Half Moon Bay 2014

[sleddog]

Would wholeheartedly agree with Max. Would be most fair to the fleet sailing out the Gate to start the slow boats first. Slower boats, starting last, sailing into a building flood tide creates a difficult, if not impossible, situation to "break out" of the Entrance Channel, as Jackie so well describes.

This has been true for as long as I remember. Getting stuck in a building flood behind Point Bonita, circling in the back eddy, painfully watching the faster boats that started earlier disappear over the horizon en route to the Farallones.

The counter argument is the potential for collisions as the faster boats "play through." I'd take that chance to conduct a fairer race for all concerned. My two cents.

 

[Travieso]

Personally I think it was most interesting racing starting the slow boats first, both when I sailed a slow boat and now sailing a fast boat. With the slow boat it was always a challenge to see how quickly you could catch the 'slower' boats, and how long you could keep the faster boats behind you. With the fast boat is the opposite, how quickly you can go through the fleet.

Now there is not nearly as much boat on boat racing, mostly you just race with the similar boats in your fleet and don't get to interact as much with the rest of the fleet.

It also makes sense to give the slower boats more time to finish.

So I think reversing the starts was a worthwhile experiment, but one that we should get revert from.

 

[Wylieguy]

When I was SSS Commodore a long time ago the Board decided to start slower boats first and that was the way slow boats first "started." The idea was to give slower boats a slight advantage early in the race day. I continue to think that slow boats should get their start first, so I agree that the SSS should return to that method for starting races.

Over the years, change in SSS racing is to be expected, but I think several decisions should be revisited. One is the East Bay/Oakland Estuary Race. After an incident with an incoming ship the SSS quickly abandoned the long-standing "up the Estuary" to the OYC Finish Line. Since then the "East Bay" race has banged around looking for a venue, with no real satisfactory conclusion. The traditional final leg up the ditch was challenging and fun, even if it meant a 2-1/2 hour return trip to Sausalito.

 

[sleddog]

Had snacks and yarns aboard FLICKER at Santa Cruz Harbor this afternoon with Ed and Melissa. Bob of SEA WITCH was aboard and lamented he missed the 6 p.m. time limit for the HMB Race by 3 minutes. Had he finished, he would have won a flag (he said.)

Bob's point, well taken, is that if slower boats start last, their time limit should be extended by the amount ahead the first class started, so that everyone gets an equal amount of time on the course to finish. His vote was an emphatic "start the slower boats first.." "There's a bunch of us racing slower boats, and need all the help we can get."

 

[Philpott]

Welcome home, Skip

 

[Wylieguy]

The HMB Race is unique among the SSS Races in that boats take their time at the Colorado Reef Buoy and again at PP #3. The SIs state that the CRB times will be used if 25% of the boats have not finished by the deadline. That's a "one rule fits all" situation. Why not make it the rule for each division? That way the slow divisions could use the CRB times and the faster divisions the PP3 times?

I don't think it would affect the overall SSS Season Standings that much. There are only two or three boats really interested in that mythical title anyway, and they're not in the "slow boat" category. The main point of SSS racing for most of us is the fun of sailing shorthanded.

Maybe even have the RC committee on HMB Race Day have the option of selecting the shorter course for slower divisions at the beginning? That way the smaller/slower/non-spinnaker boats could just finish at the CRB and motor on in to Pillar Point before it gets too dark.

 

[Travieso]

When I was SSS Commodore a long time ago the Board decided to start slower boats first and that was the way slow boats first "started." The idea was to give slower boats a slight advantage early in the race day. I continue to think that slow boats should get their start first, so I agree that the SSS should return to that method for starting races.

Over the years, change in SSS racing is to be expected, but I think several decisions should be revisited. One is the East Bay/Oakland Estuary Race. After an incident with an incoming ship the SSS quickly abandoned the long-standing "up the Estuary" to the OYC Finish Line. Since then the "East Bay" race has banged around looking for a venue, with no real satisfactory conclusion. The traditional final leg up the ditch was challenging and fun, even if it meant a 2-1/2 hour return trip to Sausalito.

I don't always agree with Pat , but we are two for two on this thread, so they must be good changes. I too vote for an Estuary finish race.

 

[pogen]

I like Estuary finish. Pretty much every race we do means a 2 hr delivery back to Alameda where I and many others are based.

 

[Lightspeed]

When I first joined SSS slow boats always started first. The start is both logical & fair. Imagine the outcome of the Three Bridge Fiasco if the fast boats starting first?......Also, I voted for the Halfmoon Bay Race and Estuary Race in the recent SSS survey (could not make this year’s HMB race nursing a torn rotor cuff from the TransPac).......The Halfmoon Bay Race is a great race to promote for first timers ocean experience (maybe a first timers ocean award?) and the Estuary Race is a great optical course race!!.. ..Just my two cents Rick

 

[Lanikai]

As a slow boat (and even slower captain), I have to admit I often wonder why I bother (and whether I should do full membership again next year). Meeting the ocean equipment requirements didn't happen this year and probably won't next year, which leaves TBF, Corinthian, RTR, and Vallejo. And when I consider those, I'm usually DNC due to no wind predicted or DNF due to course length + light conditions.
I certainly can't blame starting last for all my woes, but it is just another downer. It's already a little discouraging when my main thought as I leave the dock is "wonder if I'll get around 1/2 the course today?"; it gets even worse watching all the fast boats disappear in the distance before I even hear the 5 minute warning, then watch them get a boost from the same tide that's thwarting me because they got around the mark an hour earlier (like at Blossom in this year's Corinthian). Starting first would be an appreciated gesture.

I hate to sound like sour grapes--in fact I'm pretty sure I'm repeating a rant from another old thread--but just acknowledging that SSS has a lot of fast boats and the races are understandably set up accordingly. If there were a lot more slow boats, I'd ask if makes sense to incorporate more bay races or even splinter off a slow boat SSS with shorter courses (the SSSS, of course). But there aren't many of us >200 raters, so I suspect we'll just keep showing up for races that seem do-able, winds permitting. Let's go, Vallejo!
Oh and yeah, an Estuary/East/South Bay race would be cool. Very cool.

 

[Wylieguy]

The early SSS was an eclectic collection of boats and sailors. One thing the members had in common was a desire to avoid "around the buoy races" so all of the races were "distance" races, with long legs between marks. As new races were added they also were "distance" races with long legs between marks, including the HMB Race. It was "one size fits all." Most races were in the mid/upper-teens mileage-wise.

The boats ranged from a ferro-cement ketch to fast multi-hulls. In between there were numbers of Santana 22s, Merit 25s, Yankee 30s, and even Greg Nelson sailing a Thunderbird. Doug Graham's Pacific Dolphin (PHRF 270) was often the slowest boat. Since the Farallones Race had a 2-day deadline, sometimes boats anchored off China Beach waiting for the Flood. As a former Tuna racer I'm all too familiar with being a tail-end Charlie fighting the current in an effort to finish before the deadline, having watched almost every other boat disappear into the gloom.

Times change. Perhaps it's time to consider shorter course option for slower boats? Obviously the 3-Bridge and Farallones are special races with no such option, but the other "In-Bay" races could certainly be configured so a shorter course would be an option on days when wind and current are not cooperating for slower boats. As I've said before, a major part of SSS racing for many sailors is the satisfaction of finishing, not winning. Given a chance to finish, I think the smaller/slower boats will continue to be an important part of SSS racing in the future.

 

[Gamayun]

+1 on a South Bay race. My crew and I had a blast July 4th weekend racing in the Westpoint Regatta. I think we should add it to the SSS lineup next year.

 

[Lanikai]

As I've said before, a major part of SSS racing for many sailors is the satisfaction of finishing, not winning. Given a chance to finish, I think the smaller/slower boats will continue to be an important part of SSS racing in the future.

Amen to that, Pat! I love the SSS races for all the usual buglight weirdo reasons, and because the non-buoy format makes things so interesting. No better way to learn currents, wind, and how they work on the bay. And until I get a handle on those and get a fast boat, for now finishing is the difference between a decent day on the water and a great one.

It would be a hassle for the RC and maybe even historical sacrilege (2 bridge fiasco?!), but adding a shorter -- not too short, of course -- option depending on the registered boats -- enough slow ones, or even fast boats that need to be somewhere else that afternoon --and predicted weather would serve perfectly my own selfish idea of things. Sort of like Rites of Spring, without the "surprise course" approach (though I did enjoy finally having a reason to use the flag decoder in my chartbook!). Maybe skip Brothers for RTR, round Alcatraz instead of Southampton for Corinthian, turn at mile rock for a "Too-Far-allones" race...might see a lot less DNF and DNC.