A very good race

After finish: looking for spinnackers

AHMEN VI was held on Sunday, Sept. 30.  The RC went into AP as the wind settled in. It was another light wind day with winds from the south south west. The course was to EYC 7 (?) to Dufferin, twice around. During the pre race 'toing and froing' we hailed our competitors and had a bit of on water scuttlebutt. Windburn had a ‘ringer’ on board! We were anxious to do well as the divison score for the series was very close.

Our start was mid line. The J 22 started nearer the pin. It crossed well ahead, while we stayed on starboard and headed further south. On the way to the first mark we crossed well in front. Clearly going south was the better call.

Our mark rounding and hoist went well. We were on starboard gybe all the way to the leeward mark. A megles quickly passed us to windward. (The melges stayed on a much hotter angle. They were much faster and provided a good indication of the wind ahead.) We defended our clear air by staying on the layline and forcing bigger boats to pass to leeward. About half way to the mark we passed Cirrus, the first of the white division boats, and I wished them : ‘bon vent’.

The winds were not great especially as we approached the leeward mark. Perhaps our chute was doused a bit too soon which made for a somewhat slow  mark rounding. We were clear ahead of our division.

The next leg was pretty much a repeat of the first. We kept to the middle of the course. The mark rounding went well; we kept in clear air from the bigger boats. The wind was somewhat stronger the second time around. We were well ahead so it was just a matter sailing well.

We finished just after Fantome. After the race we hung around the finish area to look for spinnakers (see photo).  The other boats were too far behind for us to be certain but it appeared that we would win on corrected time (Jazz). I was pleased that we beat the J 22. In our three encounters, this was our first win. Unofficially we had won the race and more importantly, the series!

After our dismal start and poor results at the beginning of the season, I hope it is not inappropriate for me to say: ‘We had a very good race’!

Almost … but not quite

The J 22s after Start 1

The second to last race of the season was on Sat. Sept. 29. Kevin was there on time but Nick was racing on Black Magic. Kev and I got the boat prepped and I anxiously looked out into Humber Bay. I decided we had to go with or without Nick. There was no sign of Black Magic but winds were very light. We decided: WTF let’s go racing!

As we entered the Western Gap we spotted Black Magic. There are no rules in the shark race. Black Magic went the opposite way than the other boats in the race. We did a boat to boat transfer; something that was probably confusing to the other NYC boats motoring through the gap to the starting area.

Winds were very light. Start 1 was basically J 22s. They started mostly at the pin end (see photo above). My idea was to start near the RC boat. Light wind in a mixed fleet: one should be to windward, regardless of line skew. It was excruciatingly slow but we did manage to start as planned.

As soon as we could we tacked over to the island. Surprisingly there were not a lot of boats doing this. Of course being on the right side gave us this option; to tack. (If we were leeward of the fleet we would be pinned.)

We had a good run to the Eastern Gap. Good, i. e. clear air and relatively fast speed versus the other boats. It was a bit tricky getting through the restricted area of the Eastern Gap. We had to tack back and forth. The light winds and narrow channel made this a challenge. We were in a good position: ahead.  : ) The light winds gave the little boat an advantage.

Unfortunately the light winds became lighter. It seemed to take forever to get to T1. We were pleased that the R boats passed us somewhere south of Centre Island pier. ( This should've happened a lot earlier in the race.) The light winds were very frustrating. Spinnaker or not? After looking at other boats we tied, but was it too late? The RC moved the finish to Gibraltar. The R’s finished but we were just a bit slower. Too slow. The wind died.

We tried everything, we could think of, to move the boat. We were now the only racer near the RC boat so I am sure the RC was amused by our desperate attempts to move.  At one point we lowered the genoa since it appeared to be back winded. There was a brief puff but it really didn’t move us closer and it didn’t last. To be so far ahead and not finish!

It was a very frustrating experience. Should we have put the chute up earlier? Should I have tacked or not tacked in the last puff? My view is that it was just a 'no wind situation'. We did good up until the wind died. If there was just a bit of wind at the finish … but it was not to be.

Fall III

The winds were light from the north. This was the last of the fall series. The 18:00 start time meant that we had only 1 hour and 6 minutes before sunset. The first start attempt failed. The Committee boat was the favoured end and there was a huge traffic jam. Many boats were over early. We were well behind the start line. Fortunately there was a general recall.

Stephen Jones, videographer

Our second start was much better. We were near the committee boat and just behind Hardtack. (In the video below Aristosera is obscured by the bigger boats.) We had clear air, which is a big deal in a mixed fleet.

Stephen Jones, videographer

Things went well.  Our tacks were good. Good crew work: Kevin on foredeck and Nick with the sheets. We finished behind Victory Dance and Papillon but ahead of others in our division. Jazz won on corrected time.


Two second finishes and a third; overall, we had a 2nd place in the Fall Series.

AHMEN V

Kevin prepares to attach genoa

AHMEN V Sept. 22. The wind from from the southwest. Claudiu did sheets; Kevin was on foredeck. Claudiu took the photos; so none of him but good one's of the other crew.

The line was very boat favoured. I realized that we were over and managed to duck in time for the start. Jazz, which was near the committee boat and in traffic, wasn’t so lucky. The individual recalls meant that the proper starters had a better chance for clear air. A J22 had a very good start; near the committee boat and could easily tack onto port.

We stayed on starboard and followed a few of the bigger boats in our divison. We let Fifth Day tack before we tacked. The GPS said we were almost on the layline. It was still a long run to reach the next mark. We had a good rounding and kept south of the fleet.

Windburn on a beam reach to T1

The J 22 was now way ahead with a course further south; on a close reach. They tacked well south of T1 but with good boat speed. They gained. Windburn was a beam and also gained. Kokomo was behind but flew their chute. They were able to catch up to us at T1. We were just astern, i e a foot behind. I rounded, headed inside and went to windward on a close haul. This was not a good leg for us especially with Kokomo now (just) ahead!

We were able to pull away from Kokomo to windward. Both Windburn and Kokomo could not keep a close hauled course. They had to tack several times to make Gibraltar and so covered a lot more distance. We only tacked twice. At Gibraltar we were clear ahead of them but well behind the J 22. This was a very good leg. Aristosera seems to be able to sail well close hauled; not so good downwind. In our division, only Kokomo flew a chute during the race.

The committee boat had not moved since the start. How were we to finish? The pin was almost windward of the committee boat! My thought was that we were to keep buoys to port. That would mean we approached from the north east. Kevin said no it had to be from the south west regardless of what ‘should be’. I followed Kevin’s advice (since that was how everyone else finished) but it was annoying. We tacked onto starboard near the pin’s layline. Fantome, on port, had to tack away.

That was not the only reason to be annoyed with the RC. The finishes were not properly recorded. There has been an effort to salvage the race. We have been given a 2nd (the J 22 easily beat us). A very good race for us even though we were well behind the J 22.

On the way back we flew the spinnaker something that I enjoy doing. A fun end to another great day of sailing. Happy skipper and (I think) happy crew.

 

Fall II

Nick helms on our way to the starting area

There was a nice wind of 15 knots more or less bearing 180. We were a bit disorganized in getting set up for the start. I was on port tack facing a wall of starboard tackers. We did a 360. What not to do on a start? Do a 360! Most of the boats headed for the pin however they found there was a bit of a struggle to get sorted and into clear air. Our spinning on the start line meant that we were slow and behind but had a clear run on port tact.

We suffered from spinning on the start but unintentionally benefited from getting clear air. The result was that by the windward mark rounding we were not too far behind. The hoist went well. Our downwind performance was OK. As we approached the leeward mark I debated about gybing, so that the chute would be on side for a starboard hoist, or doing a windward takedown. I opted for the windward takedown. This went well.

As we approached the windward mark we were with the CS 30s, i e we were doing good. We overstood and I had a difficulty in trimming. The bad trim meant that the boat was very slow. Hardtack took advantage and passed us to leeward. Once again we had a good hoist. At the leeward mark we didn’t need to worry about rehoisting the chute but our leeward takedown did not go as smoothly.

It was a bit of a close finish. We were worried about Jazz and spent most of dinner trying to figure whether or not we beat them. We were about 5 mins. ahead in real time but was that enough? Nope, we were 2nd by 10 secs in corrected time!

AHMEN IV

We were late getting started. The crew was late. I hate being in ‘rush rush’ mode; much better to be early and check out conditions than arriving just as you go into sequence. The motor wouldn’t start. While the crew got the boat ready for a sail away, I continued to try the motor. It started. OK, finally now I can relax.

We made it in time to do a bit of sailing around the start area before the first sequence. The wind was from the south and the first mark had a bearing of 225. We were basically on the port tack layline. We had a good start. Fantome, who wasn’t starting, managed to get itself on the start line. Kokomo and Veloce were ahead. On the way to the first mark we were able to pass Kokomo to windward and hold off an R boat. The R boat went to leeward; we stayed in clear air.

We approached the mark on port. A starboard tack Tanzer was a few boat lengths away. The crew advised that I duck and prepared for bearing way. I decided to tack. The crew was a bit surprised but it worked well. We lee bowed the Tanzer. We had clear air.

It was about three miles to Gibraltor. It couldn’t be reached on starboard. The question was should we go towards the island or keep south. We kept south. Most of our division went north; most of the fourth division kept south. It seemed that as we went north the wind became less steady. Our last tack was on a knock and once we tacked we were in a nice lift.

No problem with the chute. The wind was easterly. In the lee of the island it seemed to weaken. As we appoarched the island the wind became stronger. We rounded Dufferin and kept the chute up.

Our start near the committee boat meant that we could tack and lay the line without worrying about traffic. The lee bowing of the Tanzer at the first was a good call. If we had ducked we would have been in bad air and a few boat lengths further back. We finished well ahead of the Windburn and Windlight. We had lost contact with Veloce, who had obviously finished first. So we were second. A good race.

Fall I

The fall series starts half an hour earlier than the regular season. On race day I was short a fourth. Jeff, Silver Lining, was not able to use his boat and I was glad to have him fill out my crew. Jeff, Wes, Kevin. and me.

A little bit of excitement prestart. We almost ran into a boat on our sail to the start. Port starboard. I started yelling starboard well ahead of time. The other boat’s skipper was sitting to leeward so had a clear view. Obviously not checking (but how could he not be?). As my crew know, I occasionally see red in these situations. My hails become somewhat more frantic until the ‘WTF’ as I went head to wind. My parting shot was “Why?”. Possible answer: complete incompetence, but I leave that to the offending boat’s crew. A crew member from the giveway boat did not admonish me, after the race, for making an untoward comment, as happened on a previous occasion!

We got to the start line just in time. The PRO went into AP. Coincident with the dropping the foresail I noticed that the motor had fallen off its mount. It was jammed between the mount and transom and was held upright by the lanyard. The motor was stored below. We got everything sorted in plenty of time thanks to the AP.

For some reason I started with the first division. Perhaps I wanted a practise. We did a proper start, which did not go as well as the practise, but was still good.

The fall series has all of the FS boats in the second start so we do have big boat little boat issues. We had good windward legs. The course was ‘V’ so we had a long downwind leg. A chute would have meant better downwind but the offset was a greater probability of screw. We didn’t try to fly the chute. Some boats did, but they had problems. Victory Dance did OK but only flew their chute well into the second downwind leg. Hardtack also did; but when they tried to gybe, broached badly.

The finish time was 17:30 just at sunset. We did well (I think). PHRF in this sort of multi division event makes the results uncertain and we still don’t have the official score.  We certainly had fun which is of course the main thing.

Switcheroo

Wes was surprised with the announcement that he would helm. The Crew Race is a great opportunity for everyone to switch positions. Wes was on helm and I was on foredeck. Derek did sheets.

We did not have a great start. Our wanderings to windward meant that we were OCS and had to do a quick dip. Not a good start. Our spinnaker hoist was delayed was we had to re do the lines. We did a windward douse while rounding the leeward mark. Our second hoist went well but we were well behind.

Not a great result but perhaps a useful event. Switching positions puts people in unaccustomed roles. Let’s call it a learning exercise!

Summer update

Obviously I haven’t been keeping up with my weekly blogs. It is very difficult to write something every week (at least for me). I wanted to get a 'Blue' entry done first. The key is to write it up after things were successfully resolved.

The weekly entries are good because it gives me a chance to go over what happened at the race. The mental playback is helpful in remembering my mistakes. We will see whether or not I can return to regular updates.

This summer has been great! The weather has been beautiful. The new crew has worked well. We have managed to improve over the course of the season. Jeff, who stayed on from last year, was a great help in getting the newbies sorted. Two weeks ago we had a first. At the beginning of the season we were having difficulty staying ahead of ‘slower’ boats. Success equals happiness!

Kevin, Wes, Jeff, and Monica after their Aug. 22 win

I plan to do all of the fall sailing events. A great season and it isn’t over yet!

Blue

On Wednesday race night, I arrived down at the club and discovered that the boat had been moved to the Blue Crane. The Blue Crane is a great crane for larger boats who need to get a haul out during the season (see above: Notorious, a 30 footer getting some TLC). It is not so good when you are trying to launch quickly in windy conditions. The area around the Blue Crane isn’t paved so it is difficult to get the trailer moved into position. It is not a race night dry sail crane.

The move was necessitated by the repairs to the breakwater on the Club's south side. The construction equipment needed space so some boats had to be moved to create that space.Although there were some comments about how easy it is to use the Blue Crane, e.g. Kev and Notorious,  there were surprisingly (not) no volunteers! The three J 24s were selected. (The selection process remains somewhat of a mystery to me.) The Blue Crane would be a big negative on my 2012 sailing. The Blue Crane made me feel blue.

I asked for a mooring. Leaving the boat in the water is not ideal but at least it would allow me to have convenient access to the boat; it would make the best of a bad set of options. The Club agreed.

 

Aristosera temporary address, Juliet 12

The other two Js didn’t want to do this. In addition to the cost of mooring lines, keeping the boat in the water would not be good for the hull. I realized that I would have to do some major boat washes on a weekly basis. I have the free time to do this; not so for most other people.

The bottom after about one week

The White crane in action

Room was found to return the boats to the drysail area. I was very happy to be back to the White Crane; no more blue!

Windward, no Leeward

The rain stopped so the racing could start. (c Ron Jenkins)

Message from the crew: “It’s raining.” People who are new to racing don’t understand that a race is different than a sail. Racers are different from sailors. My reply: “Yes I know it’s raining and I am ready to go.” 

After clarification about the value of weather reports, the crew was ready but the PRO wasn’t. We went into an onshore AP which ended at 18:00. We and the two “winds” headed out but we were the only ones to stay.

It was difficult to set a course as the northerly wind shifted 180 degrees south after the start pin had been set. I was a  bit worried that the PRO would be frustrated and call it a night. He eventually moved the start south and we had a race. Well a sort of race as we were the only starter in our division.

The upwind leg was more of a beam reach as the wind had shifted once again. The wind was enough north that we were able to fly the chute on the downwind leg. A great practise event. The wind again shifted near the end of the last leg; we were once again going leeward on what started out as a windward leg.

An unusual race and I think the crew can all now say: “We are racers”.

New Recruits

Nick was unsure about whether or not he could crew and in the end he was unavailable. The crew bank provided two new recruits Monica and Wesley. Monica had little experience but Wesley was a boat owner. Jeff gave an intro to spinnakers. As a test we did a spinnaker hoist as a pre race practise. Things got off to a good start.
There was a bit of delay at the start. The wind was North north west and fairly brisk. Dragon Lady seemed to be standing by. Was it being towed? Yes. Dragon Lady was having motor probs. The PRO had to use preset marks and used Dufferin as the windward mark.
There was a lot of traffic at the pin end. This made for a lot of tacking and a bit of a work out for the new crew.

Flawed Logic gave a great demonstration of how to sail a small boat but they were so far ahead it was hard to learn anything. We had a good start but slowly fell back. Windlight and Windburn kept to the right side of the course while we went left. I was happy with our tacks. We got the chute up and down without any undue problems. Wesley and Monica did a very good ‘first time’ on a J performance but we couldn’t keep up to the more experienced crews on the two ‘Winds’.

The key is that we had a great time. It may not have been a prefect performance but it was good.

Cognitive error

There was a brisk east wind. We had a good start, ahead of Windburn but not Windlight. We seemed to sail slightly lower and eventually fell behind Windlight's stern. Windburn was able to catch up and crossed in front of us. I am not sure why things went so badly but clearly not a good upwind leg. As a result of the tacks we were on port with the next windburn crossing and had to duck.

It is not a good idea to follow the boats and we gybed first. I headed for what I thought was the leeward mark. It was in an odd position south but east of the committee boat. Windlight and Windburn went to the other mark; but that would be the start pin? What should the leeward mark look like? As we approached my 'leeward' mark it became apparent that it was the wrong colour. We rounded the other mark well behind Windlight and Windburn. The adage "Don't follow" doesn't mean to not follow the course!

After rounding we kept more in the centre. Windlight was clear ahead while we caught up to Windburn. On the downwind leg we simply stayed in front of Windburn. I did not understand why our second upwind was so good while are first was so bad when the boat was sailed the same both times. Possibly we got bad air from Windlight and I should stayed clear.


I was a bit annoyed at blowing a great start. The only positive is that when finding ourselves behind we didn't panic and did what we could to recover.

Spring Round

Jeff and Melissa wait for the 'Start' signal

We had great weather for The Spring Round Island Race; a steady east wind. Janet was PRO and set a course with a start at 'Spadina'. The upwind leg would be through the habour and the downwind leg would be on the south side Centre Island from the Eastern Gap entrance to Gibraltar buoy.   The finish was near 'Dufferin'. The wind direction made for an excellent alignment for a race around Centre Island.

The class boats, e.g. Sharks, started first. The second division was for white sail. The third and last division was for boats flying spinnaker. We would be the little boat in the third division. I wanted be to close to the committee boat and stay windward of the bigger boats at the start. Our start was good but we were overtaken by the late but faster starters. We did make several attempts to tack towards the centre but we could not get clear enough ahead to avoid the need to tack back. It was only when the bigger boats had all tacked that we were clear to go on an extended port tack.

The spinacker hoist went well. We had a nice run to Gibraltor. The course after Gibraltor was a shallow broad reach. Division one and the faster boats had finished. We had caught up to the white sail division and the slower boats in our division. We kept a course windward of the remaining racers as did Jazz. We found ourselves clear astern but overtaking Jazz on the windward side of the course. I didnt want to go below them and they would not allow to pass to windward. Jazz headed up when necessary to prevent us from passing to windward, so we covered a bit of extra distance. There was a bit of banter between skippers as we scooted past Jazz to windward AFTER the finish.

Our division consisted of three boats. Diana finished first and Silver Lining was second. It was close on corrected time; if we weren't blocked by Jazz, we might have had a better placing. I would describe the Spring Round as a friendly competitive race. Although we weren't first we were competitive and we were friendly. It was an all smiles day.

Spring Series 1

David and Janet decided not to join the crew this year. The crew bank is a good source for potential crew. James, the crew bank boss, does a good job of matching up available boats with available crew.  Johan sounded like a good prospect since he had experience with Lasers. We did a bit of boat and crew introductions. I had the most difficulty in adjusting to the new situation as I always have a difficulty remembering new names. Not Juan!

The winds were from the north; fairly strong at around 20 knots. Gusts were more intense. The fairly strong winds, our first race of the season, and with new crew were reasons to be conservative. The jib was selected.

By the time we got sorted and underway we were pressed to get to the start. We motored (yes, the motor worked!) to the RC Boat. The line was clearly boat favoured. Windlight and Windburn started by the boat while we were more on the pin side. The line meant that our competitors already had a good lead. We followed them to the windward mark. The hoist wasn't prefect but we got things set OK. At the leeward mark we separated from Windlight and Windburn. They went right while we repeated the course of  our first up wind leg. I was not sure why they did that; my anxiety was that they saw something that wasn't evident to me.

Windlight finished well ahead. Windburn was close, but still ahead. The PHRF handicap meant that they were well ahead on adjusted time. So third. Johan adjusted well to the boat. A good start for a new sailing season.

the Unwrap

Ready for winter

Despite looking at other boats, which is a step beyond thinking (?), I have made no changes to my summer boating plans. The default plan is status quo.

This year's launch was on the April 28th and 29th. I like to let the bigger boats get sorted before venturing down to the club. The first order of business is getting the boat unwrapped and the mast stepped. The crew, Nick and Jeff,  agreed to meet on Wednesday, May 9th, i.e. a week before the start of regular racing.

There were a few hiccups: I broke my Windex and it started to rain just as we were about to prepare to hoist the mast. An easy thing to replace with a quick trip to West Marine except that one of my big lifestyle changes is that I am now car less. Fortunately Nick had brought his car so we were able to make a quick run to the store.We waited out the rain by having supper. There was just enough light to get the mast up and secured. On Thursday and Friday I finished off the rigging. On Friday, as part of  a car rental weekend, I delivered the motor and a full tank of gas.

The wood on the slider needs to be refastened and the motor needs to be tested. It wasn't working last year but it was (supposedly) repaired over the winter. We will know when I finally take the boat out on the 16th for the first regular race.

Unwrapped and ready for summer

Boat Show 2012: mindset change

The unofficial start of the sailing season is the annual boat show. Of course actual boating is still many months away (unless you are on charter or have migrated south for the winter). The off season mindset switches from recalling memories to thinking about the season to come.

I like to use the time in the off season to get together with sailing friends. All events are opportunities to reminisce about past seasons: Awards Night with my current crew; my December lunches with my crew from Harbourside, i.e. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony, and Judith. On the day of the boat show I have lunch with Charles, who crewed with me a few years ago. One of the gifts of sailing is that you find good friends that are made by sharing some great experiences. It is important for me to keep in contact even if only with these annual ‘events’.

I am required to do 20 Volunteer hours at he Club. The Boat Show provides me with an opportunity to fulfil part of this obligation. The Membership Committee provides good support with a pre show seminar for the volunteers. The seminar describes what is planned for the club this season and prepares the volunteers for meeting the public. The seminar gives a good heads up on what to expect from the club.

The boat show shifts are three hours long. My preference is to do the afternoon shift on the first day that the show is open to the public. For the past couple of years my shift mate is Ann.  A lot of members stop by the booth. It is great great time to catch up with other club members. Of course we also do some successful selling of the Club to prospective members!

This year the booth was located next to the one for Whitby Harbour Marina, complete with a Whitby Harbour map. It gave me the opportunity to show people exactly were I am now located!

I had little interest in the boat show itself. There was a walk about; but, this year I didn’t bother to look at any boats or do any shopping. New boats for me were never a practical option. What is ‘practical’ is of course ‘the’ something that now needs to be thought about. Let the planning begin?