Tri Island Series Goes Down to the Wire

 

It’s clear from the Blake Island Race, Seattle Yacht Club’s Tri-Island finale, that summer sailing conditions are definitely upon us.  As light air and moderate breezes trade places, first from one direction and then another, and the currents complicate matters, crews are kept guessing. Bruce Hedrick explained what would happen before it happened here. The results (click here) tell much of the story. Take particular note of how many classes had three-way ties for the series, including ORC 1, Class 2, Class 5 and J/105s. 

We have two reports from last Saturday’s race, first from Andy Mack, skipper of the J/122 Grace. Mack and team played the shifts as well as they could be, finishing first overall in the PHRF for the race and the series despite a DNS in the Vashon Island Race. Mack does a great job of explaining the winning moves.  

Then we have a report from Jim Marta, skipper of the Farr 395 Eye Candy, which won all three Tri-Island races overall in the ORC division. As he’s raced under every handicapping system, I also asked him to share his thoughts on ORC handicapping.

 

Andy Mack, Grace

Our fleet started on time in ta 6-10 knot southerly, and onboard was our “light air” crew of Dan Falk, Wendy Robards, my wife Jaimie Mack, Kent Sisk and me.

After tacking up under West Point for relief from the ebb tide and we neared the tip of West Point it became very clear the ORC fleet that had started 5 minutes before us were headed straight across, running out of wind and drifting north. A few boats ahead of us had tacked at the point to sail what was left of a SW breeze dropping to 2 – 3 knots. The goal was to keep the boat moving and hope a new breeze filled in. As we progressed south, the breeze progressively swung to the north and continued to drop. We went from a cracked off jib reach to a kite, keeping the foot out of the water as it sagged in the lulls.

A few of us had managed to escape the middle of the Sound: Ace, Ocelot, Grace and Hamachi. The early boats attempting to sail across the Sound, the TP52’s and smaller boats suffered longer in less breeze. As we approached the Bainbridge shore the wind started to fill from the northwest and built, allowing the rich to get richer, especially those closest to the shore who could gain current relief and a bit more thermal velocity effect.

We gybed, heading us straight at Blakley Rock, eventually having to drop the kite and beat to clear Restoration Point and reset for the run to the south end of Blake Island. We were overhauled by the two TP52s, Absolutely, and Hamachi with Ace and Ocelot battling for position into the first gybe to round the island. Eye Candy and a Flying Tiger were in close pursuit with the rest of the fleet well behind. As we hit the halfway point, we were halfway into the time limit hoping the breeze would fill as forecasted. There was some positioning and tight fleet action around the bottom of the island, with Ocelot, Ace, Absolutely, Hamachi and Grace close behind entering into the filling NE breeze. There wasn’t much action from here other than a little positioning for clean lanes, avoiding adverse tidelines and light air holes.

Looking back on the rest of the fleet, it wasn’t pretty. The wind must have dropped off stranding the majority of the fleets behind the island. On the long tack across to Magnolia, we gained ground on Ace. After a few tacks and a tight cover, Ace split tacks with us into Magnolia, following Hamachi into the bluff while we continued offshore for what looked like better 6 – 7 knot breeze. When we tacked back to consolidate it was clear we had made a large gain by staying in more breeze, crossing Ace by a quarter mile and cutting into Hamachi and Absolutely’s lead. The final approach into the temporary West Point buoy was straightforward, with a starboard rounding in the filling northerly and straight run into the finish

We couldn’t have been happier with our result, feeling like we did the best we could have with what we were dealt. It looked much more difficult not far behind us. At least the rest of the fleet got the building breeze to get them to the finish with no worries of not making the time limit.

 

Jim Marta, Eye Candy

We sailed three good races. My crew is a very experienced bunch and add to the effectiveness of my boat. We did just as well in the series two years ago using the IRC system of handicapping…another system much like the ORC.

Of interest is the fact that we race in the ORC division against other ORC boats. We go with our division where their course tactics take us, not with PHRF boats and that makes the comparisons with the two fleets difficult to understand if one compares just how one fleet does with the other.

You asked about impressions ORC system. Thus far, it seems to be a decent, and currently, a much better system of rating boat speed in each type of condition or course. The system doesn’t produce boats that have unfair advantages. On Eye Candy when we sail well, we seem to do well, and if we falter too many times over the race we don’t do well. We can’t appeal the rating of a boat as all ratings come from the international body, based in London, England. Again predicted speeds based on hull, equipment and sail configurations are used.

I recommend boats that are not pleased with the PHRF system go with the ORC rating system. It has a fairness that can’t be lobbied for a “fair” advantage.

Since I’m probably close to completing my racing career and am now 82 years old I have seen a lot of changes in how we determine just how fast boats are and how we rate them. And, it looks like the future of yachting is still uncertain due to water ballast, foils, and the construction of a “freak boat” in some new types that are probably not as safe as most mono-hulls have been in the past. I’ve raced over 55 plus years using ratings as: CCA, an IOR, an IMS, an IRC, and ORC ratings of my many boats, plus I have been member of PHRF since 1966. PHRF maybe its own worst enemy in that ratings are arbitrary and can be lobbied to improve one’s favored speed potential/rating. In my experience it would seem that many/maybe most of the handicappers are not really long term racers. I’ve seen boats that were once rated in the 30+ seconds per mile using PHRF and now are rated in the 60+ seconds per mile…a half a minute per mile is a significant factor and in a Smith Island Race this can mean over 40 minutes in the race results. Have the boats gotten slower? Not that I have seen for well-skippered, crewed, maintained, and equipped boats.

A national system of PHRF would be a real step forward as boats could be rated the same if the boats are the same, nationwide. We say that our conditions are not typical of other areas. Barry Carroll, of Carroll Marine and U.S. Sailing, indicated when in Seattle, at CYC, that within a radius of 50 miles a Boston area boat might have three ratings. We all have wind, water, and often tides. What is really different from area to area?