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New Boat 4 Sled
- Thread starter sleddog
- Start date
Intermission
Member
Well you do seem to be quite proficient at it.
I was only wondering if spelling was yet another department of SailDrone?
Howard Spruit
New member
I have never surfed with an Otter but I am sure they are GOOD at it!
I have on many occasions shared my waves with the local Seals, sometime with as many 3 in front of me on the shoulder.
I always enjoyed the experience, not giving any thought to the damage they could cause me!
I have on many occasions shared my waves with the local Seals, sometime with as many 3 in front of me on the shoulder.
I always enjoyed the experience, not giving any thought to the damage they could cause me!
I know, they are old fashioned. But I recently hot knifed ~100 white nylon telltales. I will be around RYC today and tomorrow if you want any. They are $2 each donation, $5 each if you want me to mount them so they stay in place on your rigging. I suggest one each on your V-1's and D-1's and one on your backstay, 9" long, head height. Better than yarn or stereo tape.
As well, limiited copies of Sailing on WILDFLOWER
As well, limiited copies of Sailing on WILDFLOWER
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Like a herd of cats, the 2023 Singlehanded Transpac Fleet got off to a successful start this morning off the Golden Gate Yacht Club in winds 12-15 knots from the WNW. Now they are charging south, playing Follow the Leader to a stomping Green Buffalo. I have been asked to comment on why everyone is heading so far south. It is because the High is blocking a more northerly course. The corner is at 31-00 N x130- 00 and you cross the 1020 millibar isobar at your peril. There be dragons.
Just a head's up: If you are following the tracker, not all boats are "pinging" at the same time. Therefore, the relative positions are not accurate to each other. What I can glean is JAMANI, GREEN BUFFALO, and SUCH FAST are leading boat for boat and going fast, averaging 7-9 knots in 15-20 knts of NW wind.
Just a head's up: If you are following the tracker, not all boats are "pinging" at the same time. Therefore, the relative positions are not accurate to each other. What I can glean is JAMANI, GREEN BUFFALO, and SUCH FAST are leading boat for boat and going fast, averaging 7-9 knots in 15-20 knts of NW wind.
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OK Team. If you're like me, don't Face Book, and wondering where the heck is the SHTP Tracker Link, click here: https://www.jibeset.net/gpswatch.php?FA=JACKY_T004055182_1_1681513023 As you will likely notice, one racer has turned around and headed home*. Another seems lost/intent on finding the EPAC High. Wind currently is 340m at 17-20 knots.
A couple of caveats on the Tracker. 1) The Tracker pings are every 4 hours and not all of the fleet is synchronized. Boats may appear to be leapfrogging each other 2) The distance to the finish, and the 24 hour distance run, is unrealistic as it is measured on the Great Circle course to Kauai. To avoid sailing into the EPAC High you first want to sail southwest, which is nearly right angles to the GC course. More northerly boats are almost always going to look like they are closer and winning against boats further south. 3) The pings only measure a moment in time. If the boat is surfing a wave, it may look like it is going really fast. And vice-versa.
It's still early. But looks like JAMANI, the J-120 is leading boat for boat. Unfortunately JAMANI's skipper neglected to manually transmit "Proof of Life" in the 12 hour window and RC had to contact the CG, initiating a wakeup call on the VHF by a nearby commercial ship. JAMANI is checked in now, but likely subject to a 1 hour mandatory penalty on corrected time. GREEN BUFFALO looks to me to be the leader on handicap, running near 200 miles noon to noon.
* at some point CIRCE, a Freedom 40/40 was knocked down by a breaking wave and Tony thrown out of his bunk and across the cabin. Boat is OK, but Tony has an unknown injury and decided the best plan was to return to SF. Race Headquarters is tracking and over-watching until he is inside the Golden Gate.
A couple of caveats on the Tracker. 1) The Tracker pings are every 4 hours and not all of the fleet is synchronized. Boats may appear to be leapfrogging each other 2) The distance to the finish, and the 24 hour distance run, is unrealistic as it is measured on the Great Circle course to Kauai. To avoid sailing into the EPAC High you first want to sail southwest, which is nearly right angles to the GC course. More northerly boats are almost always going to look like they are closer and winning against boats further south. 3) The pings only measure a moment in time. If the boat is surfing a wave, it may look like it is going really fast. And vice-versa.
It's still early. But looks like JAMANI, the J-120 is leading boat for boat. Unfortunately JAMANI's skipper neglected to manually transmit "Proof of Life" in the 12 hour window and RC had to contact the CG, initiating a wakeup call on the VHF by a nearby commercial ship. JAMANI is checked in now, but likely subject to a 1 hour mandatory penalty on corrected time. GREEN BUFFALO looks to me to be the leader on handicap, running near 200 miles noon to noon.
* at some point CIRCE, a Freedom 40/40 was knocked down by a breaking wave and Tony thrown out of his bunk and across the cabin. Boat is OK, but Tony has an unknown injury and decided the best plan was to return to SF. Race Headquarters is tracking and over-watching until he is inside the Golden Gate.
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Beginning of Day 3 of the SHTP...It's been a rough ride across Windy Lane with the NW wind, 18-22 knots and 6-9 foot seas combining with the boat speeds of 6-9 knots to keep the decks wet, and the motion churning stomachs and minimizing sleep, never mind keeping a lookout for traffic, reefing and unreefing, and making friends with hard working auto-pilots and windvanes.
Things are about to change as the fleet crosses the 1016 isobar and begins to approach the 1020 isobar. Winds and seas are slowly calming and seas beginning to come from aft abeam Thoughts are turning to sleep, eating, more sail, drying out the boat, more sail, figuring out AP (auto pilot) difficulties, more sail. And the all important decision of where to cross the 1020 isobar and enter the SE ridge of the Pacific High.
I encourage you to read e-mails from the fleet in the below thread. Randy's pre-race, last minute travail on TORTUGA is epic. We cheered him on the start line. It was not certain he would be there.
https://www.sfbaysss.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?26-2023-Singlehanded-Trans-Pacific-Yacht-Race
OK, so who is winning this race? Has anyone noticed HULA, Bill Stange's Westsail chugging along to the east of the fleet? If the more northern boats begin to run out of wind, it will be HULA's race to lose. Both Bill, and Jim on GREEN BUFFALO, have won this race before...Experience counts for a lot. Chances are 50/50 one of the two will win overall.
Gotta go paddle. Back later.
Things are about to change as the fleet crosses the 1016 isobar and begins to approach the 1020 isobar. Winds and seas are slowly calming and seas beginning to come from aft abeam Thoughts are turning to sleep, eating, more sail, drying out the boat, more sail, figuring out AP (auto pilot) difficulties, more sail. And the all important decision of where to cross the 1020 isobar and enter the SE ridge of the Pacific High.
I encourage you to read e-mails from the fleet in the below thread. Randy's pre-race, last minute travail on TORTUGA is epic. We cheered him on the start line. It was not certain he would be there.
https://www.sfbaysss.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?26-2023-Singlehanded-Trans-Pacific-Yacht-Race
OK, so who is winning this race? Has anyone noticed HULA, Bill Stange's Westsail chugging along to the east of the fleet? If the more northern boats begin to run out of wind, it will be HULA's race to lose. Both Bill, and Jim on GREEN BUFFALO, have won this race before...Experience counts for a lot. Chances are 50/50 one of the two will win overall.
Gotta go paddle. Back later.
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For those of us still at the stage of figuring out how to use our windvanes properly, and not yet at the weather-strategy level, what dragons exactly are to be expected there? I would have thought that the closer you got to the center of the high (or at least the more widely spaced the isobars / lower the pressure gradient at your location) the _less_ wind you'd have. I understand that is undesirable (unless you're feeling overpowered/want calmer conditions), but the mention of 'dragons' makes me wonder if there's more going on than that, like bad weather of some sort.
PS: Many thanks for posting the weather charts and commentary for us non-Facebookers.
Anyone want to guess the designer of this 61 foot, 16,000 pound rocket ship recently launched at Jim Betts in Anacortes, WA?
Guess he took the hint to not let the boom drag in the water! Not sure what the thingee is on the bow. My guess is it's associated with a sprit for a reaching head sail.
Yiiii Doggies!
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Amen. Check out the mainsheet lead. I can only guess it leads to an electric winch. David Hodges and crew at Ullman Sails in Santa Cruz made the mainsail. David personally drove the sail 1,000 miles north to Anacortes, WA, to make sure it fit.
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Thanks to Kimo Mackey for the nice photo taken last evening at 9:45 pm returning from Seattle aboard the Bainbridge Island Ferry.
I've received a nice remembrance from Barbara, daughter of Rod Park, Professor of Plant and Microbial Biology and Vice Chancellor, Emeritus at UC Berkeley. for 3 decades. Rod loved to sail, had a modified Cal-36, L'ALLEGRO, for the '69 and '71 Transpac. Then he and Bill Lee designed a revolutionary, 40 foot, ultra light ocean racer, PANACHE that took second in Class B in 1973 Transpac to IMPROBABLE. This led to Rod Park racing PANACHE in the 1980 Singlehanded Transpac.
Rod had such a great time on PANACHE in 1980 SHTP that after eight days in Hawaii he dis-invited his crew for the return passage and sailed back to SF by himself.
Rod Park gave the commencement address at Tabor Academy, his alma mater in Marion, MA, in 1994. The students had asked Rod to answer 5 questions in his speech, one question being "What extracurricular activities had the most lasting effect upon you?" Below is an excerpt from Rod Park's inspirational speech that singlehanders can likely relate to.
What extracurricular activities had the most lasting effect upon you?
"Without a doubt it was sailing, a hobby I have pursued for a lifetime. Sailing has also been a positive influence on my children, something you will have to consider as you raise your families in a world of ever increasing chemical temptations and other social risks.
Numerous races to Mexico, to the Hawaiian islands including a singlehanded race, and to Tahiti made me realize that the sea has become an important benchmark in my life. The choice of benchmarks is highly individual, but important. In the everyday stress of urban America it is too easy to become like the chameleon and to change color without even knowing it. As far as we know the sea, except for the creatures swimming in it and flying over it, has the same appearance now that it did 3 billion years ago. When I go back to it and it seems different, I know that I am the one who has changed and not the sea. The sea allowed me to develop a peaceful relationship to the world. It has helped me find what I can know and what I cannot know and from there to determine where knowledge ends and faith begins.
For those of you who pursue the sea as a benchmark, perhaps the most intense relationship to the sea comes in offshore singlehanded sailboat racing - from San Francisco to Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands for example. I took up singlehanded sailboat racing at a difficult time in my life when I wanted to find out not only what was bothering me, but whether I was ok. I found my answers and a strength that I could only have guessed existed. This discovery of internal resource and strength was the culmination of a journey that started here at Tabor. At some times in life we all find ourselves alone, if not geographically them emotionally. Tabor has started you on the path to discovering and developing your own resources to emerge from these challenges stronger than you entered them."
Excerpt from Tabor Academy Graduation Address
May 28, 1994
Roderic Park ‘49
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For those interested, the first named storm of the year has formed 400 miles south of Baja, Hurricane Adrian has 70 knot winds and is moving slowly NW into colder waters. Hurricane Adrian should slow further and rapidly weaken by Sunday to become a remnant low near 17N x 117W, 300 miles SW of Baja. It will have no effect on the SHTP fleet. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/?epac
The first wave of the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race, the other "Transpac" started yesterday. SWEET OKOLE from RYC is moving well south of the pack and one of the favorites. https://cf.yb.tl/transpac2023
The first wave of the Los Angeles to Honolulu Race, the other "Transpac" started yesterday. SWEET OKOLE from RYC is moving well south of the pack and one of the favorites. https://cf.yb.tl/transpac2023
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It looks like there is another Tropical Depression developing further NE and much closer to the Baja peninsula. TBD
3 retirements in first wave of LA Transpackers including a turnbuckle failure, a dislodged upper rudder bearing turning the rudder shaft into a "swizzle stick," and doublehander Jerome Sammercelli being air evaced off his Carbon32 SAM due to injury in fall. Reportedly he is ok. SWEET OKOLE was headed south, but has now come back north and joined the pack chasing the SHTP. Faster boats start today, including J-125 VELVET HAMMER with navigator Ian Rogers, Mark English, Rebecca Hinden, Julia Paxton, David Schumann, and owner/skipper James Nichols. That's a tough Bay Area crew! Good luck to them.
Re: Rod Park's address at Tabor Academy
Skip, thanks for sharing that excerpt with us.
Naturally, I looked up Tabor Academy and learned that it is located on a bit of Buzzard's Bay and offers nautical courses
https://www.taboracademy.org/school-by-the-sea
The school runs a schooner: SSV Tabor Boy
https://www.taboracademy.org/school-by-the-sea/ssv-tabor-boy/history
When I was a student at UC Berkeley in 1966-68, I worked in Rod Park's lab developing and printing electron micrographs of chloroplasts. I did go sailing once out of RYC on his boat of that time. Maybe as I paw through boxes of photos, I will find the ones I took that day.
Sue Estey
Skip, thanks for sharing that excerpt with us.
Naturally, I looked up Tabor Academy and learned that it is located on a bit of Buzzard's Bay and offers nautical courses
https://www.taboracademy.org/school-by-the-sea
The school runs a schooner: SSV Tabor Boy
https://www.taboracademy.org/school-by-the-sea/ssv-tabor-boy/history
When I was a student at UC Berkeley in 1966-68, I worked in Rod Park's lab developing and printing electron micrographs of chloroplasts. I did go sailing once out of RYC on his boat of that time. Maybe as I paw through boxes of photos, I will find the ones I took that day.
Sue Estey
For those wondering about PERPLEXITY's wanderings, there is a charging issue with his batteries and they may have discharged enough that he can't start his engine until the sun warms the solar panels. I'm sure John will get things up and running. Meanwhile, beginning Sunday, the Los Angeles to Hono Transpac will begin to overhaul and play through our SHTP fleet for the next week. The EPAC High has now rotated CCW so it is aimed NE/SW and increased slightly in central pressure to 1029mb so the SHTP fleet have a nice lane of 12-14 knot gradient NE winds to get them on their way down the 1020 isobar. Bucket baths anybody? Don't forget to tie the bucket to the boat and not around your wrist.
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Jonathan Gutoff
New member
What do you think about Eos taking the northerly route? I haven't seen him slow down less than 5 knots and is cutting the corner.