“3708. Over.”

Nick was once again absent. He is participating in the Shark North American’s on the weekend and did not want to risk further damage to his wrist. Unfortunately, do to a miscommunication, I did not realize that Wes also would not be available. We needed two new crew.

Marcia was assigned by the crew bank. I knew she would be good with tweekers and help to hoist the chute . However I needed someone to do sheets. Obviously the only solution was to use a British Naval tradition, shanghaiing someone wondering aimlessly along the quay. This would be Jack.

I gave Jack a few tests, e g “Tighten the outhaul”.  It is interesting and telling to see what is the response to this type of command. Jack passed this test but I waited until we got through a few tacks before finally deciding that he could do sheets. Kevin, who knows how to keep me out of trouble, was on foredeck. We were good. Once again our prestart crew evaluations distracted me from getting properly setup for the start and we were once again late.

Windburn was windward and gave us bad air. We tacked away. This meant the we were heading towards the wrong side of the course. We had good hoists at the windward and good takedowns at the leeward. The new crew worked well. The wind at the leeward mark was very light although there was good wind at the windward mark.

On our second downwind leg we were in second position. Windlight was clear ahead. However things got very messy. The wind died and the current was in the opposite direction to the finish. Boats were drifting backwards. There appeared to be some wind but it was very light. I thought we were in irons after an attempted tack. Eventually I realized that it was just the current which distorted my assessment of wind direction. Windlight was able to get underway and finished well ahead. There was also a J 22, Eclipse,  who managed to keep way and ‘motored’, figuratively if not actually, ahead. Another 3rd.

In these excruciatingly slow conditions what finer words can one hear than “3708. Over.”

Summer (still unofficial) racing

Nick was still absent so I relied on the crewbank for a fourth. Yelena was assigned. She had dinghy experience and, as I found out, she knew where the wind might be; both good things for a crew. (She was also very supportive of her skipper. Not a necessity but also a good thing IMO). With new crew we did a few prestart tacks and gybes with the spinnaker. Yelena was not familiar with spinnakers. However we were not able to get back to the RC Boat and my efforts to do so meant that we were late to the start line. The wind was very light.

The course was southeast. Most of the boats went right but we stayed in the centre. Any choice of sides would be lucky or unlucky due to the light and variable winds. We were lucky and with good crew teamwork we rounded the windward mark ahead of our division.

We won the first leg! The hoist went well. The downwind was annoying. Where is the wind? Windlight and Windburn caught up to us at the leeward rounding. We rounded inside of Windlight and had clear air for the second upwind leg.

Surprisingly the fleet did a repeat of the first upwind leg. We stayed in the centre. On starboard we ate a big knock; course went from 98 to 88. However when we tacked over onto port we got a persistent lift. We were clear ahead once again. There was a persistent shift left and we were left of the fleet.

The downwind leg was extremely frustrating. Light wind became no wind. Wes did a great job trying to find something but the only thing we could do was wait. And wait. The current was not against us!

It was a nice late spring evening but for sailors the lack of wind was frustrating. In these conditions a slight puff or an unanticipated shift makes a huge difference. Kevin summed it up well: “It demonstrates the importance of being on the right side of the course. Last week we weren’t; this week we were. The results (or at least the real ones) speak for themselves.”

Not third this time!

It was a beautiful day. Flat water but good wind: east at 10 knots. Nick injured his arm in his Tuesday night race so we recruited Katie from the crew bank. Katie is new to the club and new to sailing but a fast learner.

We had some good practise hoist with the chute. Being early is good. Wes handled sheets and it gave him an opportunity to practise a new position. There was a bit of a kerfuffle before the start as the backstay pin split ring failed. We managed to sort out the problem quickly.

We had a good start; ahead of our division. We elected to cover Windlight. When the fleet crossed we realized this was not good. Windburn and Jazz were clear ahead. The race was effectively over. It was three times so we had lots of time, but we could never recover from this first leg error. Having Jazz ahead of me makes me extremely unhappy.

To make matters worse the wind died just before we finished. Big boats came over top and we were blanketed. Once we lost way it was very difficult to get the sails to work. Windburn and Jazz finished when there was wind but just at our finish the wind died completely. All boats drifted together. It was all very annoying.

Jazz finished second but close enough to Windburn to get a first. Jazz has a high PHRF so for it to finish second in our division means that it is well ahead in corrected time. There were a few J 22s which made for more level racing. We finished 5th out of 8 boats; but second (a distant second) with the 4 J 22/24s.

Spring update

Ryan on helm

The racing season has started so what about the Blog? I obviously haven’t been keeping up a regular set of posts. Hopefully now that I have started I can be more reliable. In order to make up for lost entries I will try to summarize events in a single update.

Kevin, foredeck, Nick sheets, and Wes, mast, have returned to crew this year. Our division is pretty much the same as last year. The division regulars includes Jazz, Windlight, and Windburn. Jazz is a bit of an outlier PHRF at 225, while Windlight and Windburn are 170’s. This compares to our 165. We have to beat all, and beat Jazz by more than 5 minutes. We are first start.
The races have been enjoyable. Our finishes have been thirds. Consistency is good?

Nick has started to use his GPS and we are trying to use VMG to give us a heads up on strategy.

In addition to the three regular weekly races we have also had the Round Centre Island race. This is on Victoria Day and it is difficult to get crew. We were shorthanded with Kevin and Ryan being the crew. This was Ryan’s first race. It was a great day and we got another ‘podium’ finish, i e third.

the View from the Masting Crane

The plan is to do a boat set up weekend, a week after launch. This year May 3rd weekend. One tries to get the mast up shortly after launch. The longer it takes the worse your rep with fellow club members.

I like to step the mast on a weekday when hopefully there won’t be a lot of people using the crane. It’s more or less a three man operation. There is usually lots of help from others who are stepping their masts. I got by with help from crewmate Ryan, and help from Incorrigible’s crew, Doug and Gary. 
The only problem was that I forgot to bring the Windex from winter storage. This has to be attached prior to masting.

Over the winter I got a new micro compass. My bracket was broken. Nick was able to sort out a method of reattaching the bracket to the mast. 


I also got a new external tank. Unfortunately the fitting for the motor end of the fuel line is incorrect. It took me a few weeks to figure this out (June 8). My temporary solution is to tape the line to the motor.

The other interesting change is that I have been moved from Drysail #1 to Drysail #4. There are now three Etchells in drysail and it was thought it would be better if they were located next to the crane. we seem to have adjusted but I do miss Drysail #1!