July Cat’s Paw Series 2019 – Races 4 & 5
This week, again, we had a long wait for the wind to make it’s intentions known. When it finally came in it spread quickly across the bay and, after a few small shifts, settled on NW at a respectable 7½ – 8½ kts with rare gusts to 9. Course SILF was set and two brisk races were completed. Although short and fast, the offer of a third race was declined because of the late hour due to the first race starting almost an hour late. […]
Three Modes of Sailing in Port Townsend
by Roland Nikles Cruising We will not speak of motoring from Point Wilson, past Partridge Bank, to the San Juan Channel in order to arrive at our destination in five hours. We leave this to trawlers. We will not speak of furling the genoa because we wish to go where the wind blows from. And we will not speak of starting the engine when the wind is fickle and light. These are not modes of sailing. In a warm breeze we stand on the high side and watch with wonder as the boat ploughs balanced to windward across whitecapped [...]
PTSA Thunderbird July Cat’s Paw Series 2019 – Races 2 & 3, Standings
After last week’s “no wind” cancellation it was disappointing, this week, to find the wind light and very peripatetic in direction. After a half hour postponement the wind settled for a while on 285°M and course SIFIF was set. At the start the wind had grown to 7 – 9 kts. By the end of the second leg it was 11 – 14+ and had backed to 270°M. The course was on the short side for this much wind and gave crews a workout. […]
Board Meeting Minutes Now Online
In an attempt to communicate better, the minutes of PTSA board meetings will now be published here on this site. Minutes from last night's meeting are now available for your reading pleasure. The page with the minutes can always be found under the "About" menu. Many thanks to Heidi Eisenhour for making this happen. If you have questions or comments about the minutes your feedback is always appreciated. Send email to info@34.220.204.41.
July Cat’s Paw Series 2019 – Race Zero
Seven boats came out to drift around in the rain while the RC tried to interpret any little puffs of wind and set a course. After an hour, with no sign of any change in conditions, the RC lost patience and ran up the N flag. And a writeup from Roland Nikles, skipper of Falcon: Yesterday was race day in Port Townsend. The first day of the Summer catspaw series. The name suggests light conditions energized by patches of breeze touching down on the water’s surface like a kitten swiping at a roll of yarn. There was [...]
Open Board Meeting Tuesday 7/9/19
There is an open board meeting on Tuesday July 9th at 6pm at the Northwest Maritime Center. This meeting will continue the great discussion from the last one, but with the goal of coming away with concrete plans and defined responsabilites. We need your help. Please consider attending. And don't forget, Racing starts back up on Wednesday! After two weeks off, the Catspaw Series begins on July 10th at 6pm. Remember these races are not just for the Thunderbird class. If other boats come out the race committee will provide a separate start for them as well.
Penalty Turns
There has been some confusion about when and how many turns to do if you commit a foul on the race course. Here is a brief synopsis from the Rule Book. If you foul another boat by violating one or more of the rules in Part Two of the racing rules you must do TWO turns. The rules in Part Two are the basic ones like port/starboard, windward/leeward, hitting another boat, giving room to the inside boat at marks, etc. If while rounding a race mark you hit that mark you only need to do ONE turn. If you [...]