New Boat 4 Sled

[BobJ]

This is in response to "towing" or drafting on another boat's wake.

At the beginning of her second season, Ragtime! came out of Easom's Boat Spa ready for action. Scott and I sailed her up to Benicia so I could test my home fleet in a beer can race. Gilles Combrisson (who then worked with Scott) and Pete McCormick (from North) joined us, so we had three Cat 3's aboard! This didn't go unnoticed by the locals.

I simply followed steering instructions and watched these guys work their magic. That's when I learned about drafting. One of the top boats in the fleet was the Merrills' new Beneteau First 40.7, which rated almost 60 sec./mile faster than Rags. We spent most of a reaching leg sitting on them, just off their stern and slightly to weather. It worked a treat.

The funny part of the story is that despite our all-star crew, none of us noticed the "twice-around" flag on the committee boat. We flew across the finish line, rolled up the jib and were ready to head in before we realized what was happening. We quickly unrolled the jib and got going again, ultimately winning the race but by a lot closer margin.
.

 

[Intermission]

In bicycle racing we used to "sit on" the rider in the lead, with our front tire inches away from their back tire. This was good for about a 20% wind resistance reduction. In a pack or peloton, the lead rider sets the pace as long as they can, then moves to the left and drops back to the rear. Each rider taking their turn setting the pace. No matter the size of the peloton, whether it is 2 riders or three dozen, everyone goes faster, longer. When I was a member of the San Jose Bicycle Club 50+ years ago, we had a winter course that started near Chesbro reservoir and went down Baily and then turned South on Santa Teresa, winding back up at the start and the cars. The prevailing wind was from the South, so Santa Teresa was a slog. Except half way down, where there was this German Shepard that could do 30+ MPH for a good quarter mile, all the while barking at your ankles.
It was the best sprint of the entire course.

 

[AntsUiga]

Congrats to Randall for his just completed southward transit of Peel Sound icepack! In one non-stop leg, he's gotta be a tired puppy. It's looks like MOLI and ALIOTH are bypassing the clockwise end around of King William Island and Gjoa Haven and taking a straight shot for Cambridge Bay, saving several hundred miles. I wonder if the 3 crew on nearby ALIOTH are helping Randall by standing watch while he grabs a quick nap?

Though many sea miles yet to go for Randall to sail under the Golden Gate, the pack ice obstacles in Peel Sound are the last real ice he'll encounter. Bergs and bergy bits, yes. But max ice melt in the NW Passage is still to come in the next few weeks.

We look forward to Randall's next post and story of his recent passage down Peel Sound. But that probably won't come until he's anchor down in Cambridge Bay, 100 miles ahead.

OK, if you missed the above trivia correctly about CRAZY HORSE correctly answered by TIGER BEETLE, here's another chance. What islands did Randall recently pass and why were they purposely mischarted?

As for mid hatred islands, I would speculate the misinformation was for national security reasons (without knowing the names of the islands.

Thanks for the added comments about the pleasures of being part of the crew during Imp and order Fastnest events.

My only response was that I wish I could have been there. Second best is to read Skip!!!!!!

Thanks a million.

Ants

 

[sleddog]

As boats get lighter, the act of towing or being towed is becoming a lost art. Because for the best tow, one needs a faster passing boat with a displacement (not planing) hull that has a longer waterline. and leaves a quarter wave.

As the unsuspecting tower approaches, the towee disguises his intentions, then "jumps" on the tower's wake, as close as possible to the tower's stern or quarter. If done correctly the towee then rides the tower's wake downhill, increasing the towee's speed to the same as the tower. In the right conditions, this free ride can occasionally be held for long distance, like we did with CRAZY HORSE following TOMAHAWK for the length of Molokai in the Kenwood Cup, about 4 hours.

In the photo we are just losing the tow, having dropped a length back of the blue boat and onto the second wave. It was only then TOMAHAWK was able to use her greater length to open a lead. But the tow helped us save our time on the fleet. Ahhh, the IOR daze.



If being towed on a run, it is best to ride the leeward quarter wake so not to blanket the tower, disturb his wind, and slow him. You want the tower going as fast as possible.

Once "hooked," the tower's defense is to 1) radically swerve and try to shake the towee. 2) change course to more close hauled. Or 3) to temporarily slow and let the towee catch up and pass, then get the heck away from the opportunist nemesis.

There is debate whether a towee close astern of the tower actually speeds the tower up as well. I suppose theoretically it could, but has never been proven in practice. A towee close astern of a tower certainly does not slow the tower down.

I remember some epic tows. The 56' S&S YANKEE GIRL towing the 49' Holland PEGASUS for 15 miles in the Miami-Nassau Race. A C&C-61 towing the 42' IMPROBABLE the length of the West Solent in the Admiral's Cup. The 40' IMP hooking a tow from the passing 50' Frers MIDNIGHT SUN in the Nassau Cup.

One of the more epic tows was the Admiral's Cup trials in Newport, RI. On the 45' INSATIABLE we had 7 (!) smaller One Tonners (~38 feet LOA) jump our wake in a "train," each boat bow to stern with the one ahead. How we got out of that pickle, "broke' the train, and sailed away from the pesky One Tonners is a story for another time.

Congrats, BEETLE. You and Kristen invited down to CBC anytime.

 

[sleddog]

Congrats to Randall for his just completed southward transit of Peel Sound icepack! In one non-stop leg, he's gotta be a tired puppy.
We look forward to Randall's next post and story of his recent passage down Peel Sound. But that probably won't come until he's anchor down in Cambridge Bay, 100 miles ahead.
OK, if you missed the above trivia correctly about CRAZY HORSE correctly answered by TIGER BEETLE, here's another chance. What islands did Randall recently pass and why were they purposely mischarted?

Whew! MOLI should make Cambridge Bay this afternoon after 4 days of little sleep navigating through the ice. Randall was so tired he put his alarm on for 5 minutes, fell asleep, and was rudely awoken at 4 minutes when he T-boned a berg, instantly stopping MOLI and splitting the berg. Geez.

Meanwhile, nearby, in the 5/10's pack ice, the 53 foot ALIOTH has a failed transmission and is sailing to Cambridge Bay with Randall standing by to assist. There is an airfield at Cambridge with regularly scheduled flights, so suspect ALIOTH will be able to get parts flown in.

The once purposely mischarted islands Randall passed close aboard on Monday were the Clarence Islands at the NE tip of King William Island. But the question is not yet answered. Ants guessed the Clarence Islands were mischarted for security reasons. Nope.

 

[BobJ]

Thanks to that most nautical of charting sources, Wikipedia:

"Captain (Sir) John Ross commanded the Victory during his second Arctic exploration (1829—1833), partly in order to regain credibility after charting a fictional landform, Croker Mountains, during his first Arctic expedition. He chose his nephew, Commander James Clark Ross, to be second in command.

In 1830, while exploring within the Ross Strait, James Ross charted three islands. He named the group "Beaufort Islands" after Capt. Francis Beaufort, hydrographer of the Admiralty, and named the individual islands Adolphus Island, Frederick Island, and Augustus Island, these also being the names of three sons of the Duke of Clarence. John Ross did not see the "Beaufort Islands".

Upon returning to England in 1833, the expedition's members learned that the Duke of Clarence had ascended to the throne in 1830, becoming King William IV. John Ross reviewed his expedition's chart book with Capt. Beaufort and with the new king. With the notation "changed by His Majesty's command" included, John Ross made changes to the chart: he added six islands and three capes, all with royal Clarence and Fitz-Clarence family names (including Munster Island, Falkland Island, Erskine Island, Fox Island, Errol Island, Cape Sophia, Cape Sidney, and Cape Mary), and renamed the island group "Clarence Islands". While as leader of the expedition, John Ross had authority to name newly charted landforms as he wished, he did not receive authority to add fictional landforms to navigation chart books.

Lady Jane Franklin documented in her diary a meeting she had with Capt. Beaufort regarding the controversial chart book changes:

'Captain B. asked me if Sir John's ire had abated against (James) Ross, and he (Captain B.) seemed much tickled at this subject - he was not one he said to take away a man's fair character, but there were some things that ought to be held up to reprobation, and he was now going to tell me a good story. He had the book brought him and he asked me how many islands I counted in the Clarence group. I counted 9 - 3 I said were lilac, and the others white. "Well", says he, "there are but 3, and when the chart was first shown to me, there were only 3 marked down, but Ross having proposed to the King to call them the Clarence Islands, 'Yes, yes,' said the King, 'call them the Clarence islands', and then Ross thought it would be as well to make a few more, so that the Clarences and Fitzclarences might have one apiece." The story was afterwards confirmed to Sir John by Capt. James Ross, who said that his uncle had never seen the islands, had never been there and that it was he, Capt. James, who laid down in the map the true original number.'"

 

[sleddog]

Sailing yesterday with a friend on his Catalina 270 off Santa Cruz. During single-line reefing practice in 20 knots southwest of Mile Buoy, under the boom I caught a glimpse of a large object emerging from the white capped ocean.

We had been heeled on port tack. Under the boom, on starboard tack, 30 feet to leeward, was a large humpback.

I crash tacked, also called the "Quick Stop," with the jib left aback, and we lay hove to with no way on. I turned around facing aft and looked over the stern. The humpback's head was just aft of the rudder. I could see red barnacles on his lips.

He was a big guy, 50 feet? Later we saw his tail flukes, about 10' wide, were distinctively all white on the underside.

For the rest of our sail, Mr. Humpback was not far off. We could see his position by birds hovering overhead, hoping for a snack. On our return to the Harbor we briefly lost track of the solitary humpback. I looked astern one last time and there he was, cruising along about 2 whale lengths astern as we approached 100 yards off the breakwater.

Humpbacks are regulars here in Monterey Bay during summer months and there is a pretty good whale watching industry based on their visitations. In the fall, they head for Mexico and Hawaii. Hazards include orca pods, nets and crab pot lines entanglement, and being rundown by commercial and naval ships.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks to BobJ for identifying the reason the 3 Clarence Islands in the NW Passage were purposely mischarted by Sir John Ross. It was to give King William IV an extra 6 islands and 3 capes to name for his royal family members. Never underestimate the power of vanity in navigation.

This was not the first time John Ross had screwed up in his explorations.. He had seen a Fata Morgana mirage of the icepack in the sky, and named it the Croker Mountain Range on his charts, much to the chagrin of his officers and crew who knew better. The mis-charting of the fictional Croker Range blocked NW Passage exploration for some years.

Similar to when Alcatraz was aground in the middle of the Golden Gate preventing Francis Drake from identifying and discovering the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

Here's a painting of the Croker Range followed by the fictional, 1818 John Ross chart of the Croker Range blocking any entrance into Lancaster Sound, now the main artery of the NW Passage.

 

[BobJ]

...Similar to when Alcatraz was aground in the middle of the Golden Gate, preventing Francis Drake from identifying and discovering the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

When I was the club's t-shirt wonk, Michael at the Pirate's Lair conspired with me to memorialize Gary Mull's well-researched article about our floating island:

 

[BobJ]

Sharp eyes will spot the result of a misunderstanding about the appearance of one of the other marks. I think this design was used again recently, with the error still intact.

 

[Philpott]

Another nice SSS tradition. Thanks, Bob!



I'm avoiding work, too.

 

[BobJ]

That explains why I don't have the newer version - I didn't race in 2012. The blue on 2012's shirt masks the fact that the buoy colors were wrong on the 2008 shirt. "Black Aller" wasn't quite right either, but there's something else wrong. Hint: It became more obvious a couple years ago.

 

[Philpott]

That explains why I don't have the newer version - I didn't race in 2012. The blue on 2012's shirt masks the fact that the buoy colors were wrong on the 2008 shirt. "Black Aller" wasn't quite right either, but there's something else wrong. Hint: It became more obvious a couple years ago.

If there's no reward no one will play the game.

 

[BobJ]

I'm fresh out of lemon things to share.

 

[Gamayun]

That explains why I don't have the newer version - I didn't race in 2012. The blue on 2012's shirt masks the fact that the buoy colors were wrong on the 2008 shirt. "Black Aller" wasn't quite right either, but there's something else wrong. Hint: It became more obvious a couple years ago.

Could it be that Southampton Shoal light has never looked like that for 'all the years' I've been on SF Bay?

 

[BobJ]

Yes! Confused because they both appear to be on pilings, Michael used the Corinthian Yacht Club in place of the Southampton platform. It was pointed out a couple years ago that the latter is falling apart.

See Philpott about a lemon thing.

 

[Gamayun]

Blossom Rock is also a Green Over Red buoy. Not sure about Little Harding. I don't get over there as much...

Will have to check out the lemon thingy!

Oh, just got the lemon reference ;(

 

[sleddog]

That explains why I don't have the newer version - I didn't race in 2012. The blue on 2012's shirt masks the fact that the buoy colors were wrong on the 2008 shirt. "Black Aller" wasn't quite right either, but there's something else wrong. Hint: It became more obvious a couple years ago.

Artistic license and all, besides "Black Aller," Southampton, buoy colorage..there's another error. I'm offering Snickerdoodles and Macapuno. Not as good as lemon thingees, but..

 

[BobJ]

Lemon things. Philpott is kinda sensitive about this.

 

[AntsUiga]

Artistic license and all, besides "Black Aller," Southampton, buoy colorage..there's another error. I'm offering Snickerdoodles and Macapuno. Not as good as lemon thingees, but..

It seems like the 'floating island' is Yerba Buena. I doubt that it has moved.

Ants

 

[Philpott]

I'm fresh out of lemon things to share.

hahaha I don't bake to reward. I bake to show my appreciation for assistance freely given: a lemon bread for shims, pound cake for life in appreciation for Engine by Dave, cherry pie for the loan of In-Reach and a storm jib. The gesture is debased when baked goods are given for competitions. Huh. The idea.

Little Harding is green. Not red. Not blue. Green.