And we Worry About Our Unpredictable Winds!
2 Dead After Storm Strikes Alabama Sailing Regatta http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/us/2-dead-after-storm-strikes-alabama-sailing-regatta.html
Spring White-cap Series – Race 4
After a day when the wind varied greatly in strength and direction it finally settled by race time on being, at the dock, 6 – 9 kts., fairly steadily from 350º M. This would have made BG a good windward/leeward course but the flood tide in the vicinity of B at that time was nearly two knots. Rather than having a downwind start, with everyone crowding the pin, it was decided to set the new temporary mark X off the Point Hudson Marina breakwater and make the course SXGXF. The starts were orderly and the fleets were well into the [...]
Ingham’s Insight: Pinch Through The Lull
Once you start wrapping your head around VMG, you start to realize that making the boat go faster sometimes might be the slower way to the mark. From Sailing World. From Sailing World Although it defies our instincts, it pays to pinch in a lull. By Mike Ingham Posted February 10, 2015 We were in Newport, R.I., last summer doing some straight-line upwind speed tests. The puffs felt good with crew weight nicely on the rail, but the lulls sent the crew scurrying inboard to balance the boat. The helm got that terrible squishy feeling and the jib’s windward [...]
Spring White-cap 2015 – Race 3
Thirteen boats turned out to race in conditions which, compared with the last few Friday evenings, were much more suited for sailboat racing. This week, and probably for the rest of the series, the race was run from City Dock. The afternoon Northwesterly gusting to the high 20’s moderated by 6 pm to about 12 kts. at the dock. The wind direction of 260° M made YT a good windward/leeward leg so course SDYTYDF was set. Ten minutes before the start the wind veered to 310° M, and stayed there, making YG a much better windward/leeward course, so the course [...]
High winds cancel White-cap race – again
After a light and variable morning the wind began to rise rapidly around midday. When the Race Committee decided to cancel in late afternoon the wind at the ferry dock was southerly, averaging high 30's and gusting over 50 mph, making the decision easy, even though an official Gale Warning had not been issued. The Bay was a mass of whitecaps with breaking rollers across the Boat Haven entrance (it was low tide) making exit difficult. Ironically, around race time the wind suddenly switched to a Westerly and dropped below 10 kts., making the RC feel foolish. However this was [...]
Barcott Wednesday Beercans in Full Swing
Ed Barcott signals that PACEMAKER is #1, and in a recent race it certainly was. Sailboat racing comes in all shapes and sizes. For some folks only Windward/Leeward courses, mark boats and a scored series will do. For others, the camaraderie of deciding the course with Rob at the picnic table followed by a casual evening wandering around the Bay with friends, making the boat go faster and your life go slower, is exactly the right mixture. The big change for this year is that the picnic table is now across the street from the yard office near [...]
Two U.S. teams on the Podium at the 2015 SAP 505 Worlds in South Africa
https://youtu.be/OkDLXPTF2vc
Yacht Club Invites All PT Boaters to Opening Day
More information after the break. […]
Spring White-cap Series 2015 – Race 2
Nobody sailing around here can say the wind is predictable, especially this time of the year. Friday was even stranger than usual. At noon it was blowing 25 – 30 mph from the South, but by the time for setting up a race course it had dropped to where there were patches of wind to 5 kts. but the direction was constantly changing from SE to NW and points between. After a long while spent trying to discern a trend, the course was set for SYTF (which turned out to be a good guess for the eventual start). Fifteen minutes [...]
Meanwhile – Here’s how the professionals do it!
By Andrew Freedman, From mashable.com This frightening and nauseating video was taken early this week on board a vessel taking part in the around-the-world Volvo Ocean race, as it encountered rough weather in the tumultuous Southern Ocean. The MAPFRE team's vessel did an involuntary "Chinese gybe," also known as a "death roll," while located about 2,000 miles from the nearest landmass. Two other teams did Chinese gybes on Monday into Tuesday, according to the race's website, in gale force winds and high seas, causing damage to some of the boats but no injuries. Here's how the Ocean Race officials define [...]