This was a light air race. We had a bad start and were a minute behind. We should have gone left early in the leg. The current on the right was too heavy for the extra wind to be an advantage.
A boat was motoring within 4 minutes of her start. She should have withdrawn for breaking the rules. No motoring with 4 minutes. You put the engine in gear, you have broken the rules.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Summer Race #2
Shifty North wind between 6-12 knots. Current was ebbing over 1 knot in the channel. Skies were partly sunny. Course was from H to 26 to K to H. A&B sailed H to 26 to 22 to G to H.
Early in the day, I saw the forecast and the moon rise prediction and thought it was the perfect night for a late night sail. With a northerly gradient, I thought the breeze would hold up well into the night and if we got a break from the clouds, we would get a nice moonrise.
Soon after deciding to skip pizza night and sail longer, I got word that we could take some of the youth sailors out for a ride. I always enjoy this and made arrangements to pick up Joey and Tommy from MYC. By 17:40, we were on the water sailing downwind to the starting area.
We did a test run sailing up the river to 26. The right side was favored in wind and with less current. It was a no-brainer at this point. We crept over to the very favored pin end of the line and waited for A&B to start. During their start, the wind changed at least 60 degrees to the right. The port tack start that we were going to use failed for the A&B boats. The starboard tack boats were coming off the line well and by the time our start was 3 minutes away, the boat end was now clearly favored. We adjusted before the start and got off the line by the RM boat a few seconds after the gun.
This put us in the position of being the right most boat in the fleet as a righty was taking over. We were lifted above the mark and stayed there knowing the current was ripping. By staying to the right, we thought we would have a little less current than the boats below us. We also kept it high since the wind was good and we may need the speed of footing closer to the mark.
Everything worked out well and we rounded 26 a minute ahead of the next boat. We then cruised at 8 knots over the ground to K. This was a short leg, but we were able to gain a little more distance on the fleet. Rounding K, we held port tack for 2 minutes. After tacking back to starboard, the current had shown that the 2 minute lead would not mean much distance on this leg. We let A-Train get above us on starboard tack since we were already making the mark.
I was concerned about this. First, A-Train would be further from the channel and probably in less current. Second, the wind was from the NE now and A-Train was closer to the NE shore. In the end, we got some additional lift and cracked off a bit near the finish. We let the kids drive most of the last leg and across the finish. Although not as talkative as the girls from last year, they seemed to have a great time driving the boat at the end of the race.
Their parents were nice enough to pick the kids up at the Haverstraw fuel dock. This made it easy for us to get back out and enjoy the new freshening breeze. The wind went back to the north and built to a refreshing 12-18 knots. These were the conditions we were hoping for to extend the sail into the night. We sailed down to Croton before tight reaching back and forth.
Finally around 21:30, with clouds blocking the eastern horizon, we sailed in for the evening. It was a great ride after the race. The winds were perfect and the sunset put on a nice show.
The Race Committee did a great job. For the second week in a row, two courses were used and the boats came back close to each other. It was a nice length for the conditions.
Pizza night was tough to miss. We love the event, but I could not turn down this night of sailing after so many weeks of light or no air. Since I don't get out much on the weekends anymore, the night was just the sailing fix I was looking for.
Early in the day, I saw the forecast and the moon rise prediction and thought it was the perfect night for a late night sail. With a northerly gradient, I thought the breeze would hold up well into the night and if we got a break from the clouds, we would get a nice moonrise.
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| Joey and Tommy |
We did a test run sailing up the river to 26. The right side was favored in wind and with less current. It was a no-brainer at this point. We crept over to the very favored pin end of the line and waited for A&B to start. During their start, the wind changed at least 60 degrees to the right. The port tack start that we were going to use failed for the A&B boats. The starboard tack boats were coming off the line well and by the time our start was 3 minutes away, the boat end was now clearly favored. We adjusted before the start and got off the line by the RM boat a few seconds after the gun.
This put us in the position of being the right most boat in the fleet as a righty was taking over. We were lifted above the mark and stayed there knowing the current was ripping. By staying to the right, we thought we would have a little less current than the boats below us. We also kept it high since the wind was good and we may need the speed of footing closer to the mark.
Everything worked out well and we rounded 26 a minute ahead of the next boat. We then cruised at 8 knots over the ground to K. This was a short leg, but we were able to gain a little more distance on the fleet. Rounding K, we held port tack for 2 minutes. After tacking back to starboard, the current had shown that the 2 minute lead would not mean much distance on this leg. We let A-Train get above us on starboard tack since we were already making the mark.
I was concerned about this. First, A-Train would be further from the channel and probably in less current. Second, the wind was from the NE now and A-Train was closer to the NE shore. In the end, we got some additional lift and cracked off a bit near the finish. We let the kids drive most of the last leg and across the finish. Although not as talkative as the girls from last year, they seemed to have a great time driving the boat at the end of the race.
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| Sunset |
Finally around 21:30, with clouds blocking the eastern horizon, we sailed in for the evening. It was a great ride after the race. The winds were perfect and the sunset put on a nice show.
The Race Committee did a great job. For the second week in a row, two courses were used and the boats came back close to each other. It was a nice length for the conditions.
Pizza night was tough to miss. We love the event, but I could not turn down this night of sailing after so many weeks of light or no air. Since I don't get out much on the weekends anymore, the night was just the sailing fix I was looking for.
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| Sun behind flag |
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| Post sunset |
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Summer Race #1
Winds were light from the NW between 4 and 8 knots. Current was flooding hard all night. Skies were clear and the temperature was warm. Course for C was from H to 26 to 24 to H. A&B sailed to K instead of 24.
The area has been blanketed by a heat wave for almost two weeks now. Wednesday was a hot day and the wind forecast predicted southerlies. When we went out of the harbor, winds were light and variable. We motored up current of the starting area and took a swim to swipe the bottom and inspect the speedo which has not worked all year. After some brushing and forced spinning, the speedo was still not reading our speed. At least the water was somewhat cool and it felt nice to swim around a bit.
As the start time approached, an unexpected WNW breeze began to fill in. We sailed over to the line and were surprised at its length. We knew the start would take place near the committee boat since the line was heavily favored to that side. As we got set for the start, most boats were late, so we were able to make our own comfortable approach to the line and start 10 seconds late, but ahead of the competition. Off the line, we footed for speed and raced to the west side of the river. That was the plan all along.
We took starboard tack all the way to the port layline before flipping over. Most boats had already gone back earlier, but a J/24 followed us to the layline. We overstood a bit since the 24 sails higher than our boat and in the light air, their speed was just as good. We thought it best to make sure they had to overstand or sit in our bad air. This worked out as we were able to foot again and keep good speed to 26. Overstanding also helped us stay to windward of all the A&B boats that were coming at us on starboard. With clear air and a nice angle, we rounded the mark a minute ahead.
The next leg was a broad reach. Sometimes the wind swung ahead and we had to tighten the sails. During the leg, our speedo came to life for the first time all year. As we approached 24, I took the initial part of the rounding wide since the current was pushing us into the mark. It was wide enough, but I still had to turn the boat hard at the mark to get the stern to swing out and avoid it. With the current ripping, I did not want to waste any distance against it.
Once around the mark we headed low of the finish as the current was trying to pull us high of it. We got a land mark and made sure we were steady against it. In the puffs we took the opportunity to head down even lower with speed. When the lulls came, we headed up to keep the speed going, but lost some gauge on the mark. We crossed the finish first and sailed around for a while after the race.
It was great seeing all the boats sailing after the race. It was just a nice lazy night on the river and having sailboats outnumber the stink pots was very cool. The sunset was nice, but the harbor was still hot in the twilight of the day.
The race committee did an excellent job tonight. The courses were the perfect length for the fleets. Everyone finished within the time limit and that was not guaranteed in the light conditions. With A&B on the longer course, their finishes were mixed into the C finishes. Unfortunately, the line was set so that the boats finished from opposite sides, but there were no issues from that. Hopefully we can continue to get races in despite the summer doldrums.
The area has been blanketed by a heat wave for almost two weeks now. Wednesday was a hot day and the wind forecast predicted southerlies. When we went out of the harbor, winds were light and variable. We motored up current of the starting area and took a swim to swipe the bottom and inspect the speedo which has not worked all year. After some brushing and forced spinning, the speedo was still not reading our speed. At least the water was somewhat cool and it felt nice to swim around a bit.
As the start time approached, an unexpected WNW breeze began to fill in. We sailed over to the line and were surprised at its length. We knew the start would take place near the committee boat since the line was heavily favored to that side. As we got set for the start, most boats were late, so we were able to make our own comfortable approach to the line and start 10 seconds late, but ahead of the competition. Off the line, we footed for speed and raced to the west side of the river. That was the plan all along.
We took starboard tack all the way to the port layline before flipping over. Most boats had already gone back earlier, but a J/24 followed us to the layline. We overstood a bit since the 24 sails higher than our boat and in the light air, their speed was just as good. We thought it best to make sure they had to overstand or sit in our bad air. This worked out as we were able to foot again and keep good speed to 26. Overstanding also helped us stay to windward of all the A&B boats that were coming at us on starboard. With clear air and a nice angle, we rounded the mark a minute ahead.
The next leg was a broad reach. Sometimes the wind swung ahead and we had to tighten the sails. During the leg, our speedo came to life for the first time all year. As we approached 24, I took the initial part of the rounding wide since the current was pushing us into the mark. It was wide enough, but I still had to turn the boat hard at the mark to get the stern to swing out and avoid it. With the current ripping, I did not want to waste any distance against it.
Once around the mark we headed low of the finish as the current was trying to pull us high of it. We got a land mark and made sure we were steady against it. In the puffs we took the opportunity to head down even lower with speed. When the lulls came, we headed up to keep the speed going, but lost some gauge on the mark. We crossed the finish first and sailed around for a while after the race.
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| Sunset over Haverstraw |
The race committee did an excellent job tonight. The courses were the perfect length for the fleets. Everyone finished within the time limit and that was not guaranteed in the light conditions. With A&B on the longer course, their finishes were mixed into the C finishes. Unfortunately, the line was set so that the boats finished from opposite sides, but there were no issues from that. Hopefully we can continue to get races in despite the summer doldrums.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Spring Race #9
Decent winds from the south around 4-8 knots.
Current was flooding. Course was from H to K and back. Skies were
overcast with a chance of showers.
For this July 3rd race, I decided to take the kids with me. Haverstraw was supposed to have fireworks that night, so it seemed like a great way to combine a race and some fireworks. Unfortunately, on the drive down, we saw a sign that the fireworks had been postponed, probably due to the forecast. This was disappointing, but we got ready for a long night on the water regardless.
With the grill on the stern, we sailed out to the start. The kids had a great time on the boat before the race. At 5 and 7, they are now able to move about the boat freely and enjoyed being on the bow as I tacked the jib a few times. As the start approached, I had the kids sit in the back with Tara while I moved into the middle to do everything.
We approached the start line in a decent position with about 80 seconds to go. The wind let up and we were a bit late to cross the line, but everyone was later, so it was a good start. There was not much strategy on the first leg. Everyone went to the left side and tacked close to lay-line. We were able to maintain a lead all the way to K and then turned to go downhill.
On the downwind leg, I poled out the jib while the kids and Tara helped with lines and steering. It was fun to see the kids get involved for the first time in their lives. Up to this point, they have just been spectators on races. We have come a long way from the times when Tara was breastfeeding Rowan on the reaching legs. The kids are eager to help with the race and enjoy taking part in it.
After the finish, we sailed around a bit and headed up to Croton to anchor and eat. After dinner we sailed out of Croton and saw the Ossining fireworks at a distance. Around 21:30, we headed back towards Haverstraw in a light southerly. The river was wavy as all the motor boats were going home from the fireworks display. By 22:30, we had enough and motored into Haverstraw for an end to the night.
For this July 3rd race, I decided to take the kids with me. Haverstraw was supposed to have fireworks that night, so it seemed like a great way to combine a race and some fireworks. Unfortunately, on the drive down, we saw a sign that the fireworks had been postponed, probably due to the forecast. This was disappointing, but we got ready for a long night on the water regardless.
With the grill on the stern, we sailed out to the start. The kids had a great time on the boat before the race. At 5 and 7, they are now able to move about the boat freely and enjoyed being on the bow as I tacked the jib a few times. As the start approached, I had the kids sit in the back with Tara while I moved into the middle to do everything.
We approached the start line in a decent position with about 80 seconds to go. The wind let up and we were a bit late to cross the line, but everyone was later, so it was a good start. There was not much strategy on the first leg. Everyone went to the left side and tacked close to lay-line. We were able to maintain a lead all the way to K and then turned to go downhill.
On the downwind leg, I poled out the jib while the kids and Tara helped with lines and steering. It was fun to see the kids get involved for the first time in their lives. Up to this point, they have just been spectators on races. We have come a long way from the times when Tara was breastfeeding Rowan on the reaching legs. The kids are eager to help with the race and enjoy taking part in it.
After the finish, we sailed around a bit and headed up to Croton to anchor and eat. After dinner we sailed out of Croton and saw the Ossining fireworks at a distance. Around 21:30, we headed back towards Haverstraw in a light southerly. The river was wavy as all the motor boats were going home from the fireworks display. By 22:30, we had enough and motored into Haverstraw for an end to the night.
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| Hazel steering with help |
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| The whole gang |
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| Rowan Driving downwind in the race |
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| Hazel likes to grind the winch |
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