Catspaw Wednesday Series Results for July 1, 2020

This was another evening when the CB found a windless Bay. After a while, as the fleet congregated, there was enough breeze to provide steerage way. W and L marks were set in apparently stronger patches of a wind from 20°M. The S/F line was set to provide a long first leg. The start was 30 mins late but there was a steady 3 – 4 kts of breeze. During the race the wind eased and became variable in direction.

Race 1: The lack of wind made positioning during the last couple minutes of the start critical to success. Joe and Emily on DORADO won the pin end of the line with a bit of speed and they never looked back- winning  the race by almost a full leg! The rest of the fleet was left behind to try to find any whispers of breeze with some boats trying the left while others worked the middle. Corvo  and Possum followed (not very closely!) DORADO out to the Port layline while KUMA SAN and others worked other parts of the course. After a torturous wait on the downwind leg for the westerly to fill, the pressure seemed to fill in a bit unevenly across the fleet allowing some passing lanes. Once it filled, the rest of the course became a quick reach to the leeward mark and a return reach to the finish.

Race 2:  The RC did a great job getting the course re-set for the new breeze. BIG THANKS to FALCON for moving the windward mark and RAVEN for re-setting the leeward mark, while the CB reset the Start Line.  With a square start line, the fleet spread out for the second start. There were some obvious differences of opinion as to the best starting strategy. The boats competing for the pin end went racing off to the favored left side of the course but most of them ended up over-standing the port tack lay-line. FALCON was the first to flop to port tack (the favored tack) followed closely by CORVO, forcing FALCON to take her transom… and the race was on! CORVO benefitted from the prevailing left-hand shifts and nailed the port tack layline to round the windward mark first. The boats on the left that had over-stood, came roaring in with pace and had some tight competitive roundings. The wind held steady to the leeward mark resulting in most of the boats sailing a direct course. Of course, there were a few battles for position with some aggressive moves to try to gain or preserve positioning. This provided opportunities for some of the other boats to make their moves. The final leg to the finish was simplified by the earlier left-hand wind shift and most boats were able to lay the Committee Boat end of the finish line on a direct port tack course from the leeward mark. Results are posted. Special note of congrats to Anda Yoshina (PT HS sailing team alum from a couple years ago!) for driving CORVO to a 2d and a 1^st place in her first ever race in a T-bird! Great job Anda!

Next week we will introduce a “gate” for the Leeward mark. We will be using the CB as the Port hand gate mark (round it to Port) and the Pin for the Starboard gate mark (round it to Starboard). A self-evident Letter Board symbol will indicate use of the gate in a course. To help make this a positive change, please: 1) if you choose the Left Gate (CB), please round carefully and DO NOT HIT the Race Committee Boat!, 2) remind any other competitors you see on the dock prior to the race that we will be using this type course, 3) Provide feedback to the Race Committee and/or any Board Member about this change….good, bad, or indifferent! 

By Jeff Brantley