Spring Race #8

Windy night with NNW direction at 15-20 knots.  Current was flooding until 20:00 hours.  Course for C was from H to 26 to 24 and back.  A&B sailed to B instead of 26.

Driving up to the boat, I already knew the wind would be heavy from the west or northwest.  When I got to the marina I looked out on the river and saw the Venturi effect in the middle of the river, while I stood in a calm area.  I knew the wind would be from the NW with some good velocity.

We hoisted sail on the west side of the river since it seemed like the lightest spot to safely hoist the main.  I did not want to hoist it near the start area as it was much windier out by H.  We sailed to the start area, but skipped the usual upwind practice.  In this breeze, I wanted to minimize the beating the boat would take. 

As the start neared, some dope was sitting on 72.  It caused a little confusion, but everything turned out OK.  The pin (port) end of the line was favored, but not very skewed, so I knew we could run the line on starboard and get off the line.  That is exactly how our start went.

We were near two other boats at the start and it took everything I had to hold Jazz back to avoid being early.  She wanted to run and I did everything I could to keep her below the line until the signal went off.  Once the starting time passed (we could not hear the horn from the pin), Jazz shot off like an angry horse out of a starting gate. 

Everything felt weird on the boat this evening.  I cannot explain fully, but things just felt off.  On a night when her crew was not in its usual groove, Jazz took matters into her own hands.  She raced upwind at speeds I rarely see.  Part of this can be attributed to having Samalot marine do an excellent job cleaning the bottom.  The rest was just the boat hitting her designed groove.  She was built to sail shorthanded in 20 knots of breeze and it showed.  Normally we do between 4.6 and 5.0 knots upwind.  My knot meter is about .4 - .5 knots slow, so the numbers are relative.  On this night, I could not find a groove myself, but Jazz kept racing ahead at a staggering 5.5 knots.  I cannot explain it.  Her jib had a luff in it, the main had a nice bubble, yet there she was having one of the best upwind legs of the season. 

Everything changed when we tacked for 26.  I struggled to get her back near 5.0 knots.  Only once or twice did she cross over 5.0 knots.  Whatever happened after the start was clearly gone.  Some of it I attribute to the waves coming from straight ahead on this board.  Having been handed a two minute lead by that amazing burst out of the gate, we just rode Jazz for the rest of the course to a quick finish.  I was very happy to have Jazz tonight.  She picked us up and took us to a nice finish.

After the race, the wind was still up and we sailed until sunset.  Around sunset, the wind was back down to 6-8 knots, so we reluctantly headed in for pizza.  I missed it by 30 minutes, but still enjoyed a couple of cold slices before heading home.  Since I am reading the wonderful book Seabiscuit, I made the analogy on the ride home that Jazz was my swift courser, instead of an inanimate boat.

Spring Race #8 Preview

Looking at strong westerlies today.  If the wind gets lighter and we end up racing to F, I think the left side of the upwind course will pay off again.  With the flood going until 2000 hours, there is also less risk going out to the left since the current will push boats to the right anyway. 

Look for the right side of the line to be crowded as well since the current will be pushing boats towards that end of the line.  Of course, it all depends on how the line is set.

15:15 update.  Wind trending to the north now, so who knows what side will be favored.  The venturi effect may help speeds stay strong.  The current will give a push over the line making boats early, if the line goes across river.

Spring Race #7

The day started hot with temps in the 90's.  The wind was from the west between 4 and 10 knots.  Current was ebbing hard.  We sailed from H to F and back.  A&B sailed that twice around.

Motoring out to the course was like floating in hell.  The wind was at our backs and the boat-speed matched the wind's velocity.  We did not even bother with the main as it would have just flapped against the backstay. 

The misery ended when we reached H.  I turned into the breeze and we immediately felt better.  We hoisted both sails and sailed up river.  We sailed for a while to see what the breeze was like on the east side.  I was thinking the wind was coming from the NW, but it was more westerly, so no good information would be gained from this excursion from the starting area.

Heading back to the line, it looked very square.  With the westerly breeze and the current ebbing, I knew that room would be available at the boat end of the line.  I wanted to start there so I could cross the pin and stay on starboard.  As the start approached, I setup for a late boat end start and sure enough the current created a big gap for us to start on starboard and windward of the fleet. We were about 10 seconds late.

Up the first leg, most boats had to tack onto port just to make way enough against the current to cross the starting line.  When all boats had flipped to port, we had the option of protecting our position by covering the fleet or continuing south on our own. 

It was not an easy decision.  I thought the left side of the course had more breeze and the fleet was sailing away from it.  On the other hand, to leave the fleet meant that the whole fleet could possibly pass us if I was not correct about the left side being favored.  I decided to use my limited local knowledge and stayed left.  It paid off well.

The reason the left paid off was due to a consistently stronger breeze on the left.  I have noticed this several times in the past when cruising down river in a westerly.  The wind will be heavy as we leave the marina, but then immediately die down until we get near 24.  All around 24 will be a good breeze until it gets fluky again down by 22.  So there seems to be a consistent good flow in the area of 24 during a westerly breeze.  I have also been beaten enough in the past by boats going left on the way to F.

We rounded F with the B boats that had a 5 minute jump on us.  The current was still ripping out, so we held our course about 20 degrees north of H and sailed right in to the finish.  It was so nice on the water after the stifling day that we spent the rest of the evening just sailing around again.  The hellish ride out to the course seemed like a distant memory.

I never gave it much thought, but the sun seemed to set sideways.  I know it was just our boat moving in the water, but I never realized how much I could add to the sunset by sailing to a spot where the sun set in a valley.  It lasted about twice as long as usual.

Spring Race #6

Nice evening with a NNE breeze going south.  Course was from H to D to 24 and back.  A & B sailed twice around.  Current was flooding.

We left the marina in a nice NNE breeze and sailed to H.  Once there, we hardened up and sailed upwind to find out which side of the course was better.  We preferred the east side of the river for wind, even though there was more favorable current in the middle.

We thought the line was right side favored, but it turned out to be pretty even.  We found this out by winning the right side of the line and then looking to our left and seeing Ladies Choice shoot out from the other side in a nice position.  The leg up to D was tough as the wind was getting lighter and shiftier.  We were neck and neck with a couple boats, but got a nice shift at the mark that allowed us to round first. 

As the next leg dragged on, two boats got up next to us on either side by bringing the wind to us and then blocking our air.  This happened to me at a HRYRA regatta once and I went crazy.  This time I was a little less crazy, but still rolled in the jib for an aggressive luff against the windward boat.  This gave us some breathing room and clear air.  The leeward boat took in their whisker pole early and that slowed them enough to allow us to round the mark (24) first. 

The last upwind leg was in a dying breeze, but the current was helping.  We barely held on for a win by a one second corrected margin.  It was a tough race and we had a lot of fun with the tight competition.  After the race, we were not paying attention when the southerly rolled up the river.  It was quite a quick change.  There was no dead spot.  The wind simply went from NNE to south in a moment. 

The southerly was nice, so we continued sailing until after sunset.  Many other boats stayed out sailing as well and it was a nice sight to see.  The river was once again filled with sail on a Wednesday night and we were all moving well.

Here is a shot of Mad Mad Hatter:

This is the old leeward mark which became a windward mark after the shift:

Comet at the finish:

Old Glory and the sunset:

Spring Race #5

Winds were dead before a NE breeze kicked in.  It died down, but was enough for most boats to complete the race.  A & B sailed from H to C and back twice.  C sailed H to C to F to H.  C course was shortened. Current was ebbing hard all night.


The wind was light and variable from the start of the night.  We hoisted the main in the harbor in a light NW breeze.  After sailing by my brother's boat (the one he plans to sail on with his family for a year), we headed out to the course in a light southerly.  We made one knot east and the current pulled us at 1 knot south.  This gave us the southeast course we needed to get to H.  Once there, the wind totally died.

Some showers came through and brought in the northeast breeze.  The Race Marshal left the line skewed and rolled right into a start.  With the right side favored, boats would pile up at that end.  For our start, we had two boats barge in on us.  It was unfortunate as we were in line for a great start, but the barging boats fouled us and our start was made worse.  It was blatant barging.  I protested.  On the way in, the main barging boat sailed by to acknowledge they would take the penalty.  At least some justice would be served for their foul that gave them a significant advantage over the rest of the fleet.

We still managed to stay ahead of the boats and rounded C in first.  The drift across to F was long and slow.  With the current threatening to sweep us right down river, we had to do all we could to make F.  As we got closer, we needed a miracle to get around F and that miracle came in the form of a 45 degree shift from northwest to north.  We rounded F and barely hung on to first at the finish.  Merlin made a nice charge at us towards the end, but ran out of runway and were not able to pass us.

It was the longest race of the year.  It was nice to spend the whole time racing, but it cut into my post race beers.  Having already hurt my back loading the beer cooler onto the boat, it was ironic that we barely touched them.


Here are some pictures of the rainbow during the race.