This time of year is difficult for me because the next three months we only get to race one weekend a month. What can we do to stay warm?

I try to get out and practice at least twice during each month. It’s rather difficult for me to drag my son with me, so most of the time I am single handed. Below is my routine and maybe we can get a few more ideas or questions in the comment section below?

Practice starts. I will go out to M mark and then find a mooring ball that will make for the best starting line for the wind that day. I have two starting approaches, port approach for when I want the pin and the committee boat start.

I will start my watch for a two minute count down and keep it rolling until I get tired of the exercise. Then I decided the type of approach I will be practicing and do a couple of circles in that area of the starting line. At about 55 seconds to the start I set up at the starting line and try to hold the boat stationary for about 30 seconds. Experiment with your placement to hold position. Make a clear countdown from 15 seconds down to zero while you accelerate to full speed. This gives you some idea how long, and from what starting angle you can get to full speed in the approximate wind.

Now you have just completed one of your starts time to practice mark rounding.

Mark rounding. After the start go to weather for about five boat lengths then turn downwind and head for your mark. For me its M mark, next I will round the mark in full race mode as if I am returning to the weather mark. After you round the mark, look back, you should be able to see how well you rounded. If you see you are about two boat lengths wide do it again. You want your port stern quarter almost touching the mark as you sail on the new up wind leg. While rounding, I stand up and pull in my main sheet with two hands and balance the tiller with my legs. Find out what works best for you.

Be sure to note, if the tide is coming in our out and notice the difference in your rounding.

After you have rounded the mark go back to starting. Do this about five times and you will get your adrenaline pumping and feel like accomplishing something. Every so often, I will pick a weather mark and just concentrate on my up wind speed as a type of break.

Start practicing now and if you can fit in five practice days between now and Midwinters

you might just achieve that next goal sooner than you think.

If you would like to join me sometime drop me a note.

Sea ya

I hope all of you Fleet 1 Harbor 20 sailors enjoyed your off season? The way I read our racing calendar New Years has passed us already and we are into 2014.

The first race of the 2014 High Point Series was Balboa Yacht Clubs Sunkist sailed on November 2nd . Racers where greeted by the sunny warm 70 degree, Indian Summer still lingering into the late fall. In fact, it was so warm that Gary Thorne decided just to step right into the bay about half hour before the first start.

Thirty boats showed up on the starting line with three boats in C’s, nineteen boats in B’s and eight in A’s. The normal reaching starts off the BYC racing tower turned into weather starting line with the wind coming in from the south. This always makes for good excitement with the clubs and harbor masters dock an immediate obstruction.

Fortunately the winds where light and it was easy to sail away from the dock. Although the deputy on duty, in the harbor department, felt the fleet was sailing to close to the emergency dock and demanded, over the public address system, that the fleet stay one boat length from their dock.

In B fleet Steve Kent took the first place points. B fleet is always extremely strong in the Sunkist with nineteen boats entered. Most of the fleet are sailors looking for that first place finish to return back to A fleet.

In A fleet, looking at the final results five of the eight racers tied for first in points and a tie breaker procedure was used . In the first race of the day, five boats crossed the finish line within a boat length of each other. In the second race the breeze filled into about ten knots. Ed Kimball came out of the first tack in the lead and sailed the whole race extremely smart and held it to the end. After his pre race dunk, Gary Thorne warmed up and placed second in the last race to take second for the day. Both Ed and Gary took home pickle dishes.

November 3rd Sunday was the start of the Newport Harbor Yacht Clubs Winter Series. With thirty two Harbor 20’s making it out to the starting line. The breeze was again on the light side and out of the south. C fleet had 2 participants with Diane Menninger taking the helm of D Art and Mark Conzelman aboard Shana’s Secret. The largest fleet was again B fleet with nineteen boats. Carter Ford was able to consistently find the breeze up at the weather mark, in front of NHYC, and sailing by himself he was able to stretch out, from the fleet, on the runs. A fleet had eleven boats looking for the breeze at the weather mark. Coming out the mooring field and finding that lane without adding two extra tacks seemed to be the ticket to rounding the weather mark in the top part of the fleet.

My son Andrew and I won the day and for what its worth this is what I noticed on the course. We had two weather marks one in front NHYC and one over more to the right, closer to the Lido channel. I noticed more breeze on the left side of the course and told myself if we where using the left mark I would lean that way after the start. With the starting line being fairly square I wanted the top third of the line and a clean lane. This seemed to work for me because in all three races we rounded the weather mark in the top three.

Good times on the water and looking forward to next months winter series. NHYC winter series is the next high point race on December 8th.

Roxanne Chan’s harrowing story about the sinking of her Harbor 20 made me stop and wonder:  Could this happen to me?  Unfortunately, I had to admit the answer was “absolutely yes.”  So I started to poke around and learn how much I didn’t know about Harbor 20 safety, and here’s what I found…

Before you go sailing, here are some important things to check:

Have a life jacket handy for each person on your boat, and everyone knows where the jackets are.  As Roxanne pointed out, a whistle or EPIRB attached to the jacket could be a lifesaver.  (I also found that State law requires your boat to have a throwable float, ring or cushion handy, and requires that kids wear their life jackets.  Check out http://www.dbw.ca.gov/pubs/LifeJackets/LifeJackets.pdf.)

Make sure your boat floats.  As Roxanne said, it’ll sink like a rock without flotation.  I found one way to add flotation at http://www.wdschock.com/boats/harbor20/h20_options_8_foam_flotation.php.

Along with Roxanne’s recommendation to have a paddle, flares and bailer on board, I’d add a long towline.

Roxanne suggested having Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol, Seatow and Vessel Assist phone numbers handy.  Here are some of the numbers in case you want to add them to your cell phone:

• Coast Guard (310-833-1600)
• Harbor Dept. (949-723-1000)
• Vessel Assist (949-278-3207)

Here are some ways to check the weather, as Roxanne recommended:

• Google “newport beach marine weather” to see if you’ll have high waves or wind.
• See if the Harbor Dept. is flying red pennants that indicate a high wind warning.
• If the weather forecast is “windy below passes and canyons” or the wind is coming from the land, watch out for a Santa Ana wind that can blow hard and drive you away from the shore.

Roxanne’s story mentioned seamanship skills.   Here are some ideas for controlling your boat in high winds and waves:

• Slow the boat by trailing lines astern, such as the tail of your mainsheet or docklines tied to cleats.
• Steer your boat diagonally to waves so it doesn’t roll or nosedive into a wave.

If you haven’t done person overboard drills, as Roxanne suggested, at least practice stopping your boat quickly, which helps you rescue someone who’s fallen overboard.

Here’s what I found on what to do if you get in trouble on the ocean:

First, stay with the boat (but make sure you can get free of it in case it sinks).

As Roxanne said, get your life jackets on.

Get help:

• Signal other boats nearby:
  • Wave your arms.
  • If you have a whistle or horn, sound it repeatedly.
  • If you’re in danger and have a VHF radio, use channel 16 and say “Mayday” at least 3 times, identifying your boat and position.  (See Roxanne’s story for details.)
  • If you’re in danger and have a flare, light it.

• If you’re in danger, call 911, Harbor Dept. or Coast Guard.  (See numbers above.)

Get to safety:

• Head to the nearest shelter you can reach by steering diagonally to the waves.  (In high wind and waves, don’t sail directly downwind or sideways to the waves.)

Here are things I’ve been told about getting a tow:

• Tie the towline to the base of your mast with a bowline knot.
• Get a phone number for someone on the tow boat.
• If the towboat is going too fast, call and ask them to slow down.
• If the towline goes slack, steer slightly to one side to take up most of the slack.

Finally, check out these sites:

BYC Guide to Cruising in Newport Harbor

http://www.balboayachtclub.com/files/Complete%20Guide%20to%20Cruising%20Newport%20Harbor.pdf

Calif. Dept. of Boating and Waterways:  ABCs of California Boating

http://www.dbw.ca.gov/Pubs/Abc/

OCC Sailing Class:  Harbor 20

http://www.occsailing.com/sailing_classes/keelboat_classes/learn_to_sail_on_a_harbor_20

Safe Boating Courses

http://www.boatus.org

http://www.boaterexam.com/usa/california/education/

The Fleet 1 approved sail purchase window is October 1st to November 30th, 2013. This is your only opportunity to buy new sails until after the 2014 Championships!

According to the Class bylaws:

III.H.8. For a Class Yacht, the Owner may purchase one jib sail in each calendar year and one main sail in every second calendar year.

After purchase, the Fleet 1 Measurer will inspect, measure and sign the sail before it may be used.

According to the Fleet 1 bylaws:

III.C.7. The Fleet has appointed Elliott/Pattison Sailmakers as its sole permitted sail maker for new mainsails, and Ullman Sails as its sole permitted sail maker for new jibs. No other sail/sail maker combinations will be allowed.

The cost of a new mail sail from Elliott/Pattison Sailmakers is $1,594.  They are offering a 15% discount to Fleet 1 members.  If 15 or more sails are ordered, the discount will be 20%. They can be reached at 949 645-6697. (if you intend on purchasing a main sail, post a comment so others can see if the Fleet will reach the 15 sail threshold).

Ullman Sails is offering the jib sail at $774 with 5% and 10% discounts available for 50% and 100% deposits. Download their flyer here. They can be reached at 714-432-1860

If you are buying a new Mainsail, consider donating your old one to NHYC for possible use in the Baldwin Cup team races.

 

I took my Harbor 20 for a daysail out of the harbor and it turned into a nightmare faster than I could imagine.

We left the dock on Saturday November 10, 2012, around 9:30 a.m. in “Old Glory” #21 without leaving a log or telling anyone, being novice sailors with plans to stay close to the harbor. It was a clear day with windier than normal conditions. We didn’t see the posted small craft advisory at Harbor Patrol, didn’t think much of passing sailboats coming back from a cancelled regatta, or the missing bait barge at the harbor entrance. We even waved to one of the harbor patrol on their boat on our way out of Newport Harbor.

It was very easy to go downwind in a westerly towards Laguna Beach. When the wind picked up, we decided to turn around somewhere around Crystal Cove/Reef Point (Scotchman’s Cove). At first, we were making progress back until we got to around Little Corona Del Mar Beach.

The current, wind and swells made it impossible to clear the harbor entrance, and my goal at that time was to steer away from the rocks. It was really hard to steer and the rudder was out of the water often. I was exhausted trying to position the boat at the proper angle to make it through each of the endless waves. Therefore, we changed tack and so went further out to sea for awhile until we were at least 200 meters out to sea from Little Corona Del Mar Beach. However, the waves got bigger, and the rolling worsened with the higher wind as I depowered the sails.

The first 8-10 foot wave hit us, as the wind overpowered the ability of the rudder to maintain a straight course, and we rounded up. The boat headed up into the wind, causing us to slow down and stall out and I was no longer able to control the direction of the boat. A subsequent gust knocked our bow over and forced us parallel to the wave, which put the low-freeboard leeward side into the water. The cabin filled halfway with water and we lost steering and maneuverability, since we were now bow heavy with hundreds of gallons of water and sitting significantly lower in the water. There was too much water to bail with a 2 gallon bucket or bilge pump. At that point my crew, Stewart, pulled lifejackets out from below and strung them together with the bumpers to create maximum flotation. I said “OMG we’re sinking” and called channel 16 and repeated a mayday message three times since I wasn’t sure anyone heard and there was no time to confirm. The second wave completely filled the cabin with water. In 1-2 minutes, with my hand still on the tiller, we were suddenly in the ocean.

We swam away and were lucky to avoid getting tangled in any lines and dragged down with the boat. We looked back at the Harbor 20 and saw only 5 feet of mast that was left go straight down. Wallets, purse, three cell phones and fishing gear were all lost. I went under the surface twice and drank some water. It crossed my mind it would be really impossible to see two bobbing heads in large swells. Stewart pulled the flotation and lifejackets from the cabin as we sank and I grabbed a lifejacket and hung on since it is nearly impossible to swim in sneakers, jacket and jeans. Stewart, a former triathlete and surfer, felt at home in the large swells and held my head above water.

We had spotted a crew team in a big outrigger canoe in the near distance rowing away. We yelled and they finally asked if we needed help and Stewart yelled “Yes!” They hung back to avoid getting dragged down. We swam about 50 feet in 59 degree water to the outrigger. The crew team pulled us on board and one of the members held on to me. Stewart was seated at the front of the outrigger and the coach gave him crew lessons. We were met at the harbor entrance by the Newport Harbor Patrol, who said they heard a distress call–something about a Harbor 20 going down. However, by the time they were looking, there was no Harbor 20 to spot and they were pointed in the wrong direction further inland than where we sank to search for us. The outrigger disappeared after dropping us off and, if it weren’t for them, Stewart and I would have been tortured to try to swim more than 200 meters to shore. The ocean was cold and every minute counted; we were hypothermic, with soaking wet clothes. It took at least 30 minutes to warm up enough in the hot harbor patrol shower and harbor patrol sweats for me to feel my fingers and stop shivering.

“Old Glory” went down with her glorious sails up and we haven’t found her yet, despite multiple Vessel Assist grid searches a few days later. Who knows, perhaps someday she will return from her voyage. It could have been us along with her, never to be found. Even though it was a horrifying learning experience and a great loss to lose dear #21, I am still a big fan of the Harbor 20. I supposedly purchased Hull #40, which was really Hull #1, a perfect bonus for a traumatic event and coincides nicely with the 15th Anniversary of the Harbor 20.

Harbor 20 sailors need to take safety seriously and know beforehand how to handle and be prepared for the worst situations, even if they plan to use their “Harbor” 20 mostly in the harbor. Things can go wrong really fast and unexpectedly with no time to think or panic sets in. Hopefully, knowledge and experience can prevent or mitigate the actual accident.

In summary, I feel these are important safety issues:

(1) Weather: Check the weather and don’t underestimate it. If necessary, stay home and don’t put yourself at risk in the first place. Check warnings posted at harbor patrol. We didn’t know it was Santa Ana conditions until later. We probably would have done better running before the storm to shore in the direction of Dana Point (that did occur to me during the incident) and wait out the weather. It’s also a bad sign when not that many other boats were out sailing and regattas were being cancelled.

(2) Log: Log book your trip or tell someone before leaving.

(3) Swim: Know how to swim. Wear swimmable or easily strippable shoes and clothes.

(4) Lifejacket: Wear your lifejacket. Whistle on life jacket would be useful. Consider EPIRB/PLB-like device.

(5) Boat flotation: Flotation wasn’t offered as an option on Harbor 20s until hull number 150, and wasn’t routinely installed until number 320. Since the boat has a 900 lb. keel and 1800 lb. displacement, it sinks like a rock without flotation. Stuffing the cushions under the cabin top would not be enough useful flotation.

(6) Radio: Have radio, know what to say and length of transmission. One needs to transmit longer and repeat message several times so they have a better chance of hearing. Even though I repeated three times, they hardly heard one garbled message. Some radios, like the one I was using, don’t have programmed GPS, and you would need to transmit long enough for Long Beach Coast Guard to get three GPS coordinates. They got one bearing since my transmission was less than a minute. One bearing can vary by several degrees and would cover an area of 40 miles more or less.

(7) Phone/contacts: Have Coast Guard, Harbor Patrol, Seatow, Vessel Assist, etc. numbers handy. Waterproof your cell phone and have handy.

(8) Safety equipment: Paddle, flares, bailing bucket etc.

(9) Boat Maintenance: Have motor and bilge pump working, keep batteries charged, etc.

(10) Sailing/seamanship skills: Know how put in a reef. Know how to anchor, heave to, go over waves. Man overboard skills. Extra line for jury rigging in case rig fails and for towing.

(11) Medical awareness: Learn about hypothermia.

(12) GPS: GPS device would be useful to mark your course, since it’s hard to estimate distance, and can be used to mark the spot right away where you sank. Also, search ASAP. We started searching several days later, possibly giving the boat time to fall off the continental shelf.

The Balboa Yacht Club has decided to move the Portsmouth Folly up to December 14^th. They were concerned the 21^st is too close to the holidays (that and trying to find enough docking for H20s during the Boat Parade weekend is a nightmare!).

Links to the official regatta website will be posted once it becomes available.

These reflections on this years Harbor 20 sailing and class championship are posted on behalf of our 2013 Class Champion Bill Menninger:

 What a great job the class officers and directors have done in helping our class continue to grow. A big shout out! To our faithful ; John, Peter, Emile and Karl.

Then we have unsung heroes like Judy, to keep Robert Kinney company on our championship race committee, and Jim Kerrigan (sorely Missed) who helped create the Kerrigan jib boom adjuster. There are many others who make our class strong and our social events fantastic. Mark and Shana, Karen, Judy and Kathy. Not to mention all the significant others who dedicate their time behind the scenes.

 This years championship completed eight races, for which I was very thankful. By the time we got to the dock, I had a faint idea we had won, but I wasn’t sure with Jim Buckingham winning the last race. Thankfully, Chris Allen had not won a third in a row, and Gary Thorne was just behind us. Tim Hogan had one bad race on Sunday, so I was really just worried about Jim, our newest class addition, sailing with his youngest daughter Biz.

 What was interesting for me is there are many ways to sail a Harbor 20, and it really comes down to starting and getting a first shift. While I depend on a looser rig to sail some headstay sag in lighter conditions, Jim sailed with a relatively tight rig, and used the mainsail boom vang to bend the mast, thereby shortening the mast and that too develops headstay sag. Two different ways to skin a cat, and since we never sail in one direction more than 150 feet in the bay, we really cant say one technique is better than another.

 The light air put a premium on jib trim and crewing, constantly trimming the jib in and out to maximize acceleration and minimize steering. The shifty conditions put a premium on crews who could spot the puffs and talk about different situations on the course.  We tightened our jib outhaul on the runs to give us more

Effective sail area downwind, we kept our jib downhaul the same on every race, and find it better to be erring a little on the too tight side, versus too loose.

Our shroud tensions were around 15 on the uppers and 8 to 10 on the lowers. On Sunday we raised our jib an additional inch to make the sail slightly fuller after a disappointing final race on Saturday….I typically call our diver ahead of an important regatta to remind him the bottom has to be smooth, and he usually does the boat a day before the races…

 Strategy wise, we chose to start on the windiest part of the line, disregarding the shift we expected of the side of the course to favor. In other words, a good start, heading the wrong direction, usually finds you in the top five. A bird in the hand so to speak!  Downwind, we tried to avoid the lido lee and take advantage of better wind or tide around Bay Island. We used almost no vang tension all weekend as the boom weight was enough to keep the leech firm.

And every so often I looked up to see the battens hadn’t popped through after a gybe, so I would gently pull the main boom in until they popped to leeward and noticed the boat immediately accelerate.

 A special thanks to Peter Haynes and Greg Helias, who reminded us on more than one occasion to go around the weather mark offset buoy. Without them, someone else might be writing this!

 Every year, the class gets stronger and better. I hope we can help share some good ideas and encourage others do the same.

On Thursday, September 26, two days before the Championship, the H20 Association is sponsoring an evening called “ASK THE JUDGES” at 7:00 PM at NHYC. Certified judges will be present to answer any and all questions you might have about the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2013-2016. A whiteboard with magnetic boats will be used to help visualize on-the-water situations as they change over time.  This year we will be honored to have certified judges David Blackman, Kevin Hawkins, and Peter Wells. Don’t to go into the Championship with lingering questions about the rules. Come and get your questions answered at this important event! For those of you who have not attended this traditional pre-Championship event in the past, you might be surprised how much fun a lively rules discussion can be. We hope to see you there!

Harbor 20 sailors,  the NORs and the Registrations for the Fleet/Class Championships, BCYC Tune Up and NHYC Fall Schock Regattas are now online and available. Links to the sites are available from the Fleet 1 Calendar, or the sidebar on the left, or below:

 

September 21, BCYC Tune Up Regatta

September 22, NHYC Fall Schock Regatta

September 28, 29 Fleet / Class Championships

If you are in close company with another boat, can you gybe as part of your windward mark rounding? If you are not absolutely sure of the answer, that is not surprising. The rules change every fours years in cadence with the Olympics, and this rule has changed 3 times in the last 9 years! Below are illustrations from Dave Perry’s current, and previous two versions, of his “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” book:

 

As you can see, if you do not actually study the rules, it is very difficult to understand subtle changes such as have occurred with this rule over the years. Don’t handicap yourself by sailing with tribal knowlege of the rules which is incomplete at best and incorrect at worst. If you would like to learn or re-learn these complex rules, come join us at the “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” seminar on Sunday, September 8, at BCYC. We hope to see you there! 

Registration and Course Description