SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: A pictorial race walk-through - August 16th Race Report

 Photos courtesy of Lisa Duret, Sandy Miller and Bernice Rains, Videos courtesy of Lisa Duret

 

It was another great day for sailing. Sailors were gleefully kept on edge, needing to respond quickly to the manic manner of the strong shifty wind.  It was as predictable as the flight path of a horsefly, a notch above what we have come to expect at Grandview.  A sailor’s shout suggesting a title for this race report was adhered to.  We have lots of photos and some good videos to walk you through each leg of the races.  Lets begin with the start of the first race.  Additional general detail about the race day will be provided as we progress through the race.

START OF RACE 1 

Tom Cartwright, with help from Ben and/or Sarah Cartwright, set up a nice long course.  The starting line did not require a lot of tacking in its vicinity, at least at the starts, which was fortunate under the circumstances.

7 of the 8 boats after starting horn

 

(From Committee Boat) after start.  Some boats go to starboard, some to port....

 

...and the 3 Y-Flyers go down the middle

 Here is a video of the race to the first mark, with a near capsize (watch the 2nd boat).

 

Our Committee Boat volunteers Jack and Sandy Miller and Harry and Sandy Meshberger rode out the big waves and the crazy wind.  Fortunately, under our COVID protocol they didn’t have to anchor, but maintaining a position near the starting line was a difficult task.  Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld organize our races and Committee Boat volunteers respectively.  Thanks everyone.

START OF RACE 2

 Our volunteers invoked GYC rule #1:  "THE COMMITTEE BOAT VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT", and expressed their regret that apparently the stopwatches of all the sailors were wrong at the start of the 2nd race.  That explains the far from simultaneous start.  The sailors took it in stride, graciously complying with "rule#1". One sailor was fortunate to be close to the starting line when the horn blew and got a nice head start.

A not so simultaneous start. One boat (not pictured) got a big head start

ROUNDING THE FIRST MARK

Below is a good video showing the various directions sailors came from to get to the first mark.  And yet, they arrive at roughly same time and encounter a bit of difficulty with the wind near the mark causing congestion.  (The orange mark buoy/flag is in the middle of the screen and will become more visible as the video progresses)

 

The first group around the 1st mark

 

The 2nd group makes it around the mark.  Note Matt on far right.  He is about to catch a wind favoring just him.

THE SLOG TO THE 2ND MARK

 After rounding the first mark, there was initially a decent wind as you can see below.

 

 But then we encountered a "wind shadow" with the hills blocking the wind.

Congestion during one of few times without much wind in the sails.  Except Matt at far left.

 

The wind has picked up on the way to the 2nd mark and the sailors begin to spread out.  Jim Riffle manned the safety boat (pictured) with Lisa, which allowed Lisa to get photos and some videos from various points along the course.

That tiny sail way out in the distance near the dam in the middle of the photo is Matt, whose favorable wind rocketed him.  He is now on the way to the 3rd mark while the rest of the field is on the way to the 2nd.

 ROUNDING THE 2ND MARK

 

Jim Voelz has just rounded the 2nd mark(orange flag in middle of photo). Tom and Phil, followed by Lance and Bianca are about to.  A few other boats are on their way.

 

 

 

Tom and Phil round the 2nd mark.

 ROUNDING THE 3RD MARK, PROCEEDING TO THE FINISH LINE

 

Boats round the 3rd mark and head for the finish line

 A PROTEST FOR THE PROTEST MEETING

Despite the frequent wind shifts which would tend to spread the boats out, we had plenty of congestion which made the race more exciting and more fun to watch. Like the last race, Jim and Matt found themselves again within inches of each other, resulting in a protest.   Arlene Truex hosted the protest meeting, where we judged this first protest of the year. Thanks Arlene!  The outcome? Since the alleged offender wasn’t clearly notified that they were being “protested” as required by our rules, the matter became moot.  Nevertheless we scoured the rule book about the incident and learned that a boat exercising its right of way, regardless of a less than optimal trim of its sails,  can cause a change of course on a boat without the right of way, as long as it is has not ceased to sail a proper course toward the next mark/finish line. Post-race day research indicates some nuances to this rule which will be fodder for another protest meeting.

Sailors in attendance admitted to a fuzzy memory on the following, thus a reminder: Hitting a mark requires one 360 degree penalty turn while a right of way violation requires 2 turns (at Grandview a right of way violation by a catamaran only requires one turn since it is so difficult in a cat).  And causing contact with another boat does not result in penalty turns/disqualification unless the other boat protests (There were a number of bumps in tight quarters during the race that didn’t raise protests).  

 

HOW DID THE SAILORS DO? 

We all had fun.  Exciting races with a few capsizes, near-capsizes, a little bumper-boat action and lots of tense moments (the fun kind).

Catey Hale’s brother in law, "ringer" Paul Claugh, crewed for her.  Paul had plenty of experience crewing for Catey’s father back in the day.   He had a blast as the thrill of a good race in strong winds brought out all those competitive juices. They did really well, finishing first and second overall in the two races, and first in the International class in both.  Also in the International Class father and son team Tom and Ben Cartwright finished 2^nd in the first race (Ben picked a good race for his 2020 debut).  Tom Schroeder and Phil Bush finished 2^nd in the 2^nd race.

In the Laser Class Jim Voelz finished first in the first race and Matt Barlett was 2^nd.   Then Matt finished first in the second race followed by Jim.   The fleet was mystified when Matt found a sliver of wind no one else enjoyed going from the 1^st to the 2^nd mark giving him a huge lead.

Contributors to the photos available for posting were Lisa Duret, Bernice Rains, and Sandy Miller. Thanks to all! 

Complete Race Results:

 

1st RACE

Laser Class:  Jim Voelz 1st, Matt Bartlett 2nd, Kevin Preuss 3rd

International Class: Catey Hale/Paul Claugh 1st, Tom/Ben Cartwright 2nd, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 3rd, Lance/Bianca Snider 4th, John Auld/Paul Hass 5th.

Overall Finish Order (not for scoring): Catey Hale/Paul Claugh 1st, Jim Voelz 2nd, Tom/Ben Cartwright 3rd, Matt Bartlett 4th, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 5th, Kevin Preuss 6th, Lance & Bianca Snider 7th, John Auld/Paul Hass 8th.

2nd RACE

Laser Class:  Matt Bartlett1st,  Jim Voelz 2nd, Kevin Preuss 3rd

International Class: Catey Hale/Paul Claugh 1st, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 2nd,  Ben/Tom Cartwright 3rd, Lance/Bianca Snider 4th, John Auld/Paul Hass 5th.

Overall Finish Order (not for scoring): Matt Bartlett 1st, Catey Hale/Paul Claugh 2nd, Jim Voelz 3rd, Tom Schroeder/Phil Bush 4th,  Ben/Tom Cartwright 5th, Lance & Bianca Snider 6th,  Kevin Preuss7th, John Auld/Paul Hass 8th.

 

BARELY DISTANCED: August 2nd Race Report

Sunny day, brisk wind, perfect temperature, moving fast,  hiked out a few degrees from a capsize, running as close to the wind as your sails will allow, tiller fighting you, hoping to make it to the mark without having to tack again, peeking under your sail to keep an eye on that pesky boat with the right of way a few inches from you.   A perfect day of sailing at Grandview Lake.  At the start/finish line and at the turn markers,  boats at speed were inches from, or even touching each other.  Determined looks made it clear in those few moments that it was all business, with competitive juices flowing.

We were pleased to have Arlene join us for the first time this year, crewing for Tom Schroeder.   It looks like the sail she is responsible for, the jib (front) is trimmed perfectly.  The captain ought to tighten that mainsail though.

Our thanks to our socially distanced volunteers on the Committee Boat:  Beth, Bob, and Bernice (Auld, Orben and Rains).  And to safety boat volunteer Jim Riffle. John Auld and Paul Hass set up an excellent course.  And Kevin Preuss and Beth Auld organized the racers and volunteers. Thanks to all.

At the finish of the first race, Matt Bartlett and Jim Voelz were neck-and-neck at one end of the line, where Jim hit the line buoy and capsized before finishing.  Quite a tough break. Kevin Preuss followed closely behind Matt to finish 2^nd.   Meanwhile the three double-sailed craft had rounded the last mark with barely enough room between them.  Tom and Arlene running a few seconds behind the other two, caught a gust that caused them to have to turn into the wind to barely avoid a capsize and cost them a few more seconds.  So they were last to finish while Catey and Elizabeth Hale barely beat John Auld and Paul Hass in their respective Y-Flyers.

At the start of the 2^nd race, Matt and Jim were right next to each other, again at the limit of the starting line, when a gust of wind and a right of way “force-out” caused both of them to miss the line.  This allowed most of the other boats to get an unbeatable lead on the pair who are usually out front.   As they approached the last mark Tom and Arlene were boxed in by Catey and Elizabeth in front to their left and Kevin directly in front of them.  They watched as Kevin made sure not to get bumped by Catey and Elizabeth’s boom, inches from his head.  Then their boom was up against the back of his mast, and he was happy to let it push his boat forward with increased speed as a result!  There was no protest by either, but at the protest meeting the rule book was consulted on whether there could have been. Yup.  It was a congested turn around that last mark again.  There was also some drama with a potential right of way issue at the finish line which led to another learning from the rule book - finish line buoys are included in the definition of a "mark".

For those of you had hoped to attend the Indy 500, as you can see from the above, you can still attend a great race in-person every other Sunday at 2 pm right here at Grandview Lake.  Better yet, hop in a sailboat and come race with us!  Two sailors in a Laser came out and appeared to contemplate racing with us, but in the end chose not to.  We would have been happy if they had. After all, we welcome novice racers and will help you along with some basic simple instruction on racing rules, etc. We'll keep it simpler than the "official" published rule book governing sailing races in the U.S.  It appears to have been worded by a committee of several dozen, all of whom had too much coffee prior to the meeting, and all of whom must have been wronged in a seldom occurring situation they wanted to make sure was addressed.  It is as concise and easy to understand as the U.S. tax code.  Fortunately, simpler interpretations covering the basics are available for mere mortals to read.

After the race we gathered,  spaced 6 feet apart on Arlene’s patio for the “protest meeting” where only the laughter is riotous.   Matt Bartlett entertained us with his first-person account of receiving the stealthy booby-prize transfer back in April (link to that post here).  Even though the trophy has settled at their residence for now, it is still having a hard time finding a permanent visible roost.

Race Results:

1^st Race:

Laser Class: Matt Bartlett 1^st, Kevin Preuss 2^nd, Jim Voelz 3^rd

International Class: Catey/Elizabeth Hale 1^st, John Auld/Paul Hass 2^nd, Tom Schroeder/Arlene Truex 3^rd

2^nd Race:

Laser Class: Kevin Preuss 1^st, Jim Voelz 2^nd, Matt Bartlett 3^rd

International Class: Catey/Elizabeth Hale 1^st, Tom Schroeder/Arlene Truex 2^nd, John Auld/Paul Hass 3^rd