Spring Race #1

Wednesday 5/11/2011

Light Southeast breeze. The breeze was 4-6 knots at the beginning and the died a bit before getting 10 from SW at the end. Current was flooding. The weather was overcast and a little chilly. Course was shortened and went from H to G back to H.

This was the first Wednesday Night race of our 6th season. It was nice to be back out there with other sailboats. We decided to move back to C1 this year. With the new realignment, we lost the two boats in B that beat us last year and the boat that finished right behind us, Gusto, moved its crew to another boat in C1. It turned out to be a good decision for this race.

The night started with two new crew members on board for this race. Their boat was not yet in the water, so they came out with Frank and I. Around 17:40, we dropped the lines and headed out to H. We hoisted sails and saw the SE breeze lightening up and becoming more variable. As we sailed towards the committee boat, we noticed the line was not square. It was off enough that you could not cross it on starboard. This would result in all boat starting at the pin on port. We did not mind this as we knew the foul current and skewed line would keep the traffic down.

After the start, we had two boats right on our heels. We protected the left side of the course and rounded G with a narrow lead. Transformation passed us downwind. There long whisker pole and the light air seemed to give them a downwind advantage. Of course the boat was sailed well, but they must have gained over 60 seconds on us in that leg and we were never separated by much. Once again, I seem to be locked into a tight racing situation with Jesse and that should make for a good, competitive season. She finished ahead and won the race. We will probably correct out in second place.

There was a minor rule violation by the RC. We were past G and headed to 26 when they called out to shorten the course. You cannot shorten a leg once boats have already rounded the mark. We were strategizing to go to 26 for a minute or two when the call came through. Since 26 is almost in line with H from G, it was not a big deal, but a rule violation nonetheless. Here is the rule:

33 CHANGING THE NEXT LEG OF THE COURSE
The race committee may change a leg of the course that begins at a rounding mark or at a gate by changing the position of the next mark (or the finishing line) and signaling all boats before they begin the leg. The next mark need not be in position at that time.


From the HBRA instructions
Eliminating a rounding mark(s) of the course – with this method an announcement must be made prior to the first boat in each division reaching what will become the final rounding mark prior to finishing.

While the result was a shortening of the course, rule 33 is the one that applies. In reality, the race committee was changing the next leg of the course. Notice the section that reads "before they begin the leg." This is to prevent the trailing boats from gaining an advantage. If 26 was not in line with H, we could have sailed away from a proper course to H until we got the message and then changed direction. This would give the boats that did not round an advantage, as they would sail the proper course the entire leg. This situation did not come to pass since 26 is in line with H and the announcement was early enough to make the proper course only slightly different.

In the end, it was a fair race and everyone finished. Right after finishing, the wind piped up to 10-12 from the SW. The best sailing would happen after the race. We did our usual post race sail until about 21:00. It was a beautiful night with the perfect breeze, mild temperature, and half a moon visible above the rig. We reached back and forth across the bay and shared some good stories with our guests.

It was nights like this that I imagined would be perfect for a Full Moon race.  We should consider changing that series to something more impromptu.  There are a handful of Wednesdays each season where the wind does not cooperate until the end of the race.  Nights like this are the best nights for a second race.

We also tried to talk the extra cew into joining the Hudson Cove Yacht Club. This organization is a good group of sailors looking to get together for social and learning activities. I have learned about the area from sharing stories with the fellow members. It is important to be a part of a group of like-minded people and HCYC offers that chance at a very low cost in time and money. Sharing common knowledge and experience benefits many sailors. Hopefully we will see one or both at the HCYC events this summer.