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.
Showing posts with label YRA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YRA. Show all posts
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
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.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Yankee Cup
The Yankee Cup is the culmination of the HDA series. It's an invitational race for the top places of the various divisions raced throughout the year in the hopes to declaring an overall champion for the season. As such, the boats lining up for the start is a very eclectic combination. This year the roster included a 1D48 at the top of the fleet with a C&C 29 marking the other end of the spectrum. The rating spread was 186 between the two afore mentioned boats, with the 1D48 at -12 and the C&C at 174. On JetStream we rate 63, putting us as one of the fastest rated boat for the race, though nowhere near the 1D48.
Since this race was late in the season, the weather is not as predictable as in the summer. With Rob having more important things to do this weekend, Andrew and I decided to go out doublehanded as the forecast was for winds on the lighter side. We were pleasantly surprised when we got under the Bay Bridge at 9 am and there was already a nice breeze filling in the Bay. We would be racing in the central bay, between the Berkley Circle and Harding Buoy. There will be some transitions in the tides during the race, going for a full flood at the start going to slack later in the day. Particularly in the area we were racing, understanding the currents for the day would be critical. I recently got a 6 month subscription to Tidetech as part of the Big Boat Series contest from Pressure Drop and would put their current models to good use.
The Yankee Cup would be a 3 race regatta. The first race was a short 4 mile race to Mark 21 and back. Had it not being for the flood it would have been an upwind fetch to the mark. We had an ok start and got caught in some traffic. We wanted to avoid tangling up with the bigger boats, but still were forced to take a clearing tack soon after the start. There weren't many tactical options on this race and the extra tacks cost us a bit. Upwind we do suffer, as we see equally or slower rated boats sail past and away from us. But luckily there was enough breeze on the day for us to be able to make up our rating on the downwind legs. It was a fetch back from the windward mark back to the finish. We were able to catch up to Jeannette on the downwind leg and pass them just before the finish line to finish 2nd in the first race behind Bodacious.
To compete with Bodacious the rest of the days we would need to have clean starts, maintain clear lanes and avoid tangling up with other boats, as any boat on boat racing would mean time given to Bodacious as they were sailing pretty much on their own.
The second and third races had us sailing to Harding and back. A longer race with more opportunities for strategic racing. For the second race in a full flood our plan was to head to the East side of Angel Island and hug the South-East corner to avoid the worst of the flood. The only question was when to tack over to Angel Island. Ideally I wanted to arrive at Angel Island on the a 3rd of the way up on East shore to ensure we got good pressure close to land. You have to time the tack and try to account from the drift of the current. Once you make the tack you are committed as taking an intermediate tack in the middle of the current would be disastrous. I went a little too early and ended up father North on the Eastern shore that I would have liked too. This might have been the difference between 2nd and the 4th place we finished on. On this race we had a great upwind battle with Shameless (a Custom Schumacher 30). They were just ahead of us when we got to Angel Island and we would be attached by a string all the way to Harding. We traded a few tacks, we both misjudged the layline to Harding in the strong flood, and when we rounded Harding they were still just ahead of us. The winds had lighten up a bit when we rounded and we couldn't get the boat into full plane mode. So it took us some time to catch up to Shameless and even though we closed the gap with Jeannette we finished 4th.
The last race would be a repeat of the second. Except that by now our current models were showing slack water towards the South Bay. So instead of the Angel Island route we took on the second race, we would stay on starboard tack until we were even with Alcatraz. This will have us splitting with the fleet, as the rest took the Angel Island route again. I often don't like to split with the fleet, but the only chance we had of beating Bodacious would be sailing to the best data we had as opposed to just covering the fleet. Bodacious was forced out at the boat end of the line, while we had a perfect clean start towards the pin end with Jeannette to leeward of us. It felt a little lonely heading to the left all by ourselves, but sometime later we could see Golden Moon coming in the same direction. They were on a different start five minutes behind us, but it helped our confidence to see Kame coming in our direction. The move paid off, by the time we reached the layline for Harding both Bodacious and Jeannette were within striking distance ahead of us with the rest of the fleet behind us. By now the wind had increased to around 20 and we had a blast of a downwind leg, holding some 16 knots and topping off at 19. We would go on to correct to first place in the last race, with the top 3 boats all within a minute of each other.
I wish we could have joined the festivities back at the club and congratulate the winners in person, but other commitments had us rushing back to Alameda to put the boat away. But it was a hard, fun day in the water. Andrew did the job of two fantastically
Bodacious won the regatta with a 1, 1, 3, we came in second 2 points behind with a 2, 4, 1 and Jeannette 3rd just 1 point behind us with a 3, 3, 2. Full results available on the YRA site.
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| Copyright Pressure-Drop |
Since this race was late in the season, the weather is not as predictable as in the summer. With Rob having more important things to do this weekend, Andrew and I decided to go out doublehanded as the forecast was for winds on the lighter side. We were pleasantly surprised when we got under the Bay Bridge at 9 am and there was already a nice breeze filling in the Bay. We would be racing in the central bay, between the Berkley Circle and Harding Buoy. There will be some transitions in the tides during the race, going for a full flood at the start going to slack later in the day. Particularly in the area we were racing, understanding the currents for the day would be critical. I recently got a 6 month subscription to Tidetech as part of the Big Boat Series contest from Pressure Drop and would put their current models to good use.
The Yankee Cup would be a 3 race regatta. The first race was a short 4 mile race to Mark 21 and back. Had it not being for the flood it would have been an upwind fetch to the mark. We had an ok start and got caught in some traffic. We wanted to avoid tangling up with the bigger boats, but still were forced to take a clearing tack soon after the start. There weren't many tactical options on this race and the extra tacks cost us a bit. Upwind we do suffer, as we see equally or slower rated boats sail past and away from us. But luckily there was enough breeze on the day for us to be able to make up our rating on the downwind legs. It was a fetch back from the windward mark back to the finish. We were able to catch up to Jeannette on the downwind leg and pass them just before the finish line to finish 2nd in the first race behind Bodacious.
To compete with Bodacious the rest of the days we would need to have clean starts, maintain clear lanes and avoid tangling up with other boats, as any boat on boat racing would mean time given to Bodacious as they were sailing pretty much on their own.
The second and third races had us sailing to Harding and back. A longer race with more opportunities for strategic racing. For the second race in a full flood our plan was to head to the East side of Angel Island and hug the South-East corner to avoid the worst of the flood. The only question was when to tack over to Angel Island. Ideally I wanted to arrive at Angel Island on the a 3rd of the way up on East shore to ensure we got good pressure close to land. You have to time the tack and try to account from the drift of the current. Once you make the tack you are committed as taking an intermediate tack in the middle of the current would be disastrous. I went a little too early and ended up father North on the Eastern shore that I would have liked too. This might have been the difference between 2nd and the 4th place we finished on. On this race we had a great upwind battle with Shameless (a Custom Schumacher 30). They were just ahead of us when we got to Angel Island and we would be attached by a string all the way to Harding. We traded a few tacks, we both misjudged the layline to Harding in the strong flood, and when we rounded Harding they were still just ahead of us. The winds had lighten up a bit when we rounded and we couldn't get the boat into full plane mode. So it took us some time to catch up to Shameless and even though we closed the gap with Jeannette we finished 4th.
 |
| Copyright Pressure-Drop |
The last race would be a repeat of the second. Except that by now our current models were showing slack water towards the South Bay. So instead of the Angel Island route we took on the second race, we would stay on starboard tack until we were even with Alcatraz. This will have us splitting with the fleet, as the rest took the Angel Island route again. I often don't like to split with the fleet, but the only chance we had of beating Bodacious would be sailing to the best data we had as opposed to just covering the fleet. Bodacious was forced out at the boat end of the line, while we had a perfect clean start towards the pin end with Jeannette to leeward of us. It felt a little lonely heading to the left all by ourselves, but sometime later we could see Golden Moon coming in the same direction. They were on a different start five minutes behind us, but it helped our confidence to see Kame coming in our direction. The move paid off, by the time we reached the layline for Harding both Bodacious and Jeannette were within striking distance ahead of us with the rest of the fleet behind us. By now the wind had increased to around 20 and we had a blast of a downwind leg, holding some 16 knots and topping off at 19. We would go on to correct to first place in the last race, with the top 3 boats all within a minute of each other.
I wish we could have joined the festivities back at the club and congratulate the winners in person, but other commitments had us rushing back to Alameda to put the boat away. But it was a hard, fun day in the water. Andrew did the job of two fantastically
Bodacious won the regatta with a 1, 1, 3, we came in second 2 points behind with a 2, 4, 1 and Jeannette 3rd just 1 point behind us with a 3, 3, 2. Full results available on the YRA site.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
HDA Summer 3
The last race of the HDA series. The course had us starting on the SW corner of Angel Island, we would head out to Pt. Bonita, across the central bay to YRA buoy 8 and back to the start/finish line.
Conditions started on the light to moderate range but strong enough to power us upwind against the current towards the Golden Gate bridge. We only had two other boats in our division, the 1D35 Jazzy and the GP26 Peanuts. With the small fleet we opted for a port start at the pin as we wanted to head towards the Sausalito shore for current relief. We took the stern of the starboard tack 1D35 as we couldn't cross them. It was a close upwind leg with the 1D35 ahead of us and doing a loose cover on us. We played the shifts as we short tacked our way up to the North tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
We continued our short tacking out the channel on our way to Point Bonita. The winds got a little light and it paid for us not going all the way into Pt. Bonita Cove and as we got to round the point we were just ahead of the 1D35. Here we made a small tactical mistake. We were the starboard boat and we had the opportunity to force them to tack out into the current. Instead, I chose to try to lee bow them (tack ahead and under them), but with their better upwind speed they were able to sail above us. To make things worse, we were forced to tack out in search for clear air on the lightening conditions and into bad current. They were able to gain about 100 yards on us, just on this move. The wind continued to lighten around Pt Bonita and with the strong flood it was a struggle to get around the mark.
By this point, the Henderson who had started five minutes behind us was ahead of us as well, so the chase was on for both the 1D35 and the Henderson as we turned downwind. A large tanker coming down the channel split the fleet, with the 1D35 and the Henderson on the South side of the channel while we were locked on the North side. We also wanted the South, but we didn't seem to loose much by staying North. Both the Henderson and 1D35 crossed the Gate ahead of us. It had been sub-planning conditions from Pt. Bonita to the Gate. But we got the welcome to the bay that we like, with the winds building as we approached the South Tower and we got the boat on its planning grove. By the time we reached Alcatraz we had passed the 1D35 who had stayed on the city front side, and we were even with the Henderson who had gone North. It was now a sprint to the leeward mark. We had better speed than the Henderson on the freshening conditions and we were seeing boatspeed on the 15knot range. We slightly overstood the approach to the leeward mark which caused us a short broach (doesn't happen often but it does happen).
We rounded the leeward mark first and now were on the last leg back up to the finish line. It would be a drag race to the finish as we could make the line of a single tack. The 1D35 closed the gap on the upwind leg but we were able to hold the off for the gun. A great come from behind race for JetStream with Rob and Andrew doing excellent crew work yet again.
After our finish we could see the fleet from the SSS race coming through Racoon Straits on their way to Little Harding with our friend Greg on Outsider sailing singlehanded leading the way.
The wind was now in the 15 to 20 range so we decided to race back up to the Gate again for another downwind scream. We had a great bridge to bridge run on our way back home to Alameda to cap off the day.
Conditions started on the light to moderate range but strong enough to power us upwind against the current towards the Golden Gate bridge. We only had two other boats in our division, the 1D35 Jazzy and the GP26 Peanuts. With the small fleet we opted for a port start at the pin as we wanted to head towards the Sausalito shore for current relief. We took the stern of the starboard tack 1D35 as we couldn't cross them. It was a close upwind leg with the 1D35 ahead of us and doing a loose cover on us. We played the shifts as we short tacked our way up to the North tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
We continued our short tacking out the channel on our way to Point Bonita. The winds got a little light and it paid for us not going all the way into Pt. Bonita Cove and as we got to round the point we were just ahead of the 1D35. Here we made a small tactical mistake. We were the starboard boat and we had the opportunity to force them to tack out into the current. Instead, I chose to try to lee bow them (tack ahead and under them), but with their better upwind speed they were able to sail above us. To make things worse, we were forced to tack out in search for clear air on the lightening conditions and into bad current. They were able to gain about 100 yards on us, just on this move. The wind continued to lighten around Pt Bonita and with the strong flood it was a struggle to get around the mark.
Jetstream Racing - HDA to Bonita (HD) from rob blackmore on Vimeo.
By this point, the Henderson who had started five minutes behind us was ahead of us as well, so the chase was on for both the 1D35 and the Henderson as we turned downwind. A large tanker coming down the channel split the fleet, with the 1D35 and the Henderson on the South side of the channel while we were locked on the North side. We also wanted the South, but we didn't seem to loose much by staying North. Both the Henderson and 1D35 crossed the Gate ahead of us. It had been sub-planning conditions from Pt. Bonita to the Gate. But we got the welcome to the bay that we like, with the winds building as we approached the South Tower and we got the boat on its planning grove. By the time we reached Alcatraz we had passed the 1D35 who had stayed on the city front side, and we were even with the Henderson who had gone North. It was now a sprint to the leeward mark. We had better speed than the Henderson on the freshening conditions and we were seeing boatspeed on the 15knot range. We slightly overstood the approach to the leeward mark which caused us a short broach (doesn't happen often but it does happen).
We rounded the leeward mark first and now were on the last leg back up to the finish line. It would be a drag race to the finish as we could make the line of a single tack. The 1D35 closed the gap on the upwind leg but we were able to hold the off for the gun. A great come from behind race for JetStream with Rob and Andrew doing excellent crew work yet again.
After our finish we could see the fleet from the SSS race coming through Racoon Straits on their way to Little Harding with our friend Greg on Outsider sailing singlehanded leading the way.
The wind was now in the 15 to 20 range so we decided to race back up to the Gate again for another downwind scream. We had a great bridge to bridge run on our way back home to Alameda to cap off the day.
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