2009 Rites of Spring Race Report

Rites of Springs is the annual shorthanded race put together by the Oakland YC. I had done it single handed in Travieso for the last few years, but this year I would go doublehanded with Mike Tyng on Jetstream. We were pretty excited about the race, we had some good competition and friends also coming out to race. The forecast all week had been for rising temperatures and lighter winds so as we motored out to the race course we setup for that with the spinnaker light air sheets (more on that later...).

We made it to the starting area with a little time to spare so we go about doing a few tuning runs. The breeze was beginning to fill nicely from the west to about 12 knots. We had a great setup for the start, starting leeward of the fleet, but still pretty close to the pin. The boat is moving well, a little lower than the fleet but plenty fast. Outsider is windward of us going a little higher and fast as well. We have a bit of a long way to the upwind mark from the Berkeley Circle to Little Harding. We chose the right hand of the course and that was somewhat reinforced by the majority of the fleet also coming this way. We didn't quite clear Point Blunt so we took a short tack to clear the buoy and quickly went back to port tack to get more westing. The fog was rolling in through the center of the bay which made finding the marks a bit difficult. But we soon got close enough to Little Harding to spot it. At this point the wind was blowing closer to 18 to 20 and the boat was really in its groove. Nearing the mark we saw two boats approaching from the central bay, clearly staying closer to the middle had paid off, lesson learned. We rounded third behind a J105 and the Ben40.7 on our way to Alcatraz, our next mark. Talk about power reaching. We were reaching with our white sails in 20+ knots, we were screaming now with sustained speeds on the low teens. We were hoping up and down some reasonable shop taking a few nose dives. I don't often experience getting green-water inside the bay, but we stuffed it good behind the back of a wave, bringing a bit of water back into the cockpit. Have to remember to keep the companionway cover on in over 20 knots. We passed the Ben40.7 before reaching Alcatraz and now had the J105 in our sights.

We rounded Alcatraz and got ready for our spinnaker run back to the Berkeley Circle. Kite went up without a problem and we slingshot out. The boat behaves quite well in the heavy stuff. We jibed right behind the 105 and start our quest of find the the leeward mark. The leeward mark is one of the Berkeley Circle permanent marks. Little yellow marks that maybe stick up two feet from the water. With the wind and chop they are impossible to see unless you are 50 yds from it. I don't know how many times I asked Mike 'where is the effing mark'. His glasses were covered with dried salt water so he could see less than I could. We eventually spot it, we needed to do two more jibes to get around it. The jibes go very smooth and we get set for the douse. Here is were the light air spinnaker sheets come back into play. JetStream is so narrow that the safest way to douse the kite is with a windward douse. We've done dozens of them, no problem. Release the sheet, pull on the lazy sheet, bring the kite around the headsail and drop right on the deck. Except this time the kite didn't come around the headsail. Initially I thought that with the heavier conditions Mike just couldn't pull the sail around, so after a few, 'pull harder' coming from the guy holding the tiller, I notice that the sheet is fully tensioned and a huge knot (commonly known as 'assholes' to the sailors) is stuck in the block. Out comes the knife and problem solved. Good thing Mike had his knife handy as mine was safely stored down below and out of reach. This light air sheets are the only thing that have given us problems on the boat, so they are going out. Need to find more slippery lines.

We probably went about 50 yds past the mark before we got everything sorted out. We climbed our way around the end of the Berkeley Pier, luckily still in front of the J105. We have another nice reach down to the finish mark, which we have to round before going to the finish line. The boat is feeling a bit sluggish (comparatively) at this point, we figure we've collected a few gallons of water down below. We have a great short upwind leg to the finish and are the first boat to finish from our start. At this point we see our friends on Stink Eye taking some pictures of us, maybe they'll put us in the cover of their website norcalsailing.com again....

Time for a cold beer. After bailing 8 or so gallons of saltwater from the boat it is nice and light again and we have a mellow sail down the Estuary. We put our kite back up and notice a 4x4 in hole in it on one of the bottom panels, but we keep it up to dry it off. A trip to see Rui on Monday to get that fixed for next weekend.

We later joined the dock party at the OYC. Smiles all around, no serious breakage, another good day!