April 16 - OYRA Lightship Race

We berthed at Berkeley Yacht Club on Friday night and met everyone at around 730AM at the boat. It took about 50 mins to get from BYC to the St Francis Yacht Club for the start. The Bay was glassy and calm at 940 when we motored into position. Slack Tide was 9AM with Max Ebb at 104PM at the Gate. Our start saw about 2 kts of current which helped us get out of the Gate at the start. There were many retirements.

The race sequence start was postponed by 40 minutes (940 -> 1020) and the committee also shortened the sequence by rescheduling Foxtrot fleet so we were caught down tide from the start line with 1 minute to go. We started about 1 min late as a consequence and motored to get into position. We started with Golf fleet and immediately flew spinnaker with some difficulty with getting the sheet and guy rigged correctly.  Winds were light and we struggled to fill the spinnaker We floated out with the ebb, crossing into the no-go zone off Point Anita. On the way we passed Adrenaline who was anchored in the no-go zone. Lad mentioned that we could protest, but ultimately Adrenaline withdrew and we didn't protest.

The winds filled in by the gate to around 8-10 out of 040. Winds at the Lightship buoy were only about 2-4Kts at 10AM. By the time we made it out to the Lightship Buoy in the early afternoon, winds were closer to 15 kts. The wind shifted to predominantly Westerly out of 235. 

We put in about 4-5 tacks before laying a course for the mark, rounded to Port. We rounded, but decided not to fly spinnaker at that point.   We saw a lot of spinnakers on the way back from the lightship buoy, and we ran back under Jib and Main and eventually flew the spinnaker as we approached the gate. The wind died before we reached Pt. Bonita, but we rode the 2 kt flood back into the gate until the wind built again. Coming in under the Gate, we were on a hot angle to reach the finish line and hit 9 kts+ of boat speed before a rushed douse. Shadowside held the spinnaker well in 15kts of air, but we were eventually rounded up before dousing. We finished at 20:25:30. It took about 90 mins to reach the Berkeley Marina and we Berthed at 22:10. 

Here is a list of fix it items:

• -> Spinnaker sheets need to be replaced (not long enough)
• -> AIS Power and Transmit seems to be interfering with the radios and causing radio buzz/white noise. 
• -> We need a way to cover up the windlass as it repeatedly caught on the spinnaker gear, particularly the downhaul. (Foreguy)
• -> The Spinnaker Shackle with the Blue ball needs to be lubricated to allow it to spin
• -> Steering Wheel Autopilot U-Bolts need to be filed down. (Sharp edges)
• -> Spinnaker Pole needs a way to trip from the jaws
• -> Boom Brake needs to be lubricated and adjusted. Not easy to slack and tighten.

Eric