Piscataqua Sailing Association

Portsmouth, NH

J24 Summer Race Series 2013

Overall

SS1 - 7/25

What a great night, despite the rain showers and heavy overcast, 15 of now 16 boat strong fleet answered the gun. Tom will need to make the line longer. Sienna Grace sporting a hand me down main from the Matrix made their debut in time for the start of the summer series and David Severence got the cob webs out of Crazy Horse US 2424, out of the water since 06, and joined the fleet. This portends well for our fleet, new boats on the line and most everyone showing up.

Winds NE around 5-8 knots this evening with a strong ebb tide, Tom set a course D. The boat was favored by my read. Brew HA HA and Phat Tail mixed it up at the boat, with Groves pushing Jim over early and himself as well. Big Ben probably got the cleanest start, held starboard deep into the left side rounding first and was untouchable after that. Boats that went left generally made out, the deeper you dug into the left the better off you were. I was informed of a protest between McLovin and The Matri

SS2 - 8/1

Breeze was up this evening, it has been since the districts that we had so much breeze, SE-S around 14 knots higher in the gusts with big lumps left over from the day 20 knot plus winds. Tide was flooding during the race. Some of the lighter crew went with jibs, most full crews weight stayed with the genoa.

Tom set a course D with the pin favored in both races less so in the second. The starts were clean in both races with the exception of Powerwhore being called early in the second. 12 boats participated, Bill Steward made it out of the jungles of Costa Rica and the off Bosuns hill, rounded up a crew and made it to the race. Welcome back Bill.

Call the fire engines, Big Ben has been so hot lately he might be on fire; easily capturing bullets in both races, Sugaree, flying only a jib traded 2nd & 3rd with McLovin.

SS3 - 8/1

In the protest from last weeks race between McLovin and Matrix the committee found no foul had been committed after a lengthy hearing. My thanks to the member of the protest committee, Jon Taft, Bob Sullivan and Mike Thiel for hearing this protest. I appreciate your time and thoughtful deliberation in a difficult case. The protest caused much discussion in the fleet about tacking in the zone and the applicability of rule 13 tacking and rule 18.3, tacking in the zone as well as the exoneration rules that apply. I found that many people I spoke with misinterpret 18.3 and think 13 doesn't apply so it wouldn't hurt for skipper and tacticians to brush up.

This Saturday is the Whaleback regatta and a chowder party post race at KPYC. I understand Tom Schladenhauffen is looking for RC help, please contact him if you could make yourself available.

SS4 - 8/8

The rain held off to give us a really great evening. SW about 10 knots with an ebbing tide producing some white caps and chop on the right side of the course. The wind was forecast to shift right but that really didn't materialize until after the second race.

Tom set course D with a longish line to accommodate the entire fleet. Nice, not to have to fight it out on a short line. The current was pushing boats off the line, no one was early. The line was pretty square, the boat may have been favored a bit by the wind and the pin probably favored by the current. Winning boats started down by the pin. Course D, twice around held for first race with and a once around for the second. A clean race no protests filed.

Matrix captured both bullets putting and end to Big Ben's winning streak who finished 2nd in both. Sugaree and McLovin traded third and fourth.

SS5 - 8/8

SS6 - 8/15

What a great summer night, fading 8 knot westerly with completely flat seas, unlimited visibility, slack current. All put together you will be thinking of tonight when you are warming up by the fire after shoveling snow this coming winter. 13 of 16 answered the gun, with Egon guest skippering Stay Calm.

Tom set up a course D, twice around with gates. The wind shifted to the North after the windward mark was set making the starboard leg much longer. Tom reset the RC to adjust the line for the shift although I think the boat was still favored slightly. Three boats were called early, Phat Tail, Matrix and Big Ben. Big Ben dug himself out of the hole capturing the bullet.

No host, no Social this evening, Vox has stepped forward for next week.

Only three races left in the season, with start time shifting to 5:30 PM.

SS7 - 8/22

What a great night of late season racing; Sw 10-15 that only really shifted and started fade until after the race. It was warm and the thunderstorm in Durham never made it to the race course. The current was ripping out with the near full moon, the ebb was as big as it gets.

Tom set up course D twice around with gates and a downwind finish. The line was long enough to accommodate 15 boats, reasonably square may be with the boat sightly favored. A clean start , no one was early. The right side with the current flowing out seemed the obvious way to go but on the first leg didn't seem to produce that big an advantage. Boats ending up in the middle did ok. Not so on the second leg, McLoving and Powderwhore choose the left and didn't make out so good. There was great racing throughout the fleet with much close boat on boat tactics on display up and down the fleet.
Sugaree stuck way right on the second leg and captured the bullet.

SS8 - 9/5/13

Tom Brown set the final race of the series as course D, up to the windward mark and straight back to the finish. The wind was light and shifty.

Fruitcakes hosted a steak dinner back a KPYC. Doug and Phyllis Joyce made sure everything was ready for the returning crews. The Mashed Potato Sundaes and Fruitcakes by Phyllis were a hit as usual.

Thanks to all that hosted dinners, KPYC for providing their club house, Tom Brown for his tireless scoring aboard Chumly, and the PSA for our race committee boat, web site and overall support.

Thanks to all skippers and crews for showing up and providing the spirited competition.

Scoring codes used

wordpress-827071-2844725.cloudwaysapps.com

Sailwave Scoring Software 2.9.7
www.sailwave.com