Spring Race #5

Clear skies.  Wind was from the southwest between 10 and 15 knots.  Current was beginning to flood as the race started.  Course for C was from H to 22 to K to H.  A & B substituted G for K.

When I got to the marina at 17:00, the river was beginning to come to life with a southerly filling in.  By the time we left the harbor at 17:35, the wind was a nice 10-12 knots and we sailed around to check out the current.  Nothing was unusual, so we went back to the start and prepared for our start.

The line was nice and square, but a little shorter than usual, but it still took 35 seconds to run the line.   We decided to get out to he right for better breeze and therefor to start on the right end of the line.  As the start was approaching, I was relieved to not see a bunch of bargers setup on the starboard end.  There was one or two boats reaching in, but they responded to our hails of leeward and we got off the line nicely.  We soon tacked to port and headed to the western side of the course.

We were very close to Dream Chaser and traded the lead on the upwind leg towards the mark.  We made a bit of a gain on them when my crew executed some nice tacks.  It was just enough to hold a 30 second lead as we began the reach to G.  We had to stay high on the reach as the current was pulling hard to leeward.  We rounded G and stayed high to get back into the fresh breeze and more current.  This worked out, but we did not stretch out from Dream Chaser who was threatening to take our wind.  When it was time to wing it out, the crew once again executed it well and we made a little gain before finishing.

We then sailed around for a little while and headed into the Hudson Water Club for pizza and beer.  It was a nice night on the river and we were happy to sit out on the deck and continue to take it in, despite the annoying line dancing that was going on. 

Something worth noting is how bad the west side of the course can be near 22.  We lost a few boat-lengths on the windward leg when we were west of the competition.  We saw other boats get hurt even worse on the west side.  It is a predictable pattern.  When going up to 22, it is best to stay a few hundred yards to the east and then take a port tack into the mark.  If you get up into that channel, the wind will not cooperate and you can lose some serious time.  At least when the flood is going and the wind is from 180-200.