Peanut Regatta

Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Local yacht club has "Peanut Regattas" on open weekends. Mostly Catalinas and Hunters and the like, and one or two crew. Pretty low key, usually less than ten boats, but always fun. We had a Peanut Regatta this last Sunday and it was J-Fest Southwest on Galveston Bay, lots of boats on the water, 72 degrees 12 knots. Our start was right when the big boats were coming in and first leg went through a J22 course without any issues. Got some great photos and video.

 
Oct 26, 2010
1,881
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
Great Video!!!! Looks like a lot of fun. :D Couple of questions.
I see the N Star ball cap? Did you go there, been there or have someboy there?
Also, there appeared to be shots from near the top of the mast. What type of camera do you have there and how is it installed, etc?
You can pm me if you like

Smokey
 
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JRacer

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Aug 9, 2011
1,331
Beneteau 310 Cheney KS (Wichita)
And, how are you getting those shots from astern?
 

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Nice job and looks like a great day!
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Great Video!!!! Looks like a lot of fun. :D Couple of questions.
I see the N Star ball cap? Did you go there, been there or have someboy there?
Also, there appeared to be shots from near the top of the mast. What type of camera do you have there and how is it installed, etc?
The guy in the cap is temporary/regular crew Mike. He's a navy and army vet, sailed with Warrior Sailing this summer in the Chicago Mac race, going for his 100 ton license, got on a delivery from Rhode Island to the Virgin islands in December (I know), then will crew on an Atlantic crossing from Africa to Rio in time for Carnival. He's real busy for a retired guy, I'll find out about the cap.
The camera is on the main headboard with a sticky back mount. Sometimes forget to turn it on when I raise the sail. This time I forgot to turn the lens to landscape and had to do it with video editing and lost a lot of clarity. I'm thinking about making a doohickey that gets it above the top of the mast without interfering with the Windex or Raymarine sending unit.
image1.jpg
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
And, how are you getting those shots from astern?
IMG_0724.jpg

This photo shows the rail mounted strut pretty good. There's several old posts about it, I couldn't find them. I can just reach the 160 degree wide angle camera from the swim platform to click it in it's bracket or hit the record button. I made a new strut with a lanyard and float since one was "removed" by the anchor of a 37.5 back in January in an Icicle Race, see at 1:05 of this video.
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
View attachment 171453
This photo shows the rail mounted strut pretty good. There's several old posts about it, I couldn't find them. I can just reach the 160 degree wide angle camera from the swim platform to click it in it's bracket or hit the record button. I made a new strut with a lanyard and float since one was "removed" by the anchor of a 37.5 back in January in an Icicle Race, see at 1:05 of this video.
In that Icicle race you had a collision with damage.... was there a protest? It would have been interesting.

Many clubs (ours included) do not allow items to hang off past the transom for just that reason. Indeed at WYC boats with outboards can remove them, or only raise them vertically when racing. Cannot extend backwards. Too many clips in the butt!
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
In that Icicle race you had a collision with damage.... was there a protest? It would have been interesting.
No protest from either boat, but he did buy me a new camera. It does stick out kind of far now that you mention it. The one that was hit was about a foot shorter, too.
In the club classes I race in, there are boats racing with outboards, solar panels, davits, steering vanes, you name it hanging off the stern. I remember a boat racing with an 8 or 10 foot inflatable hanging in the davits.
No one has ever said anything, and I just have to snip a couple zip ties to get it off if they ever do. For now, I like the photos and video I get with it.
Working on making it turn for panning shots across the stern. I've used a weighted gimbal on the camera before and it's a little too big and clumsy, and the electronic ones I've seen are too expensive. I'm also looking for a wider angle camera, 160 right now, I think 180 would give a good shot looking forward or back.
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Another race on the bay on Saturday. Charity regatta with a hundred plus dollar entry fee, so not a lot of boats entered, but still a lot of fun.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Another race on the bay on Saturday. Charity regatta with a hundred plus dollar entry fee, so not a lot of boats entered, but still a lot of fun.

Fun! I was going to come down for J-fest the weekend before, but was way too busy up here. Looks like a fun time as aways. Had to chuckle about the comment 'if the race was a half a mile longer, we would catch him', in the context of a pursuit start race! ;^)
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
Fun! I was going to come down for J-fest the weekend before, but was way too busy up here. Looks like a fun time as aways. Had to chuckle about the comment 'if the race was a half a mile longer, we would catch him', in the context of a pursuit start race! ;^)
That's why I put it I the video. "No we won't catch him, yes we will, no we won't", and we ended up catching him at the finish line. I think his rating was 237 and our was 172, he started about 15 minutes ahead of us in an 8 nautical mile race. Let me know when you do make it down again, there's always beer in the boat fridge and so many clubs and bars within walking distance.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
That's why I put it I the video. "No we won't catch him, yes we will, no we won't", and we ended up catching him at the finish line. I think his rating was 237 and our was 172, he started about 15 minutes ahead of us in an 8 nautical mile race. Let me know when you do make it down again, there's always beer in the boat fridge and so many clubs and bars within walking distance.
I was wondering about that. That boat you caught needed to move his genoa car forward to stop air from spilling out the top of the sail when cracked way off like that. You can really see it in the shop from the masttop. That probably cost them the race.

I'll take you up in that. I'm in in SAT this weekend for the Wusrtfest. But I'll be back on Pesto for sure.

Lot of people do't get the pursuit thing... as you know the start deltas are based on course length/handicap delta. Lengthening the course widens the gaps! ;^)
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
There was another Peanut Regatta yesterday, but you got to have wind to have a sailboat race.
Way to hang with it!

For much better spin performance in light airs, you should use decovered sheets without shackles. At the very least, lose the shackles. Totally unnecessary for asym sheets, the weight of both of them really drags the clew down in light airs. I'd recommend 8mm NER FlightLine, decovered for say 12 feet.
 
Jan 22, 2008
763
Hunter 340 Baytown TX
For much better spin performance in light airs, you should use decovered sheets without shackles. At the very least, lose the shackles.
I know I'm going to feel really stupid when you tell me, but I guess I'm missing the obvious, what do I use instead of shackles on the spin sheets?

Photo from the same race, right when I realized the main halyard was way too tight.

IMG_6731.jpg


In the race before this one, we had a J105 skipper at the helm of my boat and I was trimming. He asked me to crew on his boat. If you do get the chance to race 105's on Galveston Bay this winter, I just might be on one of the boats racing against you.
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I know I'm going to feel really stupid when you tell me, but I guess I'm missing the obvious, what do I use instead of shackles on the spin sheets?

Photo from the same race, right when I realized the main halyard was way too tight.

View attachment 172357

In the race before this one, we had a J105 skipper at the helm of my boat and I was trimming. He asked me to crew on his boat. If you do get the chance to race 105's on Galveston Bay this winter, I just might be on one of the boats racing against you.
Knots, or ideally the eye of a 2-foot dyneema tail to the clew. You can also use soft shackles attached to a eye splice.

Fun! JB wants me to come down more. We'll see. Looks like I'l be running a program (First 27.7) at Canyon Lake the the winter!
 
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