Winter Break

We collected a string of first place banner for the YRA 2011 season.  Skipper and crew (Andrew and Rob) looking pretty happy in the picture.  For the winter we are taking it a bit easier.  We are entered for the Encinal Jack Frost series and taking some time to do some maintenance and small upgrades.  

The mast is currently down awaiting some work to install a new halyard for the code 0.  Will also look into adding a halyard lock for the main.  The latter should help reduce the sag we get from slippage on the clutch and should also help reduce the mast compression forces.

After doing some maintenance we found some cracks on the aluminum tube supporting the traveler track, so that is getting replaced and I'm installing an improved traveler with upgraded car, improved purchase and a center ratchet for the main sheet.

We also installed some nice shelving under the coamings.  These turned out pretty guccy, with Andrew and Rob putting their sewing skills to good use.  Very nice.  Now we can keep our sails and bags nice and dry and away from the bilge.

Our Swedish sistership

A nice interview, report and video from Sweden.  Introducing Airbender

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Jazzy Cup

A labor day weekend tradition, the Jazz Cup takes the fleet from Treasure Island on a downwind slide to Benicia on the Carquinez Strait. Over 100 boats signed up for the race, and being on one of the latest starts we would have to get through most of the fleet on the way to the finish. The forecast was calling for light winds from the SW, but we were hoping the summer thermals would fill in and make for a more exciting race.

Rob and Andrew joined me for this race. We got out to the windward mark early and to check the angle to the next mark. We pulled out the Code 0 to try it out and it was perfect, we were screaming. The only problem with this choice is that it would require a bare headed spinnaker change further down the track as the wind clocks to DDW. We left the Code 0 hooked up and decided to make a last minute call on what to set.

We came back to the starting area and prepared for our start. We would have some larger boats racing in our division and it would be important to be able to hold a lane off the start. The pin was favored, so we chose a leeward position on the pin end of the line. We had a clean start and were able to hold our line until we got squeezed out by the GP26 to leeward and the Farr 36 coming over the top. We took a clearing tack and managed to get to the windward mark in the top 5.

On the way to the windward mark we could see boats from the previous start setting and holding their spinnakers. By now we know that if anyone can hold their spinnaker, so can we on the JS. So we switched plans and instead of starting with the Code 0 we will go straight to the A2. It was a tight reach and we could just hold our angle. Erik got a nice shot of us below:

This is a point of sail that the boat likes. While other boats struggle to hold the tight angle the JS just digs in an accelerates. We could sail a bit higher than the rest of the fleet and we were able to keep up with the front runners as we started passing boats from the previous starts. We chose the Richmond side of the course as the Tiburon side looked light. Here we started mixing it up with other boats and managed to keep the boat moving in the lighter conditions between Richmond and The Brothers. Past The Brothers we started the San Pablo Bay leg. Though we were staying on the inside, we could see Outsider, who earlier on had split to the West side of the course, now on better pressure and beginning to catch up. We took a painful gybe out get into the better pressure. This moved pay off, as by the time we converged with the boats that stayed on the inside we had made significant gains.


Jetstream Racing - Jazz Cup 2011 from rob blackmore on Vimeo.


Up ahead we could see a new wind line just before Pinole Pt. It was going to be a header with increase in velocity and we cold see some of the boats entering the new pressure struggling to keep their lane. This would be our opportunity. The leg from Pinole Pt. to the Vallejo Bridge was the funnest part of the race with the boat sailing in consistent 10 - 15 knots of boat speed. We were able to put some distance between us and the boats behind us while making some ground on the few boats ahead.

From Vallejo to Benicia it would be a more traditional downwind run (as opposed to the reaching legs across San Pablo Bay). The winds lightened a bit again and we were in a tight race with California Condor and Twisted ahead (the Farr 36 and the T650 though close were a bit out of our reach) and Outsider charging hard from behind. California Condor had a couple of bad gybes and we got past them, but we couldn't make the distance on Twisted. We had been able to hold off Outsider, but as we rounded G25 the got just ahead of us.

@ norcalsailing.com

From G25 to the next leeward mark it was another reach and we were the only boat in our group to hold the kite all the way to the mark allowing us to close the gap with the boats in front and sneaking past Outsider again. We would hold this position to the finish line and would end up as the 4th monohull to cross the finish line and would correct out as the 2nd monohull for overall behind the T650.

It was a great race and a significant improvement from last year. We stayed in Benicia for the awards and started our delivery back home around 10 PM to take advantage of the ebb. It was a pleasant motor home at night with a light breeze and a great moon. We got back to Alameda a bit after 2AM and was at home in bed by 3 and lights off.

Another great video by Rob

This one from our latest Encinal Friday night race. Enjoy!

Jetsream Racing - Estuary Noire from rob blackmore on Vimeo.

SSS Half Moon Bay Race

It had been a few month since the last Singlehanded Sailing Society race. The race to Half Moon Bay is one of my favorites. As a destination race it gives the fleet a chance to socialize and make new bonds. This year was no exception.

As usual the anticipation to the race starts a few days early, and by the time we get together for the skippers meeting the Wednesday before the race, most skippers have been tracking the forecasts and currents for the race. Even though we had a favorable current to exit the Bay under the Golden Gate, the wind forecast though moderate had the wind blowing from the SW. Once you exit the bay, it is a left turn to the South to get down the 24 miles to HMB. The winds outside the Gate are normally from the NW - W, so this race is often billed as a nice reach or downwind race (though I can barely remember the last time that was the case). So the SW forecast had the fleet worried of an all upwind race.

This forecast was also ruining my strategy and my new secret weapon. I had a Code 0 built in time for this race. The guys at Doyle (mainly Andrew) worked late into the night on Friday to ensure the sail was ready. It would be a killer sail for a light air reach down the coast. We were ready for action, and by Friday most of the forecast had the wind clocking to the W in the afternoon. We took the new sail for a quick night sail just to make sure everything work and it was a dream in the light air of the Estuary.

After breakfast with Tom and Karl, we headed down to the boat. Tom will be sailing with me doublehanded, and Karl was heading on Outsider. We waited our turn for the Sportboats starts and we could see the early starters getting flushed out of the bay quickly with a nice breeze and a favorable current. We had a conservative start, even though port was favored with the SW winds, we planned to enter the line on starboard and go for a quick tack close to the pin end (what would normally be the boat end). We didn't win the start but it wasn't horrible either, and we joined the parade towards the Golden Gate.



We had enough wind to be fully powered up and started picking up some of the earlier starters. We played the shifts while keeping a close eye on Outsider and Wild-1 which were the competitors with ratings close to us. Outsider had taken an early lead at the start, but before exiting Seal Rocks we were back to even. With the forecast having the long term shift to the W, we wanted to protect the right hand side and stayed on the offshore side of most of the fleet. But all the way to Montara we didn't notice any persistent shift. We were still enjoying good pressure all the way to Montara, traditionally known for its wind hole. We tacked back offshore to the layline of the Colorado Reef buoy and then tacked back. Except that there was no buoy where my chart said it would be. So we started scanning the horizon and found the buoy, probably around a mile or so farther offshore. The bad news is that it was going to be more upwind work, but the good news would be that we would have to bear off further to reach the next mark, G1 on the HMB channel.

The winds started to lighten up as we approached the Colorado Reef mark. We kept having to tack back offshore to stay in the pressure. We had a tight battle with a couple of Express 37 and a J105. We got to the mark in front of this pack, just to be greeted by a shift. Not the shift right we had been expecting and anticipating, but a shift left with the wind now blowing from the South. The winds today will make sure that the whole of the race would be an upwind race. With the shift the winds kept getting lighter making it more difficult for us. Now we were averaging sub 5 knots, often dropping below 3 knots.

Halfway to G1, the wind, though still light, began its shift to the West. We quickly put up the new Code 0 and managed to keep the boat ghosting along. But behind us there was trouble, both Outsider and Wild-1 had begun to make significant gains on the lighter conditions and even further back we could see spinnakers popping up, meaning the folks in the rear were bringing the new pressure. We never got the new pressure but still managed to finish ahead of most of the fleet.

We took a slip at the marina, as we had a room at a hotel across the street (hard to sleep over on the JS). We were received at the slip by Eric from pressure-drop.us with some nice cold beers straight from the HMB brewery and some home smoked salmon and tuna. We went back to the HMB Yacht Club to catch up with the rest of the fleet and finished the day with dinner and drinks back at the brewery.

The results are in, and though not great, not surprising as the race was purely upwind and our rating doesn't favor it. We ended up in 4th place in our Sportboats division and 15th Overall. But a good time was had by all. It was also the first ocean race we complete on JetStream and in the moderate conditions the boat handled very well.