Port Townsend Bay produced another great night of racing with plenty of sunshine and a relatively steady 12-15 knots of wind blowing from 270 degrees M. RC chose the recently installed I buoy (Indian Point) as the windward mark and set the start line square at approximately 1 NM downwind.

RACE 1: The un-biased line had the starters spread across the start line. The water at and around the start line was crowded with kelp and “confused” chop which added another variable to the starting process. At the gun, the OWL was called OCS and called back on an individual re-call. The rest of the fleet got off cleanly and the race was on. Early on the first beat, it was clear that there were differing strategies amongst the fleet. Several boats including RAVEN, FALCON, and POSSUM tacked early for clear air and the right side of the course. DORADO has other ideas and headed way off to the left. The rest of the fleet was scattered in the middle. As the fleet converged at the upper portion of the beat, it was clear that the right had paid good dividends with POSSUM and RAVEN leading at the mark. DORADO made gains on the left and rounded close to the leaders. At the leeward gate, the lead boats chose the left gate while CORVO and DORADO went to the right gate (pin). The 2d beat provided lots of opportunities for the lead group to trade places and DORADO took advantage. The final run to the finish was closely contested with POSSUM taking the gun. Results are posted.

RACE 2: Since the 1st race lasted about 50 minutes, the RC chose the same course but only a single lap. Once again, a square course and a solid breeze made for a very competitive beat to the windward mark. Several tight crosses and lee-bows  led to lead changes near the windward mark. DORADO capitalized and rounded first with a comfortable lead that she was able to carry to the finish. This ended a beautiful night of racing provided by Mother Nature, an excellent Race Course by the RC, and a very competitive Tbird Fleet! Thanks Race Committee!

Tip of the Day:  “Cross ‘em when you can!”

There are two good rules of thumb when sailing upwind (or downwind) in an oscillating breeze. The first is that when you become able to tack and cross ahead of other boats, you should do so. If you don’t consolidate your gain in a favorable windshift, you will lose when the wind shifts back the other way. 

The corollary to this is, “Don’t let other boats cross you.” In an oscillating breeze, you should lee-bow or tack to leeward and ahead rather than duck a crossing boat. This way you will beat the other boat to the next shift. You almost never want to cross behind a boat that is sailing on a lift in an oscillating breeze. In the second race, DORADO executed a well-timed lee-bow on CORVO which resulted in a change of positions and eventually led to the race win!

Disclaimer: this applies to oscillating breeze tactics. If the wind is showing a persistent shift, it might make sense to duck a crossing boat(s) in order to get to the favored side of the course!

By Jeff Brantley and Dave Burrows

PTSA Catspaw Shorthanded Series July 2020

July 01

July 08

July 15

July 22

July 29
Stand- ing Sail # Boat Name Skipper Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Race 8 Race 9 Race 10 Total Stand-ing Boat Name

1

1254

Corvo

Blackbird Associates

2

1

1

[3]

4

2

10

1

Corvo

3

642

Owl

Dale Dunning

[7]

2

2

2

6

3

15

3

Owl

2

242

Dorado

Joe Daubenberger

1

3

[4]

4

2

1

11

2

Dorado

4

1006

Possum

Hans Daubenberger

3

[7]

3

5

1

5

17

4

Possum

5

1177

Falcon

Roland Nikles

4

4

5

[6]

5

6

24

5

Falcon

9

1248

Kuma San

Lynes & Heumann

8

RAF/11

[DNF/13]

1

DNC/14

DNC/14

48

9

Kuma San

7

1106

Kolus

Blackbird Assoc.

6

[10]

10

7

8

7

38

7

Kolus

6

190

Raven

Black bird Assoc.

5

8

[DNS/13]

12

3

4

32

6

Raven

10

255

Knot Raven

Brian Bolling

[DNC/14]

DNC/14

6

8

DNC/14

DNC/14

56

10

Knot Raven

8

542

Snow Goose

Chris Blasucci

[10]

9

9

10

7

8

43

8

Snow Goose

11

1069

Magic Bus

Dunlap et al.?

9

6

[DNC/14]

DNC/14

DNC/14

DNC/14

57

11

Magic Bus

12

243

Caveat

Doug Bolling

[DNC/14]

DNC/14

8

9

DNC/14

DNC/14

59

12

Caveat

13

1144

Blew Bird

Bill Broekof

[DNC/14]

DNC/14

11

11

DNC/14

DNC/14

64

13

Blew Bird

29’er

D’Arcy

No

Data

29’er

Entries in [ ] are throwouts                     Send C & C’s (Corrections & Complaints)  to info@ptsail.org
The 29’er flew a hank-less code zero or reacher so was not scored.
There was no record of Raven’s check-in or Observation for race 3. Also no finish record.