End of Season

Jazz was spared any lasting damage from hurricane Sandy.  Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky as there was extensive damage in the area.  Part of what helped Jazz survive was that she was tied up to the dock across from her.  I did not do this.  I would like to send out a big THANK YOU to the person who helped keep Jazz from riding even harder into her dock spot.  I do not know who did it, but it saved Jazz from getting scratched up worse than she did.

Jazz is now put away for the winter in the West yard of Haverstraw Marina.  Hopefully the winter will pass quietly and we'll be back on the water before long.

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. 

Summer Race #7

Wind was light from the ENE.  Current started flooding after the start.  Course for A&B was from H to 26 to 24 to H.  C skipped 26.

My father and twin sisters joined us for the race this Wednesday.  It was their first time on the boat and unfortunately, the wind was very light.  We headed out to the course and sailed a bit in the shifty conditions as the wind went from due north to southeast in 30 minutes, before finally settling in at ENE.

We had a decent start near the boat end and hoped to get right early.  We had one boat on top of us and I waited too long to tack in front of them.  Another boat in our division was less cautious and went right in front of this starboard boat.  I saw the starboard boat change direction, yet the port tack boat insisted this was done for no reason since they saw trees coming from the bow.

Making Trees

When two boats are coming together on opposite tacks, it is common for a racer to gauge the crossing on whether the bow of the upcoming boat is making or losing against the land.  If the boat seems to be moving forward against the land, then they will probably cross the observer.  If the bow seems to be losing land against the observer, then the observer will probably cross.

While this is effective in lakes and bodies of water without current, the current renders this method less effective since both boats will have some movement against the shore regardless of their own speed in the water.

In the end, it did not matter as the other boat blew by us upwind.  We have little chance of keeping up with some boats when the wind dips below 8 knots and this was the case on this race.

We got to the weather mark in a bit of traffic and sat for a few minutes while boats piled up to the east of us.  Since the wind was from the east, we headed due south to get away from the disturbed air and finally got clear after 7 minutes of idle floating.

The rest of the race was pretty stretched out.  Xanadu made a nice northerly move on the downwind leg to make up some serious ground on the C1 fleet and win C2.  Most boats finished within the time limit, but 4 C2 boats were OTL.

We sailed a bit after the race before heading in after dark.  It was a nice night out on the river and my father and sisters had a good time racing. 

Summer Race #6

Winds from the SSE 10-15 dropping to 4-8 from the SW.  Current was ebbing.  Course for A and B was from H to K and back, twice around.  C sailed from H to K to G and back.

We were race committee tonight.  We left the dock at 17:10 and headed straight to H.  We saw a healthy SSE breeze from 170 and decided to anchor so that H bore 80 degrees from us.  It took three tries to get the anchor to finally stick.  The first try failed due to hooking a rather large rock.  The second failed for unknown reasons and the third time worked like a charm.

We thought the line to be very square and announced the courses.  With about 4 minutes to go before the start of the A&B fleets, we saw a change in the breeze.  It went right about 40 degrees and got lighter.  Now our line was skewed and I was wishing we had just let it drag since it would have been square if we fell north 200 yards or so.  Since the wind was also getting lighter, we stuck with the original course fearing that 22 was too far for this dying breeze.  At least with the A and B course, we could always shorten them to one lap should the breeze die.  We were not too worried about C as the current would push them upwind and then they would reach out of the current by going to G. 

So everyone started on a starboard end favored line and had a skewed beat up to K.  Most boats had to tack during this beat, so I felt a little better about the course.  In the end, everyone that attempted to finish the race did so with time to spare.  I also like that the entire fleet finished around the same time.  This is always a goal of mine when race committee and is not always possible. 

Once the racers were off, we ate some ribs and had a few beers.  It was a great night to be on the water and we enjoyed the hour between the start and the first finisher.  All boats were done racing by 20:12, so there was no risk of anyone not finishing in time.  We then hurried in to the dock and I went over to pizza night at Minisceongo Yacht Club.

Here is my analysis of our night as Race Committee.

Good

1.  We went out early surveyed the conditions and set the line.

2.  Being out early allowed us to set the line three times without delaying the race.

3.  Wrote down scores on three sheets to make sure a typo did not skew the results.  One sheet did not match the others in one case and it was nice to have the other two agree.

4.  Had a special sheet to help us remember to make the proper moves at the proper times.

5.  Set courses that allowed the fleets to finish around the same time.

Possible Improvements

1.  We could have delayed the start to allow the dying breeze to settle in.

2.  We could have changed the line to be more square in the new wind.

3.  We needed more ribs.

As far as delaying the start to set a better course after the wind changed, I decided against it since I did not want to have everything push back too late.  It was pizza night and sending boats to 22 could have caused an issue with a delayed start.  Boats could have been drifting until the time limit which probably would have extended to 20:45 or later.  I was also thinking that the lull could be temporary and all the changes would be for nothing.  

I am on the fence as to whether or not it was worth it to reset the line.  Hindsight is 20/20, but on this issue, the decision is still not clear to me.  I would welcome any comments on the matter as it could help with future races.

Summer Race #5

Unstable atmosphere.  Wind settled into a light northerly.  The course was from H to C and back.  Current was flooding.

This night started with storms passing through the area.  I sat in my car from 17:00 to 17:45 and waited for the rain to ease before heading down to the dock.  While in the car, we heard some chatter starting at 17:30 or so with sailors asking what the status of the race was.  It seemed apparent that the radio people were looking for an early cancellation.  The boat I heard never made it out.

When I walked down to the dock, I passed a group of sailors hanging out under a tent.  Most of them never made it out.  When I got to the boat, another boat in the marina had their engine running even though the fleet was in harbor hold.  They never made it out.

Using my phone's radar app to judge the weather, we left the marina just after 18:00 to take a real life observation of the river.  It was raining at a good clip, but the northerly was up so we hoisted sail and cruised around for a bit.  Around 18:30, the wind and rain lightened up.  Around 18:45, the race marshal announced an end to the harbor hold and went out to the course.  I was very happy to hear we would have some company.  Twice before this season, we went out in questionable conditions to find the race cancelled.

Things were not looking good wind wise as the RM headed out to H.  Fortunately, once they got set around 19:20, the wind picked up enough to give us hope for a race.  The course was announced and we rolled into sequence at 19:35.  The total delay was 80 minutes.

The start line was heavily boat (starboard) end favored.  We got off to a nice start around a barging boat and were off the line well.  The C fleet tightened up at mark C as boats were rounding into the flood and having trouble making any progress over the ground.  It was a difficult start to the leg, but the wind did increase and veer to the ENE to give us a nice reach to the finish.  All boats finished before 21:00.

Breakout withdrew from the race.  They were the only boat in A and as such, their withdrawal means that A had no race this night.  By withdrawing, they gave all the boats in their division that bagged out early a break.  Had Breakout finished, the race would have counted and those boats would have used their throw-outs on it.   It was a classy move to not take advantage of the other boats impatience. 

Race Marshal

The race marshal was excellent this night.  They followed all rules and procedures to the letter.  When the conditions were uncertain before 18:15, they announced a harbor hold to keep boats safe.  They continued that hold until 18:45.  At that time, they determined that the conditions were safe to go out on the river and attempt a race.  Once out on the river, they realized a race could be held and executed it very well.  Escpecially considering the compressed time they had due to the late start.

I heard some chatter about sailors being unhappy that a race was held so late.  Some have even gone so far as to say that there is a time a race cannot be started after.  They are wrong.  There is no limit to when a race can be held. The 18:45 time in the postponement section is the earliest time a race can be cancelled, not the latest time it can be started. 

Wishing for a Cancellation

When I was a kid and raced with my father, it was more an obligation than for just fun.  I used to root for a race to get cancelled because I enjoyed the break from racing, but still liked to be around the boat.  I mention this to give some perspective that I can understand why people would want a rainy race cancelled.

The trouble on this night is that people get on the radio to pressure the RM into cancelling.  These are boat owners looking to get out of racing.  I have some advice, don't race, go home.  It is that simple.  If you don't want to race on a given night, just drive home.  Do that without getting on the radio and trying to force the entire HBRA to miss a race.  If you are that worried about your score, accept that you will have to stick around on Wednesday nights since an RM should do everything they can to get a race in. 

We get 20 Wednesday night races each year to compete in.  Getting out each Wednesday is important and I don't want a little rain or a bad reading of the radar at 17:30 to cancel the opportunity to race.  The race instructions are setup to give the RM the power to get a race in even when conditions are not perfect at 18:15.  This night was an example of that.

In the end, many people drove to Haverstraw, got ready for a race and went home.  They did that because they could not wait for 80 minutes.  It is fine for a crew to skip the race, but they should stay off the radio and not complain when other boats wait for a hour and get a race in.  After all, it is why we get together for 20 Wednesday nights each summer. 

Starting Time Limit

I realize I may not be in the majority when it comes to getting races in on a Wednesday night.  I put a poll at the top right of this site to allow people to vote on a time limit for starting a Wednesday night race.  Please vote.

Summer Race #4

Decent wind from the SSW between 4 and 10 knots.  Course for A&B was from H to K to G to H.  C sailed H to K and back.  Current was "slack" at the start with an ebb filling in.

The night started with a good southerly that appeared to have been blowing for a while.  The river had decent waves built up from that direction.  We left the marina and had to use a boat brush to clean off the speed wheel to get a boat speed reading. 

Once that was set, we hoisted the main and sailed around for a bit.  There was a noticeable flood still on the river and we had trouble getting upwind of the starting line.  We knew the scenario well and decided that we should go left after the start.  We read the line as mostly square with the boat end slightly favored. 

As the start approached, we began to second guess our pre-start plan and decided that the right may well be worth a try.  I went for the boat end at the start and we got off the line with room to tack out to the right.  We did not wait long and tacked over to head to the west side of the river.  Incredible also had a good start and they continued to sail on starboard to the left. 

As I have written many (too many) times on this blog, in a southerly breeze, the left can pay off big time.  I used to call it the Bugaboo move.  On this night, history repeated itself on Jazz.  We went to the right, found better breeze and got sucked in as the boat kept lifting.  Being on the right side of the course in the lefty wind left us sailing the great circle route since we were on the outside of the lifting breeze.  Of course with good wind speed and sailing on a lift, it was difficult to even consider a tack.

Incredible's move to the left paid off.  They were two minutes ahead of us when we crossed about 2/3 of the way up to K. 

Let's pause here and consider how ignorant I was.  Here is what I wrote on 7/6/11:

So off to the right we went. When we tacked back to starboard up the course, A Train could cross. Zoom banged the left corner and at the mark had a comfortable lead. I can never figure out why the left side pays off in this situation. I call it the Bugaboo move as Bugaboo always kicked our ass when they stayed left. The current and direction seemed to favor the right side, but the proof is in the results. The left side was favored and I cannot explain why. A comment on this would be most welcome.

Here is what I wrote last year on 7/20/11.  Apparently the Bugaboo move was still fresh in my mind.

I wanted to protect the left side from the Bugaboo move. In case you did not read this in the past, the Bugaboo move is an unexplained advantage boats get going left in the SE breeze. Even the stronger ebb to the right does not overcome this affect. We did see some of the reason for the affect as we came in from the port side and got lifted as we sailed into the mark on port. It is still a mystery to me.

Fast forward to 2012, I forget how the left side goes against my judgment each time, but still pays off.  With Incredible crossing us, I was hoping they would continue to the right so we could get further left and get some left side leverage.  They continued to the right and we were able to get far to the left late in the leg.  I noticed the wind speed was going down, but our COG and SOG were doing great.  The current was helping us sail higher and faster.

Despite the ugliness of the lighter air and the knock, we continued to the port lay-line.  Once we tacked over, the over-the-ground number still remained impressive and we were able to sneak ahead of Incredible at the mark.  We then rounded the mark and had a nice quick set that allowed us to get far enough ahead to keep our air clear. 

After the race, we continued north to get an edge on the current.  The ebb was now pretty strong, so going north allowed us to cruise with some nice reaching angles.  The wind picked up a bit and we enjoyed the 10-12 from the south.  Well after sunset, we went back to the slip and retired for the evening.

Summer Race #3

Wind was from the SW at 4-8 knots.  Current was ebbing until late in the race and then turned to flood.  Course was from H to 22 and back.  A & B sailed H to 22 to G and back.

Upon arriving at Haverstraw, I looked out on the water and saw a little southerly on the river as evidenced by the small ripples in the center.  I was hoping this was a building breeze as I headed down the dock to Jazz.

As we left the harbor, we turned out into the river and a nice 6-8 knot southerly had filled in.  We had a tight reach to H and as we got closer, the wind got lighter.  We consistently found the West side of the river to have more wind.  With this in mind, we decided to start at the starboard end of the line in order to get right quickly.

We had a good start.  We were right at the boat when the horn blew.  While we had put ourselves there due to the desire to go right, we held starboard tack for a couple of minutes and went left.  Our plans changed due to the fleet starting to leeward and behind us.  Since they were all heading out on starboard, we thought it best to protect our early lead and minimize the risk of going away from everyone.  Eventually, someone tacked and we followed to protect the right side. 

Protecting a side

When I write about protecting a side, I am talking about upwind tactics.  Before a start, the crew on Jazz talks about the possible benefits to the upwind leg and we come to a conclusion on which side we believe is favored.  Depending on the conditions, we can be positive or 50-50 on which side is favored.  Once we have a side picked, we will try to get to that side after the start.  The urgency in getting there is dependent on our confidence that the side we picked is favorable.  So when it is not very clear, we will tend to make sure none of our competitors gets out to our favored side without us going with them.  This way, we protect ourselves from getting passed by someone sailing to the favored side.  That is called protecting the side.

We continued to protect the right and pulled out a little further from the fleet by staying to the right.  We rounded 22 with a decent advantage and rode that all the way back to the finish.  It was a long downwind leg as the breeze was getting lighter and the flood had not arrived to push us to the finish.

I really liked the course tonight.  Sailing to 22 is always a challenge.  I know some racers hate going around that mark since the wind is variable to say the least.  While this does create a difficult playing field, I think that is an important part of racing and worth the frustration.  It reminds me of distance racing where you just have to deal with variable conditions.  Going to K in every southerly can get boring.  On this night the courses worked out well with all boats finishing within the time limit.  A great job by the race committee all around.

After the race, we sailed around until it got dark.  It was a full moon night, but I doubt we could have gotten a second race in with the dying breeze.  The clouds prevented the moon from coming out anyway. The sun did manage a brief appearance on its way out.

Summer Race #2

Wind was from the NNW at 4-8 knots, veering to the WSW by the end of the night.  The ebb started around 18:30 and was not much of a factor during the race.  The course for all divisions was from H to B and back.

Tonight started a little different for us as I brought two people from work to go sailing.  They had never sailed before and I looked forward to introducing them to the sport.

We left the slip and hoisted the main in the harbor before heading out into a decent northerly.  The Venturi effect seemed to be helping the breeze in the middle of the river.  We sailed down to H and then headed upwind for a bit.  We noticed that the east side of the river had significantly less wind and decided to avoid that area.  This meant going left after the start.

We then judged the line to be mostly square and decided we would run the line in the dying breeze in order to get to the west side of the river as fast as possible.  Our start went as planned and we worked our way west into the channel.  There we found some good breeze and passed a few boats from the earlier start that had gone to the east.

Behind us and in our bad air was Merlin.  They proceeded to sail above our bad air and pass us to windward.  It was quite a demonstration of superior boat speed.  I thought we were sailing well in our own right, so the speed from Merlin can only be attributed to their great work in passing us.  I did almost everything I could to prevent that from happening.

Unfortunately, by passing us to windward on port tack, we were prevented from working further west.  We wanted to tuck into the left side of the course and take advantage of the veering wind, but the close proximity of the boats prevented us from tacking.  Eventually, we tacked a few times, but Merlin covered us each time. 

Finally I went for a close tack to get to their left.  This required a massive duck to get around their stern.  I neglected to mention my plans to the crew, so we did not back the jib as much as desired, so I had to over steer to avoid any contact and that slowed us down.  Fortunately, we were finally able to get some left side leverage on Merlin and the wind helped us get to the mark just ahead of them. 

The downwind leg turned out to be a tight reach in the veering breeze.  That is a perfect angle for our boat and with good work on trimming, we were able to stretch out from the other boats.  One spinnaker boat looked to roll us to windward, but I headed up to prevent that.  I certainly was not going to allow our speed to get hurt in a tight race by being rolled.  They eventually got stuck below us and I regretted that they were unable to pass us.  They would have needed more separation to pass us.

We finished the race and sailed on for a while.  The breeze was nice from the WSW and allowed some long reaching up and down the river.  The work friends got a chance to steer after the race and seemed to enjoy it.  Hopefully this experience will result in them trying to sail some more.

Summer Race #1

No race.  Current was ebbing until 20:00.  Wind was from the south at 10 knots, dying off as the evening went on.  

This was an odd night.  It started poorly with storms all over the area.  Around 15:00, storms were ripping through north Jersey and southern NY.  This seems to have spooked some of the fleet as a few crews never showed up.

Jazz pulled out of the dock around 17:20.  We headed out of the marina and heard some chatter about a storm moving up from Nyack.  This chatter was a common misconception on reading the radar.  The flow was from the west, pushing the energy east.  People were misreading the radar due to the energy moving north along the flow, but the flow was still moving to the east.  The storms over Nyack and south never did make it up north and the worst we had was a few showers.

Around 17:30, we heard a call for a harbor hold.  This seemed to be coming form the race marshal in Croton, so I took the liberty of retransmitting the message so the boats in Haverstraw would hear it and stay in the marina.  We were not very concerned on Jazz about the weather since our interpretation of the radar showed that the energy would stay to our south with some light showers reaching up to Haverstraw.

With the fleet in a harbor hold, it came as quite a surprise to hear the RM cancel the race at 17:45.  This action went against the instructions of the HBRA.  Here is an excerpt from the HBRA instructions for 2012:

POSTPONEMENT: Two long (3-5 seconds each) horns will be sounded. A Wednesday race should not be canceled prior to 1845. Notify racers of an intention to start a race after postponement by announcing on VHF 72 then sounding TWO short horns one minute before the raising the Warning flag. In the case of severe weather, consider announcing a “harbor hold” and any related instructions on VHF channel 72.

CANCELLATION: Three Long horns. The race Marshall may in its’ discretion cancel a race due to severe weather conditions – but in no case prior to the scheduled start time.

There are two mentions of when a cancellation is allowed.  Under the postponement heading, a race should not be cancelled until 18:45.  Under the Cancellation heading, it says that no race should be cancelled prior to the scheduled start time.  So going purely by the rules, the cancellation should have occurred no earlier than 18:45.  So this evening was cancelled about an hour too early and by any interpretation of the rules, at least 30 minutes too soon. 

It is not my goal to criticize the RM's discretion at cancelling the race.  The RM was the same boat that went out last year when a race was prematurely cancelled and sailed with us.  My goal is to discuss the rules we sail under and point them out when they are not followed.  That is black and white.

The gray area lies in what the RM was thinking.  A misinterpretation of the radar seems to have led them to think that the racing area would experience severe weather in the near future.  If this were to pass, the right call was to keep the boats in the harbor hold until the threat passed.  This was done at 17:30 and we thought everything was going to be fine.  At 17:45 the race was cancelled and I have no idea what happened in those 15 minutes.  We could have stayed in harbor hold until 18:15 without any increase in danger.

Harbor hold was added to the instructions this year to allow the situation that happened on this night.  When severe weather is expected, keeping the boats in the marina is a good idea.  If we had stayed in harbor hold until 18:00, everyone would have realized that the weather was not going to hit Haverstraw and we would be safe to race.  That is how the racing should work when severe weather is a possibility.

My interpretation of the radar was vastly different than what I heard on the radio.  While I agree that the energy was moving north, I was also considering the underlying flow moving the system to the east.  That flow was consistent all day and it did move the energy away from the race area.   Despite my interpretation, I know that things can change and I did not consider my interpretation as fact.  I was prepared for other possibilities since even the radar can be misleading. 

I stayed off the radio and did not air any of this since I have a troubled history of radio communication.  We hoisted sail around 17:45 and sailed over to H.  With the race already cancelled, we decided to just sail around for a while in the perfect 10 knot southerly.  This southerly was great until about 18:45.  Then it slowly died and by 19:15, we were ghosting in 2-4 knots.

Starting to get light around 18:55.

If the rules had been followed to the letter, we would probably had a delayed start in some decent wind.  Before the first boats reached the first mark (probably K), the wind would have died and everyone would have faced a downwind leg in light air against the current.  I doubt many boats would have been able to finish the race.

In the end, the decision to cancel early may have just prevented a tough night in a dying breeze.  As bad as that sounds, I would have liked the opportunity to try my luck on this night.  I am sure most other boats would disagree as only two other boats even made it out to the river. 

This is a world different than the premature cancellation last year.  This was a responsible RM, on the water, making a decision based on sound principles with safety at the forefront.  The only discrepancy was the cancellation came before the rules allow for a cancellation.  Hopefully, future RM's will wait for the cancellation times to pass since conditions on the river change and no one can predict the weather perfectly.  Seems that easy access to the radar in today's world is causing people to make incorrect assumptions about future weather, while leaving little room for doubt.

Spring Race #10

Winds were nice from the south around 8-14 knots.  Current was flooding and was a factor.  Course for A&B was K to C to H.  C sailed K to G to H.

I started the evening at Minisceongo Yacht Club (MYC) to pick up two additional crew members for the race.   The young ladies were part of MYC's youth sailing program.  Jesse had contacted me about the possibility of adding some crew members and we happily accepted two of the youth sailors.  I drove them over to Haverstraw Marina and we embarked from there.

On the way, they were concerned about how I planned to right by J28 in the event of a capsize.  I used to have the same concern, so I did my best to explain the physics of the boat and how we will never tip over.  The explanation basically boiled down to the extreme event of a gale hitting the sails and knocking us down.  Our sails would hit the water, lose all pressure on them from the wind, and then the 3,000 pounds of lead in the keel would right us.  We skipped any discussion of the keel falling off or the idea that an unsecured hatch could sink the boat in a knockdown.

Leaving the marina, we hoisted sail as usual and sailed on a tight reach to H.  From H we sailed about halfway up the course to get an idea of what the wind was doing.  The wind looked good across the course, so we decided to avoid the current and go to the left side of the course after the start. We also threw in a quick series of four tacks to make sure the new crew members got some practice scaling my ridiculously high cabin top.  Over six feet of head room on a 28 foot boat creates the high cabin top.  It is no small challenge on Jazz to cross over during tacks.  The girls did well, so I was comfortable going into the race with them on deck.

Heading back to the line, I took a quick look and found the line to be almost square with the starboard (boat) end favored.  With the current pulling boats back from the line, I knew I would have some room at the boat, even if things got crowded. 

The start went as expected.  We did a Vanderbilt start.  This is a timed run where we sailed away from the starting line with 4 minutes to go.  With 2:20 to go, we did a slow tack and were heading back for the line with just under 2 minutes to go.  Since it is a timed start, 2 minutes was a little long for the final approach and I was a tad early.  I did some large turns up and down to slow us a bit and with 15 seconds to go, we hit the gas and got off to a good start at the favored end.

From here we sailed a long starboard tack before flipping over to port.  We rounded the first mark with a small lead over the next boat.  As the reach leg began, I felt something was not going right.  Since I was driving, I assumed the problem was with trim, so Emily, our new crew member, took a look at the jib and worked with Frank to see if it could be improved.  Things got better, but I was still feeling off.  I asked our other new crew member, Alexa, to take over the driving.

With the two kids trimming and driving things got better.  The distance between us and the next boat stopped shrinking and began growing. The kids were doing great, so I sat aside and watched them get us to G.  At G, I briefly took the helm to execute the necessary gybe.  After gybing, Emily took the helm and Alexa worked on the trim.  They would switch back and forth a couple of times and they carried us to the finish.  More than just finish, they helped us extend the tenuous lead and win the race.

It was a nice relief to have the two girls step in and help us win the race.  I was impressed with their ability to hop on a strange boat and navigate their way around it in some windy conditions.  Even more impressive was their willingness to jump into the key positions on the boat and help us sail faster.  The two girls steered the majority of the race and helped secure us a first place finishing position.

After the race, we headed straight into MYC to drop off our new crew.  It was my first time going to MYC by water and the mid tide helped my confidence going into the shallow area.  With three feet under the keel the whole way, there was no real basis for my concern.  Entering the harbor through the narrow entrance was cool.  We then hooked right into a slip and dropped off the girls.  They wanted to just jump off the boat and swim in, but I did not consider that safe at all and I had no interest in having their guardians put a hit out on me. 

With the girls off the boats and a nice breeze still blowing, we hoisted sail again and hooked up with Dick Bracken's J28 for a little side by side sailing.  While I managed to stay close, Dick sailed away from us a bit and showed that his boat had legs. 

We then continued to reach back and forth across the river in the great breeze.  We had some good puffs punching into the 16 knot range, maybe even higher.  The conditions were so good we continued reaching until well after sunset.

This next picture seems to show a thunderstorm developing way up north.  Notice the top of it extending to the east.  Seems like a higher level flow from the west was sheering off the top of the cell.  Could be something else, so please comment if you know why this cloud looks like it is being blown apart.

It was nice to see some other boats out there enjoying the evening with us.  Sailing in the fading light with good boat speed is a neat experience.  The boat seems to skip along the water more as the perspective changes due to the loss of sight.  Finally at 21:30, we headed in for the night. 

Stop reading here.  The rest is crap.

I cannot let something go, so I thought it best to memorialize the thought here.  While one of the girls was driving, I could hear a soft humming or possibly singing coming from her.  It reminded me that I used to do the same thing out loud until my late teens.  I imagine it was the social pressure that eventually quieted this habit and brought the tune inside my head.  I realized that the song is no longer in my head when I sail and I miss that. 

I am not into the whole harmony of the world and the new age BS that goes along with all that.  I do recognize that waves are patterns.  They are predictable patterns that can be akin to a rhythm.  I forgot how nice it is to be so connected to that rhythm that a song comes out that matches the rhythm of the sea.  I greatly appreciated tonight's experience as it brought back my younger days when the rhythm was a more explicit part of my sailing. 

I would like to think that I still have that connection to the sea, but it no longer shows itself as explicitly as it did in my youth.  Despite wanting to hold onto that, I have to admit that those connections to the sea and environment are more about experience today than feel.  I will not proclaim experience or feel to be better than the other, but I recognize that my experience and careful analysis of the conditions have come at the expense of letting some of the feel slip away.

That was going through my head as the sun was setting.  I don't sail much at night anymore, but night sailing is where analysis takes a backseat and feeling must come to the forefront.  As the river lost its light, I appreciated being able to feel the boat under me and longed for the days where that just happened in my subconscious.  I can understand and explain sailing better than I could 20 years ago, but I miss driving a boat on feel more than thought.  Because of that, I am slower in pure sailing situations.  At least my kids will be old enough to drive a boat in a few years and I can do my best to help them keep that feel as long as possible. 

Spring Race #9

Light wind, 3-10kts from the NE with a bit of E in it after 7:15PM.  Current was at a full ebb.  Course H to D to 24 to H.  Both fleets ended up doing the same course when the RC shortened the course for A/B (which there will be come controversy as it was shortened to the finish after the first boat rounded 24).  

Quite the opposite from last week wind wise.  Tom had the week off as he was away enjoying time with his family down at the Jersey shore.   Peter and my brother in law Kevin crewed tonight. We got out early to practice and sailed in about 10 kts form the NE.

The wind, which was around 10 kts for the prestart and the A/B start, dropped to about 6-7 kts for our start and caused us to be about 20 sec late to the line.  We were 2nd off the line as A-Train got ahead of us and I did not feel like pressing a potential barge situation even though I may have had a window to sneak in by the committee boat.

On first leg, A-Train legged out a bit as it took me time to get used to driving the boat in light air race conditions.  A-Train was first and we were second around D.  Then there was the downwind leg to 24, in light air with the current ripping.  We held a starboard pole for most of the leg, slowly working our way to the mark and trying to keep the boat high of the mark to avoid getting swept past it (which a lot of boats did).  About .3 miles from the mark the wind swung east and we got rid of the pole and were able to get by A-Train to be first to 24.  The current was ripping along at 1.5-2 kts, reminded me of Plum Gut on the Sound. 

We got around 24 and sailed across the river in light air.  I saw a cruiser off of Croton moving downwind against the current so we went for the wind, which was a developing Easterly.  It was ugly going across, as the current was carrying us south, but we got to the wind first, dug in and then tacked on to Starboard and held to the finish.  We were able to pass some A/B boats who were stuck on the west side in less breeze.  Overall a good race for Jazz and I was happy to be able to hang with Tom's results as driver.

Cheers,

Frank

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.