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.