We had a great day on Saturday for sailboat racing! Stu @lehighsail and @Ward H joined me for the 2nd Tall Oaks race and 3rd Saturday in a row for Ward and I. This week, we had blustery and shifty wind from the northwest. The course was a triangle, again, with a twist at the end.
They typically set the start/finish about midway between the windward and leeward marks. I don't know if this is typical, but it seems to be the way they like to do it. So we had 2 laps around the triangle (reaching legs were about a mile each) and the last lap was just windward leeward, so we start and finish on beat. The start/finish line was a little closer to the windward mark, so the first beat was a little shorter than the finish beat. It took us about 2 hours to do the 3 laps. I think the leader did it in about 1:30.
This time there were 5 boats with 2 new ones this week. A very-well sailed Catalina 30 smoked the field by a lot, with our dock neighbor filling in as crew on that boat. Dick has been telling Ward that he should start racing his Catalina 30 because it's a fast boat! We saw it first hand on Saturday!
As usual, the Tartan 40 jumped out to a fast lead with the Cat 30 keeping pace surpisingly! We were in a tight dual with the Morgan 30 and another older 32' boat (I can't think of the make) for most of the 2 laps around the triangle, until we fell way behind on the long beat at the end of the 2nd lap. We were well behind by the time we rounded the upwind mark for the last (3rd) time.
Highlights for us … we nailed the start and were 1st over the line! The committee boat captured it on video and posted it on their facebook page! We had 3 close interactions with that 32' boat, first one was at the start, and the other 2 were at the leeward mark, and each time, I think we did it right. At least nobody protested, so I think we were ok! Dick says they are a pretty relaxed group, though, and protests are very rare. Our pattern is that we sail fast and make up ground on the reaches but we struggle with the upwind beats.
As it turned out, the Tartan ran aground and had to motor off. So we finished 4th of the 5. Result was disappointing, but the experience and time we had was fantastic! We had lots of tense moments to get the excitement level high. The crew was great the whole time. The captain didn't make the best decisions on the upwind legs. At one point near the end of the 2nd beat (the 1st long one), Stu said something to the effect that it looked more favorable to go left on the starboard tack for a longer time. We were behind our 2 competitors rounding the mark at the time. But after the 2 long reaches, we pulled ahead and rounded the leeward mark in front of them. We actually left the Morgan pretty far behind and it seemed he was going to be out of it. But I stayed to the right side of the course and later found myself way behind both boats again! Stu had to be right because the Morgan went way left and marched way past us. The other boat seemed to see what was going on because I think they eventually went left, too. As it turned out, the Morgan finished a very strong 2nd! That was great for him cause he is a great guy and he has a beautiful boat!
The after party was a good time and I got to learn a whole bunch of things about what was going on during the race. This is getting to be real fun! I told Ward that we're really racers now … I now have a long tear in my genoa at the foot of the sail and in the leech as a result of the race. Now that we're damaging gear, we've been baptized!
They typically set the start/finish about midway between the windward and leeward marks. I don't know if this is typical, but it seems to be the way they like to do it. So we had 2 laps around the triangle (reaching legs were about a mile each) and the last lap was just windward leeward, so we start and finish on beat. The start/finish line was a little closer to the windward mark, so the first beat was a little shorter than the finish beat. It took us about 2 hours to do the 3 laps. I think the leader did it in about 1:30.
This time there were 5 boats with 2 new ones this week. A very-well sailed Catalina 30 smoked the field by a lot, with our dock neighbor filling in as crew on that boat. Dick has been telling Ward that he should start racing his Catalina 30 because it's a fast boat! We saw it first hand on Saturday!
As usual, the Tartan 40 jumped out to a fast lead with the Cat 30 keeping pace surpisingly! We were in a tight dual with the Morgan 30 and another older 32' boat (I can't think of the make) for most of the 2 laps around the triangle, until we fell way behind on the long beat at the end of the 2nd lap. We were well behind by the time we rounded the upwind mark for the last (3rd) time.
Highlights for us … we nailed the start and were 1st over the line! The committee boat captured it on video and posted it on their facebook page! We had 3 close interactions with that 32' boat, first one was at the start, and the other 2 were at the leeward mark, and each time, I think we did it right. At least nobody protested, so I think we were ok! Dick says they are a pretty relaxed group, though, and protests are very rare. Our pattern is that we sail fast and make up ground on the reaches but we struggle with the upwind beats.
As it turned out, the Tartan ran aground and had to motor off. So we finished 4th of the 5. Result was disappointing, but the experience and time we had was fantastic! We had lots of tense moments to get the excitement level high. The crew was great the whole time. The captain didn't make the best decisions on the upwind legs. At one point near the end of the 2nd beat (the 1st long one), Stu said something to the effect that it looked more favorable to go left on the starboard tack for a longer time. We were behind our 2 competitors rounding the mark at the time. But after the 2 long reaches, we pulled ahead and rounded the leeward mark in front of them. We actually left the Morgan pretty far behind and it seemed he was going to be out of it. But I stayed to the right side of the course and later found myself way behind both boats again! Stu had to be right because the Morgan went way left and marched way past us. The other boat seemed to see what was going on because I think they eventually went left, too. As it turned out, the Morgan finished a very strong 2nd! That was great for him cause he is a great guy and he has a beautiful boat!
The after party was a good time and I got to learn a whole bunch of things about what was going on during the race. This is getting to be real fun! I told Ward that we're really racers now … I now have a long tear in my genoa at the foot of the sail and in the leech as a result of the race. Now that we're damaging gear, we've been baptized!
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