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New Boat 4 Sled

I remember as a 6th grader going to the orthodontist during school hours on my bike in Alameda. After the appointment, I’d head over to Alameda Marina and walk the docks looking at boats. More than once I made myself comfortable in the cockpit of one boat or another, biding my time until it was time to head back to school.
 
Dazzler said:
Spreader droop is all too common. Just look around any harbor. They probably get away with it due to a certain amount of over engineering. But, there comes a point (and probably at the worst time) when failure is inevitable. I wonder if there’s been a recent increase in insurance claims for mast failures? Read on…
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Walking the docks, a lot can be told by looking upward at spreaders. For example, if a Cal-40 and there are wooden spreaders, the rig is original, 50 odd years old, and not to be trusted. If the spreaders have mildew or moss visible on the undersides, the owner or rigger hasn't given the mast any inspection or maintenance...like driving a car with old tires that have not had their inflation checked. Ditto with droopy spreaders. If the ends of the spreaders aren't taped, wrapped, or leathered, the owner doesn't care much about his sails. Then there are swept spreaders, a common fad to allow bigger, non-overlapping jibs. All good, except if you are cruising offshore and the spreaders are swept back 12 degrees or more, the friction of the shrouds and spreaders make it difficult, almost impossible, to reef downwind as the breeze increases. Not a good safety feature and necessitating coming up into the wind, often with the engine running.

Back in the 1960's, double sets of spreaders were a rarity. Then when double spreaders appeared in the 70's, triple sets of spreaders were thought extreme. Now triple spreaders are common on 40 foot day sailors and cruisers, and 50 footers have quadruple sets. They come with their own terminology and shrouds running from the deck aloft are termed "V1,V2,V3," for vertical shrouds and "D1,D2, D3 etc" for diagonal shrouds running from the spreader tips below to the root of the spreader above.

Something no one likes to hear: "Hey Boss, the S2 got stuck between the V2 and D2 when were were changing to the A3. Would you send up the sail repair kit?"
 
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Craig checks in from the Los Osos Boatyard and Schooner Club. MiniMagic's rig is standing and she has trial bedsheet sails for patterns while more deck gear is being manufactured:

MiniMagic1.jpg
 
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I'm wondering if he's going with 3Di Endurance or one of the regular flavors of sails. And are those powered winches?

She's a beauty!
 
I can vouch the winches do turn, and the sails can be sheeted. As for 3Di, I believe the sailmaker will be a quilting expert down the street... The bedsheet suit of sails is just for trial measurements. Stay cool everyone!
 
For those interested in the 2021 Singlehanded Transpac, the 11 boat fleet started this morning off the Golden Gate YC in 12-16 knot westerlies and strong ebb tide. The battle for first under the Golden Gate was waged between the J-109 MOUNTAIN and the Express 37 PERPLEXITY, with the Cal-40's NOZOMI and GREEN BUFFALO nipping at their transoms.

Now, 3 hours later, the fleet has split into 3 groups in the southerly wind. The southern most group, Lono Class, is led by BUFFALO, NOZOMI, then SIREN. The middle group, Kane Class, is under spinnaker and going north of the Farallones, and includes MOUNTAIN, the Hobie 33 ALOHA, PERPLEXITY, and NORTHERN STAR.

Also under port pole spinnaker, inshore, is SOBG, looking good. And HULA, of Ku Class is taking the scenic coastal route to Bodega Bay passing Bolinas Lagoon just offshore.

If you want to watch, the tracker page is here: https://www.jibeset.net/gpswatch.php?FA=JACKY_T007588480_1_58311070_NC

Be aware, trackers are individually owned and set to different ping and refresh times and may report minutes, even hours apart.
 
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Sled, It looks like there’s an annoying low pressures area (with counterclockwise rotation) developing ~125-130 Nm due West. For us armchair sailors, what do you recommend? Which way to go? Is that why the fleet has split?
 
Dazzler said:
Sled, It looks like there’s an annoying low pressures area (with counterclockwise rotation) developing ~125-130 Nm due West. For us armchair sailors, what do you recommend? Which way to go? Is that why the fleet has split?
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Yes DAZZLER. Not only is the transition between the Southerly Surge and synoptic wind moving slowly west, but a low pressure is developing just offshore with an associated trough extending NE/SW. It is a complex situation without a clear answer how to get to the synoptic wind at 126 degrees west.

Some of the fleet have routing programs and the skill to use them. The problem is routing programs like Expedition vary their recommended courses with each run. And not by a little, but by a whole degree! Yesterday at the Skipper's meeting luncheon, one competitor was tugging at what was left of his hair as Expedition had just changed its suggestion from running north to Bodega Bay before heading west over the top of the pesky Low to instead beating south towards Monterey Bay and then sailing under the Low.

Even here at CBC, without Stan Honey beside, I cannot, at this time, figure out which way to go..Yes, I did advise one competitor to sail the closest tack to 225 m. The answer will come, but maybe not for 24-48 hours.
 
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Waters from Point Reyes to Pigeon Point 10-60 NM offshore-
issued 857 PM PDT Sat Jun 19 2021
TONIGHT
W winds 5 to 10 kt. Wind waves 9 to 10 ft. Patchy fog.
SUN
S winds 5 to 10 kt. Wind waves 7 to 8 ft. Patchy fog.
SUN NIGHT
S winds 5 to 10 kt. Wind waves 6 to 7 ft. Patchy fog

SHTP2.gif
 
Good news for the Summer Solstice, at 0800 Sunday, June 20, the van of the SHTP fleet found consistent breeze overnight and has been close reaching along at 5-6 knots, 120 miles SW of the start, presumably catching up on some sleep despite prevailing NW swells coming abeam.

Note to observers: The Distance to Go as measured by the trackers is not realistic as it measures the Great Circle (shortest) distance. Unlikely anyone will sail the GC, as it takes you through the region of the Pacific High. Measuring Distance to Go via the GC will show more northerly boats "winning" as they appear closer to the finish. Getting southwest is the name of the game in order to sail under the Pacific High.

The fleet has now sailed out of shore based (VHF) AIS range and can only be tracked on AIS by satellite, for which I do not have a (paid) subscription. It's the onboard trackers or nothing.
 
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OK Weirdos,
You want scientific evidence the SHTP fleet is sailing the fastest route instead of north to Bodega Bay and then over the top of the pesky low pressure? Maybe this is why HULA reversed course 180 off Bolinas. The below is the latest Expedition Routing for a boat the speed of a Cal-40 run this morning. Take it with a grain of salt.

SHTP3.PNG
 
sleddog said:
The fleet has now sailed out of shore based (VHF) AIS range and can only be tracked on AIS by satellite, for which I do not have a (paid) subscription. It's the onboard trackers or nothing.
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Interesting to see which boats’ AIS signals were being received the greatest distance from shore based receivers. NORTHERN STAR, SIREN and GREEN BUFFALO all look to have had the best signals. In contrast, a few boats appear to have very weak signals that were not even being received half way to the Farallones.

I suspect the differences are primarily about signal strength (or more correctly signal loss), and possibly antenna height although the smallest boat (SOBG) had a very strong signal. The quality of the antenna lead (coaxial cable) and connectors can make a big difference in reducing signal loss. Something to pay attention to.
 
¿Expedition? Don’t need no stinkin’ software!
Just follow Skip’s pre-race advice: “…sail the closest tack to 225 m.”
And now, on day two the software agrees.
 
Things are beginning to shake out: MOUNTAIN, the J-109, thus far appears to be .25 knots faster than anyone, close reaching on port at 6.1 knots in 9 knots of breeze, likely with a Code 0. Boat for boat, NOZOMI is second and her sister, the BUFF 3rd, nearby to PERPLEXITY, whose malfunctioning tracker reports her doing double-digit speeds. Ain't buying it: An Express 37 and a Cal-40 are similar in speed.

Good news: the vanguard of the fleet is about to descend into a low pressure "trof" as the weathermen like to spell it. "Trough" would be to confusing for weather language? On the other side of the "trof" is the synoptic or gradient wind, 15-20 knots of northerly breeze that will spank the fleet SW.

And here comes the floating food fight, SHARK ON BLUEGRASS. Do NOT underestimate this little 25 footer putting the nibble on the fleet.

Get those doggies outta here.
 
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Not to distract from more important stuff, Skip, but Dave Morris came out on Bob's boat Saturday. He sent me this photo:

Rocker for retired sailors.jpg

Looks comfy. Wonder if it would require bonine?
 
End of an era. And the beginning of a new one. The last boat builder standing in Santa Cruz has closed its doors forever: Moore Bros. has been evicted and the shop emptied on Grove St. in Watsonville. The Moore-24 molds have been temporary saved by someone, though Ron wanted to cut them up.

Closer to the CBC, I visited Dave Hodges new Ullman sail loft this morning, around the corner from the old one and behind the climbing gym. Wow! David went the extra mile to make the loft light, airy, and well designed. He even hopes to fit in the batting cage.

Hodges.jpg

David and his crew were busy doing something important: chasing down 5 just fledged sparrows flitting around the loft. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be OK as they were relocated back outside. While chasing birdlets, David told me if someone wants the fastest small ultralight that ever graced Santa Cruz, that the 33 foot, Jim Foley designed and built THIRD REEF is in outdoor storage (under cover) in Reno. THIRD REEF is a serious part of Santa Cruz history.

Dave Hodges had also just sailed on Terry Alsberg's turboed Express-27 and says it is much stiffer than he imagined, as well as having whiplash acceleration. The only problem is with 7 foot draft and a shoaled, rocky area under the hoist, Terry's unnamed Wednesday night racer can only be launched or hauled in a narrow and often inconvenient window.

Paddling this morning looked like a giant bubble bath. With big surf and confused seas, the oily bilge water from various boats in Santa Cruz Harbor had collected near the seaward end of the breakwater, where it was being churned into a 50x50 foot area of oily froth 6" high.

Returning from my paddle I passed the Coasties outbound in their big RIB. I stopped them briefly to report "an oil spill at the Harbor Entrance." They were on their way to the launch ramp to haul and return their trailerable rig to home base in Monterey and I don't think wanted to go look or take water samples of what some kayaker was reporting.

However up the Coast 350 miles and 80 miles offshore Crescent City, in Gale Alley, the CG was involved and using 2 helos, airlifted 6 crew off the famous 79' schooner BARLOVENTO in big seas and gale force. Apparently, BARLO was taking on water, and a crew member had been injured. Shades of the loss of NINA, except no lives were lost. But BARLO, abandoned, is being reported as a hazard to navigation. Will she survive? Doubtful.
https://twitter.com/USCGPacificSW/status/1406710149046181889

But Leo's 111 year old, Fastnet Race winning TALLY HO will survive, hopefully for another century After 4 years, Leo is moving the boat, his crew, and tools to Port Townsend, 20 miles from Sequim. Leo's 100th video is a must watch. And he reveals about Poncho the parrot's future. Good for them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXYZHVqmwY
 
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