A well sailed J42 races in the SYC racer/cruiser class. The owner is experienced, his crew mostly long term friends. The J42 and Calypso moor close enough together that we are able to toss out a few pre-race verbal encouragements as we leave Shilshole Bay Marina.
The J42 owes Calypso a little time per our PHRFNW ratings. Neither of us makes much use of the "cruiser credits". We are often within shouting distance at mark rounding and the finish order is typically decide by the quality of our strategic and tactical decisions. We both enjoy the close competition however I believe the J's crew takes the racing more serious than the Calypso crew. One race, on a +-7 mile headsail reach leg from Blakely Rocks to Duwamish Head the J42 rounded ½ mile ahead. Calypso enjoys a good headsail reach in 12 to 15 TWS and we were catching up. I was a little more attentive to sail trim and put off making sandwiches in my competitive fervor. As we closed, (constant bearing, decreasing range, from astern) Calypso's co-owner with helm in hand asked what course to steer to avoid close quarters. I stated my preference for pointing the bow directly at the J42's backstay until we were at biscuit tossing range. Once Calypso was within a boat length I went forward to the pulpit and politely inquired if the J could "get out of our way as we were racing". Based on the J's owner's reaction I suspect the Calypso crew found this comment funnier than the J's crew. Fortunately I do not recall which boat one that race on corrected time but the J42 did cross the line first. The SYC Racer/Cruiser committee determines what defines a boat that is outside of the racer/cruiser class intent. If a newer high powered "cruise" boat with a newbie owner/crew wants to learn a little about racing and how to use their sails better exceptions have been made. One race a +-50' catamaran participated. They had a 3 generation crew with a lot of small children. It looked like all had fun until the wind went light. The SYC racer/cruiser committee has asked for suggestions to increase participation, especially of those boats that previously raced a few races a year then faded away and spend too much time at the dock. From the recent topics here on the CnC list I get the sense crew hassles are a major disincentive to come out and play. What else makes the top 5 reasons to back away from low impact racing? Martin Calypso 1970 C&C 43 Seattle ________________________________ From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Hoyt, Mike Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 7:49 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Racing Steve What sort of boat do you have that makes a J30 new? That is a 1979 boat and the handicaps for boats of that era and earlier are very well established. We have had a 1974 C&C 25 race at our club that was unbeatable. We have a slightly older Redline 25 that is very competitive We have a 1960s vintage Redwing 30 that is now almost impossible to beat... as well as another Redwing that likes to win in certain winds. I think the key is not to mix race prepped boats and non prepped boats in one fleet where possible or to handicap with a golf system. The one proviso is that you absolutely cannot reward poor boat prep and really poor sailing with credits to handcap that encourage a horribly sailed and prepped boat to win. On the other hand a boat that is loaded up to go on vacation should not have to take off all the supplies and swap roller furling headsails etc just to race a 2 hour club race. That said - the loaded up cruise ready boat still has to show good sailing skills to be competitive Lunenburg Yacht Club in Nova Scotia has a sliding handicap scale that is based on performance for their evening race series. Ian Mann of LYC is always happy to explain it to anyone who asks. I think this sort of system is the best way to handle a race prepped boat and crew of very good sailors that enters a Mom and Pop JAM series rather than flying spin with their peers. Forces that person to have to work very hard for a win ... 0.02 Mike ________________________________ From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Steve Rosen Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 11:28 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Racing unfortunately the Offsoundings race committee ( who have a good rating for enthusiasm, but less for accuracy and planning) have allowed racing boats like J30s and the the like to sail in the cruising fleet making those of us with older boat designs simply out of the running for any placement since they get the same points regardless of the division they race in a first or second in non spin is the same as in the racing classes. One of the reasons the Offsoundings fleet is diminishing year by year From: Martin DeYoung<mailto:mdeyo...@deyoungmfg.com> Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 6:49 PM To: Dennis C.<mailto:capt...@yahoo.com> ; cnc-list@cnc-list.com<mailto:cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Racing Dennis, I agree with your comments if racing is defined as competitive fleets on W/L courses. Here in the PNW the participation in point to point races by race/cruise designs is increasing. One of each year's highest participation races (typically 70 to 80 boats, 24' to 67') is the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club Race to the Straits. The fleet races out (northwest from Seattle) to Port Townsend (+-30 miles), spend the night plus a party, then race back on Sunday. This is a pursuit race so the slower rated boats have a chance to be at the dock first. Seattle Yacht Club added a race/cruise fleet to their Tri-Island series. High powered, planing "cruise" boats are not allowed. Rating credits are given for old sails and other cruise boat attributes. Half way times are taken in case light wind prevents finishing before the time limit (typ. 6 to 8 hours). For the last few years the race/cruise classes had more boats on the start line than most of the competitive classes. I enter Calypso in this series and enjoy close competition with similar age/design boats mostly crewed with family and friends. Protests are discouraged; courtesy and sportsmanship are promoted as is helping newbies learn the ropes. The Elliott Bay Marina puts on a fun "race" Thursday evenings during the summer. A 100 boats may show up. Costume themed nights occur. Slow boats can motor if necessary to finish in time for the party (keg, live band, munchies). One small yacht club runs a race for liveaboards named something like "Race your House", IIRC the turnout was low (<12) but it got people out on their boats. Tuesday evening on Lake Union the "Duck Dodge" race and party might have 30 to 60 boats crammed onto the inner city lake surrounded by houseboats, restaurants, and marinas. The after race raft up party is well attended. I am optimistic that the efforts by local yachts club's efforts to tailor races/events to the larger race/cruise audience will reverse the race/cruise boat participation trend. Martin Calypso 1970 C&C 43 Seattle ________________________________ From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Dennis C. Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 2:58 PM To: Cn Clist Subject: Stus-List Racing An adjunct to the transition to cruising thread. Racing is evolving to smaller boats. Typical new race boat now is 20-30 feet, fractional rig, non-overlapping headsail (frequently on a furler) and possibly a sprit. Race boats are moving in the direction of high performance, planing hulls and less crew. Handwriting on the wall = if you have one of our older IOR design "classic" boats, move away from hardcore racing and more towards cruising or beercan racing. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA ________________________________ _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com Stephen Rosen p: 973 692 1083 c: 860-460-6975 alert...@hotmail.com<mailto:alert...@hotmail.com>
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