Outback Regatta - Lake Murray Sept 21st -23rd

Started by Justin Scott, August 14, 2007, 04:15:12 PM

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Justin Scott

Rule 18 turns on when you are "about to round a mark".
In a drifter that can be 1/2 a boat length. In a big breeze in a Viper, that can be 5 or 6 lengths from the mark. The inside boat can call for "room" as soon as everyone starts to get ready to round.

The two length zone when the overlap can be broken depends on the boat closest to the mark. I was helming Shamrock IV at a PHRF regatta 10 years ago. At 154 feet the 2 length circle is 308 feet, which takes some getting used to.

Yeah.....like you really care about 18 but hey it allowed me to mention my time with Shamrock, which is a close second to my Viper as my all time favorite boat. I think it was the fact that Sir Tommy had solid sterling silver door knobs on his racing yacht that convinced me that he was one cool sportsman.
Viper - Mambo Kings
Right Coast Refreshments Committee

Jay Harrell

Since you took the bait, maybe others can chime in on this situation:

Setup:
-Viper heading towards the windward mark on port tack perhaps 4 boat lengths below the layline.
-Large Craft (30 feet?) heading towards the windward mark on starboard tack, above the layline.

As boats converge, Large Craft (LC) hails "starboard". 

Viper tacks below LC.  We reach a close hauled course still more than 2 boat lengths from the mark (we think).  This course is considerably higher than the LC's course and we are easily going to clear the mark.   At this point, we were either overlapped or ahead.

We turn down a bit and then became clear ahead of LC and directly between them and the mark.  I'm still not entirely sure how we so easily became clear ahead of a boat that I wasn't sure we were even going to cross, but weird stuff happens in very light air.  I think perhaps they were footing/overstood far more than I realized ahead of time.  Or we got a lucky shift, or a little puff.  Anyhow...

After we were clear-ahead, the LC had to alter course slightly to avoid us. This was accompanied by some complaining that Viper had tacked inside 2 boat-lengths of the mark in violation of rule 18. 

Complaining only, no protest.   And some more "discussion" at the bar, the only outcome of which was a disagreement about whether we had tacked inside two lengths.   I'm certain that we were on a close-hauled course more than 42 feet from the mark, as it took a dang long time to get there after the tack.  They also did not have to avoid us while tacking and had room to keep clear after we became right-of-way boat.  It's possible that we were inside of two of their lengths when we reached close-hauled, since they were so darn long. But we were closer to the mark, right?

So, what do you think now?  Was I lucky, rude, a rule-breaker, or something else?


bill shaw

Tuesday at the Ourback

The Ronnies and I decided to try the Outback Regatta. With a combined age of 182 vs 30 and and estimated 70 we had the experience, but not nesessarly the the agility and good sense to sail a smart race.

On the first race we were 3rd at the first mark, very close to the 1 and 2. We were ready for the spinnaker set because Ronnie #1 (Young) and I had practiced the spinnaker set and retrival a few times a week or so earlier and all had gone well. Ronnie #2 (Hartley) had decided to work on the committee boat for the "good of the team" as the air was light, building to 7, and he knew we did not need the extra weight. I think he also knew that it was going to be a hot light air race. Anyway, since we had done so well in pratice, we left the spinnaker in the boat rigged just the way we had taken it down on our last retrival. Back to the race: The spinnaker went up OK and we were OK but the coarse dictated a jibe. We jibed the spinnaker and all went to hell instantly. The spinnaker and sheets wrapped around the forestay in a bad way. After a few "casual" converastions about what might be going on, I realized that when we had set the boat up, after leaving the spinnaker just as it had worked well during practice, we had left the spinnaker sheets inside of the forestay when we set the boat up. We pretty much waved the fleet by as we worked through the disaster. We were so bad that the committee gave us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. In all fairness, in the end, they gave both of us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. You should be punished for doing dumb things!
In race 2 we were caught below some really big boats at the start, and tacked away into a hole and were never heard from again. End of racing, day one.

Day 2, the air was once again light and Ronnie #2 had once again abandoned ( I mean volenteered for the committee boat) After a bit of a delay, the race #3 was started. We were 4th at the first mark very much in contention. We rounded and hoisted the spinnaker and it would not budge out of its dark little hole. We pulled the halyard hard and still no spinnaker. It had worked well in race # 2 and it was just as we had left it except for the knot I made in the halyard to the forestay to keep it in place while towing back to the launch ramp. If you pull on a loose knot hard enough it gets very tight. Once again we waved the fleet by as we practiced boy scout knot un-doing.

The regatta was great!!!!! If any of you miss this event next year, you are missing a major happening.
I have never been to a regatta with better food and beer. Period! If you like to sail and you like a good time, put this regatta on your calendar next year. Hayatt $107 a night for a 3 bed room. How does that compare with Boston?

In the end, Alex wipped Jay and I on the course, and we really don't care. I think Alex is the the southeast's hope for beating up on some of the Marblehead group in the future. He sailed a great series, but more importantly was a great host for his home regatta.

Put the Outback on your schedule next year and come try to beat
Alex and enjoy a whole bunch of Columbia Sailing Club hospitality

Jay Harrell

Quote from: bill shaw on September 26, 2007, 10:59:58 PM
With a combined age of 182 vs 30 and and estimated 70

Very generous Bill - my boat had a combined age of 87 on board....

bill shaw

i isses sary bout da speallin and grama ons mines lastest postes. i gets vary sloopy wdth spealin an gramaw winds i gots speallin cheks. butts i sents da postes whichouts ckin da spallen.
sooreey, bell

Justin Scott

Bill .......having a bout with the "Hammer and Sickle" are we?

In the UK the "Two Ronnies" is widely considered the greatest and funniest comedy old TV show of all time. Sounds like you lived up to the reputation! I will try and find some of their best sketches. But they always finished with "Its goodnight from me"  "and its goodnight from him".


Jay......Tacking inside 2 Boat Lengths does not contravene Rule 18. You only contravene Rule 18 if the boat on Stbd has to sail above "Close Hauled" in order to avoid you. If they were overstood and footing then they probably only had to head up and did not go above close hauled.
Be aware, it does not matter if you completed your tack clear ahead or to leeward, or how much time they had......if they have to go above close hauled you are done..........hence it is a very risky manoevure....which is what the rule makers intended.
The only other loophole, is to leave enough room for them to bear away and go inside you..and then you give them rights, but dont go to the room with this one.    Cheers J


Viper - Mambo Kings
Right Coast Refreshments Committee