Crew: Brian, Bob & RW
Course: s/f to North Hill R’2′ s/f, one lap Total distance: 2.7 nm
Winds: SSW (avg 205 dg), 4 to 7 kts (avg 6.2) Average Boat speed: 2.8 kts
Current: flood 13:58 Ram Island
Sailing again with a crew of three (Seth & Megan on their honeymoon), Brian thankfully back from Alaska, we motored out towards the GLP starting area with two hours remaining of the flood.
We had a timely start nearest the pin, except for Cosmic port tacking the whole class from the pin. Directly behind us along the line was Noo Problem and Jolly Mon soon passing us to starboard. We tacked as Jolly Mon came abeam, crossed their stern and continued out past Cosmic’s windward hip prior to a long starboard short of Flat Hammock. On the port passage between the Dumplings(in favorable current)we discussed the downwind and whether to return the way we came. We felt the current may have been too strong for the Dumplings’ route, so chose the more direct method west of the islands.
Approaching the windward mark, we noticed Noo Problem in a bearaway heading for a return along the southern edge of the Dumplings Passage, the only boat in our class to do so. We had a good call on the layline and rounded eight minutes later in a bearaway and immediately jibed to port for a fresh angle through the chop and worked our way clear of the mark. We made out well on the subsequent starboard jibe in the current shadow of North Dumpling till the wind went sour north of the island and the windmill, so we jibed back out to the west for fresh air. I wonder if Carl Fast (Looney-Tunes) adhered to his own advice regarding the current shadow of North Dumpling. Our final jibe, unfortunately mid-channel against the current, was sufficient for the finish.
Noo Problem picked up another four minutes or so on the run to finish 12 minutes, 12 ahead of us, first in class and 3rd overall in fleet. So we lost more significantly more to them on the upwind than the run. Possibly had we tacked in mid-channel for the port beat through the Dumplings, we may have benefited from a bit more current? It is hard to say for sure their return path was better than ours. It looked like half the fleet took the return route through the Dumplings. “She’s the Boss†got their first gun ever; wonder which path they took following the windward mark
Link to Chart