Sailpast

Charles with cap

NYC's annual Sailpast was held on May 29. A tradition is something that is an absolute necessity, which is completely unnecessary, i.e. something has to be done but what exactly has yet to be determined. There is a rough outline of procedure: blessing of the fleet, remembrance of the deceased, on water review of boats, an official receiving line and a dinner. I pick and choose from this list. Most of all it is an excuse to go sailing!

I asked Charles to crew. He has been a loyal member of the Wednesday crew for the last few years. This year he has decided not to rejoin and use the sailing season to master his Contender. He discovered that membership does have its privileges as he was forced to use public parking at a cost of $15!

It was a breezy day. I rigged the jib and prepared for a spin run. We cruised around Dufferin buoy waiting for the on water review to start. The scheduled start was 15:00 but all was ready by 14:45. There some discussion from the organizers on the radio. The decision was made to start early. We had a bit of a problem staying behind the lead boat in our division. The spray from the fire boat hit us as we passed the review boat. The on water formalities were complete and we were now free to head off for a pleasant early season sail.

Launching the spinnaker with only one crew is a bit of a challenge. Everything went well; the chute was up and flying nicely. At this moment Charles's NYC cap went overboard. The chute was doused. It was a futile search. We were too busy getting the chute down to get a landmark of where we lost the cap. The blue cap did not stand out in the water. The chute went back up.

The wind died suddenly as we approached the western harbour entrance. I decided to return south of Centre Island rather than go through the harbour and the two gaps. The wind picked up again; there was no trouble going back to the club under sail. We arrived at 17:45 and the boat was back in Drysail Spot 1 by 18:04, just in time for the announcement that the official receiving line was finished. I dressed my boat with race flags and got my blue jacket from the car. Charles and I did a meet and greet as we meandered around the clubhouse.

We experienced the best (IMO) of the Sailpast tradition: a social event, a chance to dress the boat with race flags, and a great early season sail!

Enjoyable picnic

The crew was late. We were last boat in. We started just before the second start, i. e. a few minutes after our division. The winds were very light from the south south west. Our division was well spread out, but we were very much last.

One of the advantages (?) of being late is you can see how the upwind boats are doing. The faster boats had trouble making the windward mark. We sailed beyond what felt like the layline. There was a big lift on port tack. The wind seemed to be rotating around the mark. We tacked having taken full advantage of the lift and to the windward of the other boats. By the windward mark, we had passed one of the J22s!

The big boats from start III caught up to us at the windward mark. There was a lot of traffic at the rounding. At the offset mark, we hoisted the chute, jibbed, and dropped the chute, all in quick succession. The wind slowly died and we drifted, with the current, east. We now had to tack in order to finish. No wind; we were dead in the water. I dropped the genoa and we had a sushi picnic. Thanks David. The other J was able to keep way and hold a steady course to make the finish. When there was a little bit of wind we tried to tack but in the end we couldn't hold a course to the finish. The current was too strong. I decided to bail. Victor, in the CS 30 division, was in the same predicament. After he got back to the club he told me that he had to make two more attempts before he finally was able to finish.

The good points: 1) Our reading of the winds at windward mark enabled us to pass another boat in our division; 2) We did well to get through the traffic at the offset mark; 4) No wind is no wind; 5) And lets not forget the enjoyable picnic!

RAF

My second sail was the 2010 Spring Round the Island race. It was a beautiful day for the annual Club race around Centre Island. The winds were light from the east. We were the first start. Jim and Chris were out in their J22s and Nick had a J24. Chris was I believe with some new crew. I was happy to have Melissa, Jamie and Claudiu as crew. The start used Dufferin as pin.

We had a good start, at mid line, with the other Js. We were very close to Flawed Logic (I think), who started nearer the committee boat. At crossings we were ahead, then they were ahead. Jim stayed closer to our track but a bit further west. Jamie said that they had sailed into a wind well and by our next crossing we had gained. As we approached Gibraltar we were slightly to windward (on Jim) and we were able to continue to gain. They had to tack away. At Gibraltar we were clear ahead of the other J22s.

We went further south on port. The next mark was almost due windward and the wind closer to shore did not look good. We continued to gain on Jim; I lost track of Chris. Nick was clear ahead. We basically followed Nick, but at a distance.

Wind was very light in the lee of the spit. However we were able to keep up way and there was no problem getting through the Eastern gap. We planned to raise the spinnaker as soon as possilbe. The last leg through the Harbour was are only chance for a spin run. As a former Harboursider, the harbour is where I learned to fly the chute; my desire to fly the chute whenever possible earned me the nickname 'spinard'.

We observed that Nick wasn't flying the chute. Why? If there was a proscription from flying the chute we would be protested. I definitely entered the FS division. Notorious was flying their gennacker. There must be two division! It wasn't until we returned to the club that I was told that there was no spinnaker flying in the harbour. It was in the SIs. Wow, no harbour spinnakers, that would've certainly destroyed the fun a being a Harboursider! I of course withdrew; RAF, Retired after finish.

Anxiety: the upside

Chris, Janet, and David are back. Charles and Emi decided not to join the club this year. My crew plan for Wednesday night is to go with 4 as crew. Janet will do foredeck with help from Chris, while David handles the genoa sheet. I will, surprise, helm.

We are the first start. The winds were light and we motored out. The committee tried to see if there was wind at Gibraltor, a long way away. Unfortunately my motor couldn't make it. The others in our division didn't have motors to begin with. we all used the chute but it wasn't much help. We were all late to the start; we were the latest.

Most of the race I was anxious about the motor. It is annoying when something that you can do nothing about can occupy your thoughts and prevent you from thinking about stuff that needs your attention. We did not win. It was OK. What about the motor!

I took the motor in for repair on Thursday to Klaus Marine. The impaler for the water coolant pump broke. Apparently the pull start will lock in order to prevent the motor from starting if the motor is too hot. The motor will be ready for Monday's Round Island Race. The upside about being anxious is that if you fear very bad things, when you find out that things are much less bad, you are greatly revealed!