JUNE 16, 2026 IT'S WELL TO HAVE NO SWELL

 

JUNE 16, 2026

IT’S WELL TO HAVE NO SWELL

With last Tuesday’s race being cancelled because of a large south swell slamming up the harbor, I was itching for a sail.  This feeling was shared in our group as  I received several calls to see if we were racing today.  Predictions were for another, more powerful swell to hit for this Tuesday also.  I was anxious and went to the harbor around 10 in the morning to see how things were shaping up.  With such wild predictions, I was surprised to see the harbor mouth with very little surf, even after observing for over 45 minutes.  I consulted with one of my “brain trust” and he had the same impression from watching the harbor cam.  I sent an email out to let the Tuesday sailors know that we were racing.

As we left the harbor at 5, it looked like a powerful Westerly wind was showing on the flags, but the sea state looked more like 13-15 knots.  We determined the wind direction to be about 235 and set a line close to square to this.  We called for course W3: Start>Schuyler>Mile>Gov>finish at S/F and blew the 15 minute horn. It was great to be on the water racing again and we had just enough wind to finish the race. When I was an active surfer, I could never have thought there would be a time I would say it’s well to have no swell.

Spinny fleet track can be reviewed at:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Spinny%20Fleet&race=16.6.2026%2017:50:00&language=en

Fleet A track:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20A&race=16.6.2026%2017:55:00&language=en

Fleet B:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=16.6.2026%2018:00:00&language=en

 

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:  COURSE W3  DISTANCE 3.894NM

PLACE                  BOAT                      PHRF         ET              CORRECTED

SPINNY FLEET:

1            FRISKY                                        72          38:06                  32:50

2            PEGASUS                                    150       43:20                  33:36

A FLEET:

1            ABORIGINAL                              33          36:47                  34:38

2            ZOOP                                             144       44:52                  35:31

3            MAIN SQUEEZE                          72          41:23                  36:42

4            PERFECT 36                                  144       47:31                  38:10

5            TRUE LOVE                                  72          44:18                  39:38

6            ROSIE                                             162       52:38                  42:07

B FLEET:

1            GOLD RUSH                                 126       46:42                  38:31

2            BIG MAC                                       222       53:09                  38:44

3            MAKANI                                       147       49:54                  40:22

4            NIDAROS II                                  114       48:33                  41:09

5            SAILING PAIR A DICE                180       53:02                  41:21

6            TARA                                              243       57:55                  42:09

7            SIMPATICO                                   165       53:12                  42:29

8            AZOR                                              243       1:00:27             44:41

9            PACIFIC SPIRIT                            165       55:35                  44:52

10          BLUE FIN                                       243       1:00:48             45:02

11          WIND GODDESS                          163       56:08                  45:33

12          AVATAR                                          132       58:54                  50:20

13          FORTUNA                                      114       1:03:17             55:53

14          MYSTIC                                          150       1:13:24             1:03:40

ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA

A PARENT WIND

In days of yore, in junior El Toros at Pinto Lake, one Sunday a month was Regatta Day. And one race in that regatta was a multiple choice quiz of around 20 questions.  It was non-discardable, i.e., in order to do well in the regatta, (and the series) you had to know some stuff. I had fun making up those quizzes.    Stand by:

 

Apparent wind is the wind you feel 

a) When you are standing still

b) When your mom tells you to clean your room

c) When you are moving.

 

KLUMPITY, KLUMP, KLUMP

KLUMP = kelp + clump. In spite of the Beach Boys, not all vibrations are good. The recent heavy south swell and high tides uprooted a lot of kelp and the Express 37 True Love harvested some Tuesday.  Her skipper, Paul Yost, felt vibration through the tiller but nothing was visible trailing astern. A large klump was jammed on the rudder’s leading edge right up against the hull. It made a huge difference. Main Squeeze, the other Express 37, just sailed away. It was great for us on Zoop too, back a few lengths. We spent the whole race critiquing their “poor” sail trim and thinking we were really kicking ass. (Oh well.) We figured it out eventually, when we pulled in next to them and half their crew was prostrate on the dock, like a bunch of sea lions, peering under the boat.  (I’m assuming they avoided the hot wire.) Moral of the story, watch out for klumps anstick but, in our short races, basically you’re screwed. All boats are compromises. Express 37’s, rate 72, partly due to their efficient foils, with more vertical leading edges. Zoop rates 144, but she sheds it — It’s a trade off — weed for speed.

 

THE NEED FOR SPEED

The big difference in the A Fleet was that while we, aboard Zoop, spent the entire time thinking we were really kicking ass, Aboriginal was actually doing it.  She made a good port tack start, called a perfect lay line, and made Schuyler with only one tack. She sailed the shortest distance, a knot faster than Zoop (four tacks). More and more, I’m inclined to think when there’s breeze, Aboriginal’s advantage lies in her superior VMG to weather. Her speed increases the efficiency of her very high aspect keel, allowing her to make less leeway.  The advantage fades in light air as her restricted headsails and greater wetted surface become more critical.

 

In the B Fleet, Gold Rush proved once again that old is gold in moderate air. Big Mac nailed the start and was able to tack away on port, but the nearly 60 year old C&C design’s low wetted surface and generous sail plan enabled her to sail away from the fleet. That was good as she only corrected out ahead of Big Mac by 13  seconds.  Back in the pack, PAD exhibited the best lane discipline, steadily gaining on the reaches until the leg to the finish. Then, she got antsy and tried to pass Simpatico to weather, resulting in a luffing match. Meanwhile Big Mac ate both their lunches by sailing the direct compass course.  Yum.   

 

Thank you Paul!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 2, 2026 GREAT WIND WITH A TRANSITION

 

JUNE 2, 2026

GREAT WIND WITH A TRANSITION

As usual, predictions for the evening were mixed, calling for 15 knot winds decreasing through the evening.  Reports from sailors who had been out indicated an increasing wind through the afternoon.  As we left the harbor at 5, there was a consistent breeze coming from 250 degrees, BUT also a fog bank drifting in to Capitola which can indicate a sudden shift to an Easterly Breeze.  We set a start line that, though not perfect, would work for the Westerly if it maintained but also would work for an Easterly.

With the Westerly maintaining, all 3 fleets got off to clean starts sailing course W1.  On the run from Mile to Blacks, we saw boats flying spinnakers on a building Easterly.  It was an evening of great wind with a transition.

SPINNY FLEET TRACK CAN BE REVIEWED AT:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Spinny%20Fleet&race=2.6.2026%2017:50:00&language=en

FLEET A CAN BE REVIEWED AT:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20A&race=2.6.2026%2017:55:00&language=en

FLEET B:

https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793&regatta=Tues%20Fleet%20B&race=2.6.2026%2018:00:00&language=en

PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:  COURSE W1  DISTANCE 3.884NM

PLACE    BOAT                                   PHRF                     ET                          CORRECTED TIME

SPINNY FLEET:

1             INTERLUDE                        141                       59:538                  50:45

FLEET A:

1             ABORIGINAL                      33                        48:32                    46:24

2             WATTS MOORE                 150                       57:57                    48:14

3             ZOOP                                   144                       57:40                    48:21

4             TRUE LOVE                         72                        54:52                    50:12

5             PAC HIGH                           96                          57:06                    50:53

6             SAGITTARIUS                     120                       58:52                   51:06

7             SOPHIE                                141                       1:00:29                 51:21

8             DOUBLE ESRESSO             99                        58:05                    51:40

9             PERFECT 36                        144                       1:01:23                 52:04

10           ROSIE                                  162                       1:03:40                 53:11

11           MAIN SQUEEZE                 72                         58:09                    53:29

12           KEMOSABE                         81                        1:01:19                56:04

FLEET B:

1             SIMPATICO                         165                       58:24                    47:43

2             TARA                                    243                       1:04:14                48:30

3             BIG MAC                             222                       1:02:56                48:34

4             MAKANI                             147                       58:32                    49:01

5             SAILING PAIR A DICE      180                       1:00:50                49:11

6             AZOR                                   243                       1:05:12                49:28

7             PACIFIC SPIRIT                 165                       1:02:19                51:38

8             WIND GODDESS               163                       1:03:04                52:31

9             NIDAROS                            114                       1:01:20                53:57

10           BLOND AMBITION           100                       1:05:07                58:39

              _)                                          _)                             (_       (_

ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA



SMORGASBORD!

 

Tuesday’s race had something for everyone.  If you like varying conditions, it was a banquet. Recently I referred to the “Santa Cruz Eddy” as an atmospheric whirlpool. It certainly stirred the pot this week, starting with a fake — fog in Capitola — hinting at an impending easterly. But Barry didn’t bite, and his choice of W-1 offered some great racing.  If you remembered that hint.

 

The first leg was a standard westerly with significant pressure offshore, nearer the fog.  In the A Fleet, the port end of the line was favored, allowing  Watts Moore and Pacific High to make port tack starts and appear to leave the fleet in the dust. But their early advantage dissipated as their initial tack carried them into less wind inshore (another hint). That was the choice of entrees for the evening — the shift inshore, or more breeze offshore. A predictable menu, we thought, given the time of day.

 

The westerly held for the next leg, serving up the usual broad reach parade to MB. But it also provided more hints. The breeze did not veer or  increase dramatically, as it often does on the approach to MB.  The gusts lacked the hard, cold edge one associates with a determined westerly, and our jibe at the mark was almost anticlimactic. As we approached it, I told the crew, “This race is going to get weird.”

 

Which brings us to the next leg. Sometimes the shortest distance isn’t the fastest. As far as we could tell, the first person to sense the impending weirdness was Paul Yost on True Love. I’m not sure (I haven’t spoken with him) but I bet he was feeling some faint vibe from his junior days in Lasers, when he would  go low, and then reach in hot to Black Point.  I’ve done the same thing countless times in 5o5’s, dropping the kite at the last minute, and reaching in with the crew on the wire beneath the fleet. “Reaching in hot”  in an Islander 36 is an oxymoron if there ever was one. Nevertheless it didn’t take us long to get the jib poled out to port — the minute it filled we began to gain on the boats around us. We stayed low and outside, until we saw the boats ahead stall out in the transition, dropped the pole, coasted — sometimes displacement pays — through a tack onto starboard, and close reached to BP. (Transitioning into the new wind dead to leeward of the next mark is not a good plan.)

 

We rounded close astern of Pacific High and Main Squeeze as the last leg went from an entree to a potluck. Recalling the fog in Capitola earlier, we bet the easterly was going to fill hard, and immediately set the pole to starboard as they jib reached inshore.  When they jibed onto port, we jibed also and I was surprised to find we could not carry the pole —  the wind had shifted to the south — a phenomenon that often precedes a transition. Which, of course, is exactly what happened, right at the finish line, allowing several boats astern to close in. In transitions, Zoop often asserts her true personality, turns sulky and quickly looses steerage.  Fortunately, this time she was pointing inshore, allowing us to save our bacon at the last minute by catching the next easterly fill, and nipping across just seconds ahead of Watts Moore.

 

In the B Fleet, the pot luck was served up slightly sooner, about halfway to BP, but the racing was just as close. Simpatico won, by staying low and outside, while Tara corrected out over Big Mac by just 4 seconds, and Makani over PAD by 10 seconds.   

 

THANK YOU PAUL

I  am looking forward to next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice