Saturday ? July 24, 2004 Foredeck ?Dave Constanzo Trim ? Bob Fagan Mid ? Seth Magner Helm ? Rich Magner
Waking up to the sound of rain, I forced myself out of bed while listening to a forecast for a wet a dreary day. A bit before ten, we motored out to the starting area in low cloud cover and a NNW wind of about ten knots. With the flood beginning at 1041 and the first start scheduled for about 1100, we felt the current would not be nearly as significant the first race as the second.
Due to the north wind the RC setup about 3/4 mile SSW of Seaflower. Both races were to be windward/leeward, two laps with 1.25 nm legs, five miles each race. The first with the windward mark set just southwest of Horseshoe 020 degrees from the RC.
Shortly after the start we split from the fleet after determining port the favored tack along with the strategy of gaining east early rather that beat back into the current north of Seaflower. This worked well and we got to the top mark I fourth place and ahead of the J24?s starting five minutes behind. Dave got a workout with numerous jibes on both downwind legs in weekend chop, and unsteady deck in the 12 to 14 knot winds.
We were very pleased with the first race.
Second race. Due a northeast shift, the RC repositioned the windward mark twenty degrees farther east, 040 degrees at 1.25 nm. I mistakenly reasoned on a similar strategy for the second race, failing to realize, a port tack shifted farther right after the line would put us into the deepwater channel southeast of Seaflower with the strengthening flood on our windward bow. I had it in my mind that we were downstream of the Dumplings and shielded from the stronger current. It is not as if I didn?t have enough time for strategy, with an hour?s break between races. I failed to adhere to that old adage concerning the favored tack. It was the windward legs and the position of my head that hurt us on the second race.
First race ? 3rd place Elapsed time: 76.02 for the first race. Wind average 14 kts. Second race ? 5th place Elapsed time: 100.05 for the second race. Wind average 11 kts. Though the wind was down from the first race, the major problem of the second race was windward strategy. Our downwind legs were within a minute or so the first race downwind legs. In the first race, the windward legs constituted 59% of the total time, and 66% in the second race.
After threatening all day with an occasional sprinkle, the rain began in earnest on the 3 mile motor back to Spicer?s. Fortunately, it was a warm rain, though even with our weather gear we were quite soaked by the time by the time we got back to the marina?
Link to Chart race 1
Link to Chart race 2