JULY 12, 2016: STRATEGY VERSUS TACTICS

JULY 12, 2016

STRATEGY VERSUS TACTICS

The prediction was for light wind so I was not surprised to see an easterly wind blowing when I got to the harbor.  We switched out to the 155.  You must have the right equipment for the conditions!  With the hellacious traffic on the way to the harbor, we were late and did not start until after 6.  We gave the usual 5 minute blast on the horn.  Our course was start, Blacks, Gov,finish, keeping us inside for the light easterly that was blowing.

It has turned into quite a game for our starts.  It seems someone will always try to barge and someone will always push them above the mark.  We have all been on the giving and the receiving end of this arbitrage.  Peter on Sea Quake loves this game and is quite adept at calling people on their barging attempts.  We were lucky enough to catch him at his own game and pinch him off at the mark.  Turnabout is fair play.  All part of the fun of sailing!

On Pair A Dice, we thought we saw more wind outside of Blacks and my first thought was to “go with the wind” and sail high of the mark.  This was a strategic move, going where the wind is.  Someone pointed out that going high like this would give Makani an inside overlap at Blacks.  Time to use “tactics”, so we fell off to go down to cover Makani.  It was not long before we had gassed him and slowed him down.

On the way to Gov, we tried various whisker pole configurations even putting the pole between the shrouds at one point. The wind seemed to be dying as we ghosted along at less than 1 knot of speed. We slowly inched our way to the mark and finally jibed around it. Indeed, the wind on the way to Gov was so light, many of the boats were retiring.  Food and drink at Crow’s nest is more appealing than sailing at less than 1 knot!

On the way back to finish, the wind filled in nicely and I studied my prostart to track our bearing and the direction of the wind.  Finally we got headed to the point I felt it was time to tack.  Taking this tack on a header gave us a lift that almost took us to the mark.  Pair A Dice was lucky enough to round first and Makani seems to have inched out a very slight win over Perfect 36.

Strategy vs Tactics:

Any race requires the use of both Strategy and Tactics.  Using strategy is sailing the course as if there were no other boats out sailing the course the fastest way possible using various wind pockets and direction. Tactics are how to deal with other boats, either impeding them with bad air or using rules to your advantage.  You should always use both in any race, but knowing which one to emphasize is a trick that is hard to master.

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

July 5, 2016:STUFF HAPPENS

Tuesday July 5, 2016

STUFF HAPPENS

There was obviously a lot of wind and we changed out to the 135 for the conditions. As we left the harbor there were 4-5 boats already out and another 4-5following us out.  We chose our longest course: Start, Wharf, Mile Blacks and finish.  We gave a 5 minute horn at 6:00 for a 6:05 start.  Looking around, about half of the boats had a reef in.  The wind was just under 20 knots so we did not reef on Pair a Dice.

We timed the line pretty well and had a pretty good start on the line.  The only problem was the boats in front of us giving us bad air. When we finally had a chance to tack over we had to duck a starboard tack boat putting us further back in the pack.  We sailed in until we saw a bed of kelp and took a hitch out to clear the kelp. With the wind dying inside we took a gamble and tacked back toward the wharf mark.  The question we each had was “will we make it around the mark?”  We all knew it was going to be close.

Makani had a better layline and was charging toward the mark while we were pinching.  We at least had inside overlap for clearance at the mark.  We tried to “shoot the mark” heading directly into the wind but watched in horror as we brushed the mark and watched it spin.  We immediately sailed to a clear area and did our turn, watching many boats pass us in the process.

We slogged on toward mile buoy with Kicks passing us to windward along the way.  It seems like all boats were ahead of us at this point.  We deployed our whisker pole and it was enough to extend a lead over Kicks on the way to Black buoy.  After rounding black we tacked out toward start a little early and had to “shoot the mark” at start to get within the 10 boat lengths from the mark.  At the finish it was Sagitarius in first again followed by Pacific Spirit, Mistress Quickley (SC27), Makani, Perfect 36, Pair A dice, Kicks and Toad.

Shooting the mark:

This is a new technique to me and I am still trying to grasp the concept.  You are close to making it around a mark.  It could be you misjudged the layline or got headed and you use the “shoot the mark” technique to clear the mark.  You pinch as much as you can and see you will not clear the mark.  The helmsperson falls off for speed about 2 boatlengths from the mark then uses the energy to head directly into the wind trying to clear the mark. Sail trim is everything in this maneuver.  Jib trimmer must not let the jib backwind at all.  As the mark approaches abeam, the main should be released relieving any pressure that might push the boat toward the mark. Just as the mark is abeam the jib can be sheeted in again to help the boat clear the mark.  Obviously, by our demonstration tonight it does not always work.

Taking a Turn:

While racing, things do not always happen as planned. Hitting a mark requires a one turn penalty.  While the rule books call for two turns in failure to yield right of way, most sailing instructions call for only one turn in all situations.  On Catalina Tuesdays we will observe one turn penalties for all infractions.   When taking a turn, the rules call for doing it as soon as you can get clear from other boats.  This does not mean to sail the rest of the course doing the turn whenever you want.  You must get clear and do your turn. On this night we did a jibe first to clear ourself out of the way of competitors. 

We had a great discussion at the Crow’s nest over dinner and beers.

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 28, 2016: STRONG EASTERLY

June 28, 2016

STRONG EASTERLY

I checked the wind predictions in the morning and the call was for light wind into the afternoon.  By the time I got to the harbor, the Easterly was filling in nicely.  A perfect evening for a sail, capped off with a whale slapping his tail on the water multiple times very close to the start mark.  We decided on F2: Start, SC3, Blacks Finish and gave a 5 minute horn at 6PM for a 6:05 start.

We had about 10 boats seriously contending for the start and several more coming in on the fringes for the fun.  On Pair A Dice, we were lucky enough to beat the other boats to the line and were clear ahead with clean wind.  As we hardened up into the wonderful 13 knot winds, there was apparent mayhem occurring at the start line as ten boats converged at once.  A lot of screaming was going on.  We sailed on until we were approaching the kelp line around Pleasure point and tacked over in time to clear Sagittarius.  Once we tacked back over on Starboard again, we even cleared Pacific Spirit on the first pass.  Pacific Spirit sailed further out as we held a line just below the lay line to SC3.  Sagittarius was on our same line just ahead of us.  We were both struggling with two obstacles: the excessive chop that builds in that part of the bay with strong easterly winds and the apparent strong current sweeping against us.  When we crossed Pacific Spirit just before rounding SC3, it was apparent they had chosen the right path (with less current) because they were well ahead of us. At SC3 it was Sagittarius followed by Pacific Spirit and Pair A Dice right on their heels.

On the way to Black buoy, we set the pole and tried different combinations.  At times it looked like we were passing Pacific Spirit but at the mark they had inside overlap and rounded just ahead of us again. At the finish it was Sagitarius, Pacific Spirit, Pair A Dice, Equinimity (Hunter 34), Perfect 36, Kicks, Toad, Aeolian and Sea Quake.

We had a great Barbecue at the club and I have to say, the word is out.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many people at the Catalina Barbecue.  What an awesome time, meeting and greeting with all the people we have been sailing with.

Starting rules and Barging:

All the rules of sailing are in place at and before the start, but keep in mind that rule 18 is involved with rounding marks not starting.  There is no 3 boat length zone when starting!   Normal sailing rules apply, Starboard has ROW (right of way) over port tack, Leeward has ROW over windward (when overlapped) and overtaken boat has ROW over overtaking boat (when no overlap).

As in most racing, boats get in very close quarters while starting, so knowing how the rules play out is critical.  Always remember Rule 14 “Avoid contact!!!”.  When you are setting up for a perfect start and a boat attempts to barge, be certain to warn the barger AHEAD of time. Don’t wait for them to get their bow between you and the mark.  Hails like “Don’t even think about it!” and “NO ROOM, Barging!” are commonly used BEFORE the barging actually occurs.

If you are the leeward boat (with overlap), you may luff the windward boat up until you are head to wind to force them over the line, but you must give the windward boat reasonable time to react and turn up (remember rule 14).

The finer nuances of the windward/leeward dynamic is determined by HOW THE OVERLAP WAS OBTAINED.  If the leeward boat achieves overlap from clear astern, she may luff the windward boat up UNTIL the start signal.  After the start signal, proper course MUST be assumed no more luffing up once the start TIME has passed, regardless of where you are in relation to the start line.  If the leeward overlap is achieved by the windward boat sailing inside, the luffing up by the leeward boat can continue even after the start signal.  All of these situations are covered by section A and B of the rules.

If anyone wants to clarify any of these starting rules, please feel free to leave a comment.

Other Regattas:

Lets have a PARTY in Monterey.  The Monterey and Back regatta will be on July 16 and 17.  I know of at least two Catalinas that will be in this regatta.  The more the merrier!  You will need a PHRF certificate if you don’t have one already, so get your boat ready and let’s have some fun!  You can register on the SCYC web site:  SCYC.org.

Looking forward to next Tuesday!

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

JUNE 21, 2016: B4 YOUR SOLSTICE SAIL

June 21, 2016

B4 YOUR SOLSTICE SAIL

After the raucous sail last week, and the predictions for light wind for this night, I knew we needed to change to the 155 for tonight.  By the time I got to the boat, my crew had already swapped to the 155.  As we left the harbor, there was a delightful Easterly blowing. Not knowing if the wind would sustain, we called for a shorter course that kept us inside. Bravo 4 (B4): start blacks, Gov and finish.

We set up for the start and we had it timed perfectly.  Our problem was that Pacific Spirit was leeward of us on the line and would certainly luff us up and pinch us off at the mark.  We took their stern, which slowed us down and put us behind a wall of sails in front of us for the start.  In this “dance of the start” I got my toes stamped on badly.  As soon as we could we tacked over for clean air.  At Black buoy, Odonata rounded first followed quickly by Pacific Spirit and Homers’s Hunter 43 and Kicks then Pair A dice.

After rounding Black everyone seemed to have different tactics.  Odonata went way in to the beach, many boats went outside where it looked like there was more breeze.  Pair a Dice split the difference and sailed a line just above the lay line to Gov. Soon we were all sailing along in very light breeze, barely ghosting along.  Just as I was thinking we were going to get skunked with no wind, the wind started building again from the East.  All of the boats catching this breeze started closing the gap with the Hunter 34 and Pacific spirit. At Gov it was Odonata, Pacific Spirit the Hunter 34 (Homer) and Pair A Dice. 

The wind back to the finish mark was much more brisk, but very shifty.  There was no way to accurately predict tacking angles.  As soon as boats would tack, they would get headed.  Even the winning boats needed to tack multiple times to get around the finish mark.  At the finish it was Odonata, Pacific Spirit, Hunter 34, Pair A dice, Toad, Perfect (new engine!) 36, Aila (Beneteau 36), SeaQuake, Aeolian and Kicks.

Way to go Odonata!

Tactics:

The start is very important but not everything.  Rather than ducking and sailing to the lee of Pacific Spirit, I could have slowed down and followed them over the line.  By doing this I could have avoided the dreaded wall of sails in front of me and tacked over sooner for clear air.

Outside or inside?  On this night Odonata played the inside track perfectly.  As the wind died for most of us outside, the inside current was working for Odonata.  Additionally he seemed to be getting better wind inside as his spinnaker was flying nicely!  It was a crap shoot, because the wind could have filled in outside, but Chris played it perfectly and ‘made his point’ rounding Gov in front of all the other boats.

Other Regattas:

Put it on your calendar: July 16&17 is the Monterey and Back regatta.  I have done this jaunt before and it is a very fun event.  Hanging out at the Monterey Bay Yacht club is very fun.  There is not a lot of tactics, usually staying on one tack all the way down and back.

NEXT TUESDAY (JUNE 28) IS BARBECUE NIGHT AT THE SANTA CRUZ YACHT CLUB.  THE BAR WILL BE OPEN, BUT BRING YOUR FAVORITE GRILLING FOOD!

I am looking forward to next Tuesday and seeing everyone at the barbecue.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair a Dice.

June 14, 2016: PLENTY OF WIND I HEAR

JUNE 14, 2016: PLENTY OF WIND I HEAR

The traffic was insane on the way to the harbor and the wind was strong to say the least.  Leading up to this evenings sail many of my crew were occupied with other duties.  Vacations, regatta committees and just not able to make it.  I was wondering how I was going to sail in so much wind with minimal crew.  I had a very experienced sailor joining me for the first time and the always trusty Stefan was also at the boat.  The prospects of three of us holding the boat down in all of this wind seemed dubious.

I hear it was a wonderful sail with a lot of wind.  As it turned out, while everyone was out sailing and having fun, I was reacquainting myself with the employees at the emergency room after an accident while leaving the slip.  Every accident seems incredibly stupid looking back on it.  Just like analyzing your tactics in a race, reviewing events leading to an accident can improve your odds of preventing repeat errors.

Every sailor has their routine in doing things.  There is no right way or wrong way as long as it works. For me, when I leave a slip I like to give a lot of throttle.  This helps deploy my folding prop and gets the boat moving in very little time.  Once the boat is moving, I find I can idle the engine and put it in neutral.  This minimizes the effect of prop walk and a moving boat is always easier to control especially in heavy winds like we had this night.  These finer nuances of how I operate my boat could be a surprise to someone who has never sailed with me.  What with being late because of traffic, I did not apprise my crew of my procedures. Long story made short, I ended up in a position where the dock line hooked onto the stern cleat with my finger trapped.  I could not figure why it was hurting so much and finally decreased throttle and put the engine in neutral.  What concerned me was that the finger caught was my ring finger.  Though the gash was deep there was no swelling. My wedding band could become a tourniquet if swelling started.  My main goal was to get the ring cut off.  Not exactly the time to be considering a night sailing. I am the only one to blame and I am very lucky that my stupidity caused my injury and that no one else was hurt. Ring cut off and 4 stitches was the penalty I paid.

The lesson I learned was to always inform your crew how you do things on your boat.  The way I operate my boat could be characterized as erratic to the uninitiated, but it works for me.  Plan and discuss everything beforehand just like you would do for a mark rounding on the course.  It is no time for surprises especially if short on crew.

Other things I have learned over the years.  When I first got my boat someone placed an old cooler which we used as a step to get on the boat.  It worked for a while until a crew member disappeared into the water as the cooler collapsed as I was leaving the slip. Lesson learned: Use items for their intended purpose.

We always try to center my martec prop.  It is critical to put the transmission in gear to stop the shaft from freewheeling, otherwise fingers can get mangled.

On Pair A Dice, the mainsheet trimmer always announces “SAILING BY THE LEE” since accidental jibes are possible.  This lets everyone know  to keep their head down.  Also mainsheet trimmer announces when gybing “JIBING! HEADS DOWN!”.  All crew should be aware of the point of sail when returning to the cockpit from the foredeck.   If the boat is in the middle of a tack or jibe  and you are behind the mast on the windward side of the boat, you are in a dangerous position. It is very easy in the excitement of racing to forget the most basic safety rules.

Boating can be very fun, but it is not without it’s danger.  I would like to open this for a group discussion.  Please comment with things you have learned about safety.

 

Phil Worthen Memorial Event:

Sailing Pair A Dice made it out for the Phil Worthen memorial on June 12.  It was incredible to see about 30 boats out and another 30 surfers paddle out for this event.  Phil certainly affected a lot of people and will be missed.

Monterey and Back regatta:

We are one month away from one of my favorite regattas.  July 16 and 17 is when the Monterey and Back regatta is being held this year.  Talking to the regatta organizers, they would like to see the Catalina group represented in this regatta.  With enough boats, we could have our own class established for this race.  I did this race last year and will attest that it is very fun.  The Monterey Yacht club hosts us and Monterey is a beautiful venue to sail to and back.  Lets talk this up with other Catalina owners that you know.

 See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

June 7, 2016: PARKING LOT IN THE END ZONE

June 7, 2016: PARKING LOT IN THE END ZONE

As I got to the harbor it looked like the wind was slowly dying as the flags drooped more and more. We even started the process of changing to a 155 jib, but a crew member walked to the beach and came back saying it was a bad idea.  Sure enough as we approached the start area the wind was in excess of 20 knots.  Not knowing if the wind would hold, we called for a short course Whiskey 3: Start, Wharf, Blacks finish.  We gave the 5 minute warning horn and noticed the wind at the start mark was still over 20 knots and quickly put a reef in the main.

At the start we were on the line further down the line from most of the pack which left us free to tack as soon as we wanted to.  With the wind building as we went out we decided to tack back inside for flatter seas and less wind.  We tacked back and forth between more wind outside and too little wind inside. Pacific Spirit and Sagitarius rounded wharf at essentially the same time followed by Pair A Dice and Makani.

On Pair A Dice we decided to rhumb line it directly to the Blacks sailing wing on wing with our pole out to windward.  We started off with a pretty good lead over Kicks and Makani, but as we jibed sails, we did not notice the lead they were building on us by going outside (going where the wind is!).  As we all closed on Blacks, Pacific Spirit rounded first followed by Sagitarius and Kicks and Makani had quite a lead on us. We came around Blacks and saw everyone packed together as the wind died at the finish mark.  The waves on everyone’s bow did not help and as we approached the boats inching along it looked like a parking lot in the end zone.  At the finish Sagitarius lead Pacific Spirit, Kicks, Pair A Dice, Makani and Aeolian, the Beneteau 36, Sea Quake and Thalasia.  It was a great turnout and just as everyone finally inched over the finish line, the wind came up out of the East and we sailed easily back to the harbor.

In Memory of Phil Worthen:

We lost one of the icons of sailing in Santa Cruz this last Sunday June 5.  Phil Worthen died of a heart attack after sailing his boat (a Melges 14) back to the ramp. 

I got to know Phil through association with Jack Mcdermott and “Adventure” in various national regattas.  We were proud to have him as crew on Pair a Dice many times in many races.  He gained notoriety in sailing when he taught sailing for Oneill through the 80’ and 90’s.  He also sailed extensively with Ernie Rideout and most recently ran the boat yard for the harbor.  He seemed to know everyone in the sailing world.  He was also a surfer who surfed Hawaii extensively in the 70s and personally knew the famous South African surfer Shawn Thompson.

Phil was one of the most positive and high energy personalities I have ever known.  He was always smiling and happy.  Every time you saw him, you left the event with better energy.  I will always remember the sail we had on my boat just after the harbor opened in March this year.  It was a beautiful Sunday with 20 knot winds.  We worked our way clear up to Natural Bridges, then sailed wing on wing all the way to Pleasure point.

I happened to be going to my boat on Saturday the fourth and as usual, stopped by to say hi to Phil. As usual the visit lasted over an hour.  Remembering I had work to complete on my boat I shook his hand and said goodbye. Little did I know, it would be my last contact with him.  Fair winds Phil.  You will be missed!

We will see you on the water next week.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice

May 31, 2016: FOG WIND

TUESDAY May 31, 2016

FOG WIND

As I showed up at the harbor, you could see a steady breeze was still blowing with a heavy bank of fog offshore.  As we left the harbor, we checked the wind and it was blowing from 210, so a little south of our normal wind.  We were not certain whether the wind would sustain or back off through the evening and with the BBQ awaiting us, called for a short course Start, Mile, start-finish.  We gave a 5 minute horn and everyone started setting up for their start.   On Pair A Dice we wanted to be right at the start buoy on starboard tack. 

We were successful in our start and found Pacific Spirit right behind us slightly to windward.  We did our best to climb up to lee bow them and when we were in position we traveled up on the main to disturb their wind even more.  This worked and they tacked away.  Oh the nasty things we must do to competitors that are faster than us! All in fun of course.    We sailed on out into the choppy seas and a little more wind.  We were wondering why we could not achieve our normal speed for the conditions when I noticed a strand of kelp on our rudder.  I was starting to get the boat hook when the decision was made to “try to lose it on our tack”.  This was successful and the boat got up to it’s normal hull speed.  On our way to Mile Odonata passed easily in front of us, but the next time we met we were well ahead.  Chris was out sailing by himself and doing a great job.

For the rounding of Mile, we had not estimated the lay line correctly and had to pinch to make the mark but were able to round the mark with mere inches to spare.  Alas there was no red paint to clean off the boat.

The next leg was the long slog back to start finish.  On long legs like this in the fog, it really helps to have the marks in your GPS so you can sail directly to the mark without searching for it. 

On this night we were lucky enough to be first followed by Pacific Spirit, Kicks, Odonata, and Aeolian.

We had a great turnout for the Barbecue and it was great socializing with crews from other boats.

Tactics: Playing oscillating winds

This night had pretty consistent wind that was oscillating  left and right about 10 degrees.  You can see this by watching your compass bearing as steering to weather.  Obviously the helmsperson must be steering according to the telltales.  If he is steering correctly you can see the boat swing back and forth. Check for the amount of swing and the time of the swings and you can really use the oscillations to your advantage.  Always remember and header on one tack is a lift on the other.

TIGHT ROUNDING OF BUOYS:

This night was a huge lesson for me on this. We knew it was close as soon as we tacked.  We were praying for a right shift to lift us but our prayers were unheard!  We pinched up to the mark and then just before the mark, we fell off just enough to increase our speed, then used the inertia built up by this move to coast around the buoy.  When attempting this maneuver, sail trim is EVERYTHING!  You cannot afford to backwind the jib when trying to coast around, but as soon as the mark is midship, harden up on the jib and loosen the main to help the boat round the mark. This was very impressive to see for us on the boat. Collectively we were all holding our breath but the seals were jumping in appreciation of our move!

See you next Tuesday.

Barry L. Keeler

Sailing Pair A Dice