Erie Ale House #2 and #3

Here are the recaps for Erie Ale House #2 and #3. [Race #1 was abandoned due to lightning a couple weeks ago – so we still have to sail well to see if we can pull out a 3^rd place for the series.] Overall, a beautiful day for sailing, and a nice day for Lake races. The wind was predicted by sailflow to be very light, but ended up being only moderately light.

Race #1 Results: 3^rd

Crew: Andy, Rosemary, Mark, Kim, Judy

Wind: ENE 6-8 kts.

Course: Windward/Leeward 2x around

We arrived at the race course about 5 minutes before the A Fleet starting sequence, but we were OK because we were started third. We had a decent start and took the left side of the course for the long leg. As we approached the windward mark we say Infinity hit the mark and take it with them (anchor line on keel). Infinity ended up withdrawing. So we had to take a hitch and kind of follow the mark… However, the course was skewed a little, so after rounding we were able to reach to the leeward mark – we like reaches and we sailed well with the leaders of the fleet.

We had issues again with the upwind mark. That turned out to be problematic because we ended up approaching the mark too close to the port layline and ran into a Port/Starboard situation with Shakes the Clown. We had to crash tack (all my fault) and then come around at the mark. On top of that, I’m thinking now that there was current at the mark. In any case, we finally rounded and reached fast to the finish.

All things being said, we still finished 3^rd in the fleet; and we actually corrected over all but one A Fleet boat (thanks to the fact that the wind started building on the second leg of our race).

Race #1 Results: 4th

Crew: Andy, Rosemary, Mark, Kim, Judy

Wind: ENE 8-10 kts.

Course: Windward/Leeward 2x around

The wind built a little for the second race, and the race committee squared the course. We had a good start just to the west of a big “cluster” of shouting and boats pushing each other over at the boat. We were clear and fast at the start. The rest of the race went reasonably well, though we continued to be challenged at the windward mark (continuing “current” issues?). The downwind legs were wing-n-wing which we did efficiently and sailed well. Overall, a satisfying race (especially because we corrected over the J-70 – we like beating the J-70).

Gerry’s 8th Street Deli #1 & #2

Happy Father’s Day! Two Spinnaker Races on the Lake. The winds were light and we had a crew of two plus me. Good practice for the Interclub (we’ll have three plus me). The racing started at 11:00AM. We left the dock a couple minutes after 10, and made it out to the race course with only 5 minutes to spare. Phew! I guess it’s all good practice for the Interclub

Race #1 Results: 7th
Wind: NE 3-6
Crew: Mark and Rosemary
Course: W/L 2x around

A light air start. We were almost at the line at the start, but in a lot of dirty air. The first upwind leg was slow — not a lot of power and some chop on the nose on both tacks. As we approached the mark we got headed and had to do two short tacks to make the mark. The first downwind leg was slow going, but we were able to go wing-n-wing with the chute. However, the fleet still sailed away from us.

The breeze was abating by the second windward leg, and once again we were excruciatingly slow against the chop. The second downwind leg was even worse. We still went wing-n-wing, but it we were only doing a couple knots downwind. The whole fleet finished 15 minutes ahead of us and just sat there waiting us to finish.

This boat is not a light air boat, even though we had a light air crew. I know people think I like drawing attention to myself, but I really am an introvert, and I really don’t like everyone sitting waiting for us to finish!

 

Race #2 Results: 7th
Wind: NE 5-10
Crew: Mark and Rosemary
Course: Olympic Course (Triangle then W/L)

The wind thermal wind finally started near the start of the second race. This race went better. The first upwind leg was in a little more breeze. We had a decent start, but tacked away to clear our air after the start. There also seemed to be a little more wind on the right side of the course. We rounded near the fleet. After rounding we flew the chute for a very nice easy reach (we really like reaching in about 8 knots of breeze). At the gybe mark we dropped the chute in a good takedown and sailed a nice fast close reach back to the leeward mark. This race was going much better. We weren’t winning, but we were in touch with the fleet after three legs.

The next upwind leg went OK, but we had to take a hitch at the mark again. After rounding we deployed the chute on the port side but needed to gybe. That took a little while, and we gave up some time there. After that we sailed on a fast reach to the finish. We sailed 7+ knots on that leg. Nice!

Even though we finished last again (we beat Silver Wheel from the A Fleet who didn’t fly a chute) we sailed well for being shorthanded.
Then we just kept on sailing back to the channel, dropped the chute and the main and motored through the channel. In the bay we saw the Niagara on her way out. It’s always cool seeing her out.

Oh, and a broken boat part. While motoring on the way back the tiller extension separated from the tiller. That has apparently been in the works for a little while, with just some plastic holding it in. I just ordered a replacement ($53) so we should get that repaired before we leave for the Interclub. It would have been bad had that happened while we were sailing with the chute up in a decent breeze!

Home Instead Senior Care Spring Series #1

Results:  4th

Wind: Clocking SW to NW, 2-8 knots

Course:  Triangle

Crew:  Andy, Mark, Andrea, Hunter, Rosemary

The night did not look very promising when we arrived at the boat:  light rain and very little breeze.  About a half-hour before the start the rain let up, and a little breeze kicked up.  By the start we had about 3-4 knots of breeze from the SW.  We had a couple right of way issues prior to the start.  We were at the line at the start, but going pretty slowly.

The first leg was a downwind leg in very light breeze, and about three or four minutes after the start the wind went slack.  We floated for a little while and then noticed the wind clocking to the north.  We tacked over to port and ended up beating in about 6-8 knots of breeze.  We figured it out pretty early and we were able to point well, so we were able to round with our fleet leaders.

The next leg was a reach in about 6 knots.  We held our own despite getting rolled by K-9 and TAZ.   K-9 stayed on our left hip and probably stopped us from going a little faster – but Empress (J-70) was on our starboard side and was never able to pass us from below.  After rounding we finished on a fast close reach.  We tried to stay as high and fast as possible to minimize getting rolled by bigger boats, and we were able to hold off a few of them.

We finished 4th out of 10 in our fleet.  That’s just fine with us, we are positioned well for the series and we didn’t lose any seconds off our rating.  And, we corrected over all of the B-Fleet boats except one, and we were only 6 seconds per mile slower than the leaders in our fleet.

So, not a bad night overall!

 

 

Brier Patch Series — JAM Race #1

Windward/Leeward 1x around.  Wind 10-12 ENE.

CREW:  Judy, Kim, Andy, Mark, Rosemary, Andrea

Results:  5th

And the season has started.   A chilly East wind — we were all layered pretty well.

Our fleet had the most boats show up, it was a J-Boat night (four of ’em beat us), and we had three glitches.  First, we were a little bit off the line and in some traffic at the start.  Next, we went in to shore a little too deeply on one of the upwind tacks — there was more wind in the middle and left of the course.  Finally, we had do two tacks at the upwind mark because we just shy of the layline.  So, it’s not our best start to a season.

Other than that, things went generally well.  We were seeing 6s on the upwind leg most of the time, the trimming went pretty well, and we beat one boat.  And, did I mention we were sailing?  So, actually life is good!  Thanks to our crew for a good night of sailing — many more to come!

First Race of 2013

 

 

A beautiful night.  It blew 25-30 al day, but at race time we had warm temps and a nice 12 knots of breeze.  We sailed well, and took 3rd place.

A good way to start the season!  Crew:  Kim, Judy, Andy, Mark. 

 

La Femme Regatta 2012

Results:  9th

The winds were NNW @ 4knots, so the race committee designed a 3 1/2 course.  Our crew of Skipper Kim, Judy, Rosemary and Patti sailed very well on the first two legs (we were probably in 5th or 6th place when we rounded the second mark), but the third leg dead downwind in a dying 4-knot breeze was just a killer.

We had a decent start on a port beat and tacked to Mark S, then we rounded and the wind shifted and we had a second upwind leg on the way to Mark O.  Still we were trimmed well, and Kim was sailing the tell-tales well.  After rounding everyone struggled.  We tried reaching first, and that worked for a couple minutes until we sailed into a hole.  So we went wing-n-wing, and that worked for a few minutes until we sailed into a hole.  So we reached again, and that worked for a couple minute.  And so it went.  Everyone’s ratings kicked in, and we slipped to 9th, beating only Wombat.

It was a beautiful night for sailing, and our crew sailed well.

 

Red Herring La Femme Crew (l-r) Rosemary, Patti, Judy, Kim

Don’t Worry. I have a safe mark for Gull Point. Oops!

Day Lighthouse Race — Sunday 5/27.  Results:  DNF

The 16 mile Day Lighthouse Race started out in light-to-no air, upwind through the bay in about 3-4 knots of breeze.  The breeze picked up to 5-6 straight out of the channel, and we had to tack out the channel, in light air, on a holiday!  After we rounded G-1 we put the chute up on a Starboard tack because we can carry it at about 60 degrees in light air.

We headed for Gull Point.  I had two “safe marks” for Gull Point that I’ve used for the past couple years.  We were well to the right of my first safe mark when we hit the sand.  The wind and the waves on our starboard side drove us further into the sand.  After about 15 minutes it was clear we could not get ourselves out the normal way (lots of people heeling the boat over), so we started the engine.  That didn’t help either, so I called Lakeshore Towing.  While we were waiting for Lakeshore Towing we finally got the bow around, put Mark way out on the boom and finally got clear enough to get out.

We withdrew from the race and announced to the fleet that we won the first Groundhog award of the year 😦  Quite an honor.

By the time we got back to the slip a thunder cell blew through.  Providential?

Thanks to our Groundhog crew:  Kim, Mark, Andy, Rosemary.

Brier Patch Spinnaker Results and Recap

Results:  Race 1 = 5th, Race 2 = 3rd.

There was a big blue HIGH sitting right on top of us on the weather map, so the best we could hope for was an onshore.

The first race started a little after 10AM in the dying remnants of the offshore.  The results say that the wind speed was 4 knots.  I don’t know when that was!  Suffice it to say that it was true light air race during which everybody got their own race.  The distance was under two miles (the RC shortened the race to only one time around), and we finished with an elapsed time 1 hour and 41 minutes!  For most people it was a case of “Where were you when the wind died?”  The wind died for us as soon as we rounded the weather mark and got the chute up.  We literally sat there at the mark the for 10-15 minutes.  Then our private wind came up and we were instantly sailing at 4 knots on a close reach for about a 1/3 of a mile, and then the wind died just as quickly again.  We worked our way forward about at about a half-knot for a while until we sailed into the mother of all holes.  We sat in the hole for fully 15 minutes while we watched everyone sail away from us — they were slightly ahead of the hole when it appeared.  Finally, about 12:30PM the onshore kicked up (all 6 knots of it), and we sailed fast to the finish, but by then we were DFL.

The second race was a two-times-around race in about 6 knots of breeze.  We sailed well enough to beat a few boats.  We got a good start and did well on the upwind legs, and we got the chute up well enough and gybed it well enough on the downwind legs.  It was nice to beat the J-22 boat-to-boat.

Then we adjourned to the slip about 2PM for sandwiches on the boat.  Overall, however, it was a beautiful sunny day on the Bay.

Thanks to our long-suffering crew:  Judy, Kim, Mark, Andy.

(BTW — even though it was a beautiful day, the results don’t do justice to the real ugliness and frustration of light air racing in a boat that doesn’t go downwind really well.)

Brier Patch 2 Recap

Result:  3rd place

The conditions were almost exactly the same as last Wednesday — WNW 10 – 15 kts, some slight chop — but the course was nice long triangle.  The start was a downwind start and we were determined not to repeat last week’s mistake.  We got to the line on Stbd a little early, but a nice comfy hole opened up in the middle of the line — everyone else was fighting at the pin ends.  So we just parked and waited for the start, then quickly flopped to Port and headed for R14.  This time the wind was a little more northerly, so it was a broad port reach instead of dead down.  We took the high line with Entson and Serendipity and pretty much matched them in speed — the boats who took the low line (including Keya) did more poorly, and we three stretched out on them.  We actively trimmed and steered with the wind shifts and consistently held speeds from 5.8 to 6.3.

We were third around the mark, hardened up and stayed on Port.  A little ahead of us Entson tacked to Stbd right in front of Serendipity, causing a “moment” between them.  After about a quarter of mile we tacked to Stbd, just above Serendipity.  After about a tenth of mile the wind shifted and we were mightily lifted to the weather mark for the rest of the leg (about a mile).  After a short Port hitch we rounded second.

After rounding we got rolled by a couple of the boats from the B Fleet, but we kept trying to work our way to the high side.  Serendipity had clear air the whole leg to they stretched out on us.  Entson caught up with us, but we were able to hold them off and stay above them, so they were never able to pass us to leeward, and we dragged them all the way to the finish.  Once again, we actively trimmed and paid attention to the little shifts.  They had to give us room and we were able to keep our nose out in front so we finished 4 seconds ahead of them.  However, we still owe them time so they corrected over us.  Keya was on the wrong side of the course for two legs and finished 7 minutes behind us!  And we’re not sorry that they got a little taste of their own medicine 🙂

All-in-all, a great night of sailing!  Thanks to our crew:  Andy, Kim, Mark, Judy.

Catch-Up Race Recaps Part II

Still catching up:

Spring Series #3 (SPIN) — June 1, 2011

Racing was cancelled for Wednesday evening because of the terrible tragedy on Memorial Day (Monday, May 30) at the Yacht Club.  A boat exploded after fueling injuring 6 and killing one person.  The club had a very tasteful memorial service on June 1 instead of racing.

Brier Patch #1 and #2 (SPIN) — Make-up — June 5, 2011

A very good day for racing.  There were two make-up spinnaker races.  The first race was a relatively short W/L course, 2x around.  The winds were pretty light and we struggled to keep up on the downwind legs.  You’ll see from the corrected times that we were not as close to the B Fleet boats as we would have wanted.

So in the first race we were 6th in our fleet (Infinity didn’t fly a chute, so we beat them) and 12th out of 16 in the total fleet.  The winds picked to about 10 knots for the 2nd race, and it was 2 1/2 times around.  We got stuffed at the start and had to tack to port right away to clear our air.  That turned out to be a good thing.  The port tack was heavily favored and we arrived at the first mark with the rest of the fleet.  We sailed well downwind both times (the added breeze allowed to sail a little deeper) and finished upwind.  Of course, on the 2nd and 3rd upwind legs most of the rest of the fleet also sailed the long port tack, so we no longer had an advantage.  Infinity dropped out, but we beat the J-22 boat-to-boat and on time to finish 5th in the B Fleet, and 10th out of 14 in the overall.  Look at the corrected times for the 2nd race and you’ll see that we finished only 21 seconds behind Outlaw – and that’s a good thing.

Thanks to our smart crew:  Judy, Andy, Paul Walkama (on loan from Lady Jane), Dave Hyland, and Chet LaPrice (who did difficult duty in the sewer during takedowns).

Hilbrich Electric #1 (JAM) — June 8, 2011

Second place last night!  Standard W/L M—>R14.  Winds were light (6-10) at the start.  We were at the line at the start, tacked over to port and skimmed the back of the fleet to get into clear air in the middle of the bay.  The gambit worked because there was slight bit more air straight down the middle (and having the pole helped again).  We were 3rd around the mark.  We stayed on port for a while and then tacked to starboard to get back to the center because we still believed that the center was slightly favored.  KEYA, who rounded after us, passed us on that tack.  They were a little ahead of us when they tacked over to port.  At almost the same time, there was 45-degree wind shift and we saw KEYA sailing directly to the mark, so we tacked over and sailed for the mark.  The wind picked up to 10-15 and we mainly lifted to the mark.

All the boats who had sailed to the north side of the bay were too high and had to sail a much longer distance to get back.  If the race had been longer some of them might have caught up with us, but that was not the case.  We ended up a little above M (KEYA was lower on the course and sailed straight across the line).   We sailed almost to the starboard layline and then tacked over.  That put us on starboard and we sailed a relatively short distance to the line (and stuffed Smokin J who was on port).   We crossed right after we flopped back to port.  Then there was a little scuffle with Smokin J who flopped to starboard at the last second – I don’t know why, I thought they were making the mark on their line.  It was a little tense, but we didn’t hit ‘em.

In any case, sometimes you’re just lucky to be in the right place to take advantage of a shift!

Thanks to our crew:  Judy, Kim, Andy!

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Look for more catching up tomorrow.