR MAINTAIN COURSE?

I know no other venue where small boats compete with much larger boats in the same area.  We have everything from a 15 foot to a 52 foot boat and all sizes in between. We have had challenging conditions with very light wind to compete in. Light winds mean short courses with 20 boats sailing in very crowded conditions.  I concur that we should all follow the rules, but having a smaller boat force a larger port tack boat to conduct evasive maneuvers in very light wind and crowded waters is dangerous.  It may be easier and safer for a smaller starboard tack boat to not force the issue and just duck the larger boat.  Communication is critical in these situations. Hailing “hold your course” as you alter your course to dip would be safe.  Collisions can happen as two boats move to avoid each other with no communication.

 

NEXT TUESDAY=LAST  TUESDAY OF THE MONTH!

This means BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE CLUB AFTER THE RACE!

BRING YOUR BEST BARBECUE FOOD TO GRILL AND ENJOY!

Barry Keeler

Sailing  Pair A Dice

 

JUNE 11, 2024 TUESDAY WITH A SOUTHERN TWIST

 

JUNE 11, 2024

TUESDAY WITH A SOUTHERN TWIST

Through the early afternoon there was a steady westerly wind blowing with the flags showing good breeze.  Maybe the predictions for light wind were wrong?  As we left the harbor at 5 o’clock there was wind coming from the south.  We made our way to the start area and sure enough there was a light breeze from 180 degrees (due south) with hints that the wind was decreasing.  We set a windward mark about a third of the way toward Mile Buoy and set the start line.  We called for a course around the temporary windward mark, then Blacks and back to S/F with the finish line being an extension of the line from the jetty lighthouse through S/F.  We blew the 10-minute horn for a 5:55 A Fleet start and a 6pm start for B Fleet.

Fleet A started with 2 boats OCS and with nobody announcing it, they both returned to start over.  Fleet B started with one boat OCS and they also turned back to start correctly, All an excellent display of the Corinthian spirit!  All boats slowly tacked toward the first mark in a 5-6 knot breeze.  Around the first mark, the first A Fleet boat to round was Pegasus then  Aboriginal, Sweetheart, Yellow Belly, Interlude and Double Espresso.  B Fleet was led by Nidaros then TOAD, Pair A Dice, Sweet Pea, Makani, Animal House, Simpatico, Big Mac, Zoop, Kicks, Perfect 36 and  Hot Tuna.

After rounding Blacks, all boats made their way back to S/F.  When I set the finish line as an extension of JLH and S/F I was trying to set a line square to the direction from Blacks but with the direction of the dying wind changing, it made it easier to cross the line further out, which several boats did.  The first A Fleet boat to cross the line was Aboriginal 20:32, then Pegasus (closer to S/F) 21:37, Sweetheart  21:56, Yellow Belly 23:19, Double Espresso 24:05, Geronimo 24:36 and Interlude 24:39.  B Fleet was led by Nidaros 22:10, then Animal House 22:50, Makani 23:12, Zoop  24:45, Simpatico 26:04, Perfect 36 27:05, Sweet Pea 29:36, Hot Tuna 30:28, Big Mac 30:44, Pair A Dice 31:00, TOAD 31:13, and Kicks 32:42.  All times are elapsed and the course distance was 1.22 NM

With fog off in the distance to the East and our usual light wind Tuesday, the only thing that was different was the direction of the wind.   It was Tuesday with a Southern twist.

  PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                   CORRECTED TIME

FLEET A             

1             ABORIGINAL                                   33                          19:51

2             PEGASUS                                          78                          20:01

3             YELLOW BELLY                               141                       20:27

4             INTERUDE                                         141                       21:47

5             SWEETHEART                                 -6                           22:03

6             DOUBLE ESPRESSO                       99                          22:04

7             GERONIMO                                      87                          22:50

FLEET B:

1             NIDAROS                                          118                       19:46

2             MAKANI                                            147                       20:12

3             WIND II                                              213                       20:25

4             ANIMAL HOUSE                              108                       20:38

5             ZOOP                                                  144                       21:49

6             SIMPATICO                                       165                       22:42

7             PERFECT 36                                      144                       24:09

8             HOT TUNA                                        243                       25:31

9             BIG MAC                                           222                       26:13

10          SWEET PEA                                       165                       26:14

11          PAIR A DICE                                      180                       27:20

12          TOAD                                                 150                       28:10

13          KICKS                                                180                       29:02

 

RACE QS:

The track for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1017739&divisionId=99470&updatedAt=2024-06-12T01:51:19Z&dt=2024-06-11T17:37:41-07:00..2024-06-11T18:51:15-07:00&boat=Perf36&time=1718153943500&focus=Perf36&rival=Makani&tab=fleet&view=follow&lat=36.949634&lon=-121.995575&tilt=11&range=1883&heading=351

I learned something about Race QS this evening.  I preset the start as usual but left my phone on the chart table face down with the top of the phone pointed to the stern.  When I uploaded my track, the message  on my phone said “track successfully uploaded 100%”.   On the track, my avatar was stationary and never moved.  Race QS suggests mounting the phone face up close to the centerline with top of phone pointed toward the bow for recording the track.  I have heard of people keeping their phone in their pocket or casually tossing it down below.  This indicates to me that the stable position of the phone as described is critical to recording a good track. 

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 4, 2024 TYPICAL TUESDAY

 

JUNE 4, 2024

TYPICAL TUESDAY

I was encouraged, once  again, by the building  Easterly as the afternoon progressed.  Even as we left the harbor at 5pm the Easterly was strong enough that we were considering a course to SC3.  Knowing how wind can die, we set an offset mark to round after Blacks just in case it was needed. As boats filed out of the harbor the wind started dying and as the start time approached the wind was dead so we postponed for a few minutes to see what would happen. A suggestion was made to have a very short course: Start>Blacks> return to S/F line.  Within 5 minutes it seemed the wind was trying to come back so we blew the horn at 5:55 for an A fleet start at 6:00 and B fleet start at 6:05 with the wind building enough to propel boats slowly around the course.

The first A Fleet boat around Blacks was Sweetheart followed by Sagittarius, Interlude, Double Espresso, Duet, Perfect 36 and Aquavit.  B Fleet was lead around Blacks by Zoop then Avatar, Nidaros, Makani, Animal House, Kicks, Sweet Pea, Toad, Simpatico,  Pair A Dice, Big Mac and Wind Goddess.  As boats clawed their way slowly back to Blacks, the waves on the bow made progress even slower than usual.

The first A Fleet boat to finish was Aboriginal 20:01 then Interlude 23:49, Sweetheart 24:08, Double Espresso 26:27, Duet 26:20, Sagittarius 26:46, Aquavit 27:33, Perfect 36  37:37.  B  Fleet was led by Avatar 26:28  then Zoop  27:52, Nidaros 29:09, Sweet Pea 31:26, Animal House 31:52, Makani 32:15, Big Mac 36:14, Pair A Dice 36:23, Toad 36:42, Simpatico 36:53, Kicks 37:28 and Wind Goddess 43:56.

Despite the lack of good wind, it was a beautiful, warm evening on the water.  With just enough wind to slowly sail the short course, it turned into what has become a typical Tuesday.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                                   PHRF                  CORRECTED  TIME

FLEET A:

1             ABORIGINAL                                   33                         19:29

2             INTERLUDE                                     141                       21:36

3             DUET                                                 141                       24:03

4             SWEETHEART                                -6                           24:13

5             SAGITTARIUS                                 120                        24:53

6             DOUBLE ESPRESSO                      99                          24:54

7             PERFECT 36                                     144                       25:21

8             AQUAVIT                                         72                          26:25

FLEET B:

1             AVATAR                                              130                       24:43

2             ZOOP                                                  144                       25:36

3             WIND II                                               213                       27:08

4             NIDAROS                                           118                       27:18

5             SWEET PEA                                       165                       28:50

6             MAKANI                                            147                       29:56

7             ANIMAL HOUSE                              108                       30:10

8             BIG MAC                                           222                       32:45

9             PAIR A DICE                                     180                       33:33

10          SIMPATICO                                        165                       34:17

11          TOAD                                                  150                       34:21

12          KICKS                                                 180                       34:38

13          WIND GODDESS                               168                       51:18 

 

 RACE  QS:

It is inexplicable how this app works so well so often, then does not work.  I encourage everyone to record their finish time at the finish in case Race QS fails.  All finish lines are extensions of a line so it is easy  to sight and get your time.

The track  for this evening can be found at:

https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&divisionId=99183&updatedAt=2024-06-05T02:17:17Z&dt=2024-06-04T17:46:45-07:00..2024-06-04T19:17:04-07:00&boat=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&time=1717549501154&focus=SAILING%20PAIR%20A%20DICE&rival=Makani&tab=fleet&view=match

 

MARK OR FINISH LINE?

While designing  the course cards for this year, we discussed the fact that in the past we have always used the rounding of a mark as a finish which we thought was not appropriate.  A finish line should be a finish line!  For this reason we changed all courses to end  on a finish line that is  an extension  of two items such as Jetty Lighthouse through S/F.  This should help in crowded situations: use the finish line rather than round the mark.  Because Race QS is so hit or miss, this use of an extension makes it easy to record the time of your finish in  case Race QS fails.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice