2016 OYRA series and other YRA SH Racing

[BobJ]

That's the idea.

 

[Daydreamer]

Just signed up for the OYRA series singlehanded !

I should be able to do most of them except for 5/21 (made other plans with my wife)

Hope to see some more singlehanded boats !

 

[DaveH]

Domino is signed up for the the first 3.... Transpac precludes the rest.

DH

 

[BobJ]

It's great to see these sign-ups - thanks. Because of the Corinthian Race collisions I don't know if I'll have my boat ready by 4/16, so mine will be a last-minute decision.

To insure we have separate scoring in OYRA for singlehanders (and possibly a separate start), we'll need at least a couple more boats. Andy is looking for at least five boats who will do most of the series. Historically, attendance drops off significantly after the first 3-4 OYRA races, especially in even years (Pacific Cup & SHTP).

If you aren't feeling like racing in the ocean this year, also check out YRA's "YRA Series." They have a shorthanded option available for the first time.

 

[tboussie]

The OYRA Lighship today was a decidedly mixed bag.

The start was a mess, with two delays that did not seem to serve any purpose other than to let the ebb build to the point that several boats dropped out after failing to clear Anita Rock or got sucked into the south span of the GG Bridge. I know it is always a guessing game, but this time the RC guessed wrong. Several people expressed their unhappiness quite strongly via VHF.

After a laborious drift out the gate, the wind filled in at last and it was a decent run to the Lightship. The ebb helped, but it was a bit of a washing machine until after G1/R2. For me, the trip back was pleasant until about a mile from Bonita where the wind dropped to <5 kts. It's one thing to sail to weather in 10 knots of wind in a washing machine, it is an altogether less pleasant thing to sail 1.5 knots downwind in the same crap. It took me 2+ hours to get from Bonita to the GG bridge.

Of course, once I jibed and went under the GG bridge, the wind jacked up to 20 knots at 90 deg apparent and I was hanging on by my fingernails.

It was a beautiful day on the ocean, but a bit more wind (not too much!) would have been nice.

 

[Philpott]

Thank you, Tom, for representing the Singlehanded Sailing Society in the inaugural OYRA singlehanded division.

 

[pogen]

The OYRA Lighship today was a decidedly mixed bag.

Several people expressed their unhappiness quite strongly via VHF.

I completely sympathize, but I had to laugh at the thought of people confusing the VHF with social media.

 

[BobJ]

It was more of a reality show. I stomped my feet and flew my protest flag for dramatic effect, which was good for a "right-on brother" over the radio.

The weekend's silver lining was the SHTP Cruise-In at OYC. Four out of the five OYRA singlehanders ended up over there, while Tom represented in OYRA.

It was all good. I'm looking forward to the Duxship race. We need a couple more singlehanders though - two boats on Saturday were SRE's.

 

[255grizzly]

Any interest out there in forming a single handed division for the YRA series? I think this could fill the summer gap in SSS races -- after the Farallones on 5/14, there isn't another local race until Drakes Bay on 8/27. YRA is willing to create a single handed or short handed division if we have 5 boats.

FYI, it's an 8 race series (2 races per day) on the following dates/locations:

05/14/16 – YRA #1 – Berkeley Circle
06/18/16 – YRA #2 – South Bay
07/23/16 – YRA #3 – South Bay
08/13/16 – YRA #4 – Southampton

5/14 obviously conflicts with the Farallones, but the rest work. ( I'm not sure I'm going to do the Farallones this year due to battery and AP issues, so I'm busy thinking about alternatives.) Even if I go forward with the Farallones, though, I like the idea of doing the June, July and Aug YRA races. A great chance to work on boat handling!

 

[BobJ]

I'm thinking about this too. I'm not keen on racing to the Farallones twice (OYRA and SSS). If the offshore forecast looks iffy on 5/14, I'd start this series instead and do the stinky rocks with OYRA.

But to make this work we need at least three more shorthanders for the YRA series. Here you go:

https://www.jibeset.net/YRA000.php?RG=T004349292

 

[tboussie]

OYRA Farallones Race Report

We had four SH boats on the line for the OYRA fully-crewed Farallones race this Saturday. It wasn't quite as windy as forecast (max mid 20's) but the sea state was quite wretched and there was a BIG swell on the backside of the island. After the SSS pleasure cruise this year, I felt the need for a proper Farallones and this satisfied the bill. No whales, though.

For me, the wind was too far forward on the way back to set a spinnaker until the Lightship, and by then I was too knackered to bother (and it was still blowing pretty hard). Of course the wind died completely (from 20 to 4 knots within five minutes) at Bonita / Mile Rock. I finally set a kite just to get in the gate.

Not my best race, but no gear or bones were broken. And I learned more about the (disappointing) limits of my autopilot, which was my intent. All in all it was a good day on the ocean.

 

[Daydreamer]

The OYRA Farallones was a good race, but I sure feel beat up!

I watched you guys, Kato & JouJou, pull ahead on the way out.

I managed to keep sight of Kato as we made for a starboard rounding. Not sure where JouJou went.

At the backside, where things really lumped up, my spinnaker pole came free from the deck and was only held with the downhaul.
After getting it re-secured I thought I might lose my lunch. I eased off for the reach back and managed to rest a few moments, though I just wasn't ready to hoist.

Saw plenty of fast surfing under white sails though.

At lands end I planned to go north to Bonita, but the flukey wind I finally caught sent me toward Ocean Beach wing on wing, jibed again to make the South Tower, and had a nice reach to the finish.

 

[Daydreamer]

ORYA Farallones pics

 

[bizirka]

That was lumpy! I learned that unless I am 100% focused the AP is better at steering through the waves then I am. I noticed Nightmare made up a good deal of time during my struggles to hand steer - he was great in the waves. After I let the AP do the steering, I hiked on the highside and took in a lot of food and water (I drank well over 100oz of water - more on this later). About 4 miles out from the islands, the wind went up, I saw wind in the high 20s (apparent) and in the 30s on the backside of the island. I don't think I will ever round the islands to starboard again. A monster wave stopped me dead in the water and I ended up sliding down the backs side and putting my spreaders in the water. I immediately jumped up to ensure the boats down-swell and MUCH closer to the islands were okay. I was pretty shaken up and gave the islands more space than most who were rounding to port. After this, I was hesitant to do anything with spinnaker and the angle was too hot for that wind speed (90 degrees). Per my pre-race plan I reached up to the north part of the course using my white sails to get a better angle on the bridge. I hoisted my A3 (no pole) and started surfing at 10-12 knots sustained all the way to point bonita. High was 15.8 - exactly what Olsons were made for. As always the winds at point B got the better of me and I got backwinded a bit too close to the rocks so I dropped the A3 and made a huge mess of my lines and went under main only for 5 minutes. Got the little sail up and wing on winged to the south tower and reached to the finish. I had an accidental jibe as I crossed the finish...great. Reached back to Sausalito in 28knots! I am 100% sore from the race. That night I had some more water and two post race beers. I woke up the next day super dehydrated. I had one Meclizine prior to the race, perhaps this was the cause of my dehydration. I usually take dramamine, but wanted to see how this particular solution worked. I think I will stick with dramamine. It was great to see some SHTP boats out there!!

 

[bizirka]

 

[Daydreamer]

Here is a pretty cool shot of Truls
Singlehanded multihull

 

[Philpott]

Here is a pretty cool shot of Truls
Singlehanded multihull
View attachment 1539

Greg, how do you take such great shots when you are sailing that very trippy racehorse of a boat?

 

[Daydreamer]

Easy,
In those moments when I'm not trimming, steering, fixing, untangling, or just hanging on for dear life, I let the autopilot steer and take pictures of anything nearby.
Usually my feet or whatever is in the cockpit.
Occasionally another boat is nearby and I'll click several shots, sometimes I windup with a good one.

I use my iPhone in a waterproof case. I really need to put a lanyard on that thing. I don't think "find my iPhone" works at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean!
Usually I don't reach beyond the cockpit.

The closer the better. If I have to zoom it usually won't be a decent shot.

That amateur photography class years ago said, take LOTS of pictures to get a few good ones!

Always happy to share

 

[Daydreamer]

Just checked the fleet assignments for OYRA HMB

Lineup is looking light.

Has everyone not going to Hawaii signed up for the Silver Eagle?

Does anyone else want to race to Half Moon Bay?

Someone, anyone, halooo.....

 

[Critter]

Greg, they add to the "fleet assignments" as they review the registrations for updated crew list and MER compliance. We can expect more boats as the week goes on.