Sutherland Regatta

Saturday and Sunday, 9/25/2010 – 9/26/2010 Saturday: Puffy 10-20 from the West. Current flooding. Boats sailed from H to F to G to F and back to H both races. Sunday: Fluky 4-10 from the North. Current flooding. Boats sailed from H to C to K and finished at D. I could not commit to doing this regatta until 07:30 Saturday morning. I wanted to spend the weekend with the kids, but this is the last regatta of the season and it was right where I keep the boat. After spending most of Friday night awake, I figured I would go out and sail Saturday and either sail with the kids Sunday or just bag it. I got to the skipper’s meeting and the office kept calling me to troubleshoot a problem. I was already in the lurch about racing and this seemed like it would cancel my plans. Luckily someone else was able to handle the problem and I was out on the course by 09:50. I decided to sail as much as possible before the race. When sailing solo, I like to work out any bugs and make sure all the gear is in the right place. Once the race starts, I cannot make many adjustments so I tune the halyards, outhaul, lead positions, and Cunningham. I also like to throw in a few tacks to make sure the jib is not catching on anything. It really sucks to have to leave the helm and run forward after a tack. This can be real tricky if there are other boats around. After getting some good wind readings, I furled in the jib and got ready for the start. I decided to start 20-30 seconds late. I did not want to deal with too much traffic and also wanted the boat end so I could get right. I had to go behind some barging boats, but I got a decent start and tacked right away and headed to the right side of the course. This was a mistake and I was pretty deep at the first mark. Izus and I made a pretty big gain by going south on the leg from F to G. Gusto took a northern track and also fared pretty well. On the beat back to F, Gusto went left and I went less left. Gusto made a huge gain at the end of the leg and I ended up finishing in second. I was happy with the result, but felt pretty exhausted. It was a lot of work since the breeze was shifty and gusty. I also had to wing the jib twice and that is a real pain in the ass when sailing solo. I considered retiring before the second race, but recovered quickly in the time between races. I would have been fine if I had some crew, but I considered retiring since being tired and short handed could become unsafe. In the second race I decided to start right at the boat. I was ahead of the fleet at the start and this time played the shifts up the middle. This worked out well and I rounded in third place right next to Thomas A. Hawk. We sailed even down to G and the next upwind was pretty uneventful. I crossed the line and corrected over the fleet. I was very happy with a 1st and 2nd for the day. I raced to get home and spend some time with the wife and kids. I was pretty tired and went to sleep by 11PM. The next morning, I brought the wife, Rowan, and Hazel out with me. It can be difficult getting the kids out of the house early, but this day was not too bad. We got to the boat and were the first ones out to H. We sailed a little and the kids enjoyed seeing all the boats come by. Rowan waved and said hi to most boats that came close enough. The start was backwards (the RC was on the port side of the line). I decided to start on the starboard side since I wanted to get right quickly. At first this looked like a terrible decision, but by the time I rounded the first mark it proved to be correct. I was the second boat around the mark. The downwind leg was terrible. The wind was light and the current was against us. One boat sat on our air for the entire 40-minute leg. After about 35 minutes, they were still on my air a little over a boat length behind me. This really pissed me off. This boat was deep in the standings and we lost position on some other boats. Once they got close to me, I decided I had to do something about it. I decided I would not let them pass this close to windward. They should have given me more room and not tried to ram it up my ass. I then rolled in the jib (it was winged out), turned the wheel, and the boat came up. Since no one on the boat could help, I let the boat round up at a consistent pace while I trimmed in the main. I was now slower, higher and in front of the boat that was taking my air. Instead of going below me, the guy decided to try and stay above me on my wind. I tried to diagram this situation in another post. At first they did not realize why my jib was rolled in. They soon found out. I was ready to take them up to the moon. I continued to head higher and they were slow to react. Their jib backwinded from having if winged out and they turned hard to weather, but it was too late. They were already to close to me for me to continue to head up and they did not trim in their boom. Their boom ended up hitting my weather lifeline. I yelled, “protest”, headed down, and unfurled my jib again. I also told them that if they wanted to play, they should be prepared. It was ridiculous that they assumed I would just let them roll me. They were obviously not ready to be taken up and ended up fouling me. I am sure they would like to claim that my turn was too fast for them to react in a seamanlike manner. I’ll have to write about the rules involved in a future post, but hard turns to weather are common on a downwind leg when a boat tries to roll you without much room. They came in way too close and fouled me. I regret my actions. I was being a real jerk there and felt like I needed to act Old Testament on them. I should have just taken my lumps rather than risking a collision with a boat that had no idea what they were getting into. This is not the America’s Cup. I need to be less of a psycho on the course. My wife was not surprised by the sequence of events. I take racing etiquette very seriously. If a boat is going to get into close quarters with me to hurt my position, I will defend my position like a cornered animal. The damage had been done and this move was really about revenge. After the incident, I let the offending boat and the rest of the pack near me round the mark ahead. I took a nice wide turn into the mark and ended up in a nice position. Further up the course, I tacked out too far left and lost the race to Gusto. Gusto and Jazz are often very close. We tied for first in the regatta with Gusto getting the tiebreaker. They had a great regatta and I look forward to our next meeting. Rowan was thrilled to go up and get the trophy. We ended up staying way past everyone else at Minisceongo. It is a great yacht club and we enjoyed making use of the grounds. It also helped that the keg was not kicked and Rowan liked filling my beer. Once we got home I told my wife how excited I was about the trophy. I have had the same sailing briefcase for 20 years and it showed its age. The prize was a new briefcase made for sailing. I gushed about the briefcase and my wife liked it too. I then offered to give it to her and she replied with a jab that only she can make, “No thanks, it says second place.”