OCTOBER 13, 2015: JUST ENOUGH WIND

TUESDAY OCTOBER 13, 2015

JUST ENOUGH WIND

My first sight of the ocean on my way to the boat was very depressing, unless you were interested in water skiing on the bay.  Dead glass as far as I could see.  We got to the boat and prepped it for the evening.  As we left the harbor, there still was no hint of wind.  We all motored out to the start buoy, and on Pair A Dice, we hoisted the sail just for the exercise.  As the boat sat motionless in the water, those that were observant felt just a wisp of wind on their face.  We adjusted the boat for a better approach to the wind and though the water was dead glass, I noticed we were actually ghosting along at 2 to 3 knots.  I didn’t even have my radio on and one of the boats we were close to inquired “what course? what time? Do you have your radio on?” Time to wake up and sail.  The start time was determined to be 6:05 and with the light breeze we were experiencing I called for course 12A: Start, Blacks and back to finish/start. 

At the start Pair a Dice was third to go over the line, right after Pacific Spirit with Kicks in the lead.  Many boats had sat this night out and we only had 5 boats out for the fun.   I had Fred Molnar on the helm and as our three boats approached blacks, Pair a Dice was attempting to get an inside overlap on Pacific Spirit.  Pacific Spirit had to give Kicks room at the mark since they were overlapped inside,  Kicks did not perform a tight rounding of the mark and drove Pacific Spirit further away from the mark.  Fred saw his opportunity and drove for a tight rounding of the mark, taking advantage of what he calls “room freely given at the mark”.   Suddenly, we were in first place on the way back to the finish mark.  At the finish, it was Pair A Dice, followed by Pacific Spirit and Kicks, the Saber 34 and Toad.  We all had a great time enjoying the beautiful sunset over the water.

Tactics:

Taking advantage of opportunities.  Having been the recipient of Fred’s “taking advantage of room freely given” move before, I had a great discussion with him about this move.  It definitely requires quick appreciation of an opportunity and then acting on that opportunity.  I expressed my apprehension over having the door slammed on me, which could easily have happened.   Fred said if you are the boat preparing to “slam the door” look at the other boat and hail “do NOT even think about going in there!”.   This move requires quick recognition of the opportunity, quick action to take advantage and then having a plan if everything does not work the way as planned.  On this night the move worked flawlessly.  It was much more fun being on the boat executing the move than being on the receiving end! It is amazing what a proper rounding of a mark can do for your position.

We have two more Tuesdays.  Let’s make it out early next week also.

See you next week.  

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

OCTOBER 6, 2015: BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN NIGHT

  OCTOBER 6, 2015

BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN NIGHT

As we approach the end of the season, all we can hope for is decent wind to fill our short evening sails.  This evening did not disappoint us.  We were all early getting to the harbor and by 5:40 most of the boats were out.  We called for course 3: Start, Wharf, Blacks and start finish. Stefan was steering Pair A Dice and we executed a decent start closer to the buoy than most of the boats.  Most of the boats started further down the line from the buoy, so they were windward of us but a little behind.  It did not matter because we had the one crucial element going for us: unobstructed, clear air!  One by one the boats all tacked over for the inside track along the beach.  We sailed a little further out and tacked over also.  The wind seemed to be as consistent outside as it was inside, so it should not have made much difference. When we crossed  with Pacific Spirit the first time, it was close but they were  just slightly ahead as  they were on the crossing just before rounding Wharf.

After rounding wharf, or objective was to steal the wind from Pacific Spirit.  About a third of the way to Blacks, we started to see their jib collapse as we finally succeeded.  Just as this happened, Pacific Spirit Jibed  and headed straight toward the beach.  We were tempted to cover them, but the consensus was that there was more wind outside.  It looked good initially, but ultimately our wind died as the inside wind filled in.  Pacific Spirit rounded Blacks comfortably ahead of us.  On the way back to start, we gained a little on them, but it looked like they crossed the finish line about one and a half minutes in front of us.  We were followed by Emeritus, Kicks, Aeolian and Sea Quake.

Tactics:

When discussing sailing tactics, it is commonly said to stay between your competition and the next mark.  It is also a basic tenant to stay with your competition.  Tonight would have been a little more interesting if Pair A Dice had followed this concept.  We had Pacific Spirit in our shadow and instead of jibing when they jibed, we second guessed and thought there was more wind outside.  We gave up a golden opportunity to continue to steal their wind all the way to blacks.  The point is if you stay with your competition, even if they sail into less wind, you can block their wind and have a better chance to pass them. 

Rule 13:

A couple of blogs ago I brought up rule 13.  In essence this rule says while tacking you must stay clear of another boat until you are on a closed hauled course.  My perception was that a “close hauled course” was achieved when sails were all in and you are sailing on your new tack.  I asked a sailing judge what a “close hauled course means”.  He said the trim of the sails is not considered in this discussion.  What is considered is the angle of sail the boat is heading on.  In other words, if your tacking angle is 90 degrees and your boat has turned 90 degrees, you are on a close hauled course regardless of how well the sails are trimmed.  

The season is coming to an end and the evenings are getting shorter.  Lets get out as eary as possible next week also.

See you out there next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

SEPTEMBER 29, 2015: THE NEXT STEP IN SAILING

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2015

THE NEXT STEP IN SAILING

I am sorry I was AWOL for this last Tuesday night.  Sometimes vacations get in the way of important things.  I hope the sail and the barbecue at the yacht club went well.

  I know we all are having a blast competing on Tuesday night.  It doesn’t matter if you are battling it out for first or just trying not to be last, I sense we are all having fun.  It is also very apparent we are all bringing our game up and learning a lot about sailing and everything it entails: boat handling, sail trim, rules etc.  It is incredibly fun for me to see the novices at the beginning of the season, not knowing the rules and staying away from the clump of boats fighting for the start line.  By the end of the season, the start line gets very crowded as these novices learn and become more aggressive.  It does not hurt that we have an excellent contingent of sailors in our group for all of us to learn from. This is what our Catalina Tuesdays is all about, improving our sailing abilities.  What is the next step?

Why not progress to racing in a sanctioned regatta?  I would like to take this opportunity to ameliorate some of the fears that people may have about sanctioned regattas.  There are two things you must do before you can enter one of these sanctioned regattas.  You must get a PHRF certificate and you must have a sailing affiliation.

To get a PHRF certificate, you fill out a form from the Monterey Bay PHRF committee.  Forms are available at the yacht club.  On this form, you provide the particulars of your boat.  If you are a class boat like a Catalina most of the information is on file (length, beam).  The particulars for your boats are the sails you use.  What is the biggest Jib you use?  Are you a tall rig?  What type of prop do you have? You provide all of this data and turn the form in with $20.  This is renewable each year, so if you have made changes you can let them know to change your PHRF rating.  For my boat, I have a folding prop and use up to a 155 jib and my rating is 180.  PHRF is simply a way to compare your performance to every other boat. To put it in perspective, if I was racing against a boat with a PHRF of 0 and the race from start to finish is 1 mile. If I crossed the finish line 2 minutes and 59 seconds after the 0 PHRF boat, I would win the race by 1 second. 

Having a sailing affiliation is another necessary step to enter a regatta.  If you have not joined SCYC, now might be the time to do it.  It is usually only $1000 to join and $500 a year.  If you are not inclined to join SCYC, the least expensive way to establish a sailing affiliation is to join US Sail which is usually about $30 a year.

Any regatta you enter in Santa Cruz will be conducted by the Santa Cruz Yacht Club.  Sailors in Santa Cruz are incredibly blessed to have such a professional, dedicated group of people that work very hard to conduct races that are run incredibly well.  If you are a sailor living in the Santa Cruz area who is interested in improving their sailing and racing skills, to not take advantage of this opportunity does not make sense.  If you have been sailing on Tuesdays and been following this blog, you already know the rules, though diligence in following the rules may be a little more important in a sanctioned regatta.

Another thing that may seem intimidating to the uninitiated is the starting sequence.  All those flags and horns.  What do they all mean?  I will cover this in a future blog.

The season is winding down.  It is getting dark earlier, so let’s be early (but not OCS) to the start line.

See you out there next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

CATALINAS SAILING MONTEREY BAY: SEPTEMBER 22 HOT SEPTEMBER NIGHT

September 22, 2015

HOT SEPTEMBER NIGHT

One thing I have found is that you can never predict what the wind will do in Santa Cruz.  I realized I had the 135 jib on the boat and when I showed up and saw an Easterly wind filling in, knew we needed the 155!  I got to the boat and everyone was kicking back getting reacquainted after time away from each other.  When I asked if the 155 was on, everyone sprung to life!  Captai

n Bligh had barked orders! I guess only the owner can make decisions on sail change.  Everyone knew what needed to be done and we set for the task at hand. By 5:25 we had the jib swapped out and were ready to go.  The beauty of competent sailors working together!

We got to the start area and called for course 14A1: Start, Blacks, Gov and back to start.  I did not want to put everyone through a transition zone out to Mile buoy and kept it all inside.  We had eight boats out for the fun and gave the horn signal for the 5 minute countdown.  We had Fred Molnar on the helm and he absolutely nailed the start.  As Ernie Rideout used to admonish: “start ahead of everyone and build your lead!”  It is so much easier when you do not have boats close by to disturb your wind.  For the first time in a long time we were looking back at the fleet battling for clean wind.  Actually on the way from Blacks to Gov, it seemed like some boats were closing in a little. 

After Gov, we sailed outside until we hit the layline for the finish at the start mark.  The question as always was: Inside or outside?  Since we saw the current was flowing from East to West inside, we stayed outside to not fight the current.  At the finish, it was Pair A Dice, Pacific Spirit, Makani,  Saber 34, Sea Quest, Kicks and Aolean.

It was yet another gorgeous night for a sail.

Over dinner at the Crows Nest, there was  some interesting discussion about the rules.  Apparently, there was some confusion on the course about rule 13.

Rule 13: WHILE TACKING.  After a boat passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-hauled course.  During that time rules, 10(opposite tacks), 11(same tack, overlapped)and 12 (same tack, not overlapped) do not apply.  If two boats are subject to this rule at the same time the one on the other’s port side or the one astern shall keep clear.

This means that if two boats are on port tack and one tacks over to starboard tack, they must be close-hauled in order to call starboard tack rights over a port tack boat.  This is where a good crew comes into play.  That jib sheet needs to be sheeted in quickly in order to claim your starboard rights.

Fred at the helm Pair A Dice finally in the lead.

NEXT WEEK IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE YACHT CLUB.  BRING YOUR FAVORITE FOOD FOR GRILLING.  THE CLUB AND THE BAR ARE OPEN.

Here’s looking forward to next week.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

CATALINAS SAILING TUESDAYS: SEPTEMBER 15, 2015, WARM NORTH WIND

September 15, 2015

WARM NORTH WIND

It was a perfect night for a Catalina Tuesday, with warm wind blowing nearly straight off the beach.  All sailors know that when the wind blows straight off shore, you get great sailing on very flat water: the ultimate sailing experience.

We set a up for course 14, using the line between start and blacks as the start, around Gov (P) around blacks (P) and finish with the start buoy on starboard.  As it  turned out, it was a perfect course since everyone needed to tack at least once to get around Gov. We came off the line on starboard tack just behind Odonata and just to windward of Sea Quake.  Since the wind was so gusty and we were short handed, we had put a reef in just before the start.  Having a reef in helped us stand up straighter and we slowly passed Odonata to leeward.  I chided Odonata for not having a reef in, knowing that the Santana 22 is built reefed being built for San Francisco.  Odonata finally tacked off and Pacific Spirit was sailing away from us.  Tonight was a night when waterline definitely made a difference! 

Pacific Spirit rounded Gov comfortably ahead of Pair a dice and Pair A dice was just ahead of Odonata for the rounding.  Once Odonata popped their chute, they slowly crept ahead of us.  It was only fair; We water-lined them on the way to Gov and they kited ahead of us on the way to Blacks.  For some reason, I zoned and did not think to shake out the reef.  Finally, a couple of 100 yards from Gov, Jeff asked me to shake out the reef.  Once we did, we started at least keeping even with Odonata.  Once again, Pacific Spirit rounded Blacks with a comfortable lead and we rounded just outside of Odonata.  On the way to the finish line we got a gust and a burst of speed.  As we approached the finish line, It looked like a dead even tie between us and Odonata.  Pacific Spirit finished with a substantial lead followed by Pair a Dice and Odonata in unison.  Kicks followed then Thalasia, Sea Quake, Aeolian and Toad.

Reefing:

It seems to defy logic.  Decrease sail area to improve performance.  I have witnessed this phenomenon frequently, as I am sure all sailors have.  Being able to reef quickly and efficiently is crucial.  On Pair A Dice, we have it set up so one person can put a reef in within a minute.  Everyone should know the conditions that dictate to put a reef in for their boat.  Sometimes this can be changed by other factors such as crew weight.  In the recent score race from Moss Landing to Santa Cruz, I only had one other crew member for ballast.  We normally reef at about 21 knots apparent.  On this day, I noticed we were heeling 30 degrees at 18-19 knots.  Though some of this was caused from over sheeted sails, with the low ballast aboard, we should have reefed at 18-19 knots.  By reefing, you keep the boat sailing more upright, can point better and everything just seems more manageable!

See you next Tuesday.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair a D

September 8, 2015: STEADY EASTERLY

September 8, 2015

STEADY EASTERLY

As I walked across the parking lot when leaving work, I felt a gust of easterly breeze.  This being my favorite wind direction, I smiled knowing that this was going to be a great night. I was not disappointed when I got to the harbor and saw flags confirming a steady Easterly breeze.  We had a lot of work to complete before we left the harbor. We had to swap out to the 155 jib and clean the bottom.  There was also a rather nasty strand of kelp that was tangled around my rudder.  We finally left the harbor and saw 8 boats out for the fun.

We called for an easterly wind course: start, Blacks, SC3, finish and gave a 5 minute horn. Everyone went into their start routine.  On Pair a Dice I really wanted to start right at the mark on starboard tack.  We were coming into a very crowded start line and were prime candidates for being in a barging situation since we were running parallel to the line.  We were not alone in our plan.  Kicks was just ahead of us on the same line.  Seeing that Don Radcliffe was at the helm on Pacific Spirit, I knew it was going to be a challenging start.  As we approached the line, I stalled to avoid being caught barging.  I figured it was better to be late to the start as long as I started at the pin.  As predicted, Pacific Spirit nailed the start perfectly and Kicks was pinched off attempting to barge.  As they turned to avoid the mark, Sea Quake was setting up to pinch us off also.  As we spun also we started right behind Kicks.  We were the last ones over the line, but we were at least at the pin, accomplishing at least one of my goals.

The 155 jib worked like a charm in these winds, helping us point higher than the other boats and also creep by Kicks.  At Blacks, Pacific Spirit rounded comfortably ahead of us with Kicks and Aeolian rounding behind us. The wind was consistent all over the ocean as we all made our way to SC3.  Though we were able to close the gap with Pacific Spirit, they rounded SC3 still comfortably ahead of us.

We all slogged back to start attempting different tactics: pole on port then starboard, trying to get inside to smoother water.  Ultimately Pacific Spirit finished at least one minute ahead of Pair A Dice, followed by Kicks, Sea Quake, Perfect 36 and Tres Santos.

The finer nuances of Barging rules:

The rules that govern barging are rule 11 and rule 17.1. Rule 11 establishes that leeward boat has right of way and may luff up at will.  Rule 17.1 dictates that if the leeward boat establishes its overlap from astern they can luff up at will UNTIL the start signal, then must assume proper course. This is called a restricted overlap since they are restricted to proper course after the start signal. If the windward boat establishes overlap from behind or if the leeward boat tacks into an overlap position, the leeward boat can continue to luff up even after the start signal- an “unrestricted overlap”.

If you are caught in a windward position and someone hails “leeward coming up” the windward boat must head up immediately.  The leeward boat must not luff up so fast that there is a collision.  If in a real race, you neglect to luff up fast enough as windward boat, you could find yourself in a protest hearing. 

All of this applies in sanctioned racing with committee boats, signals and race committee.  In our Tuesday night racing, it all falls on our honor and doing the right thing.  As Ernie Rideout said: “If you win a race and have lost the honor of competitors, you have not won!”

_/)                                 _/)

This weekend will be a phenomenal time to be a boat owner in Santa Cruz.  Many options are available: observing the West Marine fun regatta for the Juniors, participating in the Monterey and back regatta or sailing down for the Capitola Art and Wine festival.  Whatever you do, be safe and we will see you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

September 1, 2015: "AWESOME WIND"

  September 1, 2015

AWESOME WIND!

How can you figure out what the wind will do?  All predictions were for light wind and I feared another drift fest was in the cards.  It was with relief when I turned toward the harbor and saw the flags flying straight as boards.  As we left the harbor, there were around a dozen boats out for the fun. It was blowing a steady 19-20 knots from the northwest.

We selected course 1, our longest course and gave a 5  minute horn at 6:00 for a 6:05 start.  As everyone set up for their start, it became apparent that everyone is really bringing their game up. More boats are right on the line right on time.  We were stuck right behind Makani at the start and once we cleared the line, we tacked over to port tack.  The wind seemed very consistent inside so we sailed on in toward the wharf. At one point, we had Perfect 36 cross us on starboard and had to duck them. It was comforting that Pacific Spirit had to duck also.  We continued sailing all the way beyond Gov before we tacked over with everyone praying for a lift.  It certainly did not look like we were on the layline.  Diver Down crossed behind us as did Pacific Spirit and Makani.  As we closed in on Wharf we got lifted to the point that we could fetch the mark.  Within 100 yards of the mark, Diver Down passed us to windward. With this disturbed wind, it made it even harder, but somehow we cleared the mark after Diver Down. We were followed by Pacific Spirit and Makani.  On the way to Mile it was very exciting with both Pacific Spirit and Makani breathing down our neck as we tried to close the gap between us and Diver Down.

At mile, Diver Down was ahead and Pair a Dice was second in line once again followed by Pacific Spirit and Makani.  This is when the real tactics  came into play.  Where was the wind?  How were the boats doing that were ahead?  We watched as Diver Down sailed high of the next mark (Blacks) and seemed to have difficulty filling their sails.  We decided to rhum line it straight to the mark since the inside wind seemed consistent.  Makani and Pacific Spirit took the middle ground. At Blacks, Diver Down and Makani were ahead of us. We all sailed further inside before tacking over for the finish line.  At the finish it was Diver Down followed by Makani,Pair A Dice, Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Aeolian, Odonata and Kicks. There was real excitement as Toad and SeaQuake fought it out for the next two spots. In true “its not over until its over” fashion, Toad inched out Sea Quake to finish ahead of Sea Quake and Tres Santos.

RACE QS:

At this point there is no reason to not be using Race QS!  About half of the boats are using it and  why wouldn’t you?  This is a real tool that can improve your sailing.  It is a free app you can download to your “smart” cell phone and the information you get is invaluable.  What information can you get from this app?  How is your steering?, how efficient are your tacks?, what is your angle of heel?, what is your VMG?  How does your performance in all of these areas compare to competitors?  All answers are delivered to you for Free!

You only need to have google earth downloaded to your computer and all of this information is available to you FOR FREE! To check out tonight’s race click on this website and enjoy:

http://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&updatedAt=2015-09-02T02:34:11Z&dt=2015-09-01T18:00:27-07:00..2015-09-01T19:22:19-07:00&boat=Pair&time=1441155654177&focus=Pair&rival=Odonata&tab=fleet&view=auto

See you next Tuesday.

  September 1, 2015

AWESOME WIND!

How can you figure out what the wind will do?  All predictions were for light wind and I feared another drift fest was in the cards.  It was with relief when I turned toward the harbor and saw the flags flying straight as boards.  As we left the harbor, there were around a dozen boats out for the fun. It was blowing a steady 19-20 knots from the northwest.

We selected course 1, our longest course and gave a 5  minute horn at 6:00 for a 6:05 start.  As everyone set up for their start, it became apparent that everyone is really bringing their game up. More boats are right on the line right on time.  We were stuck right behind Makani at the start and once we cleared the line, we tacked over to port tack.  The wind seemed very consistent inside so we sailed on in toward the wharf. At one point, we had Perfect 36 cross us on starboard and had to duck them. It was comforting that Pacific Spirit had to duck also.  We continued sailing all the way beyond Gov before we tacked over with everyone praying for a lift.  It certainly did not look like we were on the layline.  Diver Down crossed behind us as did Pacific Spirit and Makani.  As we closed in on Wharf we got lifted to the point that we could fetch the mark.  Within 100 yards of the mark, Diver Down passed us to windward. With this disturbed wind, it made it even harder, but somehow we cleared the mark after Diver Down. We were followed by Pacific Spirit and Makani.  On the way to Mile it was very exciting with both Pacific Spirit and Makani breathing down our neck as we tried to close the gap between us and Diver Down.

At mile, Diver Down was ahead and Pair a Dice was second in line once again followed by Pacific Spirit and Makani.  This is when the real tactics  came into play.  Where was the wind?  How were the boats doing that were ahead?  We watched as Diver Down sailed high of the next mark (Blacks) and seemed to have difficulty filling their sails.  We decided to rhum line it straight to the mark since the inside wind seemed consistent.  Makani and Pacific Spirit took the middle ground. At Blacks, Diver Down and Makani were ahead of us. We all sailed further inside before tacking over for the finish line.  At the finish it was Diver Down followed by Makani,Pair A Dice, Pacific Spirit, Perfect 36, Aeolian, Odonata and Kicks. There was real excitement as Toad and SeaQuake fought it out for the next two spots. In true “its not over until its over” fashion, Toad inched out Sea Quake to finish ahead of Sea Quake and Tres Santos.

RACE QS:

At this point there is no reason to not be using Race QS!  About half of the boats are using it and  why wouldn’t you?  This is a real tool that can improve your sailing.  It is a free app you can download to your “smart” cell phone and the information you get is invaluable.  What information can you get from this app?  How is your steering?, how efficient are your tacks?, what is your angle of heel?, what is your VMG?  How does your performance in all of these areas compare to competitors?  All answers are delivered to you for Free!

You only need to have google earth downloaded to your computer and all of this information is available to you FOR FREE! To check out tonight’s race click on this website and enjoy:

http://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1011017&updatedAt=2015-09-02T02:34:11Z&dt=2015-09-01T18:00:27-07:00..2015-09-01T19:22:19-07:00&boat=Pair&time=1441155654177&focus=Pair&rival=Odonata&tab=fleet&view=auto

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice