A Chronicle of Discovery: Racing (continued)
April
10, 2010 - The SSS Corinthian Race
The Corinthian Race (formerly known as the
In-the-Bay Race) has grown to be one of my favorite races within San
Francisco Bay. One reason
is
that
this
race
starts
at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon. This start location, combined
with its proximity to Richardson Bay, makes the race a great excuse to
anchor out before and after the race. And the anchorage is typically quiet,
provides great views of Sausalito and San Francisco, and allows for a relaxed
morning prior to the race (rather than an early start and motoring across
the Bay to get to the start line).
The second reason that I like this race is that it involves sailing in some of the more boisterous conditions that the Bay can offer...and I think that these conditions slightly favor the 323 over some lighter displacement boats that do not handle the strong winds and associated seas as well. The course this year is shown below, and includes two crossings of the "slot" (legs 2 and 4) and what usually turns into a beat against prevailing winds along the City-front (leg 3). Leg 6 can sometimes be a challenge because of the wind shadow cast by Angel Island and at others it can also be a difficult beat as the winds are funneled through Raccoon Straight. This year was typical and Legs 1, 3, 6, and 7 were all upwind legs.
Leg 1 was a beat to the Little Harding buoy. The start, as is normally the case for me, was cause for concern. But on this day with south winds at 20 to 25 knots I was especially worried...about other boats, about my own performance, about Libations, and about the weather...which was headed toward gale force winds by the end of Saturday or early Sunday.
I sailed with a single reef in the main and my 95% jib. I chose the 95% jib based on forecast winds of 10-20 knots and on observed conditions before the start: winds near 20 knots at the starting line and higher force winds west of Angel Island. I had originally planned to sail with full main but as I watched the winds build I decided to put a single reef in the main. The starting line was fairly congested and many boats were moving quite quickly so I furled the jib until just before my start. My strategy was to set the jib to its desired reef point prior to the start, furl the sail without uncleating the furling line, and then just prior to the start unfurl the sail to its previously selected size. This allowed me to focus on trimming the sail rather than carefully unfurling the jib so as to not end up with too much sail area at the start. I unfurled it later as conditions warranted.
Conditions were such that I didn’t think I could point high enough to start on starboard tack and thus chose to make a run at the pin end of the line on port tack and then tack to starboard immediately after crossing the line (same as my start as in 2008). This worked....barely. Several other boats who could point higher than Libations were converging at the pin and I was only slightly ahead of them as I crossed the line. I managed to tack and stay out of everyone’s way…but I do think some of the other skippers were a bit worried.
After tacking onto starboard tack at the pin I sailed as high as I could but I could not get west of Angel Island. Before sailing into the wind shadow cast by Pt. Stuart I tacked onto port tack and sailed west into the Bay. I tacked three more times before rounding Little Harding: to starboard tack which carried me south until Little Harding was abeam, then to port tack to carry me to Little Harding, then back to starboard to round Little Harding. On this last tack I was sailing in the middle of a group of boats and some wanted to tack earlier than I did.
Once around Little Harding I reached toward Blossom Rock buoy on Leg 2, leaving Alcatraz to starboard. I was able to watch the boats ahead of me and leave Alcatraz far enough to starboard that I was able to miss the wind shadow cast by the island. The ride to Blossom Rock buoy was a fast paced reach that was both exhilarating and fun. At the Blossom Rock buoy I watched another boat (an Express 37 who misjudged the force of the ebb current) pushed back onto the Blossom Rock buoy. It was painful to watch and listen as the boat ground its way around the mark.
I gave the Blossom Rock buoy good clearance and tacked out into the Bay for the long beat on Leg 3 to Blackaller buoy, which I rounded after two or three sets of tacks. The lesson learned in earlier races is that whenever the current is ebbing or the wind strong, I can achieve the best results by sailing into the middle of the Bay rather than short tacking along the City-front.
After Blackaller I was slow to set my pole on the downwind Leg 4 to Southampton Shoal. I initially thought that I could sail wing and wing with out the pole, but the wind direction was such that DDW would have taken me to Angel Island (not past it). After setting the pole I sailed more to the S and gave Angel Island's Point Blunt as much clearance as I could. I then continued to sail south of the rhumb line and later turned and reached to Southampton with good speed.
At Southampton I began the beat (Leg 6) through Raccoon Straight and on to Little Harding again (Leg 7). I made it through Raccoon Straight in two (I think) sets of tacks. This time the ebb was strong enough to aid in leaving the Straight and allowed sailing on one tack all of the way toward the R2 buoy off of Point Knox and then tack toward Little Harding. The strong ebb current helped carry me south to Little Harding, which I left to starboard.
Returning to the start/finish line on Leg 8 I was careful not to sail too close to Pt. Belvedere where the combination of wind shadow and strong ebb forced me to retire from the 2010 Three Bridge Fiasco race and which cost me a finish in the 2009 Corinthian Race.
For me and Libations this was a great, though long, day. My day started at about 0330 when winds at anchor reached 27 knots and when the vibration of the boat (caused by wind-induced oscillations of rigging) shook me and the boat awake. I then motored to the lee side of Angel Island to change head sails. And then I began the pre-race dance of sailing around the starting area testing boat and skipper skill against the conditions and making final adjustments to my sailing gear and strategy.
The winds on this race day caused more than the usual number of early retirements. Several boats had gear failures and some others simply found themselves out of their comfort zone in these conditions. My anemometer recorded a maximum true wind speed during the race of 30.6 knots and I recall that most of the time when beating or close reaching my apparent wind was in the 20 to 25 knot range; others reported wind gusts to 40 knots.
I finished ahead of some competitors who I normally follow across the finish line, and I feel good about both my performance and Libations' performance during the long day.
For the 2010 SSS Corinthian Race Libations and I finished 2nd out of 7 boats that started in my Class (singlehanded, non-spinnaker). I don't feel too bad about this since the boat that took first place in my Class was a 42-ft Beneteau that also was the first singlehanded boat to finish. Overall, 113 boats were registered to race (all classes, both singlehanded and doublehanded divisions), 90 actually started, and 65 finished the race. My history with this race was a second place finish in 2006, two last place finishes in 2007 and 2008, a DNF (did not finish) in 2009...caught in the wind hole behind Pt. Belvedere and sailing against an ebb current, and another 2nd place finish this year.
My 2010 2nd place finish was especially rewarding since it occurred on such a blustery day. It seemed to reflect the lessons that I have learned over the past few years about how to sail in high winds, stay in control of the boat, and not lose my head! The Pearson 323 likes these conditions!
Great photographs of the race (including Libations Too in several images beginning with image 165): The Printroom
Related race coverage: norcalsailing