Race Reports

Home Court Advantage SUMMER KEELBOAT: San Francisco Yacht Club, Aug 21-22, 2004 SATURDAY: Standing in 7th place for the season, Rail to Rail was hopelessly out of the running for repeating as season champions. We had missed two regattas and Rich would be in Spain for the Fall One Design. So the team looked forward to the Summer Keelboat regatta thinking ‘let’s do this for the joy of sailing together.’ Our expectations were high, Rail to Rail has historically performed well when racing on the Berkeley Circle. It’s our home court. We had recruited Joaquin Chung early in the week to fill in at the mast position for Trena, who was vacationing in China. By Friday evening, Rich, Lou Anna and Larry had converted Rail to Rail from a sailing school boat to racing mode. We arrived Saturday at the OCSC docks planning to step on board, hoist sails, and go. “Hey Thom!” Cree Partridge, owner of Berkeley Marine Center, shouted from the travel lift. “I’ve got time. Let’s pull R2R and clean its bottom.” Were we ever glad we did. After almost three months floating in the Bay with just the diver’s weekly scrubbings, Rail to Rail needed some serious wet sanding. Twenty minutes later, the boat was back in the water with its bottom as smooth as glass. Rail to Rail arrived at Southampton Shoal, the planned racing venue, about 15 minutes before the first gun, where we found the San Francisco Yacht Club race committee working furiously to set up the North course. They were a bit shorthanded during the weekend because the club was also running a second course further South in the Berkeley Circle. This was fortunate for us because the committee’s short postponement allowed us to complete an abbreviated tune up and then settle down to see how the first fleets would tactically sail their opening weather legs. Rail to Rail’s game plan for the day was simple. We planned to sail up the right side of the course on the first leg of the first race and progressively move further left on succeeding upwind legs. By the last race, we thought the course’s left side would be strongly favored for current relief. Race 1: By 11:30 the wind had filled in. It was steady at 12 knots and the morning’s large shifts had damped down markedly. The committee’s course board showed a single windward-leeward course with a windward finish. The starting line was set for a 210o breeze favoring the pin end by 5o. Even though it would put us strategically on the wrong side, Rail to Rail opted for a pin start. At the gun, we were late to the line, moving slowly, and out of pointing mode. Thirty seconds after the start, the team found itself sailing in 5th place on the tactical ladder. It was time to concentrate and sail well. Early in the first leg, several of the leading boats tacked and sailed as expected up the right side of the course. Rail to Rail changed plans on the fly and continued to the left as we found ourselves sailing the lifted tack. By the time the J24s reached the windward mark, we had climbed back to third place with Running W. Scissors (RWS) was two boat lengths in the lead, Causal Contact was just inside us at the mark, and TMC Racing was sailing a couple of boat lengths off our stern. We rounded cleanly and sailed outside of Casual Contact in order to disturb their wind while keeping our own air clear. It worked. Casual Contact, which found itself struggling through a tough spinnaker set, eventually filled her chute and gybed. This put them under TMC Racing’s wind shadow while we continued sailing downwind in pristine puffs. When Rail to Rail gybed for the leeward mark, we were in second place, still two boat lengths behind RWS, but clear ahead of Casual Contact and TMC Racing. We rounded in good shape, placed a loose cover on the two trailing boats and finished the first race in second place. Race 2: Team Rail to Rail was in good spirits as the clock counted down to the second start. The wind had built to 15 knots and was now bearing 210o, making the line square to the breeze. We started again on the pin side of the line as part of our updated game plan to sail upwind on the left side of the course. Thom took us out to the port layline, where we tacked. Lou Anna quickly noticed that a Melges 24 named “Smokin” had hooked the windward mark’s anchor rode and was quickly dragging the orange buoy downwind. Minutes passed as we discussed where to round. Finally, Thom called the shorthanded race committee on channel 68 because the Melges was still attached to the mark and asked whether there were any instructions for the J24 fleet. The committee quickly broadcast: “Use the outside course’s upwind mark!” We sailed another 500 yards up to starboard layline. On Thom’s call, Rich put the helm down and we rounded both the outer course’s mark and its offset out of safety concerns for other J24s coming upwind. When we hoisted the OCSC chute, Rail to Rail was in second behind RWS and had a two boat length lead on TMC Racing, which we extended downwind. Rail to Rail passed the leeward mark in good shape, tacked and sailed to the left side of the course, tacked once more, and sailed back up the port tack layline to the inner course’s windward mark, which by then had been put back in its original place. Team Rail to Rail found herself right behind RWS at we neared the weather mark. Rich tacked aggressively at the starboard layline to stay as close to RWS as possible. Unfortunately, that was a mistake that changed the outcome of the regatta. The flood had filled in and the mark’s anchor line was streaming to windward. Rail to Rail’s keel struck its anchor rode, drew the mark into our hull, and hooked the anchor line around our rudder. With red faces all around, Rich and Larry worked furiously to free us. They succeeded quickly and after making our 360o penalty turn, we re-hoisted the spinnaker and made for the second leeward mark rounding. Not only did we fail to catch RWS in the maneuver, we lost TMC Racing in the fracas. Rail to Rail finished the race in third place. Losing that one finishing point was hard, but that’s racing! Race 3: As the wind built to top genoa conditions, the J24 fleet changed headsails down to the jib. Rail to Rail followed, simply because we didn’t want to risk finding ourselves in upwind genoa versus jib tacking duels. The steady 16+ knot breeze placed a high premium on starting well, which we did. Rich, Larry, and Lou Anna combined to put Rail to Rail on the top rung of the ladder moving at full speed at the gun. Rich drove a great windward leg and Rail to Rail rounded the first weather mark with a five boat length lead. We extended downwind, passed the leeward mark to port, and sailed back upwind seven boat lengths ahead of the next J24. Tragically for us, the Etchells fleet, which was sailing on the longer outside course, was also sailing upwind and Thom mistakenly let them trap us out on the right side. This wasn’t part of our game plan and it cost us. The J24 fleet went left at their leeward mark roundings as Rail to Rail looked desperately for an opportunity to tack. By the time we reached the windward mark for the second time, our lead had dwindled to two boat lengths. From that point on, Rail to Rail found itself in a dogfight trying to hold off TMC Racing and RWS, both of whom were fast all weekend. We succeeded, barely, and Rail to Rail was first across the finish line as Saturday’s racing drew to a close. SUNDAY: One point behind Running W. Scissors, we looked forward to Sunday’s racing. Two races were planned and Team Rail to Rail was still in the hunt to win the regatta. All we had to do was beat RWS twice. They led the regatta with five points, Rail to Rail was in second with 6 points, and TMC Racing was third place with 11 points. Race 4: At 11:00 am, the race committed promptly started the fleet sequences, calling for two lap races. The J24s would once again sail the inner course. In the pre-start, Rich made a half hearted effort to match race Curtis Press, who was helming RWS. However, when Curtis made a nifty move away, Rich gave up, knowing he needed a good start if he couldn’t control RWS. Neither happened. With our mediocre start, Rail to Rail was in the middle of the top pack at the gun as we once again opted for a middle-left upwind leg. RWS was first to the weather mark, Rail to Rail second, and others followed. Not much changed over the next three legs. By the time the fleet made its second leeward mark rounding and headed for the upwind finish, RWS was in first by several boat lengths, we were second, and Casual Contact was in third. Curtis took RWS up the right side and we followed for awhile as Casual Contact opted to play the left. When it became clear that we weren’t going to catch RWS, Thom called for a tack to cover Casual Contact. As we approached to within several hundred yards of the port layline, Thom asked Rich how far we were ahead of Casual Contact. Rich said: “40 boat lengths,” thinking distance to crossing, which Thom took to mean 40 boat lengths ahead on the ladder. Thom called for a tack, deciding Casual was not worth covering at that point and realized too late that our lead was only four or five boat lengths. OHSA would not have sanctioned the conversation that followed between Rich and Thom. Needless to say, it was over in a New York minute, but Rail to Rail had lost even more distance to Casual Contact during the verbal exchange. As both boats approached the finish, Casual Contact was sailing on starboard towards the middle of the line. By now both boats were on the same rung of the tactical ladder. Thom, who has extensive race committee experience, knew the finishing boat was significantly favored and called for a duck. Rich took Casual Contact’s transom, tacked on the committee boat’s layline, sailed fast, and stuffed Rail to Rail’s bow head to wind when Lou Anna called for it. We beat Casual Contact by less than one foot to preserve our second place finish. RWS got another first place finish! Race 5: Going into the last race of the weekend, the door was still open for Rail to Rail to win the regatta. With RWS leading by two points, i.e., their six points to our eight, and RWS having three first place finishes, we would have to win the last race with two other boats between us and RWS to ensure an overall win. It was possible, but we would have to pull out all the stops to succeed. Rail to Rail aggressively engaged RWS in the pre-start sequence. Rich and Larry were spectacular. We won the start handily leaving Running W. Scissors deep in the third row. Playing the left side of the course as planned, Rail to Rail built a substantial lead by the time it reached the windward mark. Once again, we extended downwind and smartly rounded the leeward mark. At this point, there were still three boats between us and RWS and life was looking good. Still, Curtis was driving well and RWS was closing the gap on Small Flying Patio Furniture (SFPF). At this point, we faced a choice. Thinking incorrectly we had to finish at least three boats ahead of RWS, we could either cover Casual Contact and TMC Racing or reengage with RWS and try to ensure SFPF maintained its fourth place position. But in fact, this question should never have entered our minds. If we had done the math correctly and realized we needed only a two boat cushion, our only choice would have been to cover the second and third place boats. This misperception would come back to haunt us later. . Thom chose to go for the outright wind and let RWS escape along with SFPF to the right. Rail to Rail rounded the windward mark for the second time with a comfortable lead. RWS rounded in fourth place just ahead of SFPF. If the fleet finished in this order, we were certain that RWS would win the regatta with a tiebreak. SFPF would need to make a spectacular comeback to pass RWS and give us the overall win. We collectively crossed our fingers and hoped that they would. Once again, we rounded the leeward mark for the last time and started up our final windward leg to the finish. Within moments, our hopes were completely dashed as TMC Racing dumped its spinnaker in the water during its leeward mark takedown. This left only one boat between us and RWS as they passed TMC Racing and went hunting for Casual Contact. At this moment, we gave up and concentrated on winning the last race. If we had known that we needed only two boats between us and RWS, Thom and Rich would have aggressively engaged RWS in an effort to allow TMC Racing to pass them. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to pull this off because we would still need to beat Casual Contact in the attempt. But alas we let them go and our fate was sealed. While Rail to Rail crossed the finish line first, Racing W. Scissors scored a second, ensuring their overall regatta win. AFTERWARDS: After sailing home while enjoying a victory beer and converting Rail to Rail back to school boat mode, Team Rail to Rail hopped into the team truck and drove over to the San Francisco Yacht Club. We arrived just in time to offer our congratulations to Jim, Dave and the rest of the Racing with Scissors crew as Thom made his way up to the podium to collect our second place trophy. All in all, it was a great weekend. Joaquin did a superb job filling in for Trena and the team acquitted itself well. We parted company in the OCSC parking lot with our traditional team hug, knowing we were back on form, and eagerly looking forward to the Labor Day regatta two weeks hence.