1st Race! ... sort of

Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
@Ward H, Sue and I joined our first race this summer to start the summer series of 6 races held on Barnegat Bay by Tall Oaks Y.C. Saturday was Shakedown day and doesn't count toward the series so only a few boats entered. It is intended to give new boats, such as us, an introduction in a low-stress environment. There were 3 race starts on a windward-leeward course. The first race was a single lap and the next 2 were 2 laps. Wind was pretty strong, I'm guessing 15 to 18 knots and pretty steady. The wind made it pretty challenging!
I think the port side tack was favored, but we started on starboard all three times to keep things simple. We finished the first race wing-on-wing, (sort of by accident :oops:) and found out it was the fastest way to the finish line.
We learned that communication is critical. Maneuvers need to be planned better and practiced! I found out that Sue hates being behind. Did I say that we need practice?
We had a great time, but I'm sorry to say that we missed the picnic at the end of the day. Sue needed to get home and I was suffering a cold and not feeling well anyway. Next weekend, we'll be ready for burgers and beer! 6 races in the series starting next Saturday! Unfortunately, we will miss the last 2 in August, unless there is a make-up along the way.
 
Jul 12, 2011
1,165
Leopard 40 Jupiter, Florida
Great story -- thanks for sharing. I wish our area clubs would start a "practice race", even well into the season. There are several new boat owners around that would probably like to dabble in sailing, but don't know how to start. @Jackdaw 's club has a full series for instruction and coaching, if I remember correctly. If you think about it, it would be really difficult to try racing your own boat if you have never been invited as crew on another boat.
 
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JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,331
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Good to hear that you didn't miss the picnic because it took too long to arrive! Enjoy the experience!
 
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May 17, 2004
5,028
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Sounds like you had a fun time! It's great that your club has a practice race. Ours usually does but this year didn't because of how the calendar lined up. As the races go by I think you'll find that communications get easier and the maneuvers get more refined with practice. I'd never try to talk someone out of a starboard tack start unless the line was so off square that you pretty much couldn't cross on starboard. The more important considerations at the start are being on the favored end in clear air, which is usually easier to do on starboard than dodging other boats without having rights.
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Three races! That's a lot of sailing for one day. Good practice time.

As other note its almost always best to start on starboard, even if port is favored at the moment. Tack when you can, UNLESS you can start and cross (port tack) the entire fleet. Usually that happens once in your sailing lifetime.

Racing is all about teamwork, much more so then when just sailing. Finding the right level of communication is key. What you will find is that as the level of 'in the boat' communication goes down with practice, the level of 'outside the boat' understanding goes up, making you tactically faster.

The odds of a 'make up day' are pretty much zero, unless your SI call for it, which AFAICT do not.

Speaking of your SI, some novel rules for your basically JAM club:
A. Any headsail secured to the standing rigging by less than four (4) hanks is prohibited.
B. Twin headsails are prohibited.
C. The length of any whisker pole is limited to the “J” measurement. Adjustable poles shall carry a black band on the inner section to indicate the maximum extension under this rule.

(A) is clever, it means that you cannot unhand the middle of your genoa to help it fill downwind!
 
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Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Three races! That's a lot of sailing for one day. Good practice time.

As other note its almost always best to start on starboard, even if port is favored at the moment. Tack when you can, UNLESS you can start and cross (port tack) the entire fleet. Usually that happens once in your sailing lifetime.

Racing is all about teamwork, much more so then when just sailing. Finding the right level of communication is key. What you will find is that as the level of 'in the boat' communication goes down with practice, the level of 'outside the boat' understanding goes up, making you tactically faster.

The odds of a 'make up day' are pretty much zero, unless your SI call for it, which AFAICT do not.

Speaking of your SI, some novel rules for your basically JAM club:
A. Any headsail secured to the standing rigging by less than four (4) hanks is prohibited.
B. Twin headsails are prohibited.
C. The length of any whisker pole is limited to the “J” measurement. Adjustable poles shall carry a black band on the inner section to indicate the maximum extension under this rule.

(A) is clever, it means that you cannot unhand the middle of your genoa to help it fill downwind!
They were very short courses, set up to maximize start sequences, I'm sure. With the wind we had, the downwind legs were not much more than a few minutes. There really wasn't time to set a whisker pole, unless you were really fast at it. We also had probably less than five minutes between the finish and the next start sequence. There were just 4 or 5 of us so we weren't spread out at all.

I'm sure this was just a small taste and there should be a more sizable fleet next week. A, B, and C were all in effect and explained at the meeting. I'm pretty sure that just about everybody has furlers, so A would be moot for the most part. We had our full 145% genoa out for the 1st race (the wind increased quite a bit just before the start) and were overpowered on the upwind leg. It sure helped us fly as we turned downwind! We furled it in after that. Another (larger) boat had a genoa all the way out (it seemed) but their mainsail significantly reefed (furling main). I might have reefed the mainsail if we had more time between races, but we decided not to complicate our preparation. We were not able to point as high as I would like and the waves had built which really pushed us around a bit on the upwind legs.

During our last race, we trailed a boat on the first lap and were following them to the lay line for the last upwind mark. @Ward H called the lay line perfectly. He said we should tack as the other boat seemed to over-stand the line. His call was right on the money as we made the mark just ahead of the other boat as their boat speed was closing on us and then it was a downwind sprint to the finish. We let the furler out to give us more headsail area and made a nice dash in front of them the rest of the way. Sue was impressed with my sailing for a change! :cool::cool:
 
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Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
We had a great time
Yep, we had a blast!
The Shakedown Race was just what we needed as newbie racers. I'm really looking forward to the first actual race.

Here are a couple of photos of Thunderbird from the clubs FB page.
Myself and Sue with Scott at the helm
Shakedown Race 1.jpg

Thunderbird passing the committee boat
Shakedone Race 2.jpg
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
@Scott T-Bird ,

Something to mention to your RC to look at over the winter:

Whenever Sailing Instructions (SI) modify a rule in the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), they must mention that as part of the rule for the rule to be valid (RRS86). For instance, you have a (smart) rule that allows the RC to score boats in-place on the course if it does not effect finished boats finish order. Its designed generally to allow the RC to 'finish' stragglers that are 30+ minutes behind the pack. But in doing so the boats are breaking RSS28.1 'sailing the course' because that don't actually 'finish'. So they should add in this sentence in bold:

When in the opinion of the Race Committee, the passage of time will not change the result of the race, the Race Committee may terminate the race and score those boat still racing but not having finished in accordance with their positions when the race is terminated. Those boats will be credited with finishing that race in their positions when the race is terminated. No time correction will be applied. This changes RRS28.1.

Your SI are full of these and will be a nice winter project!
 
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JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Looks like fun! I'm just not there yet with the new boat size and handling so I'm holding off and learning her. The annual river race will be fine as that is a distance one so we can probably handle it since it is more about endurance. I really only wish I had a pole before then, might have to borrow / beg for one.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Looks like fun! I'm just not there yet with the new boat size and handling so I'm holding off and learning her. The annual river race will be fine as that is a distance one so we can probably handle it since it is more about endurance. I really only wish I had a pole before then, might have to borrow / beg for one.
Nothing says it has to be a POLE. I've seen a boat use a 12 foot 2x4 ripped down its length. Screwed an eye on each end.

I'd suggest its a light air solution only.
 

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Thanks @Jackdaw for the idea, could be a good enough solution if we have another drift fest like last year. My pole on my jib and then drifter was pretty much my only sail for 2/3 of the race.

Of course this will look pretty much what you would expect from a guy in Alabama, isn't it:)
 
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JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,331
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
Thanks @Jackdaw for the idea, could be a good enough solution if we have another drift fest like last year. My pole on my jib and then drifter was pretty much my only sail for 2/3 of the race.

Of course this will look pretty much what you would expect from a guy I in Alabama, isn't it:)
And, gets you an emergency tiller to boot! :laugh:
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Of course this will look pretty much what you would expect from a guy I in Alabama, isn't it:)
Round off the edges with a power sander and spray paint it silver.

;^)
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
That looks like fun guys. Way to go.

@Ward H you look like your wearing the same gear you wore during the Winter sail, except for the gloves and shorts not long johns.
97D060AE-6A13-4589-B6EE-9A677A609644.jpeg
 
Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Ha! We didn't see any snow. But it was mid-70's with a stiff northeast wind. I wouldn't mind if we have more of that this summer. Long sleeves & light jacket actually felt good! Wrestling the boat with 10 degrees warmer, greenheads and a southwest thermal can equal relative misery!
 
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Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
@Ward H you look like your wearing the same gear you wore during the Winter sail, except for the gloves and shorts not long johns.
Close, the jacket is the one I bought at the Vancouver show. Same color but no hood. About 40 degrees warmer and no snow but still a bit chilly on the water. Perfect weather for sailing, as Scott said.
 
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Oct 26, 2008
6,043
Catalina 320 Barnegat, NJ
Well @Ward H , it is looking like sunny, about 80, windy from the south at 15K and low humidity according to the weather forecast. Time to put on your game face! Saturday is going to be a good day! I'm betting the wind may be understated at this time. Too bad we don't have that new head sail you bought for your O'Day. It might have been useful on Thunderbird.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
Yep, more likely to see 20K and even 25K on the nose on the way home after the race.
That long fetch is going to make it interesting.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
That long fetch is going to make it interesting.
You got "long Fetch". You know this. Only out here do we get wind on the nose in both directions.

Looks like you'll get 7 building to 18 over the day out of the Southwest.
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