Summer Race #7

Wind was light from the ENE between 2-6 knots.  Current was mostly slack.  Skies were overcast.  Course was from H to C and back.  A&B went twice around.

I left the dock early as I was the only person able to sail this night.  It is best to do everything early when sailing alone since it can be tough to overcome any issues that come up.  In a light northerly, I sailed over to H and then hardened up to sail to C.  I figured that would be the course and wanted to see if one side was favored.  I preferred the right side on this preview of the race.  I then motored back to the starting area and chatted with the RM about the conditions and the line.

The RM did an amazing job tonight.  First, they solicited input from some racers about the wind and whether to start or not.  They then reset the line and tried to get a start going.  The wind crapped out, but the RM made the difficult call to postpone the first start and wait for more breeze.  When that breeze came, they made a good course for all divisions and rolled back into the start.  It was just a great job to confer with other boats and postpone the start until conditions were better.  They were on top of things.

As my start approached, I noticed that I could run the line on starboard, but it would be tough to cross the pin (port) end on starboard.  This set up for a port tack start.  With over 1 minute to go, I was running the line on port and flipped over to starboard.  I was able to stay close to the line, but then turned down to fend off some port tack boats and keep them out of the good lane.  With 25 seconds to go, I flipped to port and started on time.  I was ahead of the fleet and covered the closest boat all the way up the leg.

With a good lead at C, I turned downwind and got busy.  I poled out the jib to one side.  By the time that was complete, the wind clocked to the ESE.  I then took the pole down and headed up to move along.  The wind continued to change and I continued to adjust everything.  Eventually with about 300 yards to the finish, I stopped all the work and just floated across the line.

It was a nice race and I was happy to get the bullet.  I then sailed around for a bit since the best wind of the night was building from the north.  I sailed on until 21:30.  At that point it was dark and I was getting tired.  Docking alone is the toughest part of sailing alone.  Everything has to be done methodically and I did not want to be exhausted in case something went wrong.  Around 21:45, I pulled into the slip and relaxed for a beer before heading home.  It was a nice quiet night on Jazz.

Fleet on the course

Summer Race #6

Winds were light from the NW.  Current was ebbing.  Course was from H to B and back.

This was an odd race.  With a strong ebb and a light breeze, we had to sail all the way up to B and come back to H.  For the quicker boats, this was done in a normal 60-90 minute time.  For the boats that have a low VMG upwind, they were unable to fight the current and round B.

We had a nice start on the west side of the line.  We kept the boat on the west side of the course and eventually sailed into the shallow water by Minniesceongo.  This was helpful as we were able to get out of the current and make good headway towards B.  After rounding B, we made sure to sail down to the middle of the river to get into the heavier current and make it to H.

We sailed around for a little while after the race and grabbed the last slice of pizza before heading home.

I think a course to 26 for the C division would have allowed more boats to finish.

Before the race, we passed by my brother's boat that was coming home from a long trip along the East coast down to the Caribbean. 

Patronus on their return to Haverstraw

Summer Race #5

Winds were between 12 and 18 from the NNW.  Course for all divisions was from H to C to 22 to H.  Current was flooding early going slack around 20:00.  Skies were overcast.

Another nice windy Wednesday night was on tap for this evening.  We left the harbor around 17:30 and hoisted the main close to shore in the lee of the land.  We then cruised out to the starting area under main only.  With the winds up, the current flooding and a presumed course to 26, we decided not to sail around and try the course.

We watched the race committee set a tough line for the fleet.  Under main only, we ran the line in 25 seconds.  It was short, especially for the light conditions.  The boat was on the wrong end of the line (the port end).  The port end was heavily favored.  I have written about this before in the past and this night the line was dangerous.  With the line being short and the port end favored, the RC became a big obstacle for boats running the line on starboard. 

The dangerous line was evident in both starts.  Boats crossing on starboard were unable to clear the RC and their long scope.  Since the port end was favored, boats piled up there and were soon forced to tack onto port and face the other starboard boats coming at them.  Because the port end was a boat and not the mark, it was very difficult to get around the boat to either side.

Taking all this into account, we ran the line with 15 seconds to go and tacked onto port right after the start.  We were far enough ahead to clear any starboard tackers, but there was chaos on the line behind us.  We moved out quickly towards C which was almost a one tack beat.  We made sure to protect the left side of the course as it seemed to have better wind and current.  By the time we rounded C, we had already passed two boats from the B division. 

Rounding C and heading down to 22 was nice.  It was a long leg and the wind was strong enough to keep the boat moving above 4 knots the whole time.  We got to 22 and hardened up on port.  Kohlinar was just ahead of us at this point and we began to slip into their bad air.  We tacked to get back to the left a little before settling in to a nice long port tack.

Interesting note on the last leg.  Kohlinar was sailing good upwind.  They had a small jib, but were moving well enough that we could not escape their bad air.  After we split out to the left, we ended up finishing over 7 minutes ahead.  Some of this was due to a jib change, but it also showed how favored the left was for both upwind legs.

We finished and sailed around in the fresh breeze.  As the sun set, the wind began to settle down to a light 4-8 knots.  At this point, we doused the sails and headed in to the Hudson Water Club for food.

Summer Race #4

Heavy winds from the south between 12 and 20 knots.  Current was ebbing.  Skies were cloudy with showers.  Course for A&B was H to K to H, twice around.  C1 and C2 sailed H to 22 to K to H.

It was our Race Committee night and we were disappointed to have to do it on such a great sailing evening.  The heavy winds from the south made for big waves and lots of fun.  We motored out to the course area and dropped the hook.  Since the ebb was opposite the wind, we had to be careful anchoring as the stern swung into the breeze.  This made for an odd motion as the stern was being hit with 2-3 foot waves.

We set the line with the boat end slightly favored.  As the start approached, a brief shower came through and brought extra wind.  During the puff, the first start went off.  One boat was over early and had some trouble getting back.  Another quit the race shortly after the start.

After the boats cleared out, we cooked and ate a few racks of ribs and had a few beers.  Eventually the current eased up and our bow was now into the wind.  This made the anchoring more pleasant.

We chose the above courses in order for boats to finish around the same time.  I always like to try and send C on a shorter course, but not too short. I feel a Wednesday night race should be at least an hour long if possible.  So we went with A/B going twice around a windward leeward course.  This would maximize the strategy for them and they are suited for that course.  For C, we sent them to 22 in order for them to have a slightly longer leg.  Then they would reach to K before going downwind to H.  The timing worked out well as all the racing boats finished within 30 minutes of each other.  There was one boat that appeared to have a breakdown and raced without her main.  She finished 20 minutes after the fleet, but I cannot plan for boats that do not sail with a main.

We recorded the finishes on three sheets.  That way if two disagree we have a tie breaker.  We also used the "Rite in the rain" paper I like.  This is waterproof paper and for a few bucks makes the whole shower thing irrelevant.  I print the score sheets on the water proof paper and we can keep it outside the whole time.  It also helps to have a waterproof pen.

After the last finisher, we unfurled the jib and sailed around for a while.  We wished we would have been able to race on this fine evening, but the little bit of sailing went a long way to easing that pain.

Some boats withdrew from racing.  I thought that this was a good decision on their part.  If you and your crew are not up for the conditions, then withdrawal is the proper thing to do.  I was happy that there was no radio chatter about it being too windy to race.  We are out there for wind and 20 knots is a great sailing breeze.  I was happy to be able to allow the rest of the fleet to challenge themselves against these conditions.

In the video below, Mad Hatter and Chi are going upwind.  The rest of their fleet is on the left and the C fleets are on the right in the distance.