Frostbite Race 1/16/2021

The wind was calm but  wind vanes slowly aligned in a SE direction, responding to a breeze just sufficient to sail out of the harbor.  Five boats made their way to a start line set south of the Boat Haven jetty.  There was a brief discussion whether to set a short weather mark, but exuberance carried us away when the wind shifted firmly to the NE at ~6knots.  “Let’s beat up to the red buoy,” was the cry over VHF.  Falcon won the start, followed closely by Owl.  These two carried on a lively duel up the City Front, squeezing between a giant whirlpool of beach flotsam cleared out by this week’s king tides off Point Hudson. Kuma San and Blew Bird brought up the rear at some distance.  Murrelet had the good sense to not pursue.

As Owl and Falcon continued on port tack, getting steadily set out into Admiralty Inlet by the flood tide, Kuma San and Blew Bird made big gains hugging the 10’ line towards Chetzemoka Park.  Falcon was making one knot over the ground, but it was not always apparent in which direction. Pretty soon tables were turned:  Blew Bird was in the lead, tantalizingly close to the red bell buoy; nearly close enough to throw a tow-line to the gaggle of cormorants watching the action. But, alas, Blew Bird was now barely holding her own against the tide, and making less and less progress.  Meanwhile, Kuma San continued along the shore and managed to pass the red buoy on the north side before turning and rounding to port.  In the process, it seemed like she violated rule 28.1 by failing to properly sail the course.  Or so it seemed from our down-current vantage point.

“Definition. Sailing the Course. A boat sails the course provided that a string representing her track from the time she begins to approach the starting line from its pre- start side to start until she finishes, when drawn taut (a)  passes each mark of the course for the race on the required side and in the correct order, ….”