Midsummer Phase 2 Shorthanded Series – June 17, 2020

This evening’s moderate and settled breeze and slack water made setting the course easy and provided some great racing.

The Windward/Leeward course was set up for the wind steadily from 290°M. An extra long S/F line was set, slightly pin favored, to allow the short handed fleet more room to maneuver at the starts and avoid crowding and barging behind the CB. As the course was short for the wind conditions both races were set for twice around.

The first start resulted in a General Recall as more than half the fleet was over early. The Restart was good with all boats at least a boat length behind the line when the flag dropped.

The wind after the start was 9 – 10 Kts with occasional gusts to12+, but frequent long lulls to 4 – 5 kts. The direction was steady at 285°. It was noticed that on the second downwind leg the fleet was strung out, almost evenly spaced, for the full distance between the marks.

For the second race the wind had returned to 290° and dropped to 6 – 8 kts. Three boats were over early. Two white boats by the pin could not be identified and the distances involved were less than a boat length, the race was allowed to continue rather than signaling a General Recall.

The difficulties experienced at the first Windward Mark rounding are explored below.

Below you will find a video of an “interesting” rounding of the windward mark in race two. There are three incidents clearly spelled out by Dale Dunning who took the video with his 360 degree camera. Incident two between Kuma San and Corvo is the one of most interest here. And that seems to rest on the question of whether when Kuma San, after acquiring right of way by tacking onto starboard gave Corvo room to keep clear (RULE 15). I (Jim Heumman) was aboard Kuma San and at the time was convinced that Corvo was at fault, but now I’m not so sure. I’m glad we have the video as a way to provoke discussion, but it also shows that that what you believe happened in the heat of battle may not be exactly right and making snap judgments without discussion from from all parties can result in unnecessarily harsh judgments. It is unfortunate that Corvo is docked at Point Hudson and there was no opportunity for discussion after the race. Please note that Corvo, upon reflection, did “Retire After Finish” meaning that they got 11th place in the race instead of first. That, in my opinion, was unnecessary, but was a good faith attempt to do the right thing in an ambiguous situation.

Below you will find video of both races from Dale Dunning:

Here are the results.