<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Great description, Anna! I was wanting a blow by blow of how you did it. Sounds like you made a crucial tactical decision by not bearing off over by the Richmond bridge and thus sailing a shorter distance. </div><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><br></div><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">I'm curious about round ups on reaches with these boats. It seems like the lee helm kind of prevents rounding up on tight reaches. <br><br> Good luck this Saturday!</div><br>Garth Copenhaver<div>415-450-0843</div></div><div><br>On Apr 29, 2014, at 11:33 PM, "Anne-Carlijn Alderkamp" <<a href="mailto:acalderkamp@gmail.com">acalderkamp@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div dir="ltr">
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Tuna skippers,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Byte Size sailed the Great Vallejo race last weekend and we
had a blast! The start consisted of bobbing around with 172 other boats,
waiting for the start that was postponed twice due to lack of wind. On Saturday
the slowest boats start last and our start was postponed for almost 2 hours, so
I was convinced we were never going to make it all the way to Vallejo against
the ebb. But the westerly started filling in around 12:30 and by the time we
started (after 1 pm) things were looking great. The wind had shifted since the
beginning of the starts around 11 am, and we could lay the upwind mark in one tack.
<span style=""> </span>We rounded after the Cal 20 “Can of
Whoopass” but managed to pass them right after the rounding. <span style=""> </span>The leg to the Richmond Bridge against the ebb
was tricky, with a close haul on a nasty steep chop. I had the feeling we weren’t
going fast at all, but we kept up with an Express 27, so obviously we weren’t
doing so bad. At Southampton we got a 30° lift and we decided to stay high and
beeline it to the Richmond Bridge. A lot of boats stayed low, trying to find
some current relieve closer to Richmond, but our speed was very good when
compared to the bigger boats, so we happily chugged<span style=""> </span>along with our competition down from us.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">At Richmond Bridge we had passed a whole bunch of boats that
had started earlier in light winds. We stayed close to the shore to find some
current relief and hugged the old wharfs on Pt San Pablo in about 17 kn of
breeze. After we rounded Pt San Pablo we started looking longingly at our
windex to see if the wind angle was good enough to set the spinnaker, but unfortunately,
it was just foreward of beam reach. After about 10 minutes we saw the two Cal
20’s the "Can” and “Green Dragon” rounding Pt San Pablo and setting the kite.
The wind had shifted a couple of degrees aft, so we decided: “Let’s give the
spinnaker a try!” More boats around us had the same idea and for a while
everyone looked great with their colorful kites up. Then, the wind increased
and boats started rounding up left and right. There quite some mayhem around
us, with flapping kites and boats on one ear, and we had some small round-ups,
too. The boats around us quickly doused their spinnakers, but we kept going in
what was now ~20 kn with gusts of 25 and a steep ebb chop. I figured out
quickly to steer down a wave before it hit us and Thijs and Claire dialed the
spinnaker trim, so no more roundups. It was the most amazing sailing we’ve done
on Byte Size and we just kept surfing the waves. We hit a couple of waves off
the wake of a Laser 28, which was just epic! It reminded me of steering a Laser
down waves in big wind. The batteries in our GPS gave out, but I’m estimating
we hit some 12-14 kn over the water when surfing those waves. Byte Size handled
like a charm and I’m now even more impressed by her design. As Tom Montoya
always says: “Santana’s are sweethearts!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the Carquinez Strait we were sailing down wind and working
down to avoid a jibe. We doused the spinnaker just before turning into the Mare
Island Strait. You can’t win the Great Vallejo Race in the Mare Island Strait,
but you can certainly lose it with the windholes and current. We managed to
keep it together and finished after sailing 4 hrs, 7 mins, 55 secs, with just a
single tack! Now the wait was for the competition, because the “Can” is always
tricky to beat. When we saw them come into the VYC marina about half an hour
after us we knew we had a pretty good shot and the results confirmed a first
place, beating the “Can” by 8 minutes. And we had the fastest corrected mono
hull time of all boats! Everyone was all smiles after the awesome sailing.
Unfortunately, the other Santana 22 “Sail la Vie” didn’t make the time limit
and “Green Dragon” broke their rudder and limped in under white sails and
steering with the outboard prop.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">My memories of the celebrations are happy and foggy, and the
three of us passed out on the comfy cushions of Byte Size (Thijs had to go back
to fly out early Sun morning). The next morning was painful and foggy, but
after a slow start (40 secs late on the line, yikes) we sailed a decent race
back in shifty conditions to earn a 2<sup>nd</sup> place, 2 mins after the “Can”,
that was single handed by Richard. Congratulations Richard!<br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the RC for postponing the races until the wind
filled in (which certainly helped us!) and the Byte Size crew of Claire, Thijs,
and Ramon for an amazing weekend. And thanks to Gary Mull for designing such an
awesome boat!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Check out <a href="http://Norcalsailing.com">Norcalsailing.com</a> for their report and some great pictures of Byte Size.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">Anna Alderkamp</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Byte Size" #801<br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span><span style=""> </span></p>
</div>
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