The weather forecast was for very warm weather in the upper 70's. The wind was predicted to be light at 5-6 Knots. At least, the direction was given as from the NW. Maybe this will finally give us a race with a long beat!
Sure enough, the wind at the start was NW, but the velocity was closer to 8-10 knots. But before we could start, a bit of complication started unfolding. A Port Orchard Yacht club member left the yacht club with the temporary buoy to set at Battle Pt and to shorten the course if necessary. He did not get very far before his motor overheated and he went dead in the water. One of his relatives was starting in the cruising division ten minutes before us. He took the buoy with the assumption that he would be the first boat to Battle Point and he would set the buoy. Stay tuned!
We had a good start on time. We started just below "Tantalus"(Express 37), but soon pulled ahead into clear air. We tacked back toward the east and tacked up that shore to to look for current relief from the still flooding current. We had good speed and pulled away from the rest of our class and started passing the previous two classes. We crossed back to the west and started lining up our approach to the area between Pt White and Illahee. This zone has some strange currents to contend with. We took some long tacks up Port Orchard before we started working up the Bainbridge Island shore. There was a narrow band of wind from Fletcher Bay to Battle Point, farther to the west, the wind was very light.
As we approached Battle Point, it soon became apparent that we would pass the lead cruising class boat before he reached Battle Point. So even though short of Battle Pt by about 100 yards, when we were even with him, he threw the buoy into the water. We had to turn ninety degrees to port and sail for about 75 yards to round the mark. Hope we would not need the extra time it took to change course and round the mark. The next boat in our class to round the mark was about 12 minutes behind us.
We set the spinnaker and started reaching back toward the finish. Again, we worked the Bainbridge Island shore to avoid the typical hole around University Point. We had a nice reach down Port Orchard with a good boost from the now ebbing current. I worked at keeping the boat sailing to it's target speeds. I have found recently, that when I go off my Polars, I get cranky and slow. Life is much better when I am on my Polars!
We took the fastest line past the Point White/Illahee line and then worked the west shore to get nice back eddies. Our speed over ground was good and the boats behind fell back more. We were far enough ahead, that the next boats behind us started disappearing behind the outcropping land. We jibed in toward the Bremerton Marina and got a great current boost from Port Washington Narrows, jibed to port and sailed straight to the finish where we finnished first about 22 minutes ahead of "Tantalus". The rest of the fleet arrived for another hour.
There was a large post race raft up at the Port Orchard Yacht Club breakwater. The "Young Guns" huddled together and congratulated each other on their great performance while it was the grey haired experienced skippers that ruled the day. We were first to finish, first in class and first overall. "Dulcinea" (J105) was second in class and second overall. Class II was soundly won by "Emerald Lady"(Catalina 27). It was fantastic day for a race. The winds were consistent to 10 knots without too many holes to fall into and the warm weather brought out a lot of white skin to be be burned red.
And to make it even better, WE DOMINATED THIS RACE!
Thanks to Jim for crewing with me and helping us get the win.
Results can be found here: http://www.wscyc.net/WSSA/current%20year/Race5POInvite.pdf
Jim trimming the spinnaker.
Jim trimming the spinnaker.
The "Young Guns" huddled together on the dock after the race.
Our course for the day.
A short vodeo recorded early in the race.
3 comments:
Sounds like a great race even short-handed! Sounds like you've done well so far in the series. Where do you stand with two races left?
We are now tied with Dulcinea for first. We each have 9 points. The next closest boat is the Thunderbird. He was doing well in some of the previous races, but now has 14 points.
Dan,
Being one of the “young guns” in your picture, I have to say it’s always fun sailing against you and then reading your blog afterwards. You’re a great sportsman and we have so much to learn from you!
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