APRIL 29, 2025 UPWIND BOTH WAYS

 

APRIL 29, 2024

UPWIND BOTH WAYS

While the wind was pumping through the afternoon, predictions were for decreasing wind as the evening progressed.  As we left the harbor at 5 PM there definitely was some good wind across the bay.  We determined the wind was coming from 240 degrees and set a start line square to this direction.  As we were seeing 12-18 knot winds we got a little aggressive calling for a longer course.  Someone pointed out the fog filling in around Capitola which  usually is a precursor for a developing Easterly.  As the clock ticked closer to the start, the wind was definitely dying, especially closer to shore.  We shortened the course calling for course Whiskey 5.  We blew the horn at 5:50 and saw Fleet A start with 10 boats charging off the line and Fleet B followed at 6pm as the wind was quickly dying.  Boats starting closer to S/F had much more wind than boats closer to shore.

All boats tacked their way toward Schuyler in the stronger wind further from the beach.  The rounding of Schuyler can be  very challenging and this evening was especially problematic with the developing Easterly battling with the Westerly creating a transition zone with Schuyler in the center.  Finally rounding Schuyler after a long upwind beat, we had another beat as the Easterly filled in with winds up to 15 knots.  Several boats chose to stay outside in the Westerly, while we sailed inside to be in the “new wind”.  It seems the boats that stayed outside did a little better.

At the finish, the first A Fleet boat was Aboriginal then Yellow Belly, Double Espresso and Rosie.  B Fleet was led by Zoop then Avatar, Pacific Spirit,  Pair a Dice, Big Mac, TOAD and Wind Goddess. 

With the sail to Schuyler in a good westerly breeze and the sail back to S/F being in an Easterly, we were sailing upwind both ways.

RACE QS:

There is a glitch in  the Race QS app.  Normally all boats are shown in the app on the computer, but for this week, only one boat is displayed at a time. I gathered as many boats as I could and also used the time conveyed to me for boat finish times.  If your boat is not counted in the results below and you have either your finish time or can get it from Race QS, please  let me know your finish time so I can add your results.

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:

PLACE                 BOAT                    PHRF   ELAPSED TIME              CORRECTED TIME

FLEET A:

1             ABORIGINAL                    33          33:44                                  32:25

2             YELLOW BELLY               141       43:19                                  37:48

3             DOUBLE ESPRESSO        99          44:49                                  40:55

4             ROSIE                                  162       54:02                                  46:41

FLEET B:

1             ZOOP                                    144       50:34                                  44:55

2             AVATAR                                132       50:57                                  45:44

3             PACIFIC SPIRIT                  165       54:10                                  47:42

4             BIG MAC                              222       56:30                                  47:48

5             SAILING PAIR A DICE        180       55:49                                  48:45

6             TOAD                                    150       58:03                                  52:10

7             WIND GODDESS                 168       1:11:18                              1:04:43

_)       _)                                                           _)                                     (_                                  (_

SAIL TOWARD THE NEW WIND?  

There is an axiom in sailing that says to sail toward the new, developing wind.  On PAD we followed this axiom after rounding Schuyler.   While we did get some good wind, the better tactic was to use the outside westerly to get to an angle to use the new Easterly to get to the finish.   Lesson learned! Don’t always follow axioms.  Consider all factors when making tactical decisions.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice