Spring Race #1

There was a light SE breeze from 5-8 knots.  Current was ebbing in the channel, but flooding early on the East side (or so I think).  Course for all divisions was from H to K to G to H.

After a long winter, it was nice to be back on the water.  For me, this was only the second time out on Jazz.  I went out two weeks prior, once I finished getting the boat ready and was greeted by some heavy wind.  Not the ideal shakedown cruise, but it was a lot of fun.  I managed to get a video.

We left the harbor under cloudy skies and a light breeze.  Once clear of the breakwater, we put up the main and unfurled the jib for a nice reach to H.  H was a little shorter than I remember as it appeared the top of the mark was sliced off by a passing boat.  Once we got to H we went upwind and noticed better pressure on the left side of the course.  Given the history of this condition we convinced ourselves that the left was the place to go.

We talked about the right side having more current.  The old wisdom says that winds are fickle, but the current can be predicted.  We ignored this passing thought and committed to the left side right from the start.  Even after watching the A boats that went left lose on the leg, we still stuck it out.  Needless to say, this was the wrong move and cost us on the first leg.  When we finally tacked back and headed towards the rest of the fleet, we found ourselves behind three boats.  Current definitely won the day here as we had good pressure the whole time on the left side, but it was like running on a treadmill.  The guys on the right had the current pushing them and we were fighting the early flood on the left side of the course.

We did catch a break here.  We tacked to leeward of the three boats and they seemed hell bent on making the mark.  All three seemed to be pinching to make it from way to far out.  This allowed us to make considerable forward progress against them and we held it out to the port layline.  Once we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to round first and start the reach to G.

The rest of the race was pleasant.  We reached to G, gybed, and then headed down to H.  We ended up winging the jib at the end as the wind went to the SE and finished with a comfortable margin over the next boat.  It was a very nice night to sail and we were fortunate that a big mistake early did not do us in. 

Sailing to the finish as the sun peaks out.

The race committee did a great job.  It is tough to be the first RC of the year, but the execution was perfect.  I loved the course as I always prefer reaching legs to dead downwind in cruising class.  The signals were on time and the announcements at the finish were an added bonus.

We definitely had a good takeaway here.  So often the winds from the south make the races seem like the same over and over.  Tonight was different.  With a SE wind, the east side of the course was favored for the better breeze.  The current changing around 19:00 made it different.  The east side of the course had the beginning of the flood already.  The west side had a good ebb to ride in.  The current was a known factor and we should have given it more weight.  Next time we sail in a southerly at the end of the ebb current, it will take a much stronger case for us to abandon the known benefit of the current.  Wind can be a fickle thing.  The current is not so fickle and we should have given that more consideration in our prestart.  We will next time.