Race on Galveston Bay this Saturday

Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
A friend and I are racing my Hunter 340 in the GBCA Chili Chase Regatta this Saturday, December 2nd. 33 boats signed up in 4 classes so far. Forecast is sunny and 75, ESE probably under 10 knots. If it's the same five leg star course as last year, we may be able to use the code 3 for a couple legs and the code 0 for a couple more. Could be several sail changes and A-sail jibes in a 28 mile race.
I signed up late and my other regular crew are unavailable. We could use another hand if there are any Galveston Bay sailors on the forum that want to come along and crew, send me a PM. If you have race experience, great, I'll learn a few things, but really not needed on my boat, we're mostly in it for the fun. We'll probably leave the dock about 10:15, and could be out till 4:00 or 5.

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Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Got Gilbert, a Hunter 34 sailor to come along on the race. Very light winds with shifts at all the wrong times messed with us the first two thirds of the race and we ended up fifth in class. But we had a great time on a beautiful, December day on the bay.
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JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,331
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Here is the bay that I remember racing on! February TX Circuit Regatta. Note the duck hunting clothing! ;-)
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Nov 1, 2017
635
Catalina 25 Sea Star Base Galveston, TX
Bill,

That's so awesome! I'll be sailing in Kemah Bay just for fun before the Parade of Lights!
 

Kermit

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Jul 31, 2010
5,657
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Great as usual! Whats the difference between the cruising class (which uses spinnakers!!) and the regular PHRF classes??
Didn’t you just answer your own question?
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Didn’t you just answer your own question?
Nope.

Normally Cruising Class is a non-spin class. In their series their have cruising class, and also Spin and non-spin.
 

Kermit

.
Jul 31, 2010
5,657
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Nope.

Normally Cruising Class is a non-spin class. In their series their have cruising class, and also Spin and non-spin.
Then you answered my question. Thanks.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Then you answered my question. Thanks.
We're always looking at ways to get more boats to participate. At our big-boat location (Bayfield) we have a 'cruising class' but its non-spin only. If you want to fly a spin, you have to go to the Mid-distance Spin fleet, and you need to bring your A-game to that. The notion of a 'casual' spin fleet sounds interesting, but in our case I would want to make sure it does not simply dilute another fleet. More boats per race is a good thing!
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Great as usual! Whats the difference between the cruising class (which uses spinnakers!!) and the regular PHRF classes??
If I have this right, most of their races run 4 classes. PHRF non spin, PHRF sprit spin, and PHRF pole spin classes using annually issued ratings. The “Cruising Club Class” is their association rating based on PHRF, but adjusted after every race. So if you want to use a spinnaker and you win, your rating goes down a lot. It’s no where near perfect and can lead to sandbagging by certain boats to improve their rating for the next race. And they stick multihulls in the Club Class too. But, we have a lot fun in the class and we get to use all our sails.
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
If I have this right, most of their races run 4 classes. PHRF non spin, PHRF sprit spin, and PHRF pole spin classes using annually issued ratings. The “Cruising Club Class” is their association rating based on PHRF, but adjusted after every race. So if you want to use a spinnaker and you win, your rating goes down a lot. It’s no where near perfect and can lead to sandbagging by certain boats to improve their rating for the next race. And they stick multihulls in the Club Class too. But, we have a lot fun in the class and we get to use all our sails.
Clever. Probably several ways to do that; I could see that they take the results in finish order, and the top 1/3 get there rating adjusted down, the bottom 1/3 get theirs adjusted up, and the middle 1/3 stays about the same. That way over time everyone would end up with a rating that allowed whoever sailed a 'good' race for them to win.
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Clever. Probably several ways to do that; I could see that they take the results in finish order, and the top 1/3 get there rating adjusted down, the bottom 1/3 get theirs adjusted up, and the middle 1/3 stays about the same. That way over time everyone would end up with a rating that allowed whoever sailed a 'good' race for them to win.
Exactly the way it's supposed to work, if wind speed and direction favors your boat and you sail smart that day, you'll win with the rating you've developed. I need a couple reaching legs to do well. I can't point with the deep keels and backstays or go dead down wind with them, either. But, in the eight race summer Rum Race series we ended up fifth in the class with three third place finishes, even missing two races. With up to 20 or so boats of all brands and sizes regularly sailing in the class. But, it's easy to take advantage of, one boat in PHRF non spin rates 168, another same model in Club that uses a spinnaker is 194 and always hangs way back if he isn't going to place.

I took a chance on the first leg this race. Two knot wind, close hauled to the first mark, I put up our code 0 to get the sail area over our 108% jib. We kept up, but five or ten degrees lower than the everyone else. Halfway down the leg, I rigged a barber hauler and we started pointing with everybody in the light winds. But, we were already too far out of position for it to help. I need to remember it for the next two knot beat to windward.

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