No particular reason for this post - just really enjoyed a practice day on the water. We had a Tiger, and Infusion and a Capricorn out for some tuning in Long Beach. After some good eggs and coffee to clear the cobwebs, we shoved off the ramp around 1300 hrs in a light drizzle with around seven knots recorded on the harbor meteo station. We all futzed around for about a half an hour before regrouping and setting off on a loooong upwind together in about 10 knots and light chop with bigger sets of either boat wake or wind-driven waves.
All three skippers were either on unfamiliar platforms or had legitimate claim to some rust having formed on the tiller. It was fun to watch everyone trying different settings, weight placement, sailing angle, etc. When we reached the breakwater, we paused a moment to regroup and talk about the upwind leg. Then out came the 'chutes and we were off in still about 10 with some lulls and bigger gusts - the breeze was fitful and we thought we might be in for a change.
Once we got back down to the beach, the breeze had started to build. We regrouped and headed up again in more and more solid double-trap conditions and the water was flattening out so there was less chop to deal with. This beat, everyone had pretty much settled down and we were working on just boatspeed and angle - fine tune adjustments only. This gave us time to look around a little more - Catalina Island was the clearest I think I've seen it since moving here, and the rain clouds inland were broken enough that we could see broad areas of the snow-covered mountains above the valley. A big-boat race was wrapping up about this time so we had the harbor to ourselves except for a couple of die-hard kiters who were digging the building breeze.
The next downwind was the most fun for me - at this point we were in solid 15-18 knots. It was a fast and smooth ride and we all started together like greyhounds from the gate. At the gybe, we'd seperated from each other a bit, but we were all still close enough to give us each a good view of each boat's angle, attitude and speed. It was a fun single-trap run as the breeze continued to build.
At the bottom, we regrouped for a final beat - a light rain persisted, the meteo station was recording gusts over 20, and we were getting cold - the temps were falling after a high of only about 57F.
The last beat was solid double-trap, max downhual, rotation back a touch and constant mainsheet adjustment in the gusts. We again admired the views all around us and had an interesting conversation with several harbor seals that were loudly questioning our good sense at being out on a cold, rainy afternoon. At the top our make-shift course, the Infusion and the Cap drivers had agreed it was time to head in - the Tiger, however, set the 'chute and with a shout, took off for another run at the beach. At first, it looked like the other two teams were game, but the Cap took a big stuff after rocketing down the back of a big wave - one good hosing down with cold Pacific saltwater and the skipper decided we'd practiced enough.
Nice ride into the Bay - hot showers and beers at the club - couple of good stories with some debrief and we went seperate ways.
Catfight at Mission Bay coming up - good fleet of F18s expected. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
