May 31 2012

 To the crew of the NiSe and Followers:

 I know many of you were wanting to know; how the syndicate faired in the final race of the spring series. The spring series we entered in the SYSCO Cruising Fleet #5 A, ten boats in all with four of them being Catalina 30s. The top two boats to beat in the bigger fleet were "Barcode" and "Upstart". Among the Catalina 30's, a subgroup of the bigger fleet, "Second Half" and "Vagrant" were the top two boats to beat. In the spring series "Upstart"'s record until last night was 1st, 1st, 4th. Our nearest competitor, "Second Half" has a better record through the series of all firsts. For last night's race we had Tom Pearson, Charing Riolo and Kimi Jensen as crew as we motored out to the committee boat. By the start time there was no wind, so the race committee called for a postponement to the start. After an hour of waiting, winds increased to 5-8 knots, prompting the race officials to raise the call for the race. We waited as each of the smaller boats began their races, until the flags were raised for our class. A quick glance around the river revealed that "Barcode", "Upstart","Second Half" and "Vagrant" were making a large circle to gain a starboard side tack as they ran for the mark. Quick action by the crew of the "NiSe" allowed us to make a shorter radius circle but gain just as much speed as the rest of the fleet, putting us right up front in the pack as we approached the line. With "Upstart" on our left (yielding right of way to us), and "Second Half" on our right (giving him right away) we approached the starting line. Over my shoulder I could hear "Second Half"'s crew calling out the timing for the start, allowing me to focus on forcing "Upstart" away from the line making us second to cross the starting line in the bigger fleet. My friends, that was a textbook start for the syndicate if there ever was one. The pack made good speed as we headed to the mark and we maintained our second position leading up to the first tack. "Barcode" being a bigger boat passed us after the tack, and three of us lead boats headed up to the mark. As we had gotten within 500 yards from the mark, "Vagrant" made a bold move and tack right into our path rounding the mark inside of us as we turned downwind. Apparently the rest of the fleet believed "Vagrant"'s strategy was the one to go with as they followed closely behind. The pack's belief in "Vagrant" led to her downfall as the pack took the wind out of our competitor's sails. Since we turned wide, the fresh air was ours and we soon passed "Vagrant". Due to the light winds in the current the progress downwind was slow (8 minutes to the mark, but 45 minutes back to the line). With two-thirds of the distance covered back to the finish line, "Vagrant" had broken free from the back and had us in her sights. (in the picture you can see "Vagrant" coming after us). By the time we were within a 100 yards from the finish "Vagrant" had fully came up behind us taking the wind out of our sails. For the final 15 minutes of the race we played the game of covering her every move, not allowing her to pass in front us. When we finally crossed the line we were third in the overall fleet and second in the Catalina 30 fleet beating "Vagrant" by a boat length and six inches. Yes, that's right she was six inches directly behind us when we crossed. The un-official final series results put us tied with "Vagrant" for second place. Overall outstanding job given this was our first series as a syndicate!! Thanks for all the help, and yes we will be doing the Summer Series starting next week!







May 17th 2012

 All;

 Last night we had our first good omen, Tom kept both shoes on while we left the marina! Winds last night were westerly 15-22 knots, forcing the race committee to set up another very odd course. With "One Boot Tommy", "Wonderboy Reina" and "Butter Finger Rhodes" we were well positioned in the start to actually be first across the starting. Had the skipper not cross the finish line instead we would have clearly won, but we had to restart the race. The good news is we weren't the last to cross the starting line on the official start, but we were in the back of the pack. "One Boot" and "Wonderboy" had worked out the sail trims on the tacking beautifully as ran the first upwind leg to the mark. We had gained back a good deal of lost distance to the pack in the up wind leg, only to round the mark and experience the full force of the 2 knot current. With most of the pack pulling away from us there were 5 boats still reading the name from our stern. "Fingers" did a great job in poling out the jib. At the end of the downwind leg back on the upwind course we experienced a couple of full rail burials as the boat heeled over several times pushing the overall speed over ground to 7.5 knots. The entire upwind course was an wonderful orchestrated dance of tacking and trimming thanks to "one boot" and "wonderboy". As spray from the Columbia River came over the dodger we made quick time in getting to the final rounding of the downwind mark. Once again, "Fingers" did a great job on the pole out, but also provided our weekly sacrifice to the Columbia River. Yep, it was "fingers" that gave up his hat to the Columbia, to which the entire crew said a short prayer as it floated past the boat. We kept the NiSe mid-river on the final downwind leg to capture clean air. We rounded the mark toward the finish line and were cheered by the committee boat as we landed a solid unofficial third place. The crew celebrated back at the dock with a pint of Guinness, and were celebrated by the crew of "Brenda Lee". Their skipper David Long said, "Damn you guys looked really good out there, if you get the start down we're scared." Next race is on the 24th with us having a solid second place tie and a third place finish we still have a chance to claim first in the division; especially if we can get the start right. Look for the crew call on Tuesday for Thursday's race.

  May 15th 2012

 All;

 After the last race we still hold third place out of 4 in our fleet, the next race is Thursday. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. Please be on the first floor of the transit center, near the north side of the structure of the parking garage. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 2 more chances on the 24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.

  May 4th 2012

 All;

 Perhaps it was a bad omen that even before we had left the marina one of the crew members lost his shoe to drink. In last night's results we received a DNF (did not finish). The good news is we are fourth in the fleet, but the bad news is there are only four boats in the fleet. Once we got out to the race course we had a difficult time reading the race committees boat course numbers. As a result we had no idea where the marks were to round. As the 6 minute count down started for the race we were well positioned to cross the starting line at the 1 minute mark. Our crew fair very well as we approached the starting mark on starboard tack. But a we bit early on our approach, forcing us tack right into the on coming fleet on with us on port and they on starboard tack we were forced to yield allowing the fleet to cross before us. Winds were a very brisk 15-20 knots at the start which made the start very exciting for the crew; we had to reef both the main and the jib to manage sail. The entire start was paramount to playing chicken at high speed in a fleet to multi-thousand dollar boats. After crossing the line, we lagged the other three Catalina 30's but still had an opportunity to place decently. The crew quickly found their pace and we rounded the first up wind mark nicely. As we came round the mark the boat was nicely lined up for the down wind mark, but not know the course the skipper looked for the rest of the fleet that didn't have the same alignment. That fatal decision of following the fleet rather than looking for he mark, force two jibes that we didn't need. At the same time one of the crew lost the wench handle to salmon of the Columbia. The two jibes made rounding the mark downwind slower, and at the same time the wind decreased in speed. By the time we approached the up-wind mark on the second time we shook out the reefs. Once rounding all momentum was lost as the wind died, and despite having sail up well we began to drift near the sand bar at the eastern end of Tomahawk Island. The skipper started the engine to get out of the area which ended our chances to finish. Everyone had a great time, and we certainly learned a good deal. Next run at the course and placing in the fleet will be on the 17th.

  May 3rd, 2012

 All;

According to the race committee this morning the race is on for tonight. Thus far I have the following crew confirmed: Kevin Rhodes Cheryl Miller Tom Pearson Terry O'Shea We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. There is bottled water on the boat, and a few sodas; so if you would like something to eat like a sandwich please bring it with you. I have included a copy of the list of entrants, and the slides for the race clinic. As you can see from the list of the entrants there are 5+ Catalina 30's in the A fleet we will be racing against. Looking forward to seeing the performance of the crew and boat tonight. Next race will be on the 17th, no practice this Sunday because I will be OOP.

  May 1, 2012 All; Despite a total lack of practice save Cheryl, Charing and myself, Thursday is our first official race day. We need to meet at the Sunset Transit Center at 4:30pm on Thursday to car pool over to the marina. The reason for car pooling is to make it on the boat and out in time (use the carpool lane of I5). I need a headcount of who will be attending, so please email me. If you can't attend on this race there is 3 more chances on the 17th,24th, and 31st of May. It will be fun.

  Thursday April 19th 2012 Team; I have just registered the boat in SYSCO and we are ready to race. The first race is scheduled for next Thursday, unfortunately I will be in NYC. The races will be each Thursday from 5:30pm until dark through the 31st of May. I will be holding a first practice this Sunday at noon. We will meet at the boat at noon on Sunday; who ever shows we will crew with. The boat has a new fresh bottom, new folding prop, and sails so we should be very competitive. Please come out if you can, if not feel free to show up at any of the races.