Or at least this past weekend. We went down to the coast on
Friday after a not-fun week of work on several fronts. Just
stepping onto the boat was like renewal.

Our slip neighbor with a 42' ketch had invited me to sail
with him in an annual regatta that takes place this weekend
every year, so on Saturday morning I packed a lunch and met
up with him & the rest of the crew. The first race started
out in relatively promising wind, abou 10 ~ 12 but gusty,
and it died down little by little until we were sitting
still. The race course was a short (7/10 mile) windward leg
to an inflatable triangle, then downwind by government marks
to Minnesott Pt about 14 miles down the river.

We set a big nylon drifter and a mizzen staysail and worked
hard at staying in the streaks of wind as it died. The gusts
seem to build & stay steadiest near shore, so we tried to
stay close in. For a while we were far behind the rest of
the fleet, expected since the boat probably outweighed any
three of the others put together and is a rather
old-fashioned hull & rig besides. But as the wind died all
over, the rest of the fleet bogged down and parked and we
kept ghosting along near shore.

The modern speedsters, including a J-109, two Benny 36.7s,
and a Soverel 33, just barely made it to the finish line
within the tme limit. We were about 3/4 of a mile away when
the time limit expired.

The next day was the exact opposite... started out with ZERO
wind... I'd have said negative wind if such were possible...
and it built slowly to a nice steady 12 knots. We got in two
short round-the-buoy races, carefully planning the upwind
leg and scrambling to get the spinnaker & staysail set &
drawing on the short downwind legs. I don't think we made
our handicap on any of the races but we were close.

The skipper & crew were a great bunch, I have not sailed
with any of these guys before but everybody was part of the
team and had a very positive attitude.... more than one
lively sense of humor at work too. The sailing was great
even though we could have used more wind, the company really
made it enjoyable.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

"DSK" wrote in message
.. .


The next day was the exact opposite... started out with ZERO wind... I'd
have said negative wind if such were possible...

Such is possible. Negative wind sucks.

Gilligan wrote:
"DSK" wrote in message
.. .

The next day was the exact opposite... started out with ZERO wind... I'd
have said negative wind if such were possible...

Such is possible. Negative wind sucks.


Nature abhors a vacuum.....

DSK wrote:
.. The sailing was great
even though we could have used more wind, the company really
made it enjoyable.

Lucky you.

I spent this past weekend ....you will excited to hear... chipping
rust.
I found rust inside my tabernacle and had to lean the mast back 20
degrees to get to the rust. It's a bitch of a job to say the least. But
it's good practice for when I ever get over to Europe. Then while
enjoying a nice Ice Tea my air compressor shut off switch
mis-functioned blowing a safety valve. Luckly I was finished with the
needle gun. The low humidity and 98 degree temp made the primers and
paints dry quick. I flipped the coin and put the mast back up
yesterday.

Joe


Fresh Breezes- Doug King

"DSK" wrote in message
.. .
Or at least this past weekend. We went down to the coast on Friday after a
not-fun week of work on several fronts. Just stepping onto the boat was
like renewal.

Our slip neighbor with a 42' ketch had invited me to sail with him in an
annual regatta that takes place this weekend every year, so on Saturday
morning I packed a lunch and met up with him & the rest of the crew. The
first race started out in relatively promising wind, abou 10 ~ 12 but
gusty, and it died down little by little until we were sitting still. The
race course was a short (7/10 mile) windward leg to an inflatable
triangle, then downwind by government marks to Minnesott Pt about 14 miles
down the river.

We set a big nylon drifter and a mizzen staysail and worked hard at
staying in the streaks of wind as it died. The gusts seem to build & stay
steadiest near shore, so we tried to stay close in. For a while we were
far behind the rest of the fleet, expected since the boat probably
outweighed any three of the others put together and is a rather
old-fashioned hull & rig besides. But as the wind died all over, the rest
of the fleet bogged down and parked and we kept ghosting along near shore.

The modern speedsters, including a J-109, two Benny 36.7s, and a Soverel
33, just barely made it to the finish line within the tme limit. We were
about 3/4 of a mile away when the time limit expired.

The next day was the exact opposite... started out with ZERO wind... I'd
have said negative wind if such were possible... and it built slowly to a
nice steady 12 knots. We got in two short round-the-buoy races, carefully
planning the upwind leg and scrambling to get the spinnaker & staysail set
& drawing on the short downwind legs. I don't think we made our handicap
on any of the races but we were close.

The skipper & crew were a great bunch, I have not sailed with any of these
guys before but everybody was part of the team and had a very positive
attitude.... more than one lively sense of humor at work too. The sailing
was great even though we could have used more wind, the company really
made it enjoyable.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Did the same thing, one port-to-port to the Canadian side, then two buoy
races on Sunday, lots o' partying in between, and those Canadians do a nice
party. The only sour notes, 2nd places all the way around, worse than
finishing last, IMHO. And a little controversy with the good folks of Essex
phrf. They took away 3 seconds from our rating, and they don't have a J33 in
Essex phrf! In the end it wouldn't have made a difference, we would have
lost the last tie-breaking race by 7 seconds, but the idea is extremely
annoying. And the way they race over there is a little nutty, but it served
the useful purpose of educating folks on our end of the lake. Every year
folks come up with the brilliant suggestion of starting the slow boats
first, and we had a good demonstration of what that looks like on the course
Sunday. One of the slow boats from our end, a Catalina 34 allowed that maybe
it wasn't a good idea after all, what with trying to get out of the way of
the fast boats and the absolute cluster f***s at the roundings. We may have
lost the race due to an idiot that tacked in front of us at the end of the
race, they were so slow coming out of the tack that we might have passed in
front of them instead of ducking them, not even ducking, having to go well
behind them. Gotta love handicap racing. Some of us were discussing the
possibility of North American phrf ratings, there being absolutely no reason
for identical boats to have different ratings in different parts of the
country or from state to state.

John Cairns

John Cairns wrote:
Did the same thing, one port-to-port to the Canadian side, then two buoy
races on Sunday, lots o' partying in between, and those Canadians do a nice
party. The only sour notes, 2nd places all the way around, worse than
finishing last, IMHO.

Why? A good close race gets the juices flowing... one of the
reasons why I don't enjoy PHRF so much, or take it all that
seriously.

If you win all the time, you need to find a tougher fleet to
race against.


... And a little controversy with the good folks of Essex
phrf. They took away 3 seconds from our rating, and they don't have a J33 in
Essex phrf!

How did they justify that?

But remember, arguing about rating is secondary to sailing.
If you don't like your rating, there are processes to appeal
it but the real issue is one of personality conflict.
Handicapping committees are just as political as any other
body comprised to hand out awards that people value.


... In the end it wouldn't have made a difference, we would have
lost the last tie-breaking race by 7 seconds, but the idea is extremely
annoying. And the way they race over there is a little nutty, but it served
the useful purpose of educating folks on our end of the lake. Every year
folks come up with the brilliant suggestion of starting the slow boats
first

Personally I have been in this type of regatta many times
and rather like it. It can get a little annoying when some
of the "speed bump" boats are persistently swarming on your
bow... more so when they are also woefully ignorant of the
rules...



... and we had a good demonstration of what that looks like on the course
Sunday. One of the slow boats from our end, a Catalina 34 allowed that maybe
it wasn't a good idea after all, what with trying to get out of the way of
the fast boats and the absolute cluster f***s at the roundings.

To some extent I can sympathize, but sailing in close
proximity to a fleet is what racing *is*. If you take that
element out, then what are you doing? Time trials?


.... We may have
lost the race due to an idiot that tacked in front of us at the end of the
race, they were so slow coming out of the tack that we might have passed in
front of them instead of ducking them, not even ducking, having to go well
behind them. Gotta love handicap racing. Some of us were discussing the
possibility of North American phrf ratings, there being absolutely no reason
for identical boats to have different ratings in different parts of the
country or from state to state.


You're right, although the usual excuse is that local
conditions make a difference in the boats relative
performance. A bigger factor IMHO is that people who sail a
one-design boat in an area where there is not a fleet have
the burden of a boat that is sailed hotly (with
corresponding rating) but not the advantage of learning the
tuning & techniques from the hot sailors in that boat.

The Brits have a great handicap system in the Portsmouth
Yardstick which is (AFAIK) nationally administered. What
makes it work is that race results are scrupulously reported
and data times/conditions are statisically analyzed. The
goal (unlike most PHRF regions) is to have scrupulously fair
ratings that maximize the chances for any good ompetitor to win.

For an example of contrasting thinking, I had a brief talk
with the regatta chair of our race this past weekend
regatta. I mentioned that it was not fair to have an
arbitrary time limit that could allow a fast rated boat to
finish and cut off a slower boat before elapsed time
difference of it's handicap had expired, thus leaving them
with no chance of winning. He said, "You're wrong, there's
nothing unfair about it at all" but no explanation for what
options the slower boat should exercise.

When we were racing the Johnson 18 under the USSA Portsmouth
handicap system, I always made a point of requesting that
the finish times be reported to USSA for the purpose of
upating the handicaps. In several cases, race committees
which included members of classes with very favorable
handicaps refused. What can you do then?

DSK

DSK wrote:
In several cases, race committees
which included members of classes with very favorable
handicaps refused. What can you do then?

Well the glock has a 16 round magazine. But the Bushmaster AR 15 will
take out the committee faster!

Joe

Remember all fair things and good
That e'er were dreamed or understood,
For they shall all the Past requite,
So you but shun the sea to-night!

"Joe" wrote:
Well the glock has a 16 round magazine. But the Bushmaster AR 15 will
take out the committee faster!

Even faster if you do some machining on the AR15 and add an auto sear! :-)

LP

Lady Pilot wrote:
"Joe" wrote:
Well the glock has a 16 round magazine. But the Bushmaster AR 15 will
take out the committee faster!

Even faster if you do some machining on the AR15 and add an auto sear! :-)

http://www.homegunsmith.com

PDW

Lady Pilot wrote:
Even faster if you do some machining on the AR15 and add an auto sear! :-)

And a quick ticket to jail.