This year's 2nd Half Opener provided great conditions for JetStream. With Rob and Andrew as crew we set out to defend our win from last year. We hung in there for the upwind leg to Pt Bonita and then let the boat do its thing for the run down to Encinal Yacht Club.
Here is another great video production from Rob.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
2012 Silver Eagle
The Silver Eagle is an inside the Bay 50+ mile race. It is the first time I do it and the first outing for JetStream. It should be a favorable race for us as it has plenty of reaching and downwind legs as we criss cross our way around the Bay.
The regular crew of Andrew and Rob were out for the race as well. The top move of the day was Rob perfectly executing a body drag. He had previously threatened with a scuba diver back roll, but this time he would execute what I will call the 'Rob Swing'. From the leeward rail, enter the water with your feet towards the bow. Making sure the boat is traveling in excess of 8 knots, while maintaining a strong grip on whatever is available, submerge yourself chest deep. The force of the water will swing your legs under you and back towards the stern of the boat with sufficient force to enable you to get one leg over the rail. If you are strong enough to hang on and any of the crew is willing to lend a hand you will be back on the boat in less than 5 seconds, fully refreshed and without slowing the boat much.
Back to racing...
The day started with a bit of a rush with only minutes to spare to make it to the warning signal on time. Decent breeze at the start. We started with our new #4 for the short upwind leg to Blackaller. We played the shore side tightly and were the first mono to round, one of the big cats had passed us already. We immediately set our A2 for the run to Little Harding (there was a bit of South in the breeze) and we stretched away from the rest of the monohull fleet. By the time we hit Little Harding all the big three cats had screamed right past even with us doing low to mid teens. The cats were flying.
We couldn't hold the kite on the leg from Little Harding to Blossom, and in a rushed douse shrimped it momentarily. So we white sailed reached to the mark. We rounded and set up our Code 0 to try to stay high and in the favorable current. We stretched a little more with Outsider and Wild 1 chasing behind. We had to go back to white sails as the wind increased a bit through the slot., but past Angel Island it was back to the A2 for the downwind run to the Petaluma Channel. The wind lightened up a bit and we started getting a bit concerned with Outsider and Wild1. We ended up cutting the lee of Red Rock too close and gave some of the lead up. On the remainder of the run in 12 - 15 we managed to stay in front of Outsider.
On the way back up San Pablo Bay we headed to the deep water for the beginning of the ebb. We mostly did a loose cover on the boats behind us and built up our lead. It was a very pleasant upwind leg with the sun out and enough breeze to fully power up the boat, now with the full jib up. We played the right hand side after the Brothers and that paid huge while Outsider and Wild 1 stayed on the Richmond side. We were able to crack off early on our way to TI. With not much of a wind hole behind Angel Island we were able to go across West of the Southampton shoals with plenty of breeze as we entered the slot. It was probably low to mid 20s with a decent chop from the ebb.
We had a couple of trimaran pass us in this leg, they were fully powered on and moving fast.
We stayed relatively close to TI as the ebb was now building. We had plenty of breeze as we made our way to mark 34 in the South Bay. Set our A5 for the run to 2NAS, by this point we had built a decent lead. As we were making our way back to SC1 we could see both Outsider and Wild1 setting kites as they rounded 34. Another A2 set for the run to and down the Estuary. Really nice breeze as well down the Estuary, almost caught back a few of the tris in front of us. Didn't catch the tris, but still good for the monohull gun.
Great day out on the water, a little sore today.
The regular crew of Andrew and Rob were out for the race as well. The top move of the day was Rob perfectly executing a body drag. He had previously threatened with a scuba diver back roll, but this time he would execute what I will call the 'Rob Swing'. From the leeward rail, enter the water with your feet towards the bow. Making sure the boat is traveling in excess of 8 knots, while maintaining a strong grip on whatever is available, submerge yourself chest deep. The force of the water will swing your legs under you and back towards the stern of the boat with sufficient force to enable you to get one leg over the rail. If you are strong enough to hang on and any of the crew is willing to lend a hand you will be back on the boat in less than 5 seconds, fully refreshed and without slowing the boat much.
Back to racing...
The day started with a bit of a rush with only minutes to spare to make it to the warning signal on time. Decent breeze at the start. We started with our new #4 for the short upwind leg to Blackaller. We played the shore side tightly and were the first mono to round, one of the big cats had passed us already. We immediately set our A2 for the run to Little Harding (there was a bit of South in the breeze) and we stretched away from the rest of the monohull fleet. By the time we hit Little Harding all the big three cats had screamed right past even with us doing low to mid teens. The cats were flying.
We couldn't hold the kite on the leg from Little Harding to Blossom, and in a rushed douse shrimped it momentarily. So we white sailed reached to the mark. We rounded and set up our Code 0 to try to stay high and in the favorable current. We stretched a little more with Outsider and Wild 1 chasing behind. We had to go back to white sails as the wind increased a bit through the slot., but past Angel Island it was back to the A2 for the downwind run to the Petaluma Channel. The wind lightened up a bit and we started getting a bit concerned with Outsider and Wild1. We ended up cutting the lee of Red Rock too close and gave some of the lead up. On the remainder of the run in 12 - 15 we managed to stay in front of Outsider.
On the way back up San Pablo Bay we headed to the deep water for the beginning of the ebb. We mostly did a loose cover on the boats behind us and built up our lead. It was a very pleasant upwind leg with the sun out and enough breeze to fully power up the boat, now with the full jib up. We played the right hand side after the Brothers and that paid huge while Outsider and Wild 1 stayed on the Richmond side. We were able to crack off early on our way to TI. With not much of a wind hole behind Angel Island we were able to go across West of the Southampton shoals with plenty of breeze as we entered the slot. It was probably low to mid 20s with a decent chop from the ebb.
We had a couple of trimaran pass us in this leg, they were fully powered on and moving fast.
We stayed relatively close to TI as the ebb was now building. We had plenty of breeze as we made our way to mark 34 in the South Bay. Set our A5 for the run to 2NAS, by this point we had built a decent lead. As we were making our way back to SC1 we could see both Outsider and Wild1 setting kites as they rounded 34. Another A2 set for the run to and down the Estuary. Really nice breeze as well down the Estuary, almost caught back a few of the tris in front of us. Didn't catch the tris, but still good for the monohull gun.
Great day out on the water, a little sore today.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
HDA-2 Delivers
The second installment of the HDA series delivers another sleigh ride for JetStream. This time we would start at Knox, peek our nose to the Pacific and round Pt. Bonita buoy back to YRA 8 East of Angel Island to finish back at Knox. About a 17 mile run.
We had a good fleet of boats and some fun battles throughout the race. The usual suspects were out with Ohana, Mintaka, Jazzy, the Mumm 30 and GP26 out for some fun. An the bay would deliver great challenging conditions again. The race started at the end of a light flood and lighter winds 10 - 15. It was the regular parade into Sausalito and hugging the North shore to get out to Pt. Bonita. Things lighten out a bit past the bridge as Jazzy lead the way, with a few position changes behind him with Mintaka, Ohana, the Mumm and ourselves exchanging tacks. Near Bonita it payed to get back into the channel as the current started turning and that allowed us to catch up a bit to Jazzy and Mintaka who had stretched a bit.
We rounded third behind Jazzy and Mintaka and soon started the downwind chase. The winds remained light and headed to the SF side for more pressure. Jazzy was sailing lower in the lighter conditions and got back under the bridge first, but with the wind increasing as we approached we were now in striking position. As we crossed the bridge, someone flipped the switch and we went from a mellow 15 knots, to an 'oh shit' 25 - 30 in a span of about 300 yds. The boat just took off and we were just trying to keep it on its feet. We wanted to stay in the middle of the bay so threw a gybe in full speed mode. The gybe went fine, but soon after we didn't react fast enough to a stronger puff and we did the unthinkable.... we broached the JS. It just doesn't happen often. We are still figuring out our 3 sail setup. On this stronger conditions we might not want to keep the bigger jib up as it interferes with the lower angles we have to sail. On the lighter conditions it is not much of a problem as we run higher angles. So while trying to recover from a broach, I could see our A2 disintegrating. By the time I called for a douse it was already in shreds. The conditions proved a bit too much for our .6 oz light air kite. $%&#!
At this point we had split gybes with Jazzy and they were screaming towards Raccoon Straits, probably hoping for the wind to drop a bit before trying to gybe. Behind us we could see the other kites coming with the GP26 looking really good. Well, we would have to clean up and set the A5 as we still had a bit of runway to go for the leeward mark. In the cleanup, the tack line got sucked through the clutch and Rob had to go below and fish for it. So it took a bit to get back up. But up went the A5 and as we adjusted to it we could see Jazzy running on white sails along Angel Island. We passed them a bit before YRA8 and rounded the leeward mark in first place. From here it would be a drag race to the finish as we could make it in one tack. Jazzy probably rounded about a minute behind us but kept gaining on us. With about 200 yds to the finish they overlapped us to windward and we did everything we could to hold them off and we crossed the line nose to nose, just edging them for the gun.
The whole crew was a bit disappointed with the breakage, but at least we had the consolation of first to finish and first overall.
We had a good fleet of boats and some fun battles throughout the race. The usual suspects were out with Ohana, Mintaka, Jazzy, the Mumm 30 and GP26 out for some fun. An the bay would deliver great challenging conditions again. The race started at the end of a light flood and lighter winds 10 - 15. It was the regular parade into Sausalito and hugging the North shore to get out to Pt. Bonita. Things lighten out a bit past the bridge as Jazzy lead the way, with a few position changes behind him with Mintaka, Ohana, the Mumm and ourselves exchanging tacks. Near Bonita it payed to get back into the channel as the current started turning and that allowed us to catch up a bit to Jazzy and Mintaka who had stretched a bit.
We rounded third behind Jazzy and Mintaka and soon started the downwind chase. The winds remained light and headed to the SF side for more pressure. Jazzy was sailing lower in the lighter conditions and got back under the bridge first, but with the wind increasing as we approached we were now in striking position. As we crossed the bridge, someone flipped the switch and we went from a mellow 15 knots, to an 'oh shit' 25 - 30 in a span of about 300 yds. The boat just took off and we were just trying to keep it on its feet. We wanted to stay in the middle of the bay so threw a gybe in full speed mode. The gybe went fine, but soon after we didn't react fast enough to a stronger puff and we did the unthinkable.... we broached the JS. It just doesn't happen often. We are still figuring out our 3 sail setup. On this stronger conditions we might not want to keep the bigger jib up as it interferes with the lower angles we have to sail. On the lighter conditions it is not much of a problem as we run higher angles. So while trying to recover from a broach, I could see our A2 disintegrating. By the time I called for a douse it was already in shreds. The conditions proved a bit too much for our .6 oz light air kite. $%&#!
At this point we had split gybes with Jazzy and they were screaming towards Raccoon Straits, probably hoping for the wind to drop a bit before trying to gybe. Behind us we could see the other kites coming with the GP26 looking really good. Well, we would have to clean up and set the A5 as we still had a bit of runway to go for the leeward mark. In the cleanup, the tack line got sucked through the clutch and Rob had to go below and fish for it. So it took a bit to get back up. But up went the A5 and as we adjusted to it we could see Jazzy running on white sails along Angel Island. We passed them a bit before YRA8 and rounded the leeward mark in first place. From here it would be a drag race to the finish as we could make it in one tack. Jazzy probably rounded about a minute behind us but kept gaining on us. With about 200 yds to the finish they overlapped us to windward and we did everything we could to hold them off and we crossed the line nose to nose, just edging them for the gun.
The whole crew was a bit disappointed with the breakage, but at least we had the consolation of first to finish and first overall.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Epic Delta Ditch
Last Saturday was JetStream's inaugural Delta Ditch Run. I had done the race previously on other boats but never taken mine. The race is generally a downwind run from the Northern San Francisco Bay, up the Delta through the San Joaquin River into the city of Stockton. About 65 miles. Navigation is key to this race as there are mud flats hidden outside the marked channels and knowing what corners to cut is critical to do well. Though sticking the boat in the mud could easily end the day. I had been stressing about the navigation and memorizing and documenting as much as possible. With a short crew of just 3, we can't always have someone focused on navigation and with the predicted strong winds the twists and turns will come very quickly at us.
Into San Pablo Bay there was a lot of South component to the breeze which make it impossible to hold the big kite up and stay clear of the Pinole Channel. At this point we were even with the J125 Double Trouble leading the fleet out to Vallejo. Over the protestation of the crew I called to switch down to our Code0 to come up on the course. It was a good call. DT below us carried the kite a bit longer but had to drop to white sails, same with the rest of the fleet behind us. As we passed Pinole Pt. the wind started to clock back and we went back to our A2 leading the fleet into the Carquinez Straight. By this point the wind had moderated back into the teens and DT, the Melges 32 and the Sierra 26 were charging hard behind us. As we got under the Carquinez bridge DT had snuck ahead and the Melges and Sierra continued their chase through Benicia.
Into Suisun Bay the winds continued to stay on the lighter side the Melges had gotten in front of us and the Sierra was close approaching. As we tried to stretch the edges of the channel to reduce the number of gybes we were always paranoid about the mud flats. Rob did a great job keeping us in deep water. Two of our close competitors wouldn't be as lucky. The Sierra found the mud on the Northern edge of the channel, though after a few minutes they were able to free up and continue racing. For DT the encounter with the mud on the Southern edge will end their day. The wind and current pushed them into shallower water and they eventually had to use their engine to free themselves. Through the Mallard Slough it was just the Melges leading the way (thankfully with strong local knowledge of the Delta) with us matching them gybe for gybe all the way through to Sherman Island.
The winds have kept of building from the latter part of Suisun Bay onwards and we were now clocking some good speeds over the water. We were soon approaching a notorious mark of the course, Marker 19. This section of the course looks like an upside down U, which forces a few sail changes and transitions. We thought we could hold our smaller kite, but we had killer puffs coming over Sherman Island into the mid 30s. The water in front of us was churning white and some of the multihulls ahead were in pure survival mode. So down comes the kite and we are back to white sails as we reach up the back side of Sherman Island. This was a crazy reach with winds now in the high 20s and 30s. These are pretty good conditions for the JS and we were able to get ahead of the Melges again and leading the fleet of monohulls. Around the top of the inverted U there are opportunities to cut some corners and reset for a short downwind section. But without the lead of the Melges we decided to be conservative and stay in the channel. We also didn't have a good chance to prepare for this transition and weren't prepared to set the small kite on the top section. So we chose to reset the Code0 again. It helped, but the boats behind us who got to set made up some ground on us. We were still neck to neck with the Melges, but we had some issues as we came down the backside of the inverted U and they got ahead again.
We had an opportunity to catch them again when it was time to reset the big kite for the start of a long narrow downwind section to the finish after Prisoners Point. Give the ferocity to the winds we had just experienced we decided to go back up with the A5, but as we entered the narrow channel the winds subsided. We had to go back to white sails while we set up to reset the bigger A2 and by then the Sierra got back in front of us. It is good to have all the options on the sails. But managing all those sails with just 2 crew and a 3 foot wide foredeck showed some limitations. It is something we will plan better the next time around.
This next section of the course, the final stretch, worried me a bit. I wasn't sure how competitive we could be on a 300 - 400 ft channel doing gybe after gybe downwind against boats that could square back their symmetrical spinnakers and just go straight down the river. But we built a significant cushion on the reachy legs of the course to hold them back. The Farr 40 behind us made a strong push to catch us into the finish but they ran out of course.
We were the 3rd monohull to cross the finish line, with the Melges 32 and the Sierra 26 in front of us by only a couple hundred yards. It was a really fun battle with those two boats, exchanging places multiple times during the race. We had completed the race just shy of 6 hours and were very satisfied with our performance. Both Andrew and I had cramping arms, and Rob was both mentally and physically exhausted from all the demands we put on him. It had been a good race.
Thanks to Rob and Andrew for a great race and helping delivering the boat back the next day. That was mostly a 12 hr hate mission. But I'll leave that for another post (or not). Need to find a road trailer before next years race.
For the race we had our regular crew with Andrew and Rob. Andrew would be the trimmer, a long day on that spinnaker sheet, and Rob would do everything else while I drove. I think at the end Rob ended up with the more demanding job, both working the pointy end, preparing the boat for the many transitions in the race and navigating us to the finish.
The start of the race was pretty hectic. We didn't have a stellar start and were a few seconds late. It was a downwind start and soon everyone was working to get their kites up. We started at the pin on the leeward side in order to be able to cleanly bear away and set and we were off to the races. With boats broaching in front of us, we chose a low line to stay clear of the mayhem. With solid 20 knots and some flood current to help us along we were soon in San Pablo Bay making our way to Vallejo.
Into San Pablo Bay there was a lot of South component to the breeze which make it impossible to hold the big kite up and stay clear of the Pinole Channel. At this point we were even with the J125 Double Trouble leading the fleet out to Vallejo. Over the protestation of the crew I called to switch down to our Code0 to come up on the course. It was a good call. DT below us carried the kite a bit longer but had to drop to white sails, same with the rest of the fleet behind us. As we passed Pinole Pt. the wind started to clock back and we went back to our A2 leading the fleet into the Carquinez Straight. By this point the wind had moderated back into the teens and DT, the Melges 32 and the Sierra 26 were charging hard behind us. As we got under the Carquinez bridge DT had snuck ahead and the Melges and Sierra continued their chase through Benicia.
 |
Into Suisun Bay the winds continued to stay on the lighter side the Melges had gotten in front of us and the Sierra was close approaching. As we tried to stretch the edges of the channel to reduce the number of gybes we were always paranoid about the mud flats. Rob did a great job keeping us in deep water. Two of our close competitors wouldn't be as lucky. The Sierra found the mud on the Northern edge of the channel, though after a few minutes they were able to free up and continue racing. For DT the encounter with the mud on the Southern edge will end their day. The wind and current pushed them into shallower water and they eventually had to use their engine to free themselves. Through the Mallard Slough it was just the Melges leading the way (thankfully with strong local knowledge of the Delta) with us matching them gybe for gybe all the way through to Sherman Island.
The winds have kept of building from the latter part of Suisun Bay onwards and we were now clocking some good speeds over the water. We were soon approaching a notorious mark of the course, Marker 19. This section of the course looks like an upside down U, which forces a few sail changes and transitions. We thought we could hold our smaller kite, but we had killer puffs coming over Sherman Island into the mid 30s. The water in front of us was churning white and some of the multihulls ahead were in pure survival mode. So down comes the kite and we are back to white sails as we reach up the back side of Sherman Island. This was a crazy reach with winds now in the high 20s and 30s. These are pretty good conditions for the JS and we were able to get ahead of the Melges again and leading the fleet of monohulls. Around the top of the inverted U there are opportunities to cut some corners and reset for a short downwind section. But without the lead of the Melges we decided to be conservative and stay in the channel. We also didn't have a good chance to prepare for this transition and weren't prepared to set the small kite on the top section. So we chose to reset the Code0 again. It helped, but the boats behind us who got to set made up some ground on us. We were still neck to neck with the Melges, but we had some issues as we came down the backside of the inverted U and they got ahead again.
We had an opportunity to catch them again when it was time to reset the big kite for the start of a long narrow downwind section to the finish after Prisoners Point. Give the ferocity to the winds we had just experienced we decided to go back up with the A5, but as we entered the narrow channel the winds subsided. We had to go back to white sails while we set up to reset the bigger A2 and by then the Sierra got back in front of us. It is good to have all the options on the sails. But managing all those sails with just 2 crew and a 3 foot wide foredeck showed some limitations. It is something we will plan better the next time around.
This next section of the course, the final stretch, worried me a bit. I wasn't sure how competitive we could be on a 300 - 400 ft channel doing gybe after gybe downwind against boats that could square back their symmetrical spinnakers and just go straight down the river. But we built a significant cushion on the reachy legs of the course to hold them back. The Farr 40 behind us made a strong push to catch us into the finish but they ran out of course.
 |
| @ Slackwater At the finish |
We were the 3rd monohull to cross the finish line, with the Melges 32 and the Sierra 26 in front of us by only a couple hundred yards. It was a really fun battle with those two boats, exchanging places multiple times during the race. We had completed the race just shy of 6 hours and were very satisfied with our performance. Both Andrew and I had cramping arms, and Rob was both mentally and physically exhausted from all the demands we put on him. It had been a good race.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
HDA-1 video
Rob Blackmore's finest so far. We keep evolving the angle and the number of camera's onboard. Fun to watch but a lot of effort to edit. Thanks Rob.
Monday, May 21, 2012
HDA-1 Results and Photo Sequence
Photo credits to Rob Blackmore our foredeck (well forward most crew)
Sunday, May 20, 2012
HDA-1
Not sure why more sportboats don't join HDA. It has consistently provided some of the best sportboat conditions for the last few years. Saturday was no exception. Last year they even gave us our own start but the low turnout had them move us back to the regular PHRF fleet. All good we had about 6 sportboats this time around, with a 1D35, a Mumm30, an Ultimate 24, a GP 26 and a turbo'ed Hobie 33 joining JetStream in the fast PHRF division.
Even though the NWS was for 10-20 the central bay delivered a solid 15-25 with mostly flat water. Ideal and welcomed conditions after weeks of sailing in light air.
The RC sent us on the long course which had us going from the start/finish line in the Berkeley Circle, up to Harding, down to 21 and 8, back up to Harding and finally back to the finish. A little over 12 miles of racing.
Saturday we had our regular crew, with Rob and Andrew. We got off to a great start and chose the left side of the course. There was still a lingering flood but it wasn't very strong and I didn't want to play chicken with the lee of Angel. On a stronger flood we would have gone right, but in this case we chose left. The fleet quickly split between the lefties and the righties until we were the only ones left on the left side. We still had some good company with the Express 37 fleet behind us heading towards the cone in Alcatraz and quickly catching up to us. But we flinched and decided to go back and stay in some contact with our fleet. Not sure this paid off. I think had we gone a little farther and gotten into the cone it would have been an even shot, but tacking early left us exposed on the remaining flood. The Mumm which had been pretty even with us until we split rounding Harding a 100 yds or so ahead of us, with the 1D35 already past Alcatraz on their way to 21 by the time we rounded. So we will be in catch up mode. But we now had the breeze. With the kite up we were holding 14 and 15 knots and quickly catching up and passing the boats ahead. We caught up to the Mumm 30 near Alcatraz and had passed Ohana and Mintaka before we reached 21. To us it looked like the 1D35 went quite a bit past the gybe mark, as they were pretty far down. The reach from 21 to 8 was fully powered up with our A2 and we were flying with spray all over the boat. The 1D35 had a problem with their douse and had gone way past the mark. We couldn't believe we were now leading the fleet.
For the second upwind the wind was now above 20 knots and we played a more conservative leg. I took a couple of quick tacks to get in a strong covering position with the fleet and with the exception of Ohana, which has 15 more feet of waterline than us, we were able to keep the rest of the fleet behind us. Though both Mintaka and the 1D35 were right on our stern when we rounded.
It wasn't our cleanest set. We were powered up during the rounding and almost put the kite on the water. But strong crew work avoided a disaster. And we were off. With the winds now in the 20s gusting higher we were in full flight mode. Perfect crew work and sail handling, as I can only drive the boat if the sails are worked right. We were now consistently holding 15 - 16 knots, getting spurts into the 19s and hitting a top speed of 22 knots. It was an adrenaline ride. Still amazes me how well the boat handles in those conditions, with immediate acceleration on every puff. We had some good gybe angles, we caught up to Ohana around Pt Blunt and screamed towards the finish line to get the gun.
Results are yet up, so not sure how we finished on corrected, but we had a blast. The adrenaline was still pumping all the way down to the Bay Bridge on our way back home to Alameda. It was one fun ride. Rob took tons of video, so check back for an update once he gets to do some editing.
Even though the NWS was for 10-20 the central bay delivered a solid 15-25 with mostly flat water. Ideal and welcomed conditions after weeks of sailing in light air.
The RC sent us on the long course which had us going from the start/finish line in the Berkeley Circle, up to Harding, down to 21 and 8, back up to Harding and finally back to the finish. A little over 12 miles of racing.
Saturday we had our regular crew, with Rob and Andrew. We got off to a great start and chose the left side of the course. There was still a lingering flood but it wasn't very strong and I didn't want to play chicken with the lee of Angel. On a stronger flood we would have gone right, but in this case we chose left. The fleet quickly split between the lefties and the righties until we were the only ones left on the left side. We still had some good company with the Express 37 fleet behind us heading towards the cone in Alcatraz and quickly catching up to us. But we flinched and decided to go back and stay in some contact with our fleet. Not sure this paid off. I think had we gone a little farther and gotten into the cone it would have been an even shot, but tacking early left us exposed on the remaining flood. The Mumm which had been pretty even with us until we split rounding Harding a 100 yds or so ahead of us, with the 1D35 already past Alcatraz on their way to 21 by the time we rounded. So we will be in catch up mode. But we now had the breeze. With the kite up we were holding 14 and 15 knots and quickly catching up and passing the boats ahead. We caught up to the Mumm 30 near Alcatraz and had passed Ohana and Mintaka before we reached 21. To us it looked like the 1D35 went quite a bit past the gybe mark, as they were pretty far down. The reach from 21 to 8 was fully powered up with our A2 and we were flying with spray all over the boat. The 1D35 had a problem with their douse and had gone way past the mark. We couldn't believe we were now leading the fleet.
For the second upwind the wind was now above 20 knots and we played a more conservative leg. I took a couple of quick tacks to get in a strong covering position with the fleet and with the exception of Ohana, which has 15 more feet of waterline than us, we were able to keep the rest of the fleet behind us. Though both Mintaka and the 1D35 were right on our stern when we rounded.
It wasn't our cleanest set. We were powered up during the rounding and almost put the kite on the water. But strong crew work avoided a disaster. And we were off. With the winds now in the 20s gusting higher we were in full flight mode. Perfect crew work and sail handling, as I can only drive the boat if the sails are worked right. We were now consistently holding 15 - 16 knots, getting spurts into the 19s and hitting a top speed of 22 knots. It was an adrenaline ride. Still amazes me how well the boat handles in those conditions, with immediate acceleration on every puff. We had some good gybe angles, we caught up to Ohana around Pt Blunt and screamed towards the finish line to get the gun.
Results are yet up, so not sure how we finished on corrected, but we had a blast. The adrenaline was still pumping all the way down to the Bay Bridge on our way back home to Alameda. It was one fun ride. Rob took tons of video, so check back for an update once he gets to do some editing.
Monday, May 7, 2012
2012 Vallejo 1-2
Just a quick note. Nothing as exciting as last years. Neither with the sailing nor our result. This year we didn't see any winds over 10 knots (except for the very end of Saturday). Not our ideal conditions. We had a mid fleet result on the Saturday downwind race and brought the rear of the fleet on Sunday with a mostly upwind race in sub 10 knots conditions. Saturday evening at Vallejo was a good party amongst many friends and the raftup was the biggest I have ever seen with some boats not fitting in and the neighboring marina unavailable due to a shallow entrance.
Rob played with a new camera mount so we should have some footage shortly.
Rob played with a new camera mount so we should have some footage shortly.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Sadness
I don't often write from my experience in other people's boat. Not sure why, but probably from a sense of the responsibility that I know comes from skippering a boat, and when I'm not the skipper I don't feel entitled. But the events of Saturday were extraordinary and not specific to the boat I was crewing on. I sit here in the warmth and comfort of my home surrounded by my family with an uneasiness and sadness, knowing that some families are going through a very rough time wondering about their still missing loved ones.
Saturday was the Crewed Farallones race. You have probably read about racing around the Farallones if you have been reading this blog, but in a nutshell it is a 60 mile race from San Francisco Bay around the SE Farallones Is and back. We call the Farallones Is, the rock pile. It is an intimidating rocky outcrop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and when conditions are rough still a scary place after all these years of sailing around it. It is best to give it a wide berth, though in mellow conditions many of us have tried to cut some corners. Myself I always make sure I'm never the closest boat and keep some safe waypoints all the way around the island to guide me on rough and low visibility conditions. There are a few variations of this race, one with fully crewed boats (the one this past Saturday), a double handed version and a single handed version. I have probably done more singlehanded versions of the race than the other two combined. A good friend and fellow sailor invited me to go on his boat for the race. We have raced many ocean miles either together or against each other. For this race we would have a very experienced crew of singlehanded racers and other well seasoned crew.
Our story is not the significant event. We started, sailed a conservative race out to the first set of channel markers with a reef on the main and our #4, our skipper decided it was enough and we turned back home. The conditions, though heavy and challenging (20+ knots, 10-15 foot swells with bigger sets) are not uncommon for the area nor for the crew of our boat. There was no hesitation to turn the boat around when the decision was made. We had just gone across a huge breaking set smack in the middle of the channel and we would likely have to deal with another 3 miles of similar conditions before getting into the deeper water west of the channel.
Soon after we turned around we saw a competitor had snapped their mast on the shoal area just South of the channel. On our way out we had seen two Coast Guard lifeboats following the fleet out. We were a fair distance away and in the rough conditions it would be difficult for us to provide much assistance. With their mast down we weren't sure if the boat was able to make a distress call if it needed to, so we called in a Mayday and informed the CG of the situation and their position. We soon saw the two CG lifeboats headed for the sailboat in distress and we continued on back to the bay monitoring the radio. From the radio conversation it sounded that there were no emergencies and one of the lifeboats would remain on station until the crew could sort out the mess and head back home.
We had a couple of big surfs on our way in, still with a reefed main and our small jib. Inside Pt Bonita we shook off the reef and set the kite for a great sail back to Alameda. Spirits were high on board and everyone was making plans for their regained afternoon.
It wasn't until late that evening that my friend called with the bad news. A boat had been lost at the Farallones Is. The news reported that a large wave had swept 4 crew off the boat, and in an attempt by the remaining crew to rescue them another wave had slammed the boat into the rocks. The CG was already in full search and rescue mode and had pulled 3 survivors from the island and one deceased sailor. Even worse 4 of the crew were still missing. It was already dark and the prospects of any successful recoveries become slimmer every hour that passes. This has been a shocking experience. The sport we love can be a trying and dangerous at times. I don't have much to offer, other than my thoughts and prayers for the crew of the lost boat and their shoreside families.
Saturday was the Crewed Farallones race. You have probably read about racing around the Farallones if you have been reading this blog, but in a nutshell it is a 60 mile race from San Francisco Bay around the SE Farallones Is and back. We call the Farallones Is, the rock pile. It is an intimidating rocky outcrop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and when conditions are rough still a scary place after all these years of sailing around it. It is best to give it a wide berth, though in mellow conditions many of us have tried to cut some corners. Myself I always make sure I'm never the closest boat and keep some safe waypoints all the way around the island to guide me on rough and low visibility conditions. There are a few variations of this race, one with fully crewed boats (the one this past Saturday), a double handed version and a single handed version. I have probably done more singlehanded versions of the race than the other two combined. A good friend and fellow sailor invited me to go on his boat for the race. We have raced many ocean miles either together or against each other. For this race we would have a very experienced crew of singlehanded racers and other well seasoned crew.
Our story is not the significant event. We started, sailed a conservative race out to the first set of channel markers with a reef on the main and our #4, our skipper decided it was enough and we turned back home. The conditions, though heavy and challenging (20+ knots, 10-15 foot swells with bigger sets) are not uncommon for the area nor for the crew of our boat. There was no hesitation to turn the boat around when the decision was made. We had just gone across a huge breaking set smack in the middle of the channel and we would likely have to deal with another 3 miles of similar conditions before getting into the deeper water west of the channel.
Soon after we turned around we saw a competitor had snapped their mast on the shoal area just South of the channel. On our way out we had seen two Coast Guard lifeboats following the fleet out. We were a fair distance away and in the rough conditions it would be difficult for us to provide much assistance. With their mast down we weren't sure if the boat was able to make a distress call if it needed to, so we called in a Mayday and informed the CG of the situation and their position. We soon saw the two CG lifeboats headed for the sailboat in distress and we continued on back to the bay monitoring the radio. From the radio conversation it sounded that there were no emergencies and one of the lifeboats would remain on station until the crew could sort out the mess and head back home.
We had a couple of big surfs on our way in, still with a reefed main and our small jib. Inside Pt Bonita we shook off the reef and set the kite for a great sail back to Alameda. Spirits were high on board and everyone was making plans for their regained afternoon.
It wasn't until late that evening that my friend called with the bad news. A boat had been lost at the Farallones Is. The news reported that a large wave had swept 4 crew off the boat, and in an attempt by the remaining crew to rescue them another wave had slammed the boat into the rocks. The CG was already in full search and rescue mode and had pulled 3 survivors from the island and one deceased sailor. Even worse 4 of the crew were still missing. It was already dark and the prospects of any successful recoveries become slimmer every hour that passes. This has been a shocking experience. The sport we love can be a trying and dangerous at times. I don't have much to offer, other than my thoughts and prayers for the crew of the lost boat and their shoreside families.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Corinthian Redemption
The Corinthian Race, hosted by the Singlehanded Sailing Society, is a tour of the central San Francisco Bay with a Start/Finish line off the deck of the Corinthian YC in Tiburon. Over 130 boats signed up for the race and with the new jib on hand we were ready to go.
From the Start, we head to Little Harding, followed by Blossom Rock, to Blackaller, up the North bay to Southampton Shoals, back to Little Harding before the finish. Today the forecast was for light winds 5-10, starting from the North and eventually shifting to the West around 2 PM.
The start proved to be a bit of a fiasco. With the wind blowing from the NE through Raccoon Straits it made for a light downwind start with a strong flood pushing East. We, along a handful of other boats setup south of the line and approached it on starboard. Most of the fleet was approaching from the East on port. We were a few seconds late and were forced to gybe onto port as the fleet didn't budge at our right of way. This unfortunately left us to windward of the fleet, and the same folks that fouled us by making us gybe closed the door on us at the pin end of the line. The T650 just in front of us also got squeezed and touched the mark and had to come around as well. By the time we got turned around and made our way back to the line against the flood we were the last boat to start the race. Not how we wanted to start the day.
But we had some opportunities to make up. By the time we reach Pt Belvedere we were back in the middle of it, getting around half of the fleet that have gone too far into the current. Around Belvedere the wind filled in from the North and the spinnaker went up for the sail down to Blossom. We intentionally overstood Little Harding to stay in the current relieve on the Sausalito side before cutting across to the San Francisco shore. The boats in the middle of the bay closer to Alcatraz weren't looking that great so we kept working our way South. By the time we reached Blossom we were on the top 5.
The leg from Blossom to Blackaller was a white sail close reach. We edged towards the SF shore to get out of the worse of the current and it payed off well. It was a drag race between ourselves, the Flying Tiger, Outsider, a couple of J boats close to shore and a couple of Trimarans enjoying the reaching conditions. There was no hoisting of the kite around Blackaller (as we usually do) as the wind was still Northerly. It was close hauled all the way up to Southampton. There was a wind transition between Pt Blunt and Alcatraz that only a few of us got through. Roshambo had broken free early and had stretched. The FT followed, with ourselves, the yellow tri, Jarlen and Outsider chasing. There was no one else near. By the time we hit SH, Jarlen had gotten ahead of us and the Tiger being able to hold a higher line with their big genoa. Initially both the Tiger and Jarlen looked to be headed on the South side of Angel Is, but after seeing we were headed through Raccoon they both came back.
We played the current and the N to W wind transition right through Raccoon and got ahead of both Jarlen and the FT before rounding our last mark on the way to the finish. We saw Roshambo on the way to the finish as we were approaching Little Harding. They will get the first to finish gun, but we would be the first monohull to finish, division winner and overall winner in corrected time. A rewarding day after a frustrating start.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
2012 Farallones
The anticipation built throughout the week with an approaching storm and a changing and deteriorating forecast. The race to the Farallones is no joke, its a 50 mile roundtrip in a not always friendly piece of ocean and with an approaching storm things could get ugly quickly. Everybody was paying close attention to the forecast and talking amongst skippers before the race was of high volume.
Rob was racing with me for this one and was ready for battle. I decided to give it a go. Well, at least get up early in the morning (4:30), get to the start line and have a look at Pt. Bonita. Well, at least that was the plan. Things didn't quite worked out that way.
We should have known, we had a couple of omens along the way. First our traditional fueling station wasn't open in time for us to have our pre-race breakfast. Then, our trusted friend and fellow competitor onboard Outsider decided to haul out and keep himself and crew dry for the day. Well, we had done too much and thought too much about it not to at least check it out. So we set out towards the starting line. It is a hour and a half delivery and we were already feeling the early tentacles on the storm in the Estuary. With the Southerly breeze we were motorsailing with the jib up the Estuary to the start at GGYC.
Towards the end of the Estuary we started getting some strong gusts coming through. Once we got to the mouth of the Estuary we could see the bay was lit up. The fetch from SJ all the way to Oakland had picked up a huge chop and all the tops were whiting out. It was possibly blowing close to 30 knots. I decided to call it a day right then and there. We went to furl the jib to turn around and this is when things went wrong. In the strong breeze we didn't get a good furl and the top of the jib got unfurled. We tried to unfurl the rest of the sail to try again but ended up with a twist on the jib. These are fairly easy to undo (especially with our small jib) but it requires heading downwind to release the pressure on the sail. Only problem was that just downwind of us was the breakwater. We had no searoom to do that manouver. Our only option was to try to power across the bay with the twisted jib until we could clear the Northern container ship terminal. Our little Johnson did the trick, but in the process we shredded the unfurled top of the jib. By now we were well in the bay in 6 foot chop and 25 - 30 knots. Rob went up to the bow to try to untwist the jib, but it was only when we finally were able to turn downwind that we were able to get the twist off. We furled what was left of the sail and turn to head back to calmness of the Estuary. But with the ebb, 30 knots in the nose, and the huge chop we weren't making any headway and having a hard time keeping the propeller in the water.
Plan B, we unfurled what was left of the jib and motor sailed across the Bay to the San Francisco side to find relief from the Southwesterly winds. By now the rain was coming down in sheets. We were aiming to the public dock just north of the Ferry Building. We could regather ourselves and make a plan. Once we got to the city side the seas calmed a bit and we got a lull on the breeze so we changed plans and started heading towards South Beach Harbor. Just as we were about to go under the Bay Bridge the little engine just died. Back out comes our tattered jib and Rob starts sailing us back towards the public dock as I work on the engine. A few minutes later I get the engine running again. We get to the public dock but the surge inside is huge. The boat would get a thrashing if we tied up there in those conditions. Since we had the engine working again we decided to give South Beach another go.
Needless to say it was a bit stressful. Having lost some confidence on the outboard and still battling a building ebb, 20+ knots on the nose and a huge chop we were making very slow progress. At best we were seeing about 3.5 knots over the water which with the ebb it was more like 1.5 knots over ground. But the engine eventually got us there. We tied up at the guest dock, took our jib down and hit the Java House for some hot coffee, warming up and decide what to do next.
We made some phone calls, checked the local weather and could see a new band of rain coming into the area. We were done being wet. We waited a few hours for the rain to stop. The winds calmed down and we motored back to Alameda around noon time under much better sea state.
Another wet and cold day with not much to show for other than a torn jib. But it could have really gotten ugly for us earlier in the day at the mouth of the Estuary had we not being able to motor sail away from the lee shore. Even though we didn't get tested going around the Farallones, we got a good test just getting out to the starting line.
Rob was racing with me for this one and was ready for battle. I decided to give it a go. Well, at least get up early in the morning (4:30), get to the start line and have a look at Pt. Bonita. Well, at least that was the plan. Things didn't quite worked out that way.
We should have known, we had a couple of omens along the way. First our traditional fueling station wasn't open in time for us to have our pre-race breakfast. Then, our trusted friend and fellow competitor onboard Outsider decided to haul out and keep himself and crew dry for the day. Well, we had done too much and thought too much about it not to at least check it out. So we set out towards the starting line. It is a hour and a half delivery and we were already feeling the early tentacles on the storm in the Estuary. With the Southerly breeze we were motorsailing with the jib up the Estuary to the start at GGYC.
Towards the end of the Estuary we started getting some strong gusts coming through. Once we got to the mouth of the Estuary we could see the bay was lit up. The fetch from SJ all the way to Oakland had picked up a huge chop and all the tops were whiting out. It was possibly blowing close to 30 knots. I decided to call it a day right then and there. We went to furl the jib to turn around and this is when things went wrong. In the strong breeze we didn't get a good furl and the top of the jib got unfurled. We tried to unfurl the rest of the sail to try again but ended up with a twist on the jib. These are fairly easy to undo (especially with our small jib) but it requires heading downwind to release the pressure on the sail. Only problem was that just downwind of us was the breakwater. We had no searoom to do that manouver. Our only option was to try to power across the bay with the twisted jib until we could clear the Northern container ship terminal. Our little Johnson did the trick, but in the process we shredded the unfurled top of the jib. By now we were well in the bay in 6 foot chop and 25 - 30 knots. Rob went up to the bow to try to untwist the jib, but it was only when we finally were able to turn downwind that we were able to get the twist off. We furled what was left of the sail and turn to head back to calmness of the Estuary. But with the ebb, 30 knots in the nose, and the huge chop we weren't making any headway and having a hard time keeping the propeller in the water.
Plan B, we unfurled what was left of the jib and motor sailed across the Bay to the San Francisco side to find relief from the Southwesterly winds. By now the rain was coming down in sheets. We were aiming to the public dock just north of the Ferry Building. We could regather ourselves and make a plan. Once we got to the city side the seas calmed a bit and we got a lull on the breeze so we changed plans and started heading towards South Beach Harbor. Just as we were about to go under the Bay Bridge the little engine just died. Back out comes our tattered jib and Rob starts sailing us back towards the public dock as I work on the engine. A few minutes later I get the engine running again. We get to the public dock but the surge inside is huge. The boat would get a thrashing if we tied up there in those conditions. Since we had the engine working again we decided to give South Beach another go.
Needless to say it was a bit stressful. Having lost some confidence on the outboard and still battling a building ebb, 20+ knots on the nose and a huge chop we were making very slow progress. At best we were seeing about 3.5 knots over the water which with the ebb it was more like 1.5 knots over ground. But the engine eventually got us there. We tied up at the guest dock, took our jib down and hit the Java House for some hot coffee, warming up and decide what to do next.
We made some phone calls, checked the local weather and could see a new band of rain coming into the area. We were done being wet. We waited a few hours for the rain to stop. The winds calmed down and we motored back to Alameda around noon time under much better sea state.
Another wet and cold day with not much to show for other than a torn jib. But it could have really gotten ugly for us earlier in the day at the mouth of the Estuary had we not being able to motor sail away from the lee shore. Even though we didn't get tested going around the Farallones, we got a good test just getting out to the starting line.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
2012 Double Handed Lightship
After a bit of a hiatus on the JS we are back to some racing. Just gotten back from a great race from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta on the good ship Ocelot. But I had missed sailing on the JS, she had been sitting on the dry for too long.
The Lightship is a buoy marking the center of the approach lanes into the San Francisco Bay. It extends another 9 miles past lands end in the middle of the Gulf of the Farallones. With the start at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, it made for a 25 mile race. Traditionally, we can have strong NW winds, that make for some upwind work out to the mark, rewarded by a screaming run back to the gate.
This is the doublehanded version of the race and Andrew had agreed to come out and play. We had been following the weather the whole week since there were a few storm systems approaching. The forecast continually deteriorated throughout the week from a southerly 15 - 25 knoter on Monday to 10 knots by Friday for our Saturday race. We missed the good winds by 10 hours. As they did clock the 25 knots Friday night but quickly diminished as the center of the storm passed us. We were left with light S-SE winds that clocked to the East throughout the day. If you have read any of my previous reports you know that 10 knots is not our ideal for the JS, but we had been looking forward to do this race and had all the tools in our inventory to be as competitive as we could.
Friday I spent some time getting the boat ready. We were modifying one of the halyards so that it would go through the mast exit more freely, but the splice ended up being too big to fit. So we would go with only one spinnaker halyard. This will come back to hunt us, as the reason we put the second halyard was for races like this one where we would want to quickly switch back and forth between the spinnakers and the Code0. Also with the weather in the area the battery hadn't fully charged with the solar panel so we were running a little light on juice.
We got to the start line in overcast and misty conditions. The rain started before the start and it never stopped, all day, even into the evening when we were putting the boat away. So needless to say it was a very wet day. At the start we had a light breeze from the NE. With the wind forecasted to be SE we opted to hoist our A2 at the start. With the north component and some of the bigger boats messing with our breeze we weren't doing too hot. Condor had a flat reaching kite up and Akyla had their Code0 and they both immediately stretched on the fleet. We switched to our Code0 and started to make some progress. By the Gate we had Akyla in our sight with only Truth (a modified Open50) and Condor (an Open 40) ahead. We played the middle on the way out to take advantage of the last of the ebb, hoping to get past lands end before the flood grabbed a hold of us. From the results, only 5 finishers out of 29 starters, it looks like only Condor, Truth, Akyla, Rufless (an 11 meter) and us were the only boats to escape before the flood. We worked the south side of the course. Truth had stretched ahead of us on the same line with Condor also ahead on a more northern track. That left Akyla, Rufless and us (the thirty somethings footer) sprinting to the mark. We were pretty much even the whole way with Rufless in the most northern track flying their kite, Akyla playing the middle and us on the Southern track, both of us flying our Code0s.
Did I say that it didn't stop raining? With the rain, cold and confused seas just outside the gate in the light air, I lost my crew to sea sickness around the channel makers. The right kind of foul weather gear is critical when it is expected to rain. Once you are wet and cold there is no return even on a relatively short race like this one. Based on our angle to the mark I should have switched over to one of the kites, but with the autopilot out of reach, I decided not to risk a mishap and carried on with the Code0. On the puffs I could sail down to the mark but on the mostly light stuff I had to keep on heating up to keep the boat moving. We ended up having to make a short gybe to get around mark. Out of our group of 3, Rufless rounded first and Akyla followed just a few boatlengths ahead of us.
It was around 12:30 when we rounded. I rolled up the Code and the jib came back out for our upwind return to the finish. The wind was still light and now from the SE, and we were still feeling under powered. There was a strong South to North current showing on the Lightship when we rounded. Now the race was to get back under the gate before the ebb was set to start around 3.
Speaking about foul weather gear (you thought I was done with that?), when going on the ocean must wear the ocean gear with zippers and shit. The inshore gear I took for the race is dry and warm enough, and it is much lighter which makes it much more comfortable to wear (and the reason I took it). The problem you ask, is that it makes some things not very accessible. If you need to fully undress to reach the critical bits, I have now learned, you just don't wear it when you are short handed on the ocean. I found myself having to pull a 'surfer move' when singlehanding the boat back after the turn. Not enough time to find and rig the autopilot, take the harness off, jacket off (and get wet in the rain), top of salopette off, etc.
Anyways back to sailing. The angle back had us pointing North of the entrance to the Bay but still was the favorable tack. Every once in a while we could point to Bonita, but the average angle was North of Bonita and with the forecast calling for the wind to clock to the East, it would get worse. We were on the heels of Akyla for the next few miles and could see Rufless ahead and to leeward about 1.5 miles ahead. We saw Rufless tacking ahead of the and Akyla quickly followed. We stayed on our course as we hadn't gotten a significant header yet and the wind seemed to be improving the closer we got to shore. We didn't go in as far as Rufless and when we got the header the port tack had us pointing straight to Seal Rocks on the Southern edge of the entrance to the Bay. This course had us on the shoals, but the conditions were pretty benign in the light offshore conditions (no whitecaps).
A few miles from Pt. Bonita I could see other boats still with their spinnakers up trying to sail out. We were already done with 3/4 of the race and some of these folks were still fighting to get through the first 1/4. Sure the flood locked them in. I think 10 to 15 minutes made the difference between being able to get out before the thick of the flood and not getting out at all.
There wasn't any significant change in the wind, other than it slowly continuing clocking to the East as predicted. The only variable now was the current. We were approaching the gate during the change in currents so it was going to get a little tricky to try to find the advantages. We hedged towards the south side and seem to have gained some on Akyla. I couldn't find Rufless, they gotten us, so we were now focusing on trying to make our time on Akyla. The entrance to the Bay greeted us with nice flat water, and it is not often that we have to beat into the wind on our way back into the Bay. It would have been enjoyable had it not been for the relentless rain and cold.
We were able to crack off a little from the Gate back to the finish line. I miscalculated a bit the current and was forced to take a short tack just before the finish line. We finished at 3:35 for and elapsed time of 6:25 minutes.
The boat is signed up to do next Saturday's DH Farallones. This is the big brother of the DH Lightship at around 55 miles roundtrip. We'll see what the weather brings before we make a call on that one. And yes, the battery will be fully charged, the autopilot at hand, the halyards fixed, and most importantly, I will be wearing my Ocean foulies.
The Lightship is a buoy marking the center of the approach lanes into the San Francisco Bay. It extends another 9 miles past lands end in the middle of the Gulf of the Farallones. With the start at the Golden Gate Yacht Club, it made for a 25 mile race. Traditionally, we can have strong NW winds, that make for some upwind work out to the mark, rewarded by a screaming run back to the gate.
This is the doublehanded version of the race and Andrew had agreed to come out and play. We had been following the weather the whole week since there were a few storm systems approaching. The forecast continually deteriorated throughout the week from a southerly 15 - 25 knoter on Monday to 10 knots by Friday for our Saturday race. We missed the good winds by 10 hours. As they did clock the 25 knots Friday night but quickly diminished as the center of the storm passed us. We were left with light S-SE winds that clocked to the East throughout the day. If you have read any of my previous reports you know that 10 knots is not our ideal for the JS, but we had been looking forward to do this race and had all the tools in our inventory to be as competitive as we could.
Friday I spent some time getting the boat ready. We were modifying one of the halyards so that it would go through the mast exit more freely, but the splice ended up being too big to fit. So we would go with only one spinnaker halyard. This will come back to hunt us, as the reason we put the second halyard was for races like this one where we would want to quickly switch back and forth between the spinnakers and the Code0. Also with the weather in the area the battery hadn't fully charged with the solar panel so we were running a little light on juice.
We got to the start line in overcast and misty conditions. The rain started before the start and it never stopped, all day, even into the evening when we were putting the boat away. So needless to say it was a very wet day. At the start we had a light breeze from the NE. With the wind forecasted to be SE we opted to hoist our A2 at the start. With the north component and some of the bigger boats messing with our breeze we weren't doing too hot. Condor had a flat reaching kite up and Akyla had their Code0 and they both immediately stretched on the fleet. We switched to our Code0 and started to make some progress. By the Gate we had Akyla in our sight with only Truth (a modified Open50) and Condor (an Open 40) ahead. We played the middle on the way out to take advantage of the last of the ebb, hoping to get past lands end before the flood grabbed a hold of us. From the results, only 5 finishers out of 29 starters, it looks like only Condor, Truth, Akyla, Rufless (an 11 meter) and us were the only boats to escape before the flood. We worked the south side of the course. Truth had stretched ahead of us on the same line with Condor also ahead on a more northern track. That left Akyla, Rufless and us (the thirty somethings footer) sprinting to the mark. We were pretty much even the whole way with Rufless in the most northern track flying their kite, Akyla playing the middle and us on the Southern track, both of us flying our Code0s.
Did I say that it didn't stop raining? With the rain, cold and confused seas just outside the gate in the light air, I lost my crew to sea sickness around the channel makers. The right kind of foul weather gear is critical when it is expected to rain. Once you are wet and cold there is no return even on a relatively short race like this one. Based on our angle to the mark I should have switched over to one of the kites, but with the autopilot out of reach, I decided not to risk a mishap and carried on with the Code0. On the puffs I could sail down to the mark but on the mostly light stuff I had to keep on heating up to keep the boat moving. We ended up having to make a short gybe to get around mark. Out of our group of 3, Rufless rounded first and Akyla followed just a few boatlengths ahead of us.
It was around 12:30 when we rounded. I rolled up the Code and the jib came back out for our upwind return to the finish. The wind was still light and now from the SE, and we were still feeling under powered. There was a strong South to North current showing on the Lightship when we rounded. Now the race was to get back under the gate before the ebb was set to start around 3.
Speaking about foul weather gear (you thought I was done with that?), when going on the ocean must wear the ocean gear with zippers and shit. The inshore gear I took for the race is dry and warm enough, and it is much lighter which makes it much more comfortable to wear (and the reason I took it). The problem you ask, is that it makes some things not very accessible. If you need to fully undress to reach the critical bits, I have now learned, you just don't wear it when you are short handed on the ocean. I found myself having to pull a 'surfer move' when singlehanding the boat back after the turn. Not enough time to find and rig the autopilot, take the harness off, jacket off (and get wet in the rain), top of salopette off, etc.
Anyways back to sailing. The angle back had us pointing North of the entrance to the Bay but still was the favorable tack. Every once in a while we could point to Bonita, but the average angle was North of Bonita and with the forecast calling for the wind to clock to the East, it would get worse. We were on the heels of Akyla for the next few miles and could see Rufless ahead and to leeward about 1.5 miles ahead. We saw Rufless tacking ahead of the and Akyla quickly followed. We stayed on our course as we hadn't gotten a significant header yet and the wind seemed to be improving the closer we got to shore. We didn't go in as far as Rufless and when we got the header the port tack had us pointing straight to Seal Rocks on the Southern edge of the entrance to the Bay. This course had us on the shoals, but the conditions were pretty benign in the light offshore conditions (no whitecaps).
A few miles from Pt. Bonita I could see other boats still with their spinnakers up trying to sail out. We were already done with 3/4 of the race and some of these folks were still fighting to get through the first 1/4. Sure the flood locked them in. I think 10 to 15 minutes made the difference between being able to get out before the thick of the flood and not getting out at all.
There wasn't any significant change in the wind, other than it slowly continuing clocking to the East as predicted. The only variable now was the current. We were approaching the gate during the change in currents so it was going to get a little tricky to try to find the advantages. We hedged towards the south side and seem to have gained some on Akyla. I couldn't find Rufless, they gotten us, so we were now focusing on trying to make our time on Akyla. The entrance to the Bay greeted us with nice flat water, and it is not often that we have to beat into the wind on our way back into the Bay. It would have been enjoyable had it not been for the relentless rain and cold.
We were able to crack off a little from the Gate back to the finish line. I miscalculated a bit the current and was forced to take a short tack just before the finish line. We finished at 3:35 for and elapsed time of 6:25 minutes.
| Sail # | Boat Name | Place | Skipper | Rating | Finish Time | Elpased Time | Corrected Time | Club | Make | Comments | ||||||||||
| 246 | RUFLESS | 1 | Rufus Sjoberg | 69 | 14:54:59 | 05:54:59 | 05:26:14 | ryc | 11 Meter | |||||||||||
| 101 | TRUTH | 2 | Alex Mehran Jr | -123 | 13:51:54 | 04:51:54 | 05:43:09 | cca | Open 50 | |||||||||||
| 9045 | JETSTREAM | 3 | Daniel Alvarez | 63 | 15:25:31 | 06:25:31 | 05:59:16 | sss | Js 9000 | |||||||||||
| 163 | AKYLA | 4 | Zhenya Kirueshkin-stepano | 81 | 15:46:50 | 06:46:50 | 06:13:05 | santa cr | Hobie 33 | |
The boat is signed up to do next Saturday's DH Farallones. This is the big brother of the DH Lightship at around 55 miles roundtrip. We'll see what the weather brings before we make a call on that one. And yes, the battery will be fully charged, the autopilot at hand, the halyards fixed, and most importantly, I will be wearing my Ocean foulies.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Kitesurfing 101 in Puerto Rico
So all my friends I grew up windsurfing with back in Puerto Rico have gone to kiting, so with a week to spend in Puerto Rico with the family I figure I should give it a try. So I booked some lessons with the folks from kitesurfpr.com in my old stumping grounds in Punta las Marias in Ocean Park. I had flown a the kite before so knew some of the basics, so I spent the first day doing a quick refresher and doing some dragging on the water. Things went real well without the board so I was feeling pretty confident and ready to tackle the kite/board combination the next time out.
A few days later I took my next lesson, and should have listened more closely to my instructor Bart, 'you windsurfing guys have some bad habits, don't hang on to the bar, if you need more power move the kite don't pull on it.' I think it also would have helped if he said 'treat it like wake-boarding, if you are losing control let go of the bar'. Well some habits are hard to break and it helps to be a few hundred yards from shore and playing in a semi-soft medium. This day we had breeze in the mid teens and it took about a dozen times to figure out how hard to drive the kite for the conditions to the enough lift to get out of the water, how much to lean, where to initially point the board. I would get up but immediately focus on the board, WRONG, loose sight of the kite, loose power, begin to fall and pull on... wait, do what, no, no, don't do it, pull on and hang on the bar.... oh shit lift-off.... My head is telling me to push on the bar, but my windsurfing instincts make pull on the damned bar. Needless to say the instructor had a good laugh as it was quite a spectacle. The second time I made that mistake that day was the end of the lesson for the day. Similar problem, got up, went looking for more power driving the kite up, started to fall and stopped looking at the kite WRONG, and at the same time over corrected and pull hard on the bar WRONG, WRONG. Needless to say I learned how to jump without any waves. This time I was told I pulled myself out of the water over 15 feet, flew downwind much more than that, tucked my legs under, never releasing the bar REALLY WRONG, crashing the kite on the water with such force that it exploded on impact. End of lesson. Good thing this excellent outfit has a dingy following the students around. We picked up the pieces and went back to shore for some wound-licking beers. Would come back the next day to see if I learned anything from today's experience.
Had a moment of hesitation to see if the school would take me back after the day's carnage. They did. I spent that night telling myself to push, not pull, the bar. The day started out beautifully with the fan turning on at 10am with a nice mid-teen breeze. The kite ready we took the dinghy up about 1/4 mile upwind to start the day's lesson. The first run was much better, I didn't get a consistent ride but I had good control of the kite and the board. I would get up focus on the kite and sit back down, having good overall control. A couple small launches as I played with my positioning on the board, but always pushing on the bar (well, almost always) when starting to loose control. Was feeling really good and felt I was at the cusp.
For the second run (after riding the dingy back up) the wind dropped as some clouds started building up. So I had to re-adjust everything. Needed to be more aggressive with the kite, etc, so I couldn't really build up from the previous run. Then the squall approached.... The winds started to build and started feeling a bit overpowered by the kite. We didn't really go through this scenario on land. So my first instinct was to crash the kite, and have the instructor jump in and take it over. But the kite wouldn't stay down. With the building breeze the kite would just lay on the water pulling me. I could keep my head above water, but I wasn't in control. So I pulled the first emergency release for the chicken loop. This de-powered the kite some, but it was now dragging me backwards. I signaled to the instructor and he jumped in and started to swap the kite to him. All this time I had my hand on the kite release ready to pull if necessary. After destroying a kite the day before, I wasn't to keen on disconnecting this kite. The instructor was able to swap the kite and sail it back to the beach.
Back at the beach we discovered that a line stopper on the kite de-powering line had jammed not allowing the kite to properly depower, so I'm glad I did what I did. Afterward we talked about the incident and discussed options for this type of events.
Anyways after about an hour of waiting for the squalls to pass, we were able to jump back in the water for the last run. This time the conditions were back to perfect and I was committed to get up and go. In this last run I had 4 or 5 good rides. Focusing on the kite I was surprise my legs did the right thing. But even then, whenever I stopped paying attention to the kite, I would let it ride to high and that would end the right.
I think I'm past one of many humps, but one that I think will allow me to progress. Now the question is will I have time (or take time from sailing) to kite....
A few days later I took my next lesson, and should have listened more closely to my instructor Bart, 'you windsurfing guys have some bad habits, don't hang on to the bar, if you need more power move the kite don't pull on it.' I think it also would have helped if he said 'treat it like wake-boarding, if you are losing control let go of the bar'. Well some habits are hard to break and it helps to be a few hundred yards from shore and playing in a semi-soft medium. This day we had breeze in the mid teens and it took about a dozen times to figure out how hard to drive the kite for the conditions to the enough lift to get out of the water, how much to lean, where to initially point the board. I would get up but immediately focus on the board, WRONG, loose sight of the kite, loose power, begin to fall and pull on... wait, do what, no, no, don't do it, pull on and hang on the bar.... oh shit lift-off.... My head is telling me to push on the bar, but my windsurfing instincts make pull on the damned bar. Needless to say the instructor had a good laugh as it was quite a spectacle. The second time I made that mistake that day was the end of the lesson for the day. Similar problem, got up, went looking for more power driving the kite up, started to fall and stopped looking at the kite WRONG, and at the same time over corrected and pull hard on the bar WRONG, WRONG. Needless to say I learned how to jump without any waves. This time I was told I pulled myself out of the water over 15 feet, flew downwind much more than that, tucked my legs under, never releasing the bar REALLY WRONG, crashing the kite on the water with such force that it exploded on impact. End of lesson. Good thing this excellent outfit has a dingy following the students around. We picked up the pieces and went back to shore for some wound-licking beers. Would come back the next day to see if I learned anything from today's experience.
Had a moment of hesitation to see if the school would take me back after the day's carnage. They did. I spent that night telling myself to push, not pull, the bar. The day started out beautifully with the fan turning on at 10am with a nice mid-teen breeze. The kite ready we took the dinghy up about 1/4 mile upwind to start the day's lesson. The first run was much better, I didn't get a consistent ride but I had good control of the kite and the board. I would get up focus on the kite and sit back down, having good overall control. A couple small launches as I played with my positioning on the board, but always pushing on the bar (well, almost always) when starting to loose control. Was feeling really good and felt I was at the cusp.
For the second run (after riding the dingy back up) the wind dropped as some clouds started building up. So I had to re-adjust everything. Needed to be more aggressive with the kite, etc, so I couldn't really build up from the previous run. Then the squall approached.... The winds started to build and started feeling a bit overpowered by the kite. We didn't really go through this scenario on land. So my first instinct was to crash the kite, and have the instructor jump in and take it over. But the kite wouldn't stay down. With the building breeze the kite would just lay on the water pulling me. I could keep my head above water, but I wasn't in control. So I pulled the first emergency release for the chicken loop. This de-powered the kite some, but it was now dragging me backwards. I signaled to the instructor and he jumped in and started to swap the kite to him. All this time I had my hand on the kite release ready to pull if necessary. After destroying a kite the day before, I wasn't to keen on disconnecting this kite. The instructor was able to swap the kite and sail it back to the beach.
Back at the beach we discovered that a line stopper on the kite de-powering line had jammed not allowing the kite to properly depower, so I'm glad I did what I did. Afterward we talked about the incident and discussed options for this type of events.
Anyways after about an hour of waiting for the squalls to pass, we were able to jump back in the water for the last run. This time the conditions were back to perfect and I was committed to get up and go. In this last run I had 4 or 5 good rides. Focusing on the kite I was surprise my legs did the right thing. But even then, whenever I stopped paying attention to the kite, I would let it ride to high and that would end the right.
I think I'm past one of many humps, but one that I think will allow me to progress. Now the question is will I have time (or take time from sailing) to kite....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)