AUGUST 11, 2026
PERFECT EVENING FOR A
SAIL
With dismal predictions for the wind, I was pleasantly
surprised to see a 12-13 knot wind filling the bay. We saw the wind was from 240 degrees and set
a line square to this and called for course W4 again. The wind stayed with us for the whole course
with all boats finishing. It was a perfect evening for a sail! See the Zoop Scoop below for the full recap.
Spinnaker Fleet track can be reviewed at:
A Fleet track:
B Fleet track can be seen at:
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
COURSE W4 DISTANCE 2.929 NM
PLACE BOAT PHRF ET CORRECTED TIME
SPINNY FLEET:
1 PEGASUS 150 32:42 25:23
2 INTERLUDE 141 33:28 26:35
3 SAGITTARIUS 120 32:30 26:38
4 ROSIE 162 35:29 27:34
5 DOUBLE
ESPRESSO 99 32:53 28:03
6 KEMOSABE 81 37:55 33:58
FLEET A:
1 ZOOP 144 34:23 27:21
2 ABORIGINAL 33 29:19 27:42
3 FLEXI
FLYER 96 34:07 29:26
4 GOOD TIMIN’ 141 36:27 29:34
5 WATTS
MOORE 150 37:08 29:49
6 MAIN
SQUEEZE 72 33:31 30:00
7 QUIXOTIC 57 35:21 32:34
8 WIND II 213 49:37 39:13
FLEET B:
1 BIG MAC 222 40:10 29:20
2 SIMPATICO 165 38:07 30:04
3 PACIFIC
SPIRIT 165 39:57 31:54
4 TARA 243 44:18 32:26
5 NIDAROS II 118 39:48 34:02
6 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 42:52 34:05
7 TOAD 150 43:03 35:44
ZOOP
SCOOP BY PAUL TARA:
QUIZ
Last
Week:
What
kind of boat is this (see photo):
a)
a custom Merritt 25
b) a Moore 24 Quarter-Tonner
c)
a home-built MORC racer
Answer: c) but another trick question: it’s a Moore 24 MORC racer — not home built.
As
this is being written, there are OVER 70 Moore 24’s entered in
the class’s 50th anniversary Nationals at the end of September. Unique
among them will be, Color Blind, #49, one of only three built
with this modified companionway to satisfy the minimum headroom requirement of
the MORC (Midget Ocean Racing Club) Rule. All three initially went to the
East Coast. George Olson originally designed Grendel, the class’s
prototype, for competing in San Francisco MORC races. Subsequent rule
changes, like this one, made her obsolete.
Rating
rules have always been one of the most dominant influences on yacht design,
resulting in all sorts of strange characteristics and terms. For example, the
term “Quarter Tonner” (an IOR Level Rating Class similar in size to a Moore 24)
has nothing whatsoever to do with weight. It’s an anachronism from the days
when English yachts were rated (and taxed) using an estimate of the number of
tuns (wine casks) they could carry. As might be expected, this encouraged some
fairly extreme design choices, resulting in what became known as the
“plank-on-edge” type. A 50 footer might only have a beam of 6’ with a
draft of over 12’. Lots of tons (75% ballast/disp!) but few tuns. Just
imagine a SC 50, with half the freeboard, more sail area, a 20’ bowsprit, and a
6’ of beam. Yike!
This
Week:
Moore
24 minimum class weight is:
a)
2,875 lbs.
b)
2,125 lbs.
c)
2,050 lbs
THE
RACE
Spectacular
is the only way to describe the conditions. Full power across the course,
with no spray on deck. Fog edge straight to Aptos with no hint of an easterly.
Usually, when the fog line is straight that close in, the westerly holds well
into the evening. Aboard Zoop we experienced a first.
While beating to Schuyler, we were drafted by a Surf Ski kayak. He was
able to stay about 4’ astern for several minutes — smiling the whole time.
Spinnaker
Fleet seems to be growing. They had 6 boats, including Sagittarius. She finished
first, but didn’t leave a track. On the beat Rosie broke away
onto port first and almost made it pay, but couldn’t quite get past Kemosabe on
the lay line to Schuyler. If she had, her race might have been much
different. Expect the number of boats in this fleet to increase as the
Moore 24 Nationals approach.
A
Fleet had 8 boats. For the first time in weeks, Watts Moore failed
to achieve a perfect port tack start — the rest of the fleet actually
decided to show up on time! Aboriginal got the starboard end,
and proceeded to sail away upwind with a much higher VMG. This put her
far enough in the lead that her wind shadow wasn’t a factor for Zoop,
which managed to just hang with Main Squeeze to the layline.
Once around, it was all down to not sailing any extra distance, and not
engaging with other boats. Gold Star in this fleet goes to Perfect 36 (which
won jib & main in Sunday’s Day on the Bay Regatta). She took a DNF
because she thought she was OCS. She was not. But, in my
opinion, she did right thing. Not every boat has the latest technology to
tell her where the line is. She’s a great competitor and deserves extra
respect from the fleet. Honorable mention goes to Relma,
Moore 24 # 5, which made her racing “re-debut” after years on the hard, with
owner Walter Oliveri at the tiller.
B
Fleet had 7 boats. Like Rosie, Big Mac was first
onto port, and she did make it pay. She rounded Schuyler right with the larger
boats and sailed two very smart reaches to correct out first over Simpatico.
Overall, Big Mac sailed a tenth of a mile less
distance than the rest of the fleet. Plus, in those conditions, there’s not
a lot to choose, between a Moore and Big Mac when
jib-reaching. The Gold Star goes to Toad, which fouled Tara in
a port/starboard and immediately executed a penalty turn. “Spin and sail on,”
is the college sailing coaches credo.
Thanks Paul
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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