VOLUME 55, ISSUE 5 SAN DIEGO S R/C MODEL BOAT CLUB - JUNE FROM THE CROW S NEST:

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1 Just a Substitute Newsletter VOLUME 55, ISSUE 5 SAN DIEGO S R/C MODEL BOAT CLUB - JUNE 2014 Mission Bay Model Boat Pond Latitude: N32 o Longitude W117 o FROM THE CROW S NEST: The following have birthday s this Month Bob Kieweit, Greg Dawe, Mark Hallberg, Don Lair, Reilly Dunham, and Daniel Swanson. Happy Birthday to you all. CHICAGO RACE WEEK 2014 The Chicago RC Model Yacht Club is holding Chicago Race Week 2014 on September 12 through September 20 at Big Bear Lake, Century Park, Vernon Hills, IL. Four classes will be racing, Soling 1 Meter, Santa Barbara, J Boat, and EC-12. For details, go to their website IOM National Championship Regatta Held in Foster City, CA, the first five skippers were Tony Gonsalves, John Ebey, Craig Mackey, Peter Allen and Gary Boell. Dennis Rogers was 6 th and Jeff Weiss came in 13 th. FOR THE MONTH OF JULY-AT THE POND 12 July Sail Points 11:30 AM Soling 50 and Santa Barbara 19 July Soling 50 Mid-Summer Regatta 09:45 AM 20 July Santa Barbara Mid-Summer Regatta 09:45 AM 27 July Power Points 09:00 AM FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST-AT THE POND 2 August Sail Points 11:30 AM - IOM and ODOM 8 10 August THE SAN DIEGO CUP Power Division RD Vice Commodore Neil Boyle 24 August Power Points 09:00 AM RACE DIRECTORS NEEDED We have some great members who always volunteer to be Race Directors. We have a few vacancies and they must be filled in order to have races. Here are the openings. July 19 Soling Regatta July 20 Santa Barbara Regatta Oct 11 ODOM Fall Regatta Oct 12 IOM Fall Regatta Contact Vice Commodore Sail Mike Eldred (meldred@cts.com) or Secretary Tom Gardner (tgardnerocean@att.net). MINUTES OF JUNE 8 BOD MEETING In Attendance: Commodore Mark Hallberg, Vice Commodore Sail Mike Eldred, Director Sail Greg Dawe, Purser Lon Wahler, Secretary Tom Gardner. Treasurer s Report: Lon gave the Treasurer s report. The balance for the Sailing Account is $3,572. There is, however, an outstanding reimbursement for the February IOM Region 6 Championships of $ The Board asked Lon to write a letter to The Treasurer of IOM to be sent to Mike and forwarded by him to the IOM officials. The Board approved a decision that no future regatta would be hosted for the IOM s until the bill was paid. The balance for the General Club account is $2, ) Volunteers for RD s for remainder of the year: A general discussion explored several ideas related to both getting more club participation and stimulating fellow members to volunteer for RD. Almost the entire second half of the year s points races did not have RD s at the time of the Board Meeting. One contributing reason appears to be the split groups now racing, another that Freddie has not been able to do some he had committed to. The Board voted to craft a letter to the club members explaining the situation and asking for volunteers. It was agreed that if an RD is not available within 30 days of the Points Race, the race would be cancelled. Tom is to craft the letter, which would include a list of those who have already volunteered. (Note: letter was cancelled -volunteers for all remaining points races came forth, still need regatta volunteers) 1

2 The Board was advised that Glenda Gardner would volunteer to assist RD s by doing the scorekeeping for any event in which Tom was competing. She asked only that RD call out the scores. The Board expressed their appreciation for the commitment. Mike suggested we use a recording device to help record finishes. 2) Points schedule for next year. After discussion it was conceded that the approach to just two classes each month has had some unintended negative effects. Participation did not go up as anticipated, and in some cases it is down, i.e. Wednesday practices, IOM regatta. It has impacted communications since the club is never together. Before making a change back, it was suggested and agreed upon that a survey would go out to ask members what they thought of the change and whether they wanted to go back to racing four classes each day. Tom is to write up the survey and get it checked off from the Board before sending it out. Four questions would be asked: a. Do you like the two class approach and want to keep it? b. Would you prefer to go back to the four classes for each Points Race. c. If you want to go back to four classes, do you want to change now? d. If you want to go back to four classes, you want to wait until the 2015 racing season? 3) Having more fun at club events. It was discussed that we might be able to bring some more fun into the Points Race to help sailors stay around and gather after the races, and it was agreed that several items should be implemented. a. Scores for racers will be calculated and announced at the end of the races. b. Some sort of award for the winners. Tom will explore medallions for the Points Races. c. Have a raffle at the end for all participants, except winners who have already received medallions. Board members will look for raffle items related to sailing or the model boats. d. Invite remaining folks to gather at local eatery for some refreshments afterwards. 4) Storage for Club records. Tom asked if there was a place to store the club records other than his house. Partly in jest, Mark responded: I thought we found the location. (Tom s house). Tom agreed to find room in his condo garage. Tom also expressed concern that a lot of the clubs official records were in other member s houses and suggested that they might be gathered up. One approach would be to ask members to bring items to the Annual Dinner. Meeting adjourned 12:15 after a nice lunch prepared by Lon and Diane. Real men still eat quiche. Respectfully submitted: Tom Starboard Gardner Secretary SAILING A 16 FOOT SNIPE IN A HURRICANE - - (As Promised) I was in upper New York State when my sister, Esther, called to inform me that a hurricane was coming up the Eastern seaboard and was just beginning to affect the south shore of Connecticut. I knew my old wooden Snipe was on a stake in Long Island Sound and should be sailed West to the creek by my uncle s boathouse at Summer Island. I hurriedly drove south to Branford, Connecticut and to my parents home. By the time that I arrived there it was late in the afternoon and it was beginning to get dusk. Heavy clouds were gusting overhead. Esther had called my old Army friend, Allan (Swede) Swenson and he was there, ready to go. I heard her say she would park her car at Summer Island and would keep blinking the lights toward the Sound. Swede and I grabbed and donned a couple of orange slickers, I grabbed a flashlight and the sail bag and drove down to Uncle Len s home in Indian Neck, on Long Island Sound. The Snipe was tied to a stake just off the beach in front of his house. We dragged the double-ended rowboat that was always on the beach to the water and rowed out to 2

3 the Snipe. We tied the rowboat to the stake, leaving plenty of line so it wouldn t bump the Snipe and went aboard. By the time we had the sails up, the rudder and tiller on, and the centerboard down, it was beginning to get dark, and the wind was starting to make white-tops farther out. The wind direction was such that we had to tack straight South towards the middle of the Sound. Then, tack to the West hoping to clear the portion of Indian Neck that jutted outwards to the Sound. At that point I should have given up the idea of sailing to Summer Island, but being young and anxious about the Snipe, I continued on. I decided to sail South for ten minutes and then tack to the West. The seas were becoming rougher and the wind heavier as we went. I soon had to let the main sail luff to keep the Snipe from capsizing. Then it began to rain and I lost sight of the lights on the shore. I realized we were now in real trouble. After ten minutes I tacked to the west and the Snipe was sailing faster than I had ever sailed it before. Swede and I were hiking out over the port side with our shoes clamped under the starboard combing. The seas were now breaking all around us and I knew turning back was useless. We sailed for some time in a Westerly direction. I kept trying to see through the rain for any lights on the shore. It was just plain darkness. I no longer could even guess where we were. I kept hoping we were clearing Indian Neck when I heard an unusual crashing of waves. I grabbed the flashlight and pointed it towards the shore and to my horror saw waves crashing over rocks about 15 feet to Starboard. Then I saw white water to Port and pointing the flashlight that way saw more rocks about ten feet to Port. Suddenly both rocks disappeared and I realized that we had sailed between the outer edge of Green Island and a small rock that I knew existed there. I also knew we were far, far too close to shore and once again had to tack South. The little boat didn t want to come about in the heavy seas, but Swede solved that by back-winding the jib. So off we went towards the middle of the Sound again. We headed South for about twenty minutes and then, once again, tacked towards the West. The rain continued to pound down and the wind gusts were getting to the point where I thought the Snipe would capsize, even with the main almost all the way out and luffing terribly. I knew that we had to either head outside or inside of Clam Island, which lay just outside of Summer Island. Summer Island wasn t really an island, but a marsh and creek divided it from the main land. I kept peering through the rain, hoping to see some type of light. Swede and I were soaked from the waist down, only the slickers keeping the upper part of our bodies partially dry. I had been holding onto the main sheet with my right hand and it was becoming numb. I didn t dare to snub it down to a cleat for fear a gust would turn us over. Suddenly I thought I saw a glow through the rain, then it was gone. Then it appeared again, then went away again. I realized it was Esther blinking her car lights. And it was close enough to let me know we were inside Clam Island. As we got closer I could make out the two lights on her car and as we passed them I turned North and into the small bay. I could make out several flashlights bobbing on the shore, and then turned into the creek which fed the bay. We reached shore and several people helped us pull the Snipe onto the small sand beach which ran beside the creek. My uncle was there and I thought I heard him mumble, Damn fool kids. Many years later, when both Swede and I were retired, my wife and I visited him and his wife in Florida. We talked of old times and he asked if I remembered the time we had sailed in the hurricane. I had never told Swede about our almost encounter with Green Island. We had a couple of rums and I mentioned how close we had come to disaster. I said that if we had gone aground on the island or the rock, it would have wrecked the boat and, if so, we probably would have drowned in the hurricane. Swede suddenly became very serious and angrily said, You should have told me. It seems that he thought sailing in a hurricane was great fun and he had felt no danger whatever. Such is life. 3

4 SAILBOATS FOR SALE For sale by Bob DeBow (619) Santa Barbara, Sail #1875. Complete, ready to sail away with transmitter: $ Just received the following: Santa Barbara One-Design Racing Clinic 11:00 am, Saturday June 28, 2014 Mission Bay Pond This will be another in a series of clinics to help Santa Barbara sailors get the most from their boats. The timing of this clinic is keyed to the Santa Barbara Sail Points races and Mid-Summer Regatta which are scheduled to take place a few weeks following this clinic. Take the time to make sure your boat is set up properly, then come out to the pond on the 28 th to hone your racing skills. You will see the fruits of your labor in the regattas that follow... and for the rest of your sailing days. As you have heard me say before, I believe there are three simple steps that any sailor can follow that will move him or her to the front of the pack: Step 1. Proper boat preparation (tell tales in the right places, repeatable sail settings, etc.) Step 2. Knowing how to read those tell tails so that you can sail fast Step 3. Figuring out how to sail in the right direction (at least most the time) I have attached a boat preparation worksheet and an article about the above three steps. Study these documents and do your homework, and you will see improvement... because success favors those who are well prepared. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me at or kencamp858@att.net. Hope to see you there... regards, Ken (Go to Page 7 for continuation) 4

5 2014 SAIL DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS SANTA BARBARA Raw Throw Sail # Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total #1 Net Score 1 Ken Campbell 2 Lon Wahler Rich Rogers Dennis Frost Tom Gardner 6 Mark Hallberg 7 Jim Hawkins Bill Bridges Dunham Reilly 10 Tom Honeycutt 11 Joan Hirshfeld 12 Jim Torian Ron Cunningham 14 Bob Danks Dennis Sharp 16 Chris Caffee Skippers SOLING 50 Raw Throw Sail # Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total #1 Net Score 1 Ken Campbell 2 Filippo Busalacchi 3 Greg Dawe Kim Robbins Tom Gardner 6 Lon Wahler Dennis Frost Rich Rogers Jim Atkins Bill Honeycutt 11 Greg Williams 12 Dunham Reilly 13 Mark Hallberg 14 Tom Kemp Skippers One Design One Meter (ODOM) Raw Throw Net Score Sail # Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total #1 1 Greg Dawe Dennis Rogers 3 Ken Campbell 4 John Tyler Lon Wahler Rich Rogers Tom Gardner 8 Dennis Frost Jim Snodgrass

6 10 Greg Williams 11 Mark Hallberg 12 Gerry Wold Bill Denham Jim Shadwick 15 John Golden Jim Torian Joan Hersfeld 18 Ron Cunningham 19 Chris Caffee Steve Bales Skippers IOM Raw Throw Net Sail # Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total #1 Score 1 Dennis Rogers 2 Mike Eldred Kim Robbins Ken Campbell 5 Jeff Weiss Greg Dawe Jim Snodgrass 8 Lon Wahler Bill Bridges Ron Cunningham 11 Craig Mackey 12 Dick Carver Jim Atkinson Dennis Frost Scott Tempesta 16 Cameron Puckeg Skippers DNF Did Not Finish=(#Skippers+1) DNS Did Not Start=(#Skippers+2) DSQ Disqualified=(# Skippers+3) # Rained Not Raced Guest RD= Season Average (Raw Score/# of races) Tie Breaker (># of 1st, > # of 2nd, ># of 3rd) RD Earned points 6

7 Three Steps to Winning Races by Ken Campbell The light and variable wind conditions this past weekend for the Soling 50 and Santa Barbara Mid- Summer Regattas had many people frustrated and scratching their heads. Even I was stymied and amazed several times trying sort out what the wind was up to. But do not fret... if you re looking to do better in these challenging conditions (or any other conditions for that matter) here are some suggested steps to do better next time. The first step is to ensure your boat is set up properly. I m talking basic construction and operation. You should be able to reliability get your sails to close hauled settings, as well as make sure your sails go out all the way for going down wind... If you can do both these you ll be OK for all the points of sail in between. And I can not overstress the importance of having a good set of telltales on your jib... One on each side of the jib, half way up the luff and set back 2 from the leading edge. Use 3 of VHS tape and stagger them so that the telltale on the port side is 2 higher than the starboard side. Equally important is a masthead telltale... See my recent article in the Newsletter for construction details. Without these important sensors feeding you critical information about what the wind is doing to your boat you re going to be in for a long and tough afternoon. So now that you know your boat is set up properly the next step is to ensure you know how to correctly read those most important telltales. Go close hauled and sail your boat to weather... do this by yourself without any boats around you. You should see that when you sail too low the leeward side telltale starts flapping around... so head up a little. You want that telltale (both of them for that matter) streaming straight back... If it s not, something s wrong. And if you re sailing too high of course your jib will not be full, so head down a little. When I m racing and sail to weather, I think I spend about 90% of my time focused on my jib telltales. Wow that s a lot of my time, but that s what I think is needed to win races. When you re reaching off the wind it s the same basic idea... keep that leeward telltale flying straight back. Downwind those jib telltales are of little help and I shift to using the masthead telltale. It s telling me two very important pieces of information... which direction the wind is coming from, and how strong (or weak) it is blowing. Given that information I set my sails accordingly. And because that masthead fly is so light and responsive do realize it will be your first alert to changes in the wind. The last step (actually there never is a last step) is learning to read the wind, which is constantly changing speed and direction. You now know your boat is as fast as anyone else s, and you know how to read those telltales. So now the only thing you need to do is head in the right direction... and this is where races are really won or lost. Realizing that our boats generally sail about 45 degrees from the actual wind direction you just need to figure out when you re sailing higher or lower than 45 degrees from the average wind direction. If you re sailing higher that s great, you re sailing on a lift. If you re sailing lower, you re on a header and you should think about tacking. (The shortest distance to the weather mark will be sailing on the lifts.) Use the straight edges of our pond as a reference to help you determine whether you re sailing on a lift or header. Also when the air gets lighter slack out the sails a touch to keep the boat speed up... and conversely, when a good puff comes through pull them in a little tighter. Get boat speed first, and then try to point up. In summary ensure your boat is race ready, you ve got good telltales that you can read across the pond, and that you can sense when you re sailing on a lift versus a header. If you follow those steps I have every confidence you will be able to place in the top half of the fleet... and as you sharpen those skills continue to move up in position. 1/1/2014 7

8 Santa Barbara Racing Clinic, January 18, 2014 Ken Campbell Step 1. Boat Preparation Worksheet Participant Name: Sail Number: Mast location (distance from bow, 27 on #81) Mast rake (mast tip to base of transom, 85½ on #81) Shrouds OK? (Mast straight) Masthead telltale? Backstay adjust OK? Jib pivot location (distance from bow, 12 on #81) Jib pivot percentage (3¼ divide by 16¾ equals ~20% on #81) Jib counterweight? (Actually #81 doesn t have one) Jib foot adjustment OK? Jib luff tension adjust OK? (With separate forestay adjust) Jib topping lift adjust OK? Telltales on jib? (½ way up luff, 2 back, port 1½ higher than stbd, 3 VHS tape) Mainsail downhaul / Cunningham adjust OK? Vang operation OK? Mainsail foot adjustment OK? Mainsail shape OK? Main and jib sheeting action OK? (Close hauled settings, downwind settings) Rudder throw (plus/minus 30 degrees, use exponential if available on xmtr) Full up boat weight (23 to 28 lbs, #81 is ~23½ lbs) Keel weight (13½ to 16½ lbs if removable, #81 is ~15 ½ lbs) Battery condition monitor Boat Setup Prior to Launch Setup for close hauled, all else will pretty much fall into place... Tighten backstay until mast just starts to bend back Jib ½ way between mast and shrouds (~12 degrees) Jib luff just remove luff pucker Jib foot - 1 finger off boom Jib leach matches mainsail shape Main ½ way out to transom Main downhaul just enough to remove scallops Main foot 1-2 fingers off boom Vang just starts to pull boom down (readjust after sailing downwind) 8