JUNE 23, 2026
AWESOME WEST WIND
Predictions for the evening called for 12 knot winds
decreasing to 5 knots. When I got to the
harbor around one o’clock, the flags showed a stiff breeze. Observing the bay showed a nice 15 knot wind
sea state. As we were leaving the harbor
at 5pm the sea state looked more like 20
knots. We determined the direction of
the wind: 240 degrees. We set a line
square to this direction and called for course W1 and all fleets got off to
clean starts.
The wind never decreased as predicted and we had a great
sail in an awesome west wind.
SPINNY FLEET TRACK:
FLEET A TRACK:
FLEET B TRACK:
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
COURSE W1 DISTANCE 3.884 NM
PLACE BOAT PHRF ET CORRECTED
SPINNY FLEET:
1 PEGASUS 150 44:54 34:11
2 GONZO (NOT
REGISTERD IN TNS)
FLEET A:
1 ABORIGINAL 33 36:05 33:57
2 TRUE LOVE 72 39:25 34:45
3 ZOOP 144 44:53 35:34
4 SAGITTARIUS 120 44:22 36:36
5 MAIN
SQUEEZE 72 41:41 37:01
6 PERFECT 36 144 47:01 37:42
7 INTERLUDE 141 47:22 38:14
8 ROSIE 162 49:50 39:21
FLEET B:
1 TARA 243 52:53 37:09
2 SIMPATICO 165 49:13 38:32
3 AZOR 243 55:33 39:49
4 BIG MAC 222 54:15 39:53
5 GOLD RUSH 126 48:26 40:17
6 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 52:01 40:22
7 ABSOLUTE
05 117 49:47 42:13
8 PACIFIC
SPIRIT 165 54:00 43:19
9 FORTUNA 114 56:02 48:39
10 NIDAROS II 114 56:24 49:01
11 TOAD 150 1:02:07 52:24
12 MYSTIC 150 1:05:01 55:18
_)
_)
_) (_ (_
NEXT
TUESDAY IS THE LAST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH WHICH
IS BARBECUE
AFTER THE SAIL NIGHT AT THE CLUB. BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD TO ENJOY
AND SHARE. THIS IS A
GREAT
SOCIAL EVENT!
ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA
QUIZZ
True Wind is what you
feel
a) Only from the north
b) When you’re moving
c) When you’re not
moving
GYRE GYRATIONS
Tuesday, we sailed
course W-1 and it blew hard all the way around. Two weeks ago we sailed
W-1, but the easterly transition caught the fleet on the approach to BP and
turned the final leg into a scramble. At 0800 this Tuesday, the windsock at
Dominican Hospital was showing light northeasterly, but it never made an
appearance on the water. What gives?
The weather
phenomenon that produces the easterly is known as a “mesoscale gyre”. Or,
just a big circular eddy. Trust me, it’s a thing. It even has
its own acronym, SCE, for Santa Cruz Eddy. You can get a headache reading
the studies on-line done in the early 2,000’s. It attracted attention because
of its prevalence — 80 percent of afternoons in July and
August. Basically, the Santa Cruz Mountains block the standard
northwesterly, allowing Santa Cruz to warm. Warm air rises, lowering the
surface pressure, which sucks in the easterly. It doesn’t occur every day
because the depth of the marine layer is a big factor. If it’s shallow, the
flow is blocked and an easterly transition likely. If it’s deep, then it flows
inland, Santa Cruz stays cool, and there’s no suck — the westerly holds.
So, what about that
Dominican windsock? Well, gyres aren’t available in halves. They’re
complete circular systems. Just because the back half doesn’t manifest itself
on the race course doesn’t mean it’s not there. Scotts Valley often has
an easterly all day. This past Monday, at 1300, there was an 8 knot
easterly downtown on River St., while the westerly was just getting ramped up
at the Harbor. Stay tuned. We’re still in June Gloom. More interesting times
are on the horizon. The more Santa Cruz heats up, the stronger the gyre
becomes. If conditions are right it can even suck in a new character, the summer
northerly, for a cameo appearance.
THE RACE
A Fleet was a rerun.
Anytime it’s blowing hard, and you encounter a Sydney 38 with a fresh
bottom, and a dozen more bottoms on the rail, you might want to consider
heading for the bar early (bottoms up?). True Love got a
great start and gave it a shot, but the result was a forgone conclusion.
On Zoop, we had a good race with Sagittarius and P36,
but the leaders were long gone.
Wow, there was some good
racing in B Fleet. Gold Rush, Absolute, and Simpatico basically
raced boat for boat until the last leg. But, they all three fell victims to the
exception to the rule that big boats are faster in a breeze. The exception
being the Santana 22 Tara (no relation) which sailed an
excellent race (less distance) to correct out first.
I have to say that, I
think the racing in the B Fleet looked quite interesting. Since we were in A,
it’s hard to tell what sail combinations were effective. But it’s
probably safe to say they were many and varied. Reefing paid upwind, but those
two reaches exacted a penalty unless boats shook out their reefs. Final
thought: just imagine if Absolute (117), Sagittarius (120), Gold
Rush (126), Avatar (132), and Zoop and P36 (both
144) could actually all agree to start in the same fleet on the same day.
Forget Woodies on the Wharf; it’d be Retro Dinos Afloat!
Barry
Keeler
Sailing
Pair A Dice
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