Odalisque - August 19th, 2006 Log

Log 2006 - August 23rd

A months worth of our first wednesday night races on Odalisque

Wednesday August 23rd, 2006
“Our first race on Odalisque”

Crew: Matt, Caleb
Winds: light and fluky 5 – 10 from the W. NW
Race start: 1830

Since it was our first race we got there a little early to meet the competition and try to pick up some pointers. This was a good thing. We met Lee, the skipper of “Moltzen Golden” who reassured and encouraged us to race. She recommended that we follow her at the starting line which is probably a good strategy. Their was no launch operator on duty that night and all racers ended up ferrying each other out in tin boats. We started out following her but eventually lost her in the crowd which is the starting line. We ended up crossing the line on the downwind side and came about to a port tack. The next mark was to windward 2 miles so we were already at a disadvantage. We held this tack even though we could see the rest of the fleet coming at us on a starboard tack and hot on our heels. We had to come about several times to defer to starboard tack boats and lost time on each tack. We should have held our original starboard tack upwind as far as possible before switching to port and being sure we would clear the competition.
When we reached the upwind mark and rounded it with room to spare and beam reached towards buoy #10. We were ahead of an O’Day 26’. We pulled up the centerboard and seemed to gain ground with the current washing down river. Surprisingly we held our rank at 2nd to last in elapsed time. On the leg from buoy #10 to #8 I handled the tiller. Matt was previously on the tiller and I noticed that he was paying almost more attention to the sails and telltales than the course so I asked to spell him and let him concentrate on that. He had been the acting tactician as well. We are new to this and I believe we will sort out our overlapping roles as helmsman, sail trimmer, tactician and crew. There were only two of us after all.
We may have finished 2nd to last in real time but our PHRF rating of 240 we finished 5th in a field of 8 in the class. We ended up beating the older guys we spoke to on the patio after the race: Ernie, Ritchie and Morris. For a first race we did not do too badly. This was an interesting development and it was fun..

Wednesday September 6th, 2006
“Full moon fall race”

Crew: Caleb, Jessica and Matt
Sailing time: about 3 hours
I was not sure that there would be a race judging by the apathetic wind at the club around 1700 (5 pm). We joined the other racing crews on the crowded launch and took stock of our competition.
It would be a difficult race for us with the light airs, our difficulty in pointing upwind and the upriver current. Figuring out what the race course was Matt’s job which proved vexing. We did everything we knew how to make Odalisque go as fast as possible towards the next Point B; billow out sails, raise the centerboard on downwind tacks, use the spinnaker pole as a whisker pole for the jib.
The sun was already below the hills of Nyack and its afterglow was still present when the moon rose above Tarrytown to the east. It was a beautiful and clear evening after having been cloudy all day. The light faded and the moonlight took over. My eyes proved to work failry well in discerning the landscape of moored boats. We managed to beat one other boat over the line and I suspect that we may be surprised when we get the PHRF corrected finish times.
A crowded launch picked us up that was full of other fellow racers. Everyone was happy and contemplative at the same time. It had been both a nice moonlight sail and a race where we had to contend with a tug and barges under the Tappan Zee Bridge.
We met Charles Citron who is over from Holland on the dock and walked back to the club together. He had tried to meet up with us via the NBC launch only to discover that we had already left and were near the starting line. Charles said he did enjoy just sitting on the dock and enjoyed the whole experience of being on the river; the ducks, the cliffs, the sailboats, the sky, the sun and moon etc.
The old lyric of: “I got the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening” does not always match the reality of the moons ability to rise anytime of day or night in any phase she chooses to be in.

Wednesday September 13th, 2006
“Overcast fall race”

Wind: S, SE near 10
Race course: 10 class “C” cruising and tubs
Crew: Matt, Caleb
Depart: 1800
Return: 2100
Finish: 4th out of 6
No commercial vessels encountered in this race.
Current: down river with low tide at 2230
Engine time: 25 minutes or less, out and back.
In our third race together we finally overtook 2 boats on the downwind leg. I think that we are getting the hang of this but I think that luck was in our favor too. We have made progress with our tactics, sail trim, and steering. Pulling up the centerboard and using the spinnaker pole as a whisker pole going wing on wing really helped us gain on other boats. I would like to play with billowing out the main in lighter air to get more thrust. We ended up not finishing last again and awaiting the results.

— Caleb Davison