Winter 6 Pac Wrapup

We raced this past Saturday in the sixth and final race of the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing. Thanks to our crew of Liz Roberts, David Harper, Larry and Bobbi Palmer and my darling co-captain Risa K Scott. It was an extremely close race with Mille taking second by a mere 9 seconds on corrected time. Congratulations to the team of Dave and Dan on winning another race and on winning the overall series. Additional congratulations to Jim Merk on taking second place overall and winning an additional award as the "Most Improved Sailor" given by Club Manager Dave Lyon. Way to go Jim - drinks on you next week?

Saturday morning saw the winds howling out of the east, not quite a Santa Ana Wind but close. As is usually the case, the winds made a mess of everyone's yard and then dropped to almost nothing for the start of the race. At the start the winds were coming almost out of the south at a measly 3-5 knots. The first leg was close hauled to the #2 Buoy (commonly referred to as the Seal Buoy as it is always home to several) with Mille rounding in second spot behind Sea Roy captained by Jack Lusby.

The second leg was a downwind run towards Island White which is not as exciting as being close hauled but we gained on Sea Roy as the wind started to come around to a bit more out of the west and build some to about 8-10 knots. We passed Sea Roy and rounded Island White (our second mark) in first place.

The third leg was a upwind leg back to the #2 Buoy which involved making a decision to either stay out in the middle of the harbor or to round Island Freeman, although it was not an official mark on the course. We chose to stay out in the middle of the harbor to stay away from the wind shadow of the island and the possible wind shadows of the various freighter and tankers that are parked near the breakwater. We had good wind and called the tacks right on the money as we didn't overstand the mark nor have to throw in any extra tacks. Sea Roy passed us which was not a surprise as it is a 46 foot boat and should pass us. Atsa Ma Boat also passed us and the drag race was on for the finish.

We followed both boats on the final beam reach to the finish. Mille was right on the stern of Atsa Ma Boat (captained but Dave and Dan) at the finish but couldn't squeeze by for the win - so close and yet so far.

Great series of races - some good calls, some missed calls but most of all good crew and good fun!

Next race - Saturday, April 3rd, Aprils Fools Race hosted by Shoreline Yacht Club.

New Main Sail

Mille has a new main sail!!!

Many thanks to Eric Doyle and Bobby Richardson from North Sails for their help in specing the right sail, getting the graphics right and applying the graphics for a great looking sail. Hopefully it will make us go as fast as it makes us look good.

Also thanks to Jim Ashley (my son), Leigh Sams, and my darling co-captain Risa K for their help in getting the graphics applied to the sail. While it was fun seeing the whole picture come together and they look great, sure makes my old knees hurt to crawl around on the loft floor for an hour.

The sail is built from a new fabric by North called Nordac Radian. It is a dacron sail but due to the weaving process, the fabric is stronger and lighter than the traditional dacron which allowed us to go with a 7.2 oz instead of the normal 8 oz. In addition it is done in a tri-radial cut to align the fabric panels with the stress loads on the sail. Should be fun to sail and race with.

If you need help with your sail inventory, either a survey of your existing sails or help in specing and ordering a new sail, I would certainly recommend you give Eric a call at the North Sails office in Long Beach at (562) 795-5488.

We are going to take Mille out this weekend for some casual cruising and to test the new main.

Next race is the 6th and final in the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing on Saturday, March 27th.

Sail Ripped (Again)

This past Saturday we raced in the fifth race in the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing. Thanks to the crew of David Harper, Liz Roberts, Risa K, Rachel Brown, Kelsey and Keith for their participation.

We got a very good start hitting the line just after the starting gun and forcing one of the competitors off the windward end of the line and into a DSQ position. The first leg was a close reach with about 12-14 knots of wind. We were the second boat around the first mark and in good position. The second leg was a close haul to Queens Gate with Mille pointing higher and being in good position. We overstood the mark on our last tack and lost a spot to Nauti-K-Hare as we made the Gate and turned for the downwind run to the other end of the Long Beach breakwater. We didn't make up as much ground as I expected on the downwind run but managed to pass Nauti-K-Hare before the final turn for home.

Nauti-K-Hare ducked inside us at the turn (good move on their part) and we had ourselves and two other boats running neck and neck on the final close hauled leg to the finish. Unfortunately, right in the middle of that leg the light #1 genoa decided to rip again. This is the same sail that ripped during the first race of the SCYA Midwinters a few weeks ago. I had just gotten it back from the North loft in Costa Mesa after being repaired earlier in the week. I must point out that it did not rip where North had repaired it but in another spot. It must be like this author, old and tired. Good thing we had already ordered a new #1!!!! The crew performed an unplanned sail change well but we lost enough time to drop us to last place in the fleet.

Congratulations to Warren Cranch, sailing as a stand-in for Jim Merk, on his victory. He pushed Nauti-K-Hare hard and would have beaten us even without the equipment failure!

Next race will be the sixth and final race in the Winter 6 Pac series on Saturday, March 27th.

Another Second Place

We raced this past Saturday in the fourth race of the Winter 6 Pac series hosted by Pacific Sailing and took a second place by about 20 seconds on corrected time. In addition to the crazy swirling wind conditions brought on by the storm that was passing through, we had the unpredictable currents thanks to the tsunami from the earthquake in Chile.

Thanks to the crew of David, Liz, Jeremy, Jessica and my co-captain Risa K.

We had a great start hitting the line just seconds after the gun even though the current coming out into Long Beach Harbor from the LA River tried to push us over the line early. We were close-hauled to the first mark but the winds going from a steady 10+knots to gusting to over 20 knots made it a thrilling ride and we made the first mark close on the heels of Sea Roy, a Hunter 46 and ahead of Platform 9 3/4 a Hunter 38. After rounding the first mark, we ran deep downwind to our second mark, Island White. The wind was a steadier 18 knots or so and we were running downwind about about 7 knots, a good speed for a 36 foot boat.

After rounding Island White, we made a strong beam reach to the final mark, Island Freeman. Although Sea Roy was slowing gaining distance on us, we were able to keep the distance manageable and within striking distance based on the ratings of the two boats. We rounded Freeman and tried to time our tack so that we could make a straight line close-hauled run to the finish line. As usual we had to dodge an anchored barge as we made our final leg and with the wind and currents causing the boat to slide fairly significantly sideways, we were not able to make the finish line without throwing in two quick tacks right at the line. Thanks to the fine work of the crew, we were able to make the line and keep the race close based on corrected time.

Congrats to Dan and Dave on their win and continued standing in first place for the Winter 6 Pac series.

We are having spinnaker practice this Sunday, meeting at the boat in Rainbow Harbor at 1300 and planning on being back at the dock around 1600.

Next race will be the fifth race in the Winter 6 Pac series on Saturday, March 13th.