SCYA Midwinters

We raced this past weekend in the SCYA Midwinters, a two day, three race regatta. In addition to the racing, it was exciting seeing fleets racing all over Long Beach Harbor and even outside the breakwater.

Thanks to the crew of Dave Lyon, Jim Merk and Liz Roberts on Saturday and Larry Palmer, Jack and Carolin Lusby, Liz Roberts and Dave Lyon on Sunday, we placed fourth in our class for the regatta. Congratulations to Windhaven on taking first in our class with their two first and a second on the three races. Also thanks to the Race Committee at Seal Beach Yacht Club for their work in organizing and hosting this event.

Based on the weather forecast we arrived at the dock expecting to be sailing in foul weather gear and being wet part if not most of the day. As is often the case, the meteorologists were off a bit and the only time we got wet was when the helmsperson took a wave over the bow. We had good wind of about 15 knots gusting to 18-20 at the start of the first race. Jim Merk helmed the first race with the rest of us taking the positions as trimmers for the jib and main.

We good a decent start and were off to the first mark which was upwind as the race committee usually like to set a course with an upwind leg early. We were tacking close-hauled as we headed up to the first mark when we heard a long boom as the light #1 jib ripped from the leech about two thirds of the way to the luff. We scrambled to get the sail down and on the deck and get the #2 up and flying. As this was not a planned sail change, we lost a few minutes with the maneuver. In addition, with the conditions as they were, it would have been the right sail to have up for the rest of the day but it was not to be.

On the next leg a downwind run, we used the spinnaker pole as a whisker pole to get the jib out and flying as much as we could and started to gain on most of the boats in our fleet but we had just lost too much time at the start and with losing the #1 jib and we crossed the finish line fairly low in the standings.

We utilized part of the break between the two races to enjoy the delicious sandwiches that Liz brought, she even slipped some jicama in for those that need encouragement to eat their veggies!

Captain Stephen assumed the helm for the second race with the others assuming the roles of trimmers and photographer. We got a good start for the second race as we headed for the committee boat from the leeward side of the line. The wind had lightened to about 12 knots so the race committee shortened the course a bit and we missed the light #1 jib even more. With our better start and no unplanned sail changes, we stayed raced close with the rest of the fleet and overtook Blue Goose at the rounding of the second mark and headed for the finish line. Although we crossed the line ahead of them, Blue Goose beat us on corrected time but we beat Attitude Adjustment which left us tied with them for third overall in our fleet.

The forecasters got it better for Sunday as the wind freshened overnight and the clouds rolled in to make it cool and overcast. The winds were 18-20 knots gusting to 25 and so we didn’t miss our injured #1 jib. Larry Palmer helmed the single race that we had on Sunday.

As we only had one race set for Sunday, the race committee was able to choose a longer course that included three upwind legs and two downwind legs. As we had been on Saturday we were close-hauled to the first mark with a series of tacks to make the mark. As we neared the mark, our jib sheet came loose and we had to tack so we could re-secure it and then continue to the mark. As we had done on Saturday we gained on several of the boats on the downwind leg before we rounded the mark and made the long close-hauled beat to the third mark. One of the exciting things about racing in Long Beach Harbor is having to dodge things like bait barges, freighters (both moving and anchored) and the occasional oil island. We were battling closely with Blue Goose and closing on them with every tack. As we did on Saturday, we overtook them on the second downwind leg and passed them as we rounded the last mark and headed for the finish line.

Thanks again to the crew, and the Race Committee at Seal Beach Yacht Club.

Mille’s next race is Saturday, February 27th and is the fourth race in the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing.

Disappointing Results

We raced this past Saturday in the third race of the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing and Yacht Club. Although we sailed good, we finished a disappointing fifth out of five boats. Nonetheless, thanks to the crew of Liz Roberts, David Harper and my co-captain Risa K.

We got a good start, hitting the line less than 15 seconds after the gun and in the middle of the pack. The first leg was a close reach out to the #2 Buoy (aka Red Seal Buoy) in which we were able to pass Black Pearl and close in on Platform. We rounded the mark in second place for the mostly downwind run to Island White. While it doesn't seem like you are moving fast while going downwind, Mille likes that point of sail and we were able to pass Platform and round Island White in the lead. We had to dodge the boats anchored in the lee of White but managed to hold onto the lead.

The final leg to the finish was close-hauled but was going to require a few tacks as the finish line was above the line we could sail. As the navigator I didn't want to get caught in behind Island Grissom and chose to tack out into the wider part of Long Beach Harbor. Platform continued deep behind Grissom and got a favorable wind shift which allowed them to turn towards the finish line without a tack. Out in the harbor we did not get the same shift which forced us to tack several times to make the finish. Races are often won or lost on the basis of picking wind shifts and this time I called it wrong and we finished last.

Next race - SCYA Midwinters hosted by Seal Beach Yacht Club. Saturday, February 20th and Sunday, February 21st.

Exciting Weekend of Racing

We participated in the "There and Back" Avalon Regatta hosted by Shoreline Yacht Club this past weekend, scoring a 2nd place finish on Saturday and a 3rd place finish on Sunday. Thanks to the hard work of our crew: Dave Lyon, Larry Palmer, Jim Merk, Lauren Johnson, Rick McArdle and my wonderful co-captain Risa K. Also congratulations to Indigo skippered by Paul Margis on taking first place on both legs as well as overall!

The first race from Long Beach to Long Point Lighthouse on Catalina started Saturday morning under a forecast of rain and dark skies as you can see in the pictures below. However, the worst was under the boat not over it. We left Rainbow Harbor in a river of mud flowing down the river and into the harbor past the Queen Mary. Most starts to races can be exciting but this one was complicated by having to dodge tree trunks. After a good start we tacked three or four times to get out of Queen's Gate and were on our way to Catalina.

The rain held off for most of the race, which was not at all what was predicted but the winds were variable, blowing 15+ knots at times, and dropping to almost none at others. We used all three jibs through a series of 5 sail changes to try and match the conditions. Indigo took off like the race horse that she is and left the rest of the fleet far behind. It became apparent that the race for second was between us and King's Gambit, a Bavarian 38. They headed more south as we choose to tack and stay closer to Catalina Island. After almost 6 hours of sailing we started coming together as we both bore down on the finish line. The heaviest rain squall of the day hid them from our view (as well as the whole Island) but passed in time for both of us to finish only about 5 minutes apart. We took second on corrected time and headed for Avalon and a cold beer and hot dinner at Luau Larry's.

Sunday dawned clear with beautiful blue skies as it usually is after a hard period of rain like we had had the few days before. The winds had kicked up overnight and were blowing about 18-20 knots when we headed out to get ready for the start of the race home. The start of the homeward leg is right at the mouth of Avalon and it is a pursuit race. We headed out ahead of King's Gambit while Indigo had 45+ minutes to kill before they could start trying to run the rest of the fleet down. The winds were very good and relatively steady around 18-20 knots with some gusts running as high as 25 knots coming out of the west northwest. We were on a close reach all the way back to Queen's Gate. We started with a reef in the main and the smallest jib up as the forecast was for 15-25 knots gusting to 35. We never had that but the combination we had up was good as long as the winds stayed above 15. Indigo came screaming by us when we were about 8 miles from the finish and we didn't see them again until we got to Shoreline Yacht Club. As we got closer to Queen's Gate, the wind started to ease but we waited a little too long to shake the reef out of the main and let King's Gambit get by us for second place. We took a third which tied us with King's Gambit for second overall. Much to our surprise, most of the mud we had started in only 28 hours earlier was gone and the bay wasn't too dirty. We made the 23.7 nm trip from Avalon to Queen's Gate in 3 hours, 57 minutes and 5 seconds, a record for Mille!

Thanks again to the crew for their hard work and braving what looked to be very messy sailing conditions when we left the dock Saturday morning. Also thanks to Ray Wilson the PRO for the race from Shoreline Yacht Club and the Race Management Committee from Shoreline for a great event. We will be back and gunning for first next year.

Next race - Winter 6 Pac Race Three hosted by Pacific Sailing on Saturday, February 13th.

Winter 6 Pac Race Two

As I reported here two weeks ago, we scored our first win in the first race of the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing (www.pacificsailing.net). This past weekend we sailed in the second race of this series and did not score as well. We crossed the line in third place but corrected out to fourth place after taking the handicaps of the boats into account. Thanks to the crew of Larry Palmer, Liz Roberts, David Harper, Tammi and Larry Littrell and our helmsperson and co-captain Risa K. Scott.

We had good winds of about 10-12 knots out of the southwest which is great for Long Beach when you are racing inside the breakwater. After a okay start, we rounded the first mark in second place and sailing well close hauled. As we approached the second mark (or more accurately where the second mark should have been) we realized that the mark must have been torn loose in the recent storms and was gone. We rounded a replacement mark in third place as one of the other boats took a better line to the substitute mark. We started to close in on the second place boat as we beam reached to our third mark (Island Freeman) but were not able to pass them. After a close haul leg to the finish we then headed to Pacific Sailing Yacht Club to celebrate finishing the race and to toast the winner - Jim Merk. Congrats to Jim on sailing almost a perfect race.

Even though we didn't place as high as we would have liked - a good time was had by all.

Next race for Mille is this weekend when we race from Long Beach to Catalina on Saturday and then race back on Sunday. Weather is looking a bit iffy at this time, so wish us luck.