Saturday July 8th Summer Series
Six teams arrived at SSA for the July 8th Summer Series day, the second of three that comprise the summer series. Chris Gildea was down working on the boat, but did not make it out.
The teams that launched were:
Keith Davids/Yvette Davids/8851
David Tunnicliffe/J Bergquist/6987
Chris Legg/Howie Baetjer/7150
Brendan Connell/?????/7606 (using Larson/Baylis's 8854 sails)
Stergios Papadakis/Mike Renda/7199
Craig Thompson/Alexander Meller/8776 (using 7200 sails)
We had Solings on the same course, an interesting preview for the MacBugly in August, particularly since the RC chose to start the Solings first! And it was very light air.
The pin was favored for the first start. Keith/Yvette won the start big time, tacking onto port on top of Craig/Ali at the start, and forcing them to tack away. Keith/Yvette extended and were running away (well perhaps drifting away) with the race when they made a very uncharacteristic mistake and went to far down the run, probably seeing the pin end of the line, rather than the leeward mark. Craig/Ali were in second at this point, but gybed onto the correct angle for the leeward mark and led with a handy margin. Keith/Yvette struggled to recover, and rounded just ahead of David/J. Craig/Ali's lead should have been sufficient, but apparently Keith/Yvette did not get the memo saying they would be second, and the patiently ground back, and then go something on the left to close up. At the second (and last) windward mark Craig/Ali led by 5-10 boatlengths. The slight puffs would make a big difference, as first one team and then the other would gain in them. Craig/Ali were holding off Keith/Yvette most of the way down the run, but as they approached the layline for the finish, Keith/Yvette worked a puff down low, trying to get inside of Craig/Ali so they could pin them. Craig/Ali went for the early crash gybe to prevent this happening, and Keith/Yvette chose to let them go. This may have been a mistake, because a stalled J80 was a bit of a roadblock on the course, and when Keith/Yvette did gybe, they had to go up to get around it. Craig/Ali were leading a little more comfortably at this point, sailing on port towards the committee boat, hoping the current would take them down to the line... but for some reason it did not, and meanwhile Keith/Yvette were determined to make a race of it. The latter gybed back to starboard when they could lay the pin end, and Craig/Ali were forced to counter, and did not land their best gybe ever. It turned out the pin was favored, and it was too close to call as both teams drifted across the line. But the RC confirmed that Craig/Ali had won the race.
Many of us would have been content with one drifter and an early adjournment to the snack bar; The Angry Chef was rumored to have a shrimp special!
But Keith/Yvette were happy to stay out, so we all did, and the obliging RC ran another race for us. This was similar in pressure (crew on cap upwind, hard to fill kite downwind), and also had the pin favored. Keith won the start again, while boats pinching to get around the pin forced Craig/Ali over to port. Keith/Yvette were again opening up a useful lead on the left, with Brendan looking sold for second, and David/J third. Craig/Ali were down to fourth, wondering how to get back in the race. They finally took the opportunity to get back left, found some pressure and angle, and climbed back into second by the windward mark, with Keith/Yvette not far away distance-wise, but far ahead time-wise. The leaders held their positions, while the chasing pack fought bitterly for 3rd through 5th, with places changing around the course. At the second windward mark, Craig/Ali rounded in an uncharacteristic puff, but had to sail high to fight through the wind shadow of a stalled cruising boat. As they turned down the puff dissipated, so they were unable to work it down. Never-the-less they found some pressure to take down, and managed to close on Keith/Yvette. The backing wind that had favored the left side upwind, meant that we did not have to gybe downwind. Craig/Ali closed, but Keith/Yvette were sailing directly at the pin, and Craig/Ali would have had to go through them to get to it first. Keith/Yvette won, Craig/Ali were second.
Whether or not there should be a third race was not even discussed, as Craig/Ali turned hard right at the pin and headed in, followed the the rest of the fleet. We were all towed in along with the Solings. Chris/Howie stayed out for a couple more hours and reported that the breeze eventually filled in a little, even allowing Howie to jump on the wire briefly.
After racing, fleet beer was enjoyed by all sailors before retiring for a barbecue on J's keelboat which is now back in action with a new motor after a one-year hiatus. Bob and Shawnna Patterson showed up with the newest fleet member, Carmen who was introduced to everybody. The barbecue went late into the evening with some night sailing involved and recruitment of some potential new fleet members to even out the male-female ratio. A good time was had by all.
We're back to Tuesday TESOD and Thursday practice as of this week.
The next summer series is August 12th.
The CBYRA Midsummer event DID NOT require a minimum of 5 boats to be a class. The three or four boats that were rigged on the Thursday could have registered and would not have been the smallest class. But there were zero races on Wednesday and only one Thursday, so we did not miss much.
The teams that launched were:
Keith Davids/Yvette Davids/8851
David Tunnicliffe/J Bergquist/6987
Chris Legg/Howie Baetjer/7150
Brendan Connell/?????/7606 (using Larson/Baylis's 8854 sails)
Stergios Papadakis/Mike Renda/7199
Craig Thompson/Alexander Meller/8776 (using 7200 sails)
We had Solings on the same course, an interesting preview for the MacBugly in August, particularly since the RC chose to start the Solings first! And it was very light air.
The pin was favored for the first start. Keith/Yvette won the start big time, tacking onto port on top of Craig/Ali at the start, and forcing them to tack away. Keith/Yvette extended and were running away (well perhaps drifting away) with the race when they made a very uncharacteristic mistake and went to far down the run, probably seeing the pin end of the line, rather than the leeward mark. Craig/Ali were in second at this point, but gybed onto the correct angle for the leeward mark and led with a handy margin. Keith/Yvette struggled to recover, and rounded just ahead of David/J. Craig/Ali's lead should have been sufficient, but apparently Keith/Yvette did not get the memo saying they would be second, and the patiently ground back, and then go something on the left to close up. At the second (and last) windward mark Craig/Ali led by 5-10 boatlengths. The slight puffs would make a big difference, as first one team and then the other would gain in them. Craig/Ali were holding off Keith/Yvette most of the way down the run, but as they approached the layline for the finish, Keith/Yvette worked a puff down low, trying to get inside of Craig/Ali so they could pin them. Craig/Ali went for the early crash gybe to prevent this happening, and Keith/Yvette chose to let them go. This may have been a mistake, because a stalled J80 was a bit of a roadblock on the course, and when Keith/Yvette did gybe, they had to go up to get around it. Craig/Ali were leading a little more comfortably at this point, sailing on port towards the committee boat, hoping the current would take them down to the line... but for some reason it did not, and meanwhile Keith/Yvette were determined to make a race of it. The latter gybed back to starboard when they could lay the pin end, and Craig/Ali were forced to counter, and did not land their best gybe ever. It turned out the pin was favored, and it was too close to call as both teams drifted across the line. But the RC confirmed that Craig/Ali had won the race.
Many of us would have been content with one drifter and an early adjournment to the snack bar; The Angry Chef was rumored to have a shrimp special!
But Keith/Yvette were happy to stay out, so we all did, and the obliging RC ran another race for us. This was similar in pressure (crew on cap upwind, hard to fill kite downwind), and also had the pin favored. Keith won the start again, while boats pinching to get around the pin forced Craig/Ali over to port. Keith/Yvette were again opening up a useful lead on the left, with Brendan looking sold for second, and David/J third. Craig/Ali were down to fourth, wondering how to get back in the race. They finally took the opportunity to get back left, found some pressure and angle, and climbed back into second by the windward mark, with Keith/Yvette not far away distance-wise, but far ahead time-wise. The leaders held their positions, while the chasing pack fought bitterly for 3rd through 5th, with places changing around the course. At the second windward mark, Craig/Ali rounded in an uncharacteristic puff, but had to sail high to fight through the wind shadow of a stalled cruising boat. As they turned down the puff dissipated, so they were unable to work it down. Never-the-less they found some pressure to take down, and managed to close on Keith/Yvette. The backing wind that had favored the left side upwind, meant that we did not have to gybe downwind. Craig/Ali closed, but Keith/Yvette were sailing directly at the pin, and Craig/Ali would have had to go through them to get to it first. Keith/Yvette won, Craig/Ali were second.
Whether or not there should be a third race was not even discussed, as Craig/Ali turned hard right at the pin and headed in, followed the the rest of the fleet. We were all towed in along with the Solings. Chris/Howie stayed out for a couple more hours and reported that the breeze eventually filled in a little, even allowing Howie to jump on the wire briefly.
After racing, fleet beer was enjoyed by all sailors before retiring for a barbecue on J's keelboat which is now back in action with a new motor after a one-year hiatus. Bob and Shawnna Patterson showed up with the newest fleet member, Carmen who was introduced to everybody. The barbecue went late into the evening with some night sailing involved and recruitment of some potential new fleet members to even out the male-female ratio. A good time was had by all.
We're back to Tuesday TESOD and Thursday practice as of this week.
The next summer series is August 12th.
The CBYRA Midsummer event DID NOT require a minimum of 5 boats to be a class. The three or four boats that were rigged on the Thursday could have registered and would not have been the smallest class. But there were zero races on Wednesday and only one Thursday, so we did not miss much.
posted by lighter=faster? at 9:27 AM
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