TMS Star Class races November 17th

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“OH MIGHTY ONE … “
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… I said, always a safe beginning for a little prayer and the religious equivalent of “To Who It May Concern”, before my lips moved soundlessly praying for good conditions to the Gods of LL.
It felt like it worked, and on top of it the Blake Sea was almost empty of boats.
We then had a quiet Friday race event – ‘we’ being Justin and his crew Gin, Moon and Sirius on their Star Class boats, and Freeman and Amy Pond watching on the Committee Boat.
Wind blew from 170° at 18 knots (V1 G4).

Image 1: Sirius fighting to get the next mark without another pair of tacks;

NYC Course Chart 306

The start for 306 was neat and a bit like pearls on a necklace. Moon took the lead and didn’t give it away until the finish. Justin could establish an inside overlap with Sirius’ boat shortly before it entered the zone of the second mark, and Sirius gave room for the tack around it. Moon sailed the leg to Mark 3 on a perfect close-hauled course all the time which enabled him to pass the buoy at best speed (or maybe he had waited a bit after the second mark before he tacked – I can’t tell because I was watching closely if Justin would be overlapped with Sirius). Justin decided to do two more tacks while Sirius fought hard to fetch the mark without those (Image 1). That worked, but had made him very slow … Justin passed him easily before the mark already and sailed away with the higher momentum.

306

Race Results:
1: Moon – Race Time: 0:13:06
2: Justin – Race Time: 0:13:49
3: Sirius – Race Time: 0:14:10

Lap Times:
moonglownight Resident BSbf2e – Start: 0:00:09 – Last lap: 0:12:57
SteveLL Resident BS7263 – Start: 0:00:19 – Last lap: 0:13:30
Sirius Rosca BS6b75 – Start: 0:00:15 – Last lap: 0:13:55

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NYC Course Chart 307

307 began pretty similar like the first race. Moon tacked first to port, a little bit later the other two boats followed, and all three ‘skipped’ the first mark and correctly aimed directly for Mark 2 … means they had waited long enough with the tack to do this (Image 2). It looked as if Sirius would manage to arrive there second (Image 3), but then had a moment of navigation issues which let him sail far more distance before he then steered towards the buoy. Justin took the second rank there, and from then on the three boats sailed the course with some distance between them. Sirius tried a different attempt of when to tack after the last mark, which did not make a difference (Image 4). However, the image comes handy to show our new Lay-Line visualizers.

Image 2: The skippers aiming for the second mark;

Image 3: Justin and his crew Gin lurking behind Sirius;

Image 4: Last different attempt for the finish line – Sirius left, Justin right;

307

Race Results:
1: Moon – Race Time: 0:11:47
2: Justin – Race Time: 0:12:26
3: Sirius – Race Time: 0:12:42

Lap Times:
moonglownight Resident BSbf2e – Start: 0:00:11 – Last lap: 0:11:36
SteveLL Resident BS7263 – Start: 0:00:20 – Last lap: 0:12:06
Sirius Rosca BS6b75 – Start: 0:00:17 – Last lap: 0:12:25

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NYC Course Chart 325

The third race of the day was 325, and this time the boats were much closer to each other at the start with Sirius in front (Image 5). He tried to tack to port after a short while but realized that Moon was not very far windward behind him. Sirius corrected and stayed on starboard-tack, but because he had lost his momentum, Moon caught him in his windshadow for a bit, while Justin got caught in Sirius’.
After they all finally had tacked to port, Justin and Gin got unseated on the corner into Cattewater. They both could get back on the boat, yet it seemed that something stopped them for a moment after this. It took them a while to speed up again and in spite of finishing the course there was no more chance to get any closer to Sirius.

Image5: Close start this time;

325

Race Results:
1: Moon – Race Time: 0:12:39
2: Sirius – Race Time: 0:13:21
3: Justin – Race Time: 0:13:52

Lap Times:
moonglownight Resident BSbf2e – Start: 0:00:11 – Last lap: 0:12:28
Sirius Rosca BS6b75 – Start: 0:00:09 – Last lap: 0:13:12
SteveLL Resident BS7263 – Start: 0:00:13 – Last lap: 0:13:39

All four sailors left quickly after the races, even too quick to say bye to them, and so I could not ask about Sirius’ navigation issue in the second race and Justin’s stop in the third one. Congratulations to Moon for a clean sweep, and thank you all for coming.