2011 SSS Farallones - First Attempt

After much boat prep ahead of the Farallones, JetStream was ready to give it a try, Plan A. After discussions in the morning with Outsider about the expected sea state, we decided to have a look for ourselves anyways. Made it to the start just in time. Had a great ride to the bridge and Bonita, by the time we got close to Bonita I could see the fleet ahead either well heeled or flogging their sails, even some boats were already on their way back. Would have been a nice spot to put on the reef. Within a few minutes we were in the middle of square seas and winds I would guess in the mid twenties. I tried to set the boat up to tuck a reef in, but in that sea state I wasn't too confident on the pilot as I was very actively steering around the worst of the waves. It would have massacred the main (and skipper) to continue racing with full main. Even though I really wanted to at least try to get to the organized swell to see if the ride would get more comfortable, the quiet voice inside my head kept saying that it was enough. So we turned around a few miles past Bonita before reaching the first of the markers. And... Holy Shit, is the end of the world really coming.... Surfing back through the confused seas with sustained mid-teens on the speedo and a couple of 20s. The fastest the boat has ever gone and we didn't even had the kite up. We did bail out on a couple of the steep drops, but surfed our way back to Bonita in no time.

I was really curious to test out the boat some more since we were already out, so once inside Bonita we turned back around, tucked in the reef and went back out for a second look. Not too comfortable either. The wind was manageable, but the sea state made me feel very exposed. Also learned that we need a better system to pull in the clew reef point. No purchase, and no access to the winch is not going to cut it even with no pressure on the main. So after a bit of abuse we bore off on startboard tack. This time I stayed on this tack for a while and could really appreciate the swells. Still screaming, pulled in a gybe and headed back to the gate. That was the end of Plan A.

Congrats to the skippers that got around the rockpile and back! It was a fast but difficult day.

JetStream was also entered for the HDA series. With a mid day start we still had plenty of time to go racing. A few phone calls and we had crew lined up. I pulled up to the docks at GGYC and waited for the crew to arrive. The skippers of Outsider and Starbuck, who had both also bailed from the Farallones race rounded up the crew. It was now blowing mid-twenties in the bay. Boats at the edge of control and we have to deal with a starting line right smack in the middle of the leeward gate for the team-racing folks. Someone wasn't really thinking.... Everyone did the right thing, but having all those boats in that close proximity is just not smart.

We were in our conditions, rounded the windward mark just behind the 1D35 and headed on a white sail reach. By the time we decided to set (and after a couple of budged attempts at hoisting) we had gone a bit too far and were struggling to clear Alcatraz. So a quick douse and we were power reaching again. Rounded the leeward mark first and covered the 1D35 all the way to the finish for the gun. So Plan B turned out a bit better. It was supposed to be a two race day for HDA, but at this point I was spent, we lost the spinny tack line on the quick drop, and decided to call it a day. Not a bad day.

After a beer back at GGYC, jumped back on the boat and jib sailed back to Alameda.

2011 Vallejo - Part 2

Sunday was the return race from Vallejo to San Rafael, normally an upwind affair but a little shorter and with favorable current this time.   Due to our late arrival on Saturday, my participation on the night festivities was restricted (though sufficient).  This meant that I felt pretty good Sunday morning.

I stayed with the family in St. Helena and was a little late getting to the boat, but Andrew had everything ready to go.  Something about my text messages at 7 in the morning (seemed reasonable at the time).  We got to the starting area with plenty of time and setup for the kite run down the river.   We had a good start windward of Ragtime and immediately set the kite.   Sailed to the lee of Ragtime as they hadn't set and didn't want to give them the opportunity to luff us up.   We started pulling away from the fleet with the 11-meter on hot pursuit.   We were about 100 yds in front of our fleet when we arrived to a wall of boats blocking the whole river struggling with the last of the flood and light air.  Here it was a crap shoot.  First we tried the West side just to see pressure and current relieve on the East side.  So we crossed over to the East, things look good momentarily, just to see the wind build on the West side and watching as the fleet walked away on us.    So we were in catch up mode.

As we exited the river I wanted to take a few tacks along the wall before crossing over, but Andrew convinced me otherwise (he reminded me how it paid off for me last year when he was racing against us).  It was a good call, it was still about another hour before any real ebb materialized and there was good pressure and angle on the South side.  We kept playing the shallows 2/3rds of the way to Point Pinole where the wind line shut down.  By then we had worked our way into deeper water to take advantage of the current.  There was barely a zephyr of wind, but with the current pushing us into the wind, the increased apparent wind meant we were able to keep the boat moving the whole time.  It was enough to allows to get ahead of the 11-meter and the Tiger that had beat us out of the river.

The wind did eventually filled from the West with good pressure to get us to the finish line.  We just tried to play the wind and current with various degrees of success.   The Tiger caught up to us and got ahead close the finish and we could see Ragtime not far behind us.

We never really saw much of the Henderson, mostly because as I would learn from the results they were plenty ahead.   They sailed a great race.   We had a good race ourselves correcting to 2nd in our division.
Sunday Results

The best part of the day was Andrew's run from the Richmond Bridge to the Alameda entrance on a tight reach on fresh conditions.  It doesn't get old.

2011 Vallejo Season Opener

This weekend Andrew and I raced JetStream on the Vallejo Season Opener. This year we got two Sportboat starts. We were on the fleet with the larger Sportboats including the 1D35, Flying Tigers, Henderson 30, Azzura 310, J90 and Hobbie 33. Saturday is normally a downwind ride to Vallejo, but this year we were welcomed by a Northerly that made it a beat to the Richmond Bridge and mostly to San Pablo point.

Andrew described the race quite accurately. Saturday we had three races, from the Berkeley Circle to the Richmond Bridge, from Richmond Bridge to Point San Pablo, and from San Pablo to Vallejo. We won two out of the three with the benefit of winning the last leg and taking a first in our division.

The first leg wasn't ideal as the wind settled from the windy delivery to the start line. In the lighter conditions we struggled with some of the bigger boats. We started on the right side of the course near Berkeley but with a remaining flood and more pressure on the left side boats, we cut our loses and headed left. We weren't doing particularly well until the winds really got light and we were able to coast, on a bit of private pressure, past the fleet on the West side of Red Rock. We were looking good at the end of the first leg.

After Red Rock it was still an upwind beat up to Point San Pablo. Here we split with Outsider. He tacked away and went right, and we stayed left. This turned out to be a mistake as we got caught on the center of the bay when the ebb started and the winds continued to lighten. We had to again made a painful crossing to the Richmond shore. Things weren't looking good under white sails, we weren't making any gains on the current. So we set our A5 spinnaker and sailed as high as we could. This finally got us to the current relief on the shore and we were again within striking distance from the leaders. But the winds continued to lighten and we encountered the main current. For the first time in JetStream we were forced to drop anchor just to hold our position and wait for the wind. We had a little food and drink. The wind made an attempt to come up and everyone started the beat against the current to get into San Pablo Bay. No one seem to be able to make it against the current between The Brothers and San Pablo Point, so most of the fleet worked their way down current of The Brothers to try to get some relief and get around from the West side of The Brothers. Greg on Outsider was the first to break free and he was gone... This was leg two and we weren't doing that hot. It would take us quite a while to get around The Brothers and even when we did, we just started sliding West as we couldn't gain any leverage against the current in the light air. At this point it was past 4 PM. We had expected to be tied up in Vallejo and enjoying some cold beers by this time. The large majority of the fleet, about 200 out of the 250 starters began to drop off. We almost called it of ourselves. Luckily for us, I didn't bring enough fuel to either motor home nor Vallejo from where we were. An even luckier, we didn't have any competitors motor past us and tempt us with throwing them a line for a tow.

Leg 2 - Red Rock to San Pablo

Out of nowhere at around 4:30, the sea breeze came in strong from the West. We put the big spinnaker up and started to make progress East towards Vallejo. The breeze continue to freshen and we were now screaming on a tight reach. Half way to Point Pinole we could no longer hold the big kite and dropped down to white sails to clear the point. Soon after we put up the smaller kite and we were off. We started picking up boats, the ones still racing and the others motor-sailing after dropping out. We could see two boats we normally race against in front of us. Outsider was closer and sailing with white sails, which made them a quick target. Then in front we could see the red kite of Head Rush, not in our fleet but a boat we have raced often against. They kept getting bigger and bigger, and soon we were side by side flying at 16 knots towards Vallejo. We played the south side of the bay to stay out of the deep water and the stronger ebb (with a sharp eye on depth, no need to repeat our encounter with the mud on last years Jazz Cup). We pulled a few fast gybes near the fueling docks before crossing over to the Mare Island side. A few more gybes and we entered the Napa River. We held the spinnaker a little longer but soon had to drop to white sails and beat up the river towards the finish line. We finished a couple of minutes behind the J90 Ragtime, but were able to correct out at the end to win the fleet.

Saturday Results

This trip across San Pablo was one of the most fun we've had, and well worth the wait and light airs for the first 4 hours of light airs.

Evening in the Estuary

This last week has had good wind in the bay. Though not all of it gets down to the Alameda Estuary there was still enough to warrant putting the boat in the water for a 2 hr sail. Here is a clip of JetStream with the Doyle crew getting the boat moving.

Its a bit frustrating in the Estuary, since as soon as you get the boat to speed it is time to jibe. But any time to see the spray fly straight up from the bow we are having fun.

I do need to find a better mount for the camera as this angle is too low. In this clip it is mounted on the tiller.

We will keep an eye on those 'Small Craft Advisories' and see if we can get better footage.

Enjoy!

2011 SSS Corinthian Race

A frustrating and sometimes even irritating day, with a decent ending.

@ Erik Simonson

Though light air sailing is not my favorite, nor my boat strength, its part of the sailors diet and you do the best with what you have.  Today, however, was a bit of a special day.  There was a gale blowing outside the gate, but inside the bay someone shut the switch.  How that can physically happen I still can't understand, but it was as if someone dropped a dome over the bay to shield it from the ferocious winds just outside.  My disappointment on the conditions was partly my own fault as I allowed myself to believe the forecast from the National Weather Service.  Last night calling for 15 to 30 knots, and this morning still calling for 10 to 20 with a Small Craft Warning for the bay.  None of which materialized.



But on to the racing.  Tom (aka Luchador Perro de Guerra) would complete the crew for today as we were sailing doublehanded.  We got to the club a bit early so had time to tie up and go to the upper deck to scout the conditions for the start.  LIGHT, with a decent flood near Angel Island.  We had chosen to do a pin start on port tack.  We were decently positioned with only one other boat to contend, a yellow Moore 24, also planning the same start.  He was a bit better positioned than us clear ahead and to leeward at the gun.  He was sailing singlehanded, so effectively we are not racing each other.  There was an opportunity for both boats to have a great start, but then he shut the door on us.  Now, I'm the first one to shut the door on bargers, but not at the cost of my own start.  The Moore had to pretty much luff head to wind to shut the door, which he effectively did.  I wasn't thrilled about that choice and probably had a few unfortunate words to share with the other skipper.  I just didn't see the point.  But we did a bailing tack in time to avoid a bad situation and got on with our start.

The leg to Little Harding was the traditional upwind to Point Belvedere, and staying North away from the worse of the current.  At this point the winds must have been around 8 - 10 knots from the Southwest, so the layline was more Alcatraz than Little Harding itself.   We recovered a bit from our late start, but still had some boats from our fleet ahead of us, both the Tiger and the ID35 were clear ahead by quite a bit.  We followed the procession towards Alcatraz on the way to Blossom Rock.  At the level of Alcatraz we set the kite.  Well, we had a bit of a problem with our first attempt, but got things sorted and got the kite up and pulling a couple minutes later.  We now started picking up boats, trying to get clean lanes through the fleet of boats in front of us.

We had  a clean rounding around Blossom and started headed towards Blackaller buoy.  Most of the boats ahead were headed towards the city front, but we found good pressure and current in the middle.  We picked a few more boats on the upwind leg, there was a bit more pressure on the southern edge of they bay.  We were know within striking distance of the leading boats.  We had a flawless set and started our run towards Point Blunt.  I allowed ourselves to get a bit tangled up with a couple of J boats and the Tiger, pinning us on port tack for longer than we wanted.  Eventually we were able to gybe away to better pressure and a better angle.   We were feeling pretty good now, we were with the leading boats with only Arcadia and Roshambo ahead of us.   We got to Arcadia just before Alcatraz.   The winds were now lightening up as we started sailing towards the northern edge of the bay.  We had to keep having to gybe onto starboard to avoid getting sucked into the hole in the lee of Angel Island.  These were painful gybes with negative VMG, but the alternative was to sit on a hole.  Sit on a hole we eventually did as the wind died a few hundred yards from South Hampton Shoals.  Any time we gybe towards the mark we will run out of wind.  Even giving the mark a wide berth did help us much.  Eventually the rest of the fleet caught up to us at the SHS restart.  This is the infuriating part.  At this point we are about 2/3rds of the way into the race, and having to make up your handicap in the last 1/3rd of the race would be a challenge.

Race wasn't over yet.  With these light conditions another big decision still had to be made.  Do we try Racoons Straits to sail around the South side of Angel Island.  By now the wind had filled from the South East.  Yes, the South East, it is not a typo.  So we gybed around SHS and aimed for the North end of the entrance to the Straits.   The choice wasn't easy, as there wasn't much sign of wind inside the Straits and the majority of the fleet had chosen the other way.  Surprisingly the wind held, and we were able to carry the spinnaker halfway down the Straits.   A new one for me, going West through Racoon's Straits with the kite up.....  Halfway down the Straits we met the Westerly, dropped the kite, and got on the ebb conveyor belt all the way to Little Harding. With this bit of luck, we had a huge gain over the folks that sailed around Angel Island.

One last set around Little Harding an on to the finish.  At this point we were the second boat in the fleet behind Roshambo and the first Monohull.   We finished in this order and got the gun for our class.   A nice reward for a very challenging day.

The results are already up, and though not bad, not as good as I had expected.  We finished 2nd in our DoubleHanded Sportsboat division just 5 seconds out of first.  We finished 5th Overall

Saturday at Big Daddy

Not in the original schedule, but Andrew and I decided to go out for the Saturday race day of the Big Daddy regatta sponsored by the Richmond YC.  They had scheduled 3 windward/leeward races so we would have our work cut out.  The forecast was for light winds 5 - 15 knots, so we decided to just go double handed.

We were the smaller boat (at 30 feet) on the PHRF D fleet, with the rest of the boats in the 33 to 40 foot range. With the light winds it would proof to be a tough day sailing in 'displacement' mode against the boats with longer waterlines.

The first race was called for twice around the buoys.  Soon after the start we tacked right while the rest of the fleet went left and that was the end of the race for us.  We went the wrong way and by the time we got to the windward mark we were just a boatlength away from being DFL.  A horrible set, the new kites are big and with the ultra narrow boat they tend to find the water very easy.  At least we got all the bad juju on the first race, and managed not to finish last.

The second and third races call for 3 times around the course.  We had good starts on both races and played it more conservatively with the rest of the fleet.  The upwind legs were a bit frustrating trying to keep up with the bigger boats in the light-med conditions.  The wind hovered between 10 and 15 knots and all the bigger boats were powered up with better speed and point that us.   We would make some gains back on the downwind legs but hardly enough to make up the loses on the upwind legs.  A few times on the runs we got close to breaking loose but still needed a few more knots of wind, adding to the frustration.

On the last race we rounded the leeward mark in second place, our best showing of the day.  We tried covering  Quiver and Encore to the upwind mark.  I tried too tight a cover on Quiver that was a mistake as they were able to poke their nose to leeward.  We were both on port tack when I see a starboard sail poke over the top of my mast (good thing we have a short rig).  It was Encore crossing us on starboard, F>>>!!! crash tacked and all was well, other than loosing two positions.    It was a surprise to see Encore that close.   We weren't paying as much attention to starboard tackers since we thought that Quiver would be our cover and signal if anyone was coming.   But the separation was enough that Quiver just took their stern leaving us with a big surprise.  To our surprise we never heard a hail, but it is very likely that we were completely hidden behind Quiver's sails.  Disaster avoided.

We weren't feeling too good after the race, boat for boat we were finished in 4th place on both races, but ended up correcting to 3rd, finishing the regatta in 3rd place.  We never got close to the J120 in these conditions.  Would have needed to be 'blasting' mode downwind to have any chance of closing the gap.    But it was a good day and great practice for the busy summer season.

Next, Cabo!

2011 Three Bridge Fiasco

By Rich Hudnut

This race is the unofficial start of the racing season in the San Francisco Bay, this year bringing out a total of 367 registered boats for the event. People in the know say it is the largest race in California and probably in the whole of the US. The race is characterized by its unorthodox course. Starting and finishing in front of the Golden Gate YC on the San Francisco city front, the course has only three marks near landmark bridges in the bay (Blackaller bouy near the Golden Gate Bridge, Yerba Buena Island which connects the two spans of the Bay Bridge and Red Rock just south of the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge) which each racers can round in any order and in any direction he/she chooses. This means that tactical racing decisions will only really help you if you made the right strategic choice around your the rounding order. Some homework is in order, although it doesn't always help...

The way I approached it this year is that there are three key objective variables, plus two subjective ones. The three objective variables are distance, wind and current. The subjective ones are the 'group dynamic' of where the 'good racers' and your key competitors are going, and where can your boat sail in the given conditions regardless of where you want it to go...

The break down in distance (simplified as the crow flies) gives the following options:
1. B-RR-YB (CW) or YB-RR-B (CCW), about 21 miles
2. RR-YB-BB, about 23 miles
3. RR-B-YB, about 26 miles
As you can see there is a strong incentive to do either the clockwise (CW) or counter-clockwise (CCW) course.

The current was going to be a strong ebb this year, going up to a maximum ebb of 4 knots around 2 hours after our start at 10:40. My thought was to try to minimize our exposure to the strong ebb.

Last, but not least, actually the most important, is the wind. The national forecast was for light winds. Sailflow, however, showed a more optimistic forecast with the wind building to the teens in the afternoon between Angel Island and Richmond. But most importantly, and the factor that I think ultimately decided our fate on this race, it showed for very light winds throughout the day just south of the Bay Bridge.

Before the Sailflow forecast the night before the race, I was leaning towards the YB,RR,B route. It hardly ever pays to sail extra distance, however, after reading the forecast I started hesitating a bit given the light winds expected around YB. The other option was to run to RR first. But from the start to RR it is almost an 8 mile leg, in the light conditions and with a strong ebb it would take us over two hours to complete and will get us there at the max of the ebb, in an area that is famous for large windholes. So I wasn't thrilled about that alternative. Going to Blackaller first was the distant third option as that will put is the farthest west, which would mean even bigger exposure during the large ebb. So unless something dramatic happened the plan was to go CCW.

Tom was to join me for this race and the rest of the double handed season. Breakfast at Ole's is becoming quite an enjoyable tradition with some fellow racers. Andrew and his Dad, Mike and Dave joined Tom and I this time. Boat was already in the water so cleaned it up a bit and we were off. The wind was already blowing from the S, SW and going past the Bay Bridge (already on an earlier than scheduled ebb, hmmm) we were happy to see decent pressure in that part of the bay. This further reinforced our plans of doing YB first. We toiled around the starting area before the start looking for the usual suspects, Yucca, Arcadia, Golden Moon, the Farr 30, all headed or lining up to head east towards YB. This is were the subjective factors come to play, as the fleet in general plus some key competitors were also heading in the same direction.

We had a good start in the light air, with a clear lane and on time. In the light conditions we quickly lost a bit of ground to Outsider and the Mumm which started a few minutes after us, but do better than us in the light air. As we head east we quickly found the first 'wall' of boats that had encountered the first of the ebb as they got to Pier 39. With the kite up and only feet from the sea wall we were able to sneak past the fleet (must have been around 50 or so boats) and break free from the current as we hugged the city front. We would do a few more tacks on the city front before we ventured across the 'river' to cross over TI/YB. A few boats tried to cross too early and got flushed out by the ebb (which for some of them was a blessing in disguise). We stayed on the city side a little longer and had no problem doing the crossing. At this point things were looking great. The Mumm was still ahead by maybe a quarter mile, and we were having a close contest with the Head Rush (the Antrim 27). We continued to short tack up the TI side until we reached the corner of Yerba Buena Island. At this point we were probably 1 of 6 or 8 boats at the lead of the CW fleet, and we were feeling pretty good about it. And then we STOPPED.

The current was ripping in the corner of YB island and the wind had dropped to less than five knots. If you dare venture into the current line you would get flushed 200 yds before you could get back into the small relieve area where everyone was jockeying for position. At first it was just 10 or so boats, but as more boats caught up to us it soon became a fiasco within the fiasco. Some boats anchored to avoid the musical chair game. Looking at our track I think we played the game about 15 times, it was exhausting as we are sailing a few feet away from the island, with anchored boats and sailing boats... I am surprised that it didn't end worse. Eventually, the current started subsiding, but we had lost about one and half hours here. So unless there was also a similar situation around Red Rock, all of our chances for a good placing overall were already dashed. As we rounded YB and started sailing into Emeryville, the answer was soon provided, as we encountered boats already sailing south. Oh well, that was it for the overalls, but there was still a race to be had amongst the clockwise fleet.

The first half of the run from YB to RR was in light and shifty winds and we lost a few positions. Initially we stayed close to the Berkley flats to stay out of the remaining ebb, but after seeing a westerly filling in decided to head west and go for the wind. That decision paid huge dividends as we caught up with most of the leaders by the time we got to Red Rock. We left RR to starboard and tacked back to the Tiburon side for our upwind slog through Racoon Straights. By now the wind had build to the mid to high teens (hmm, where did I see that forecast?) and we were in our element. But just as soon we started to hear reports of boats finishing on the radio and we still had around 8 miles or so of an upwind leg to complete, ugh...

We powered through Racoon Straights but found the start of the flood as we exited. This will further extend our race. Now, we would have to go all the way to the North Tower of the Golden Gate bridge before crossing over the the city front and avoid the current. Add a few extra miles to our course. Luckily the wind stayed up and we got across in decent shape. A few more tacks and we were around Blackaller. We were looking forward to put the kite up one last time and try to get a couple of places back on the run to the finish, but by now the wind had shifted again to the south which made for a tight reach to the finish. We finished with our running lights on around 5:57 PM.

In retrospect I underestimated the current around TI and undervalued the forecast information from Sailflow. But hindsight is always 20-20. There is always the luck factor in this race. Many of the people that ended up going to RR first had intended to go to TI first but couldn't get past the first encounter with the current which we were able to handle. This is were the second subjective factor comes into play, 'go where you can sail'. For us that wouldn't help, by the time we reached the corner of YB we were committed.

At the end of the day, we covered 30 miles on course. We had pretty high expectations for the overalls. We finished in 65th place out of 295 starters in the doublehanded fleet. Within our sportsboat division we did better with a 2nd place out of 30 starters, the only boat that beat us took a different route, so not a terrible result.

Plenty of more racing to do this year, with boat and crew working well it was a great way to start the sailing year.