Spring Race #2

Wednesday 5/18/2011

Southeast breeze 6-12 (gust to 20). Current was ebbing hard. It rained hard at the beginning of the evening and then settled into mild showers. Course was from H to G to H to 22 to D to C and then in. Race cancelled.

At the starting line close to18:15 we found ourselves in great racing conditions. The rain had gotten lighter and the wind was a nice 8-14 from the ESE. We started right behind Hard Attack and worked our way to windward. We were soon in their bad air and tacked out right. The breeze and current gave us enough of an advantage that we held a lead at G. We rounded ahead and then winged the jib out. It was puffing up to 20 knots now and we did not even use the pole to keep the jib winged. The wind took care of that.

On the east side, Hard Attack popped their chute open and were speeding down the shoreline. It was a nice sight and a great maneuver for them to execute. They made some distance on us, but we got to H and hardened up. At this point we sailed up to 22, while Hard Attack continued downwind towards 26. With Jazz on her own, we got close to 22 and then took some long broad reaches back and forth across the river. The breeze settled into a perfect 8-12 knots form the ESE and the boat was lively. We tucked up to D around 19:30 and the breeze got lighter. We drifted up to C and eventually called it a night around 20:00.

There were only two boats on the river tonight. How that came to pass was somewhat predictable for me. In the first Wednesday night race, I had talked about how tonight might have to be an impromptu Race Marshall night. I got more concerned with the forecast and the RM selection. There are some Race Marshalls that are hell bent on making sure a race gets in. I am one of those. Then there are RM's that are not that concerned about getting the race in. Tonight we had the latter.

I arrived very early on the boat this evening. By 17:15, I had the radio on and was slowly changing into my gear when the RM came on the radio and announced that this evening's race would be cancelled. I was disappointed. I take great pains to get out of work early each Wednesday and I look forward to racing. I particularly like the foul weather races, as the sailing in adverse conditions will make us better sailors.

Before leaving the air, the RM went on to explain that "cells" were heading into the area and would bring bad weather. Armed with radar and no other input, the RM decided to cancel the race 1.5 hours before he was allowed to. This is against the rules. Here is a snippet from the sailing instructions.

POSTPONEMENT: Two long (3-5 seconds each) horns will be sounded. A Wednesday race should not be canceled prior to 1845.
CANCELLATION: Three Long horns. The race Marshall may in its’ discretion cancel a race due to severe weather conditions.

Clearly, canceling the race before 18:45 is against the responsibilities of the Race Marshall. This night, the race was cancelled on a reading of the radar. The RM said that "cells" were heading into the area. On a cool rainy day, cells don't really develop. Cells are usually the result of a hot humid day where the temperature difference causes the typical updrafts and downdrafts that give a thunderstorm its energy. I did not see any cells on my radar, just bands of rain.

A couple of other weather related points:

• There were no thunderstorm alerts or watches.
• All weather stations did not show wind in excess of 20 knots, even the ones in the heavy bands.
• No one on Jazz ever heard a clap of thunder.
• The storm was a quick mover and the RM should have expected changes to occur before 18:45.
• The was no small craft warning.

Four times I picked up my mic to reply to the RM, but my better judgment kept me from airing my complaints on the radio. I have done that in the past, written about it here, and later regretted it. This blog is now my outlet for any frustration. I was disappointed that tonight's race was being cancelled. Many people showed up to race tonight and they were sent away. I am sure most people were happy to stay dry, but the rules are the rules. They are there to prevent this type of false alarm from canceling the race.

Later at 17:45, the RM again declared the race cancelled. Someone went on the radio to challenge the RM's interpretation on future weather and was met with a line "you are welcome to go out and sail." Well, that is exactly what we did on Jazz. We motored out into a pretty heavy rain and found the perfect racing wind.

In their rush to leave, the RM had made a call at 17:50 that they were canceling the race and that if anyone saw another boat they should pass the word on because they were signing off. While I was upset about the race being cancelled, this call irked me.

It is the RM's duty to make sure all boats know the race is cancelled. Since the rules clearly state that no race should be cancelled prior to 18:45, there is no expectation that you should be on your VHF before 18:00 waiting for a cancellation. I can understand if there was thunderstorm warning or a breeze over 40 knots, but with a mild breeze and some rain, most people would not expect a dock cancellation this early. If the RM was concerned about the conditions on the river, they should have taken a look out on the river. They would have seen a sailboat, sailing around H, waiting for the fleet to arrive.

The fleet turned out to be Jazz. As we motored towards H in the rain, we saw the sails of Hard Attack. They radioed the fleet looking for information on the status of tonight's race. We did not respond immediately, hoping that the RM would be able to explain why the race was cancelled to a boat that was sailing in a nice ESE breeze with no thunder approaching. There was no reply. After their second hail, I responded that the RM had abandoned the race and had already left their station. Once we got within talking distance, we shared our dismay that the race should not have been cancelled, both for the lack of severe weather and the timing of the cancellation.

So that is how the race I described above transpired. Just two boats sailing in nice wind conditions. I understand the rain is not for everyone. There are people that think getting wet on a boat is to be avoided, but for those of us that consider it a part of the sport, we got the shaft this night. A perfectly good race could have been held and was not.

Here are some videos:

I am sure there are plenty of people happy with last night's result.  I would like to hear any comments that people have.  Whether to race or not is a tough decision and I am sure there are people who have differing opinions on the matter.  My primary point is that the decision to race or not should be made with the rules in mind. 

No cancellations before 18:45.  Even professional weather forecasters make mistakes.  We should not be led astray by the radar.  If you are worried about the conditions, call for a dock postponement before 18:15, but at least let us have a chance at a turn for the better and get a race in.  By cancelling at 17:15, there was no chance for a race to be held. 

I hope the next time we encounter the possibility of foul weather, the RM will have us wait at the dock and see if the forecast holds.  That is my motivation for writing about this.  I think we could have gotten in a race and the reasons for cancelling it never materialized.