First Race of the Spring Whitecap Series Friday
It's been a long winter but PTSA's 2013 racing season starts tomorrow when the gun goes off around 6 PM for the first Spring Whitecap Series race of the year. Where The Friday, April 5th start will be a dock start off City Dock. Starts At Friday's race there will be one start for all boats sailing the long course. In the future we hope to offer two starts with the second start being for what we are calling the PT Fleet consisting of all boats, both wood and fiberglass, we are encouraging to come out and join in the [...]
Getting Handicap Racing On Par
A post from Sailing World by Ken Read on rating the boat and the crew rather than just the boat. Another day on the greens gives the author time to ponder the subject of handicapping the PHRF stalwarts. Photo by IAN ROMAN/Volvo Ocean Race Handicap racing needs a jolt. We’ve got systems like ORR and IRC and even the new High Performance Rule, which rate the boats, but when boats are rated by complex formulas that can be exploited by clever designers, an arms race is unavoidable. New sails, pro crew, and constant tweaking of the boats will [...]
Passing at the Leeward Mark
A good race tip from Sailing World 1. As he approaches the leeward mark, Lindberg intentionally slows in order to exit the mark in the high lane—a textbook wide-then-tight rounding. Presti, meanwhile, knowing he wants to tack around the mark, doesn’t worry about having his bow below the transom of Lindberg. Presti’s crew drops the spinnaker early enough so that everyone is in their positions and able to trim the sails during the rounding. Presti and his team enter the rounding with a powerful setup: the genoa is eased, the main is coming in early to help turn the boat, [...]
Ken Read, VOR Leg 6, Day 16
Battles on the ocean are hard. Especially in super light air like what we have had out here the last few days. The chess match is long and painful and very often has stops and starts that stretch out the agony. We are amongst it with CAMPER at this stage and there is a lot of runway left and tons of potholes along the way. First of all, this could not be more unlike every other leg we have had in this race. Dry, cool nights and warm days. T-shirts and shorts always. No hint of a need [...]
22 Ways to Improve Your Performance
After watching their fleet for a number of years the author finds 22 ways that the "good guys" always seem to finish in the top of their fleet. From the September, 20001 issue of Sailing World. There were always other guys, a few years older and a bit more serious, who consistently finished at the top of the fleet. I realized that their edge wasn't talent or luck. It was experience.. by Luther Carpenter Years ago I was a young, hungry, youth sailor. I had great starts, flashy roll tacks, the ability to steer perfectly, and my parent's [...]
Wooden boat owners come play with us!
Saturday was the first race in the new Sirens' Wooden Boat Series which takes place on various Saturdays throughout the season. The next race is on Opening Day - Saturday, May 7th. See below for the results of Race One. Six lucky woodies enjoyed epic conditions: Plenty of sunshine and great breeze!
5o5 Action at the SAP Worlds in Oz
2011 SAP 5o5 Worlds