OCTOBER 6, 2026
OCTOBER FOG
As warm as it has been inland, I was certain that an
Easterly would set in early. As we left the harbor at 5pm, there was a nice
Westerly filling the bay. In
anticipation of an Easterly filling in we set an offset mark for course
E4. As the clock ticked down, the
Westerly was hanging on, so we called for course W5. Then at about 5:50 the wind started changing
to a southerly so we postponed the race changing the course to E4 with a “15
minute horn” sounded at 6:00. All was
well with a nice Easterly filling in until the dense fog set in presenting a
challenge in finding the marks. We were
sailing in a Santa Cruz October fog.
In the Zoop Scoop, Paul notes how the finishes were
distorted and not very accurate in RH. I have done my best to correct the
finish time with only a couple of changes in results.
Spinny Fleet track:
https://www.regattahero.com/mapviewer/?organisation=scyc&passcode=233793®atta=Tues%20Spinny%20Fleet&race=6.10.2026%2018:04:57&language=en&defaultspeed=5&loop=no
Fleet A track:
Fleet B track:
PHRF ADJUSTED RESULTS:
COURSE E4 DISTANCE 1.377 NM
PLACE BOAT PHRF ET CORRECTED TIME
SPINNY FLEET:
1 FRISKY 81 20:54 19:02
FLEET A:
1 ABORIGINAL 33 19:09 18:24
2 YELLOW
BELLY 141 22:18 19:04
3 MAIN
SQUEEZE 72 21:32 19:53
4 SAGITTARIUS 120 23:06 20:21
5 ZOOP 144 23:19 20:00
6 PERFECT 36 144 26:12 22:53
7 AQUAVIT 72 26:15 24:35
Fleet B:
1 BIG MAC 222 22:43 17:37
2 NIDAROS 120 21:40 18:54
3 MAKANI 147 23:57 20:35
4 TARA 243 27:35 22:09
5 AZOR 243 27:52 22:17
6 SIMPATICO 165 26:08 22:20
7 TOAD 150 26:05 22:38
8 KICKS 180 27:21 23:13
9 SAILING
PAIR A DICE 180 27:45 23:37
ZOOP SCOOP BY PAUL TARA
QUIZ
Last
Week:
Sick
of hearing about the Moore 24 Nationals and Moore’s Reef yet? Me too. To
conclude, here’s a final bit of historical Reef trivia. What very well
known racing yacht was reborn at “The Reef”?
a)
Grendel
b)
Angelita
c)
Illusion
The
correct answer is c) IIllusion, Cal 40 # 57, that spent 7 years
“out back” as a complete derelict. (Quite near, in fact, the spot where Grendel’s hull
plug had been buried in the weeds.) Purchased by Stan Honey and Sally Lindsay
in 1988, her rebirth took two more years. But once she was back in commission,
it wasn’t long before she began racking up wins. Single-handed, double-handed,
fully crewed — didn’t matter. Finally, after 33 years, they capped their
ownership by winning the prestigious 2022 Newport Bermuda Race. I know of no
other modern yacht with as long and successful a record.
This
Week:
On
a free leg of the course, a port tack boat is being overtaken by a starboard
tack boat:
a)
the overtaking boat must keep clear
b)
there’s no entry fee for this leg
c)
the port tack boat must keep clear
THE
RACE — “A Commedie della Fog”. Barry made the right call with
postponing for the easterly, but he couldn’t do anything about the visibility.
However, RH didn’t quite keep up on the course change. I became suspicious
after Zoop had a “photo finish” with Sagittarius. She owes
us 24 seconds a mile, but corrected out 20 seconds ahead. A glance at our track
revealed the cause. The normal finish line for boats coming from the east (BP)
is an extension of the line from the Harbor Lighthouse through S/F. But
last night, for reasons known only to the ether, the finish line was set parallel
to the course to the first mark. As a result, many boats that assumed
the line was perpendicular to the course, failed to finish until they finally
turned for the Harbor (some almost sailed completely past the line). One
Santana 22, did exactly that, and went off for a cruise in the fog. Now, of
course, the question is will Chris Hoffman ask AI to recalculate the results
with the correct finish line? Or can RH do it on its own?
Fog
adds another dimension and can be dangerous. Sea fog can form very rapidly. It
is often misperceived as an already formed bank moving towards you. But,
what is actually happening is warm, moisture laden air contacting the cool sea
surface causes instant droplets to condense. The fog is literally growing
around you. Moist air from recent tropical disturbances can make this
phenomenon more likely. It does seem to occur more often during the fall and
winter months. Once enveloped, failure to heed your compass can lead to
rapid and complete disorientation. This is particularly true when focused on
the jib tell-tales — keep checking your bearing. Above all, remember
Honda Point, when, in 1923, in dense fog, seven US Navy destroyers, ignored
their best navigational info and followed one another onto the rocks at 20 at
knots. As I’m writing this at 0900 Wednesday, it’s perfectly clear.
Spinnaker
Fleet — 3 boats. 2/3 of the fleet set their kites before their start and
sailed off towards the setting sun, leaving Frisky to complete the
course on her own.
A
Fleet — 9 Boats. Main Squeeze nailed the start and led Aboriginal
at BP, while the rest of the fleet was thankful they appeared to know where
they were going. Gotta’ love that Navionics. Aboriginal passed Main
Squeeze on the reach to the offset mark and was able to extend enough to
correct out ahead of the SC 27 Yellow Belly, which passed Sagittarius
at the jibe at the offset. Aboriginal gets the gold star for overcoming
engine failure and sailing out and back into her slip. Not a big deal in a
Santana or Moore 24, but you try it in a 40 footer.
B
Fleet — 13 boats. Toad made the best start, and was doing quite
well until she over-stood BP in the fog. Nidaros rounded BP first,
followed by the ever opportunistic Big Mac which held on to
correct out first. Toad rounded 5th but was able to pass Simpatico
just after the jibe mark. She was clearly ahead on the approach to the finish
but then things got weird because of the skewed line.
Thank you Paul.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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