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. (more…)
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 wind aloft. Exhaust from the tall stacks at the pulp mill flagged steadily towards Indian Island, indicating a northwest breeze of 10 knots, just as forecast. But the kitten was not playful. Nary a catspaw reached the surface and the race committee and seven eager Thunderbirds that turned out drifted hopefully in a cluster for ninety minutes. A warm rain began to fall softly ahead of a weak front, giving no definite direction to masthead Windexes. Eventually the race committee tossed in the towel in the form of its blue-checkered flag, signaling abandonment. Three T-Birds still on blocks in the boat yard this week will be happy.
It was a good-natured bunch. T-birds drifting in a pack waiting for wind, like ducks on Kai-Tai Lagoon. There is no better vantage point to observe Port Townsend, the Olympics, and the changing weather passing by, than out on Port Townsend Bay. After a three-week hiatus there was pent up enthusiasm. Seven crews thinking about their boats, going through the motions of rigging for sailing, brushing off flecks of accumulated bottom growth along the waterline, and navigating out from their slips out to the race course. Seals, gulls, murrelets, and fish skipping along the surface joined us among strands of drifting seaweed. “There will always be another day for racing,” said one back at the dock. He meant no harm done in not holding out longer waiting for wind. No harm because the boats got attention, gentle banter passed between boats and crews on the water, and Port Townsend Bay was beautiful as always.
A reminder that Wednesday racing is for the PHRF class as well. See you on the water.
This week’s racing was cancelled by consensus after considering the Gale Warning in the Strait and observing the building wind gusts in the Boat Haven. The screen shot below of the days wind record from the Paper Mill weather station confirms that the cancellation was prudent. So last week’s standings become the Final Series Standings.
There are no formal Series races scheduled for next Wednesday, June 26 or July 3rd. The July Cat’s Paw Series begins on Wednesday July 10th 18:00 hrs.
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We managed to complete three short W/L races with course SILF. The wind was steadily from NW and the line square if rather short. For the first race the wind was hovering around 6 kts. The second around 5 kts. The third race also started with the wind around 5 kts. but as the fleet was rounding the leeward mark the wind died almost completely. It slowly strengthened, from the NE, enough for the fleet to finish but not suitably to start a planned fourth shorter race.
Thatuna and Kuma San switched ownership, skippers and crews during the series. The scores are continued to be attributed to the boat name/hull#.
This week, due to some interesting weather, we had a change from the multiple short W/L races we have been practicing and sailed a large triangle with a dock start. The course set was SITF. The wind at the dock at the start was Westerly 8 – 12 kts. Gusting to around 20. This course provided a reach along the waterfront with the wind eddying around the structures on shore, followed by an almost directly downwind run to the Tower. The wind on the far side of the bay was stronger than on the city side as indicated by confused seas and widespread whitecaps, also by some extreme heel angles. The leg from the tower to the finish was a Port tack fetch, until the last quarter mile where a large wind shift sent boats towards Point Hudson for a final tack to the finish. By the time the boats were finishing the wind at the dock had increased and its direction steadied. The evening of exciting sailing was marred by two very heavy rainshowers.
The 2019 CMR was lightly attended, but eventful. 4 “A class” boats and 7 “B class” boats signed up.
The winds for the first race on Saturday were light and VERY variable. Minutes before the start, there was an almost 180 degree shift. After a 25 minute postponement, there was a gentle twice around, with a long delay for the “B’s” to finish. After accommodating another wind shift the second race started with better wind, but a very short start/finish line (RC error). Unfortunately, with tide and wind effects the line was even shorter for the finish. This was not noticed until the first finish, so the line could not be changed. For the second race “A’s” sailed twice around and “B’s” sailed once around. Much better racing!
The wind gods were more favorable for Sunday’s long race. The tide/current gods didn’t seem too happy with that. One of the marks, set earlier in the morning, aspired to a new home in the direction of Port Ludlow. After another 30 minute postponement, the wayward mark was reset and the race started in a nice northerly. Of course the minus one to plus 8 tidal shift had begun to flow harder and made the Ft. Worden leg more difficult. Sir Isaac and Pacifica worked it out well, and Pacifica corected to win race 3. (more…)
| PTSA Thunderbird June Midsummer Series 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Standings – three Races Sailed | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reg. Cnt. | Sail # | Boat Name | Skipper Name | Race 1 5/29/19 | Race 2 5/29/19 | Race 3 5/29/19 | Race 4 | Race 5 | Race 6 | Race 7 | Race 8 | Total Pts. | Positn. | |||||||||
| 1 | 1190 | Raven | Blackbird Associates | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1248 | Kuma San | Canty, Dennis | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 642 | Owl | Dunning, Dale | 2 | DSQ | 7 | 1 | 10 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| 4 | 1069 | Magic Bus | Dunlap, Piper & Co. | 3 | DSQ | 7 | 3 | 13 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 542 | Thatuna | Lynes, John | 6 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 5 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 1177 | Falcon | Nikles, Roland | 5 | DSQ | 7 | 5 | 17 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Results Provisional until Final Standings | [ ] Denotes Throw-out | |||||||||||||||||||||
This event generated a high level of frustration for all concerned. On leaving harbor the RC found a very light Northwesterly breeze which the wind shadows showed to be very patchy. A temporary Windward mark was set few hundred feet into the darkest wind shadow and the CB headed downwind to set the S/F line towards the other edge of the wind shadow. Before setting the line it was necessary to wait much of an hour as the wind direction cycled through ±15° every few minutes while the mean direction slowly veered to the North. (more…)
The whole starting fleet crowds the line to finish Race 7!
Completed course SMF (1.6 nm.) in only 1:38:27
Seven T-birds joined the CB for over an hour of drifting around a placid bay until, eventually, a tongue of rippling water was noticed coming up from Port Hadlock. Even though the wind direction was oscillating widely while a windward mark and S/F line were being set out and course SWFWF posted, it had settled down by the start with the course fairly well aligned with the wind (for the first race). The wind shifted to the East during the finish of the first race, which left the course very skewed for the second, but due to the late hour it was not changed., The second race should have been shortened to one lap as the wind abandoned half the fleet at the windward mark, and eventually the RC searching for marks in the dark. . (more…)