Submitted by Nabeel Alsalam
It was cloudy and there was an occasional misty rain. Despite this 11 Lightnings were out for the start of the spring series. Fantastic! The winds were light: probably 2-7 mph from the NNE but swung right and settled at 140-150 degrees- in the vicinity of the start, at least. High tide was at 2:17 p.m., but the current was flowing out very strongly all day. All the rain of the past week coming down the river dominated the tidal current by a LOT! The current added another knot to the wind and must have shifted it compared to the wind on the anchored committee boat. I wonder if they thought about that.
Race 1: triangle-sausage
The wind was light but Frank fussed at the RC to get going. The line was skewed so that the pin was favored by 30 degrees, maybe more. Plus, the windward mark was so far left that we thought we might not be seeing the real mark. You could almost lay it from the RC boat, especially considering the lift the current was providing- I bet that sucked people into starting at the boat end. We decide to go for the pin. The current is pushing people over and there is a general recall. On the second start, we “hook” Wasabi and I hear “green boat over”. He peels off to restart and we have clear air. Very soon we tack to port and cross the fleet- that’s the nice thing about a good start at the favored end. Still somehow we are 2nd to the windward mark behind Frank.
We pass Frank on the first reaching leg. However, at the leeward mark, we tack immediately to starboard before building speed and find ourselves blanketed by the incoming spinnakers. Dumb! So we lose Frank who sailed off into clear air on port. Nevertheless, we use the compass to find a header and look for good wind and get to the windward mark ahead of him.
Downwind, we lose John Butler who has better wind to left side of course. (I make a mental note to remember this, but forget it quickly. See race 3.) We round the leeward mark just behind and tighter than John so we have a little room to windward of him but can’t avoid falling down into him and have to tack away. He tacks back to cover us but we are sailing higher and faster but he finds the line a half boat length ahead of us. Still, we feel great about the race.
Race 2: same course
The wind has shifted to 140-150 degrees. The line still favors the pin but not by that much. We decide to start at boat end. We have John Butler to leeward and tack away for clear air. We don’t go far and come back on starboard facing a whole line of port tack boats. We yell at them and all duck us except for Frank. Great! We have a “tacking duel” with Frank that includes a fake tack from us to escape a slam dunk attempt from Frank and we escape. (Now that I understand Frank’s mean nature, it is much easier to predict his moves. ;-)) However, I make the mistake of sailing too close to the starboard layline before coming back on starboard. He then tacks on us again and forces us to take another port tack hitch that leaves us overstood and a couple of boatlengths behind.
On the downwind leg of the Olympic course, we loose another 3 boat lengths to Frank. In this light air, I believe you need to steer the boat up enough to just fill the spinnaker. Trimming and easing the sheet doesn’t seem to work. Even with my 3/16-inch spinnaker sheets, there isn’t enough pressure to pull the spinnaker up and away from the forestay after the sheet has been trimmed.
As we approach the finish pin (on starboard), John Butler is coming across the finish line under spinnaker (also on starboard). Although I have leeward rights on John, I decide to be a nice guy and tack onto port between him and the pin. But John hasn’t left me room between himself and the pin, and I drag it after tacking. Luckily, I have time to do a 360 and finish again before Wasabi catches me. Another second. We’re happy.
Race 3: Still triangle sausage.
Line is about the same as in race 2. We decide to start at boat end again, but I blow the timing as the wind goes light and only arrive in time for a close 2nd row start behind Pat and Rick. (We watch Rick barging at the committee boat and Pat closing the door on him. I believe Rick ends up hitting the committee boat.) We follow him, drag the RC’s anchor rode, but Russ is quick to lift the centerboard and we tack away into clean air. Like race 2, we wait for a small header and come back on starboard and cross the fleet except for Frank. We may have been able to cross him after 2 tacks but underestimate how much the current is going to lift us and sail too far.
We are less than a boat length back as we round the windward mark and a bunch of boats are close behind us. Frank takes several of us very high on starboard gybe so to get back to the gybe mark, we have to gybe to port. We have a little speed advantage on Frank, I try to reach up to get inside room, but he will have nothing of that. I decide not to lose the boats close behind and bear off for the mark with a leeward overlap on Frank. I yell up up to Frank who now is also bearing off for the mark also. We have a spicey conversation about overtaking boat, proper course, whose proper course, etc. until the two-boat length circle when I concede room to him.
As I bore off to round the mark, John Butler comes in on the outside of me but isn’t giving me room and my main and spinnaker drag on his shrouds. I hear him yelling to the boats outside of him that he has to give me room, but you know how those jam-ups happen. I can’t keep far enough from the mark to deal with the current that is setting us down on it. We touch it. After a little thought, I decide that it was John who caused me to touch it and I won’t do a 360. (Jim and Nelson called me on it, but I argued that I was forced to into it by John who didn’t give me the room I need and so was exonerated from having to do a 360. (Look up RRS 64.1 (b) if you want). Technically, Jim could or should have protested me and then I would have had to protest John, who would have had to protest boats outside of him, etc., etc.) OK, I’ve confessed! Now, tell me whether I broke the Corinthian code or not.
In the meantime, Frank pulls away several boat lengths. [Lesson: keep boat moving around marks. I’m giving up too much there by not paying attention to the main and boat balance.] I look back and Wasabi is reaching up pretty high on the right side of the course and going fast. I also try to reach up to build speed but he passes me. I continue to chase him and look for speed. We find the speed and despite the pained look I see on Jeremy’s face I know he is going to protect his windward side. So I decide to gybe away toward the middle of the course. In the meantime, we see that Stuart, Jim, Bob, and John have sailed what seems to me to be too far to the left side, but really it isn’t because of the current. Not only that but they find nice wind and Stuart and Jim pass Frank. In addition, Bob and John pass me. I round behind John and a Hampton and tack over to starboard. I find better wind on the left and am able to beat John to the finish line but not Bob. That’s a fifth. Wasabi who was ahead of me is also hammered by the lack of wind on the right side and finishes seventh. [Lesson: don’t get too caught up in speed test with a nearby boat and forget to notice the wind and speed of boats further away. Better yet. Get the forward crew to be on the watch for this.]
What a fun day!