Summer Race #10

Winds were from the northerly direction at 4-10 knots.  Wind varied from almost ENE to WNW.  Current was ebbing hard.  C sailed from H to C to 26 to 24 to H.  A & B sailed H to C to F to 24 to H.

Tonight was just Peter and I from the regular crew and a sunfish sailor from Cupsaw lake.  We left the harbor pretty early and sailed over to the starting area.  I was surprised to find Gusto there on station.  John had sent out a call for a volunteer to do Race Committee and even though quite a few boats never had a turn this season, Gusto was there for the second time in three weeks. 

While sailing around, we noticed the northerly would bend and blow from the direction of the land.  John Nonenmacher explained this concept clearly in his Hudson River sailing tips class.  Tonight was the ultimate example.  On the East side of the river, the wind was from the NE and even close to due E when you got close to the shore.  On the West side of the river, the wind bent to the NW and even WNW. 

With the above in mind, we decided to try and protect the left side.  The left side of the line was also favored, so starting there was the best move.   With the current ebbing hard and pulling boats away from the line, we stayed above the line before the start.  Due to the line's angle, port tack was the only good way for boats to actually cross the line.  So at the gun we were on the left side of the line with a good port tack start.

Soon after the start, we flopped to starboard hoping to push West and get the stronger NW breeze.  We could see the NE breeze on the right side of the course, but thought that to be the weaker of the two battling breezes.  Right after the start, this looked wrong, so we went back onto port tack to get into the NE breeze and then back to starboard again.  Finally we were on the lifted tack, but lost some ground on the other boats. 

We still believed in the left side being favored, so instead of pointing high on starboard tack, we footed for speed allowing the boat to still slide left and expecting the NW to influence us soon.  As we got knocked more and more, I was getting happy.  Rather than tacking back into the NE breeze area, we dug into the West side and the NW breeze built up and continued to move west to the point where we were no longer making positive VMG (velocity made good) to the mark.

So we then tacked onto port and found ourselves pointing about 20 degrees high of the mark.  We stayed high knowing that we were eventually going to get knocked again as we got closer to the east shore.  This worked out and we rounded the first mark with a good lead over the fleet.  We even passed some of the boats in the earlier start on this leg.

Foot to a Header

Not sure if this is an proven concept, but I learned early in sailboat racing to foot to a header.  If you expect a header to be coming either from looking at boats ahead or a predictable wind shift, the old thinking says to foot.  This will push you more towards the header and get you there faster.  Once in the header, you will soon want to tack over to the lifted tack and the extra distance you made to leeward on the old tack will be favorable on the new lifted tack.  In the case above, footing allowed us to get left faster than other boats so when the big header hit, we were on the inside of the new favored tack.

After rounding the weather mark (C), we stayed high to get to 26.  We once again expected to have the breeze go left as we got closer to the west side, so staying high would allow us to reach the whole way rather than tighen up as we approached 26.  The current was also a big factor and staying up current would buy some insurance should the wind die down.  The wind did go left, but the velocity remained good, so we rounded 26 nice and clean. 

The broad reach in the WNW breeze got us to 24 in no time.  From there, we rounded and tightened up to upwind mode on port tack.  We were 30 degrees high of H, but stayed up here since the breeze was good and we expected to get knocked as we moved east to H.  The lighter NE wind came sooner than we expected and we were in full upwind mode to finish.  With the wind getting lighter and the current going strong, I was worried we would repeat the pattern from a few weeks ago where boats parked a few hundred feet from the finish. 

This did not come to pass and we were able to cross the finish line after about 10 minutes of fighting the current within 200 yards of the finish.  We got to sail into the harbor after that.  It was a bit annoying that in the dark a motoring boat was not yielding and we had to tack to avoid them.  When we tacked back to go in, the same motoring boat was again not yielding, so I gave a hail to let them know we were sailing and they should avoid us.  I assume they thought they were going to give us room, but in the dark, I prefer more than a boat-length cushion for safety.

With the season over, I would like to thank John Nonenmacher, John Edwards and John Beck for their hard work putting this whole series together. Many boats and their crew also deserve praise for doing their turn as Race Marshall. It was a great season and I look forward to next year.

Summer Race #9

Perfect late summer evening.  Wind was from the south between 6 and 14 knots.  Current was flooding.  C course was from H to K and back.  A&B sailed H to K to G to H.

We arrived at the usual time for the race.  The boat had some water in the bilge, so we spent some time on boat maintenance before heading out to the course around 17:30.  As soon as we cleared the breakwater, we turned into the southerly and hoisted the sails.  We were a little tight on time, but the Half Moon was in the area, so we cracked off and went to take a look.

Seems like the boat still had its original crew of surly prisoners because we did not even get a wave from the people on deck.  It was about 400 years ago when the crew told Henry Hudson that the river ended shortly and he never did go much further.  Maybe they are channeling that energy. 

After seeing the floating replica (complete with radar and generator running), we turned upwind to get to the start.  It took a while against the current and I fired up the iron sail to get a reading on the start line.  The starboard end was favored.  Since the line was backwards, the starboard end was the pin.

We decided early to start at the pin in a barging position.  We assumed like last week that boats would get pulled back from the favored end and give us enough room to hit it at the start with good speed.  We also decided to make sure we covered the Bugaboo maneuver.  As I have written many times, the Bugaboo maneuver is going left towards Croton in a southerly.  Having the current flooding made this an iron clad requirement for us and we would do everything we could to protect the left.

The start went as planned and we had the main competitor on our heels.  I stuck the boat up for about 2 minutes in an effort to get the competitor to tack away to the right.  When they finally tacked, we started sailing properly and our speed went from 3 knots to about 5.  The left side paid off early and we only had to deal with the boats that went left with us. 

About half way up the leg, we were straddling a 40 degree wind shift.  We got knocked 40 degrees, dug in a little, tacked and then got knocked again on the new tack.  We decided to head back to the left as the Bugaboo effect works pretty much up the entire leg.  This second tack put us way to the left of the competitors and that allowed us to get a decent lead by the first mark.

The ride downhill was great.  We had the current at our back and cruised across the line.  The wind built up a little and we sailed around for a while.  As it got darker, it felt like 21:00 when it was really 19:30.  Shortly after 20:00, the wind completely stopped.  This was odd as it went from a 12-14 from the south to 4 from the west.  At this point, the sign was clear and we headed in.

It was a pleasant night on the river and all boats finished the race.  After the race, I counted at least 4 other boats sailing around in the waning light.  The conditions were ideal and it was nice to see some boats take advantage of the second to last Wednesday night.  Having the darkness creep in sooner was a stark reminder that the season ends next week.

Summer Race #8

Wind filled in after 18:00 from the NW at 4-8 knots.  Current ebbing over one knot.  Course for C was from H to 26 to 24 to H.  A&B used K instead of 24.  Low clouds were moving in from the east.

We got to the boat around 17:00 and were off the dock by 17:15.  I noticed when I drove in that the river was mostly calm with a few ripples in some spots.  The forecast did not look good either.  As we left the marina, the wind was so light that we did not even hoist the main.  We motored to H instead of sailing for the first time this year.  Once there, a light ENE breeze could be seen, so we motored to D and sat there and realized the ripples on the water were more illusion than actual breeze.

I saw some breeze in the NW direction from D and we motored that way.  There was a light northerly, so we hoisted sails and sailed for just a bit before being becalmed again.  Finally, a NW breeze filled in from the east.  This was odd, but we went with it and began sailing back to H at the edge of the breeze.  After another 5 to 10 minutes, the NW breeze filled in across the course and we knew racing would begin shortly.

As the start approached, we decided the starboard end was favored and set up to start there.  We also thought the east would be favored, but after the breeze filled in, the course looked good on both sides.  As the start approached, we came in at a barging angle knowing the current would sweep boats away from the line.  We started at the starboard end and ended up in a good position relative to the fleet.  As soon as our fist competitor tacked over to port, we tacked on them.  Not the nicest thing to do, but since they are faster than us in light air it is the only way to stay ahead on the upwind leg.

Approaching 26, we knew the current was strong and we would have to over-stand to get around.  Instead of giving ourselves a huge cushion, we went for a tight line and figured it was better to tack twice than over-stand by 60 seconds.  Since we were about a boat length shy of lay-line, it turned out to be a tough call at 26 and we were just able to shoot the mark. 

Shooting a Mark

Shooting a mark is a term for when a boat is shy of the lay-line by a little bit and makes it around the mark.  To pull this off in foul current, you have to continue to sail towards the mark at full speed.  You should not pinch as this will slow you down and you will not have enough momentum to shoot around the mark.  Also, the slower speed will result in more time getting swept by the current, so you want to approach the mark as fast as possible.  Coming at the mark fast will allow you to point the boat straight into the wind and have the momentum to get back above it. 

The trickiest part is when your bow is above the mark and your stern is going to hit it due to the current.  At this point, instead of staying high, you want to turn down sharply.  This will cause the boat to pivot around the center and the stern will actually move a few feet to windward and allow the boat to clear the mark. 

Besides the possible damage, I was not too worried about hitting the mark since a 360 after rounding would be faster than two tacks at that point.  Luckily we cleared with two feet to spare and had clear sailing the rest of the race.

On the last leg from 24 to H we sailed close hauled almost the entire way.  At times this put us 30 degrees above the mark, but the current was ripping so we were only making slightly to weather of the rhumb line.  I was seeing the wind get a little lighter and expected it to continue lightening up, so I wanted to get as far up current as possible. 

We ended up finishing right at H, so the extra distance sailed did not hurt us.  Soon after our finish, the wind died down and most other boats had trouble crossing the finish.  There was a pile up at H.  Many boats were within a few boat-lengths of the line when the wind would die and they would move backwards.  I know from experience how frustrating that can be at the end of a race.  It has happened to me during Around Long Island races where a 4 hour lead can disappear in the last mile as boats try to fight the outgoing current in Hempstead harbor when the wind dies out. 

While the racers were having trouble, the wind remained to the north of the course and boats that had finished were still sailing in a 4-6 knot NW breeze.  We reached back and forth a few times to witness the finish.  When a puff made it past H, a group of 3-7 boats would all finish within a few minutes.  Then it would die out again and the rest of the boats would float back until the next puff.  Finally around 20:00, all boats got the puff they needed to finish.

Trying hard to finish.

Still trying to finish.

Race Committee did a great job tonight.  They waited for the breeze, set good courses where both divisions finished close to each other and took care of the details.  We consider ourselves fortunate on Jazz to race in an area where the RC's take their job seriously and do it well.  The HBRA committees are some of the best I have ever raced under.

It seemed like we were out a long time, but we were back to the dock before 20:45.  It was dark and the end of Summer is feeling more real now.