Race #6, September 9th
Race Committee:
Bay Area Multihull Association (BAMA)
1st Warning Gun
1230
Location
South Bay
Slackwater_SF
Primary Race Officer
G. Fagerlin
Gracious Host, "Perception", Kronos 45. Line Sighter.Start, X-Flag (over early), Sounder.horn
B. Naber BAMA Chairman
Recorder, Starts, Finishes
R. Devol BAMA Co-Chairman
Line Sighter.Finish, Flags.Divisions
S. Devol
Photographer (recorder.fotos), Recorder.Check-In’s, feng shui
G. Miskell
Flags.Preparatory
Slackwater_SF
Start Check-In, Sounder.Gun.Start & Finish, Timer, VHF
Tides
Rincon Point Mid-Bay Buoy
2006-09-09 11:29 AM PDT
2.85 knots Max Flood
2006-09-09 2:06 PM PDT
-0.00 knots Slack, Ebb Begins
2006-09-09 5:17 PM PDT
-2.88 knots Max Ebb
Race Committee Notes
Perception sailed from the mouth of the Alameda Estuary to the Starting Line area. The only other time the Race Committee (RC) sailed to the starting line was X years ago when the motor died on a race hosted by Encinal Yacht Club.
Weather: Conditions were overcast and misting. The Wind was more South at the starting time, shifting. Temperature, cold, the heater was on in the cabin after the start.
Starting Line: Biased, Port-Tack Starts.
We set the line on a shift right (closer to normal) checked the sights and it was OK. The wind it shifted left 30+ degrees, more southerly as it was earlier, leaving a biased line. This makes the Committee Boat favored. Glenn let out 100’ more anchor rode (all-chain anchor) and that did not make enough difference. I propose all-chain rodes go to the bottom and the boat does not drift on the anchor. A line instead of all chain would have allowed moer drift. The proposed improvement is “Reverse Both Engines @ 1800+ RPM” to drag out the anchor chain.
No reset of the anchor to change the starting line was attempted. The RC practiced the starting flag sequence in lieu of resetting the line. RC got a close view of the starting boats.
Starts: No OCS boats for any fleet. Port tack starts @ the Race Committee boat were favored.
Course 5: all divisions. Hindsight on course selection is Course 4 was a better selection to avoid the same conditions as the Race #5 for rating purposes, provide variety, … NCPHRF and BAMA PHRF say something to the effect of windward leeward courses; this was more like triangle windward-leeward, which is OK for racing. Course selection may result in favoring boats’ handicaps, or their sail selections / inventory. Course 5 means one less pack for spinnaker divisions (who said that?).
Finishes: Five (5) first-to-finish guns, one per division.
DNF: Vitesse, Santa Cruz 27, sail # 18711 was recorded as “checking in” and “starting”. DNF recorded on the dock ~ 16:30. The spinnaker sheet tail got stuck under the rudder and there was a loss of control. Vitesse retired without radio contact with the RC. Glad they were OK and we got it resolved before doing call downs on the contact numbers.
Fleet A – Monohull Spinnaker:
Hobie 33’s Espresso and Vitesse Too raced closely around the course. Espresso lead Vitesse Too up the second weather leg. Vitesse Too set the spinnaker much earlier on the last downwind leg to take the finish.
Fleet E - Multihulls:
Origami, Corsair 24 Mk II, took the port tack start, followed by Wingit, F-27, and Triple Play, F-31. Origami did not lead to the weather mark?
First Weather Mark: I think Three Sigma might have rounded first. I could see boats in the binoculars, but had a tough time taking pictures with the overcast and mist on the camera.
Fleet E, Multihulls, demonstrated the sail selection / inventory advantage. Origami, Corsair 24 MkII set the screacher (reacher) after the weather mark to advantage, passing boats, rounding the bottom of the triangle in first.
Triple Play led at the last windward mark. Origami set the spinnaker more quickly after the weather mark, ~kept the wind at 90 degrees. Origami might have passed Triple Play on the last downwind run. Triple Play finished first boat-for-boat.
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