APRIL 28, 2026
IT DOESN’T GET BETTER
THAN THIS
Predictions for the evening indicated 16 knot breeze with
gusts to 19 and decreasing through the evening.
When we left the harbor shortly after 5, there was a beautiful 13-16
knots of wind across the bay. The wind
was coming from 240 and we set a line square to this. With such great wind we called for a long
course Whisky 1 and blew the “15 minute horn” at 5:45. As the clock ticked down
for the B fleet start the wind was increasing to a steady 20 knot plus and a
few boats put in reefs. All boats had
clean starts and made there way around the course as the wind started to
decrease to 13 knots. Still a nice
breeze to sail in. It Doesn’t get better
than this!
Jennifer Kinsman photo
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS: COURSE W1
DISTANCE 3.884NM
PLACE BOAT PHRF ET CORRECTED
SPINNY FLEET
1 PEGASUS 78 42:53 37:50
FLEET A
1 HEARTBEAT 12 36:57 36:10
2 TRUE LOVE 72 41:05 36:25
3 INTERLUDE 141 46:35 37:27
4 ZOOP 144 46:52 37:32
5 SAGITTARIUS 120 45:28 37:41
6 FLEXI
FLYER 96 43:55 37:42
7 AQUAVIT 72 44:14 39:34
8 WATTS
MOORE 150 51:14 41:31
9 QUIXOTIC 57 59:40 55:58
10 WINDLUST 66 1:05:01 1:00:44
FLEET B
1 GOLD RUSH 126 50:45 42:35
2 PERFECT 36 144 52:23 43:03
3 BIG MAC 222 58:54 44:31
4 SIMPATICO 165 56:58 46:17
5 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 58:30 46:50
6 ABSOLUTE05 117 55:24 47:49
7 SWEET PEA 163 1:01:49 51:15
8 NIDAROS 114 59:36 52:13
9 AVATAR 132 1:01:24 52:51
10 AZOR 243 1:09:43 53:59
Spinny Fleet track can be viewed at:
A Fleet track can be seen at:
Fleet B track can be seen at:
THE ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA
THE MOST COMMON SIN
Joe Duplin, a Star world champion, and the coach at Tufts,
preached the 7 most common mistakes to be avoided by college sailors. He
believed that if a boat avoided these errors, it almost guaranteed a finish at
or near the top of the fleet. Care to guess which is the most difficult to
avoid off Santa Cruz? Here they are:
1. Don’t be late to the start.
2. Don’t be over early.
3. Don’t hit a mark.
4. Don’t foul another boat.
5. Don’t sail the wrong course.
6. Don’t over-stand the weather mark.
7. Don’t capsize.
I hope you chose number 6, over-standing the weather mark; all the rest are
gimmes. This Tuesday, about two-thirds of the way up the beat, we were on
starboard, about three lengths abeam and to weather of Sagittarius, when we got
a slight header and tacked away, to get further to the right, “up inside, on
the layline”. Sagittarius stayed on starboard, was eventually lifted up, and
squeezed around the mark. We rounded well behind, having lost them, as
well as Interlude, Aquavit, and Flexi. If you look at our “route” on RH, we
sailed almost an extra quarter mile we didn’t need to.
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve “misunderstood” that
persistent shift off Lighthouse Point, I could afford a new jib. In the old
days, in 5o5’s, Dennis Surtees, the reigning NA champion, used to say, “When
you smell the sea lion crap on Seal Rock, tack, you’re on the lay line.”
The only problem now is things have changed; the mark is no longer in
that spot, and the sea lions have all moved to under the Wharf. (And even that is
shorter!) But, calling the starboard lay-line is still one of the most critical
parts of the race. If the fog’s in and the breeze is dying, the shift
may not be there, but if there’s a strong westerly, odds are it will be.
How much, is the critical question. If you tack early onto
starboard and can’t lay, you’re committed to a final approach on port, possibly
in traffic (remember, if you tack inside the 3 boat-length zone, you
essentially have no rights). But, if you play it safe and join the starboard
tack parade, you risk over-standing. That’s because the lift, usually increases
as you approach the mark, and the fact that, as boats join the parade, they
often “go just a little further” before tacking, rather than sail in the bad
air of the boat ahead. Which, of course, leads to each boat over-standing just
a teensy bit more.
CLOSE RACING
In the A fleet, Heartbeat only beat True Love by 15
seconds, and the total spread between 3rd and 6th place was another 15 seconds.
Interlude beat Zoop by 5 seconds and Sagittarius beat Flexi by one second.
In the B fleet, Pacific Spirit beat Big Mac by 9 seconds.
Unfortunately Gold Rush, which lead all of the way, recorded a track, but
not a finish. Too fast for her own good, apparently.
I hope to see you sailing next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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