Fleet 61 2008 spring series: week 3 (June 4)

Race 5&6 Result with commentary by RC Robin Ricca from Power Play. Thanks Robin for a good job on committee.

Good Morning Friends and Sailors,

I have to tell you I had a most enjoyable evening running a committee boat as both PRO and Captain/Owner. The three individuals who were on board were complete rookies who were very helpful while being so short handed for experience. They were Larry and Kim from the California side of the Ska Family and Zach Shineberg who is the 27 year son of Janet who races on WOW. The key factor here is I deliberately arrived very early and we went over the specific individual responsibilities of each person at the dock. NOT on the water where all the chaos starts. I walked off the boat after cleaning her smiling feeling very good about what I had accomplished for the group I care about. Makes life great and feels good too! Lessons learned last night for sure.

Race 5:
1-La Express
2-Surcease
3-WOW
4-Don't Panic
5-Jeepers
6-J-Puddleduck
7-Heat Wave
8-Trouble
9-Blondie
10-Alias
12-Ska (Retired After Finishing)

Race 5 Detail:
The committee was surprised to see that for Race 1, no starting boat was even close to the start line when the horn was blown. Out of the 11 boats starting, only two boats were even close to the line. It was a very slow start for the fleet overall. I will assume that is because we are early season and all getting back into the start line techniques. The breeze was up and down between 5.5 to 6.5 knots at the start. After all boats cleared the start line and moved up the course 8 to 10 boat lengths, the fleet split with half going left and right side. Later a few boats decided to go up the middle for less course distance. The boats that consolidated course length and went up the middle arrived at the first mark first for the most part.

The first boat hit the first mark after 7:35 minutes of racing. After rounding the first windward mark, the fleet consolidated big time 3/4 on the downwind leg due to the breeze freshening up from East. We were seeing 6 to 7 knots for a period of time. The first downwind leg boat, La Express, hit the mark at 15:20 minutes race time. La Express and Surcease came to the downwind mark on their own with no traffic.

It was a new race all over again for the middle of the pack and boats were in tight with each other while rounding the downwind mark. We heard a lot of noise from crew and on board equipment being moved around. La Express and Surcease now moved onto the 3rd leg of this race with fresh air and clean open flat water lanes. These two boats of course pulled far ahead of the pack with no issues and great boat speed. Alias did circles for a foul at the downwind mark after clearing all the other boats without interference of course.

On leg 4, the final downwind leg, the fleet spilt some to try to catch each other and consolidate but it was difficult to pass each other as the breeze abated some and was for the most part similar on both sides of the course. The fleet had a great first race completed for the evening.

Race 6:
1-La Express
2-Alias
3-Don't Panic
4-Jeepers
5-Surcease
6-WOW
7-Ska
8-J Puddleduck
9-Trouble
10-Blondie
11-Heat wave

Race 6 Detail:
The committee boat decided to wait a few minutes as the breeze shifted 5 to 10 degrees to the North. It was doing this at the finish of Race 1. After committee having some patience, while time was becoming a big issue to start race 2, the breeze shifted back to the original East direction as per Race 1 start. This was great as we did not have to move the pin and course with time being a huge factor. Committee decided that with an abating breeze, at about 2.8 to 3.3 knots and getting dark quick, we shorten to a 2 leg D-2 race with the same course as Race 1. Race 2 started at 20:03 with most boats approaching the line on starboard. This time the boats were on the line and in much better start position. One boat was 1 second from the line at the starting gun. After all boats cleared the line the breeze increased to 4.2 knots. This allowed the fleet to move faster and 7 boats went right side while interestingly 4 chose the left side. The breeze now continued to build to 5.1 knots. After more racing up the first windward leg WOW continued left side course with two other boats. We now had a dominate right side course fleet on the top of the first windward leg. First boat rounded the windward mark at 20:45. La Express jibed early on the downwind leg to the finish and went left side course and made out big time. The breeze was now some what abated and passing competitors was difficult. The good news or the fleet was the breeze was steady overall and we had a great night of racing for Fleet 61.
All of the above information was put on paper by Kim from the Ska Family. Committee had a great time and we now have THREE more individuals who love sailboat racing. That was my personal reward, to pass on a sport that I love so much to three complete rookies. Made me smile all evening. Mission accomplished big time.
Ciao, ciao to all and see you on the water,
Robin C. Ricca