Week 22 - September 29, 2009

What a beautiful fall night for the annual end of season Pumpkin Race. The four boats in the fleet was pleased to see that there was wind form the south as they tied their light sticks to their booms. An a mark was set with a flashing light to the west of Middle Island with the lighted C mark and committee boat just to the south of Turtle Island.

The first race was an SACAF with a pretty tight start. The Pawtuckaway winds proved challenging with big holes 90 degree wind shifts and varying speeds. Jon stayed clean and clear at the start and kept his lead while Craig, John and Jim traded places back and forth.

The second race an SACF was very similar with Jon dominating and the others trading places.

Race three, an SAF, was a bit tighter with all boats trading places at some point. Craig bringing up the rear on the downwind leg decided to adjust the position of the A mark.

Race four we sailed another SACF. with continued tight racing.

With it getting pretty dark we decided to hold a fifth race, a short SAF. Again boats were back and forth on the unpredictable beat to windward.

What a great way to end the season.

Results are:
Jon; 1,1,1,3,3=9
John; 3,2,3,1,1=10
Jim; 4,3,2,2,2=13
Craig; 2,4,4,4,4=18

Week 21 - September 22, 2009

We were skunked again on the wind. Craig, Jim and John decided to leave the fishies behind and take the committee boat for a cruise swinging by to pick up Jon waiting to see if we were sailing.

While chit chatting on the boat, Jon offered to take us skiing so we swapped out the committee boat for Jon's ski boat and Jim, Jon and John went for a ski while Craig played the role of spotter.

Week 20 - September 15, 2009

After almost a two year hiatus, Jon Crowell joined us for an evening of sailing. John, Jim and Jon made up the fleet of three on this light wind evening. With the wind blowing from the North, the A mark was set hear the marks off of Campbell's and the C mark start/finish was set South of Middle Island.

The first race was an SACF and as the start got closer, what seemed to be a decent breeze started to shut down. Jim nailed the start and John and Jon followed.

Race two, another SACF, had Jon back in his old form. Jon was right there for the start and John just could not get by Jim.

Race three was also a SACF and Jim covered well at the start. Jon and Jim headed up on the right side of the course with Jon slightly ahead on the outside of the course. John headed up the middle where the three boats converged at the A mark which was rounded by Jon, John and Jim in that order. On the downwind leg, Jon went a little wide and John was able to sneak by on the inside for the win.

Results are:
John; 2,3,1=6
Jon; 3,1,2=6
Jim; 1,2,3=6

Week 19 - September 8, 2009

John and Jim headed out on this lovely September evening while Craig stayed home to change diapers. The wind was light but more than last week. The course was set similar to last week.

The first race a SACF, had Jim stating on Starboard and John starting on Port. John ducked behind Jim at the start and the two split tacks. John was able to round A a little before Jim and held on for the win.

Race two also a SACF, had John and Jim appreciating the decision not to sail last week. The two managed to cross the line about the same time with Jim close to the committee boat. This ended up to be the favored side and John followed Jim around the mark and back to C for the finish.

Results are:
Jim; 2,1=3
John; 1,2=3

Week 18 - September 1, 2009

Jim, Craig and John showed up for a beautiful late summer sail but mother nature had something else in mind. Craig set an A mark in the small patch of wind that was out on the lake. The guys then drifted downwind a bit and cracked a beer. For a brief moment, they thought they might get out to sail and went ahead and reset the A mark. By the time the anchor was set, the wind had passed again. Hopefully, we will have better luck next week.

Week 17 - August 25, 2009

Wind was light and patchy, a typical summer evening at Pawtuckaway. Craig brought his family along for the evening on the lake. John and Craig set the course while Jim motored Craig's family out in his boat. The course was set to the East of Middle Island with the wind coming from the South East.

Craig, Jim and John started race 1, a SACF while Craig's mother-in-law, Joyce, decided to give sailing a try. Craig started on port passing Jim on starboard, winning the start and then winning the race.

Race 2 was a SAF and had John slightly edging Craig coming to the A mark. John hit the mark and pulled aside to do his penalty circle while Craig went on to win.

Race 3 was a SACF had Jim giving John a tap before the start. John stayed to the west side of the course with Craig and Jim the east side. With Craig slightly edging John at the A mark, the two traded places back an forth real quick between jibes while rounding the mark. But in the end, Craig made it a perfect night showing off for the family.

Results are:
Craig; 1,1,1=3
John; 3,2,2=7
Jim; 2,3,3=8

Week 16 - August 18, 2009

What a beautiful evening. 90+ degrees and a 5 mph wind from the south to start. Key words...to start. We set an AC course south of Middle Island with A mark to the West of Rabbit Island. We chose a SACAF course as it was pretty nice. We had a nice 4 to 7 mph wind to start and Jim nailed it tacking to starboard right at the line at the whistle. About half way up to A mark, John got past Jim in one of the tacks. Craig brought Gunner out and he started howling. Jim caught back up with John and snuck inside him at the A mark. John followed Jim back down and around C mark while Craig stopped off at the committee boat to pick up Gunner and the wind began to slow. Again about half way up to A mark, John got back in front of Jim and then the wind completely shut down. On the way back to C, Jim through in the towel or needed the towel after jumping in the lake to cool off. At least the rain stayed away.

Results are:

John; 1=1

Jim; 2=2

Craig; 3=3

Week 15 - August 11, 2009

We had four sailors show up this week for the first time this year and Jim was out of town. John's niece, Melissa was able to make it for the first time this year and Al stopped visiting from Florida.
We had great wind on the way home from work where flags were flying straight out and all of a sudden it got dark fast, then the thunder began.

We stayed ashore until about 6:30 when we decided it was time to cook the burgers.

Week 14 - August 4, 2009

John was ready for the start with 29 other boats. This was the largest start in Pawtuckaway history. The boats were all lined up and ready to go and beep, beep, beep. Then my eyes opened...

Oh yeah, both Jim and Craig could not make it last night. AJ stopped by and showed interest but thought it better to sit on the boat with Stinky Gringo.

Next week...Al?

Week 13 - July 28, 2009

John & Jim headed out on this hot humid day. The air was still as would be expected on a day like this. There was a little breeze from the south when they set the course.

For the first race we decided to run a SACAF figuring we had all night. John got a jump on the start and Jim chased him for the first lap and a half. At the second rounding of A, John had inside overlap on Jim going into A and while John was pinching to make the mark ended up tacking and hit Jim. John got down to just about the line and did a penalty turn just in case to win race 1.

After experiencing the slow pain during race 1, the guys decided on a SAF for race 2. Jim got a slight edge on the start but was on the outside of the course and John was able to get out front after a couple of tacks. About half way up to A, Jim caught a nice breeze and walked right around John on the leeward side. Jim keep on cruising (as much cruising the wind would allow) all the way to the finish.

Results are:
Jim; 2,1=3
John; 1,2=3

Week 12 - July 21, 2009

With Craig unable to make it this evening and the unpleasant weather outside, we decided to fly the "cat in the hat" this week. Lets hope for nice weather next week so we can run makeup races.

Week 11 - July 14, 2009

Setting up this evening we noted the unusual wind from the north. We set an A mark off of the marks out from Mt Brook Cove and a Start/C to the east of Middle Island.

First race was an SAF and Jim took the lead up to A mark where he caught the A mark line, pulling it into his boat. With the penalty, he was shuffled to the back.

Second race an SACF, had John starting on starboard with Craig and Jim on port. John caught the C mark/start pin at the start and after the penalty, could not catch up.

Third race a SACAF, had Craig catching the committee boat at the start and after his penalty was last around the C mark. He was able to catch a great break up the center and get around A mark first. John won the drag race back to the finish.

With the washout last week, the fleet voted to run three makeup races.

Forth race a SAF, had the three sailors converging on A about the same time. Jim rounded first with John on the inside overlap. John won the drag race back to the finish again.

Fifth race a SAF, had John on a port start again with Jim and Craig on starboard. With John having rights over Jim at the start, a sudden wind shift forced John to tack and lose momentum. Jim lead the fleet around the course.

Sixth race a SAF, John got the edge at the start and was chased down by Jim. Craig decided that the beer was closer if he chose to retire early being finished on the course.

Results are:
John; 2,3,1,1,3,1=11
Jim; 3,1,3,2,1,2=12
Craig; 1,2,2,3,2,3=13

Week 10 - July 7, 2009

Hail no, we won't go! The thunder storms kept us in tonight with the hail seen in Nashua earlier and lightning about. However, we could have made it out as it was mostly clear by 6:30.

Week 09 - June 30, 2009

What a wild night. This was the squirreliest winds that I can remember on Pawtuckaway. Wind was from the North-East +/- 120 degrees. At least the rain stayed away on this overcast evening.

Race 1 was a SAF with John and Craig starting on port and Jim coming on starboard. Craig misread John as he headed him up and ended up needing to do a penalty turn. Jim got the jump on the two of them and was to A first with the other two right behind him. John was able to get a good downwind run and managed to pass Jim to leeward for the win.

Race 2 was a SACAF, Jim and Craig had good starts with John missing the opportunity on the pin side for a starboard start. Jim and Craig battled it out while John played catch up. Jim held out for the win.

The third race was another SACAF and John and Craig started on port again with Jim on starboard. With the crazy winds the boats would separate and converge at weird opportunities. Jim lead the boats at the last downwind leg and John was gaining with Craig on his tail. About 15 feet before the finish, Jim took a hard right to head up John, forcing him into him. With Each doing a circle, Craig got the go ahead for the win.

Results are:
Jim; 2,1,2=5
Craig; 3,2,1=6
John; 1,3,3=7

Week 08 - June 23, 2009

Uggh! What kind of summer is this? Three days of summer and three days of rain. Well thank god for sailing...

Two of us made it out this wet evening. A course was set with the start/finish/C mark just north of Middle island and the A mark toward North Channel.

First race was SACAF. Jim got the jump on John tyring a port start as he stalled at the start. John chased him as best as he could but could not get it done.

Second race again was an SACAF. Jim started on starboard and tacked to port just windward to John starting on port. They were neck in neck half way to A when Jim's shadow became too much for John. John held back, tacked and capsized on a little puff.

Results are:
Jim; 1,1=2
John; 2,2=4

Week 07 - June 16, 2009

It was a beautiful late spring evening. The temperature was a little less than average but the sun felt great after what seemed like an entire week of rain. The wind from the south was mild, yet nice for Pawtuckaway. An A mark was set to the south west of Middle Island and the C mark start/finish line was set toward the west shore north of the island.

The first race was a SACF. The line was favored for a port start and Craig went for it . With John luffing a bit waiting for the gun, Craig caught his spars and had to do a penalty turn. Jim on John's tail, tried to push him toward the island. It wasn't quite enough and after the tacks, John was able to get around A mark first.

The second race was a SACAF and again Craig went for the port start. Telling Jim to hold his course, Jim hit Craig forcing Craig to do a second penalty turn. With Jim out front and Craig doing a circle, John took the right side of the course. Jim rounded A mark with Craig then John following behind. After a follow the leader down to C mark, John forced Craig into a tacking duel and was able to get to A before him but either had nothing for Jim.

The third race had John starting on port and Jim and Craig on starboard for the SACACF course. Craig upped Jim toward the line but Jim ended up fouling him and and was sent aside to do his penalty. Craig got out front and around A mark first. After the C mark rounding, John took the right side of the course again noting that the hole in the middle had shifted down toward the line. John was able to get to the A mark just ahead of Craig and they were neck in neck heading downwind. With Jim coming upwind in their line, John pulled his sails in to avoid contact with Jim and the wind took the sails to the other side in front of Craig, just in time for Craig to hit them. Craig did his penalty turns for the third time this evening.

Results are:
John; 1,2,1=4
Jim; 2,1,3=6
Craig; 3,3,2=8

Week 06 - June 9, 2009

A cold wet evening for the three sailors heading out this evening. The normal Pawtuckaway wind shifts were also out. The course was set with the wind from the east and the A mark set near the old lighted buoy. The C mark was set just east of the twin red marks.

The first race was a SACF with the boat pretty tight at the start. Jim got to the inside of John at the A mark looking for room with Craig right behind. Craig stuck to the inside on the downwind leg and the boats finished from inside out; Craig, Jim and John.

The second race was a SACACF with another tight start with Craig just a bit early and John forcing Jim toward the committee boat he had to come down and do a penalty turn. John was able to get out front and Jim and Craig played a tacking duel with Jim coming out on top.

Race three, a SACAF, Craig was able to get that perfect start he had been looking for, John tried to tack early but Craig was able to cover. Jim lost his timing and was a bit late to the start. Everyone tried tacking to their advantage but no one could gain any ground on each other.

Results are:
Craig; 1,3,1=5
John; 3,1,2=6
Jim; 2,2,3=7

Week 05 - June 2, 2009

Jim and John headed out alone as Craig indicated something about a software release...we don't release software on Tuesday's...where is Jon Crowell? Looks like we need to drag his boat out and put it in ourselves.

Wind started out light on the ride out with the moon showing in the evening sky. What a beautiful night. We set an A mark toward the mouth of South Channel with the wind coming from the east. We set the Start/Finish/C mark in a line from South Channel to Moores Road Beach but by the time we started the wind shifted about 50 degrees north and tripled the speed to about 6 mph.

We went with what we had for the first race deciding on an SACACF which ended up to be a reach, reach, reach, reach. John got the edge on Jim at the start and it was a follow the leader.

For the second race we decided to mix it up a little reaching to A mark then upwind to the black formerly lighted mark then reaching around Middle Island and back downwind to the line. Jim knew he had to be good at the start and was just a bit early and needed to tack around giving John the start. Jim tried to out tack John on the way to the black mark but just couldn't get there.

Results are:
John; 1,1=2
Jim; 2,2=4

Week 04 - May 26, 2009

What a great breeze we had for the three sailors that made it out this evening. Wind was from the south at about 10 mph. A pretty long course was set with a A mark south of Rabbit Island and the start/finish/C mark to the east of Middle Island. With the strong wind, we anchored the committee boat first then set the C mark to the wrong side of the committee boat then declared it as a gate for the C mark rounding.

First race was SACGAF. John got a great start on port and beat Jim and Craig to the A mark after may tacks and the race became a follow the leader.

The second race was an SACGACF and Craig lead the boys to the start but was a little early and circled around for the penalty leaving Jim out front. Splitting tacks, Jim lead the fleet around A and C marks. On the second leg up wing, Craig passed John to take second away.

The third race was a quick SAF and John tried a port start again where Jim and Craig were better prepared. Jim lead the fleet up to A mark again with Craig following. Splitting tacks, John was just able to get in front of Craig at the mark. The drag race to the end was tight.

Results are:
Jim: 2,1,1=4
John: 1,3,2=6
Craig: 3,2,3=8

Week 03 - May 19, 2009

Another beautiful night on Pawtuckaway, wind blowing from the south was varied from relatively strong to light in a normal holey Pawtuckaway style. C mark was set to the South of Middle Island with A mark set toward Moore's beach.

The first race was an SACF with a tight start with Craig looking to port and John on starboard. John with rights was able to get out front and stay there.

The second race was an SAF. Another tight start had Craig looking to head John over early but was just a bit early in getting there himself and had to fall off. John was able to stay to windward over several tacks up to A and then back down to the finish.

With only two racers today, we were limited to two official races so we spent some time practicing some starts and training the next generation of sailors.




Results are:
John: 1,1=2
Craig: 2,2=4

Week 02 - May 12, 2009

It was a beautiful evening on Pawtuckaway. Three sailors showed up for week three with the forth sitting on the sidelines in his kayak with his dog. Wind was pretty consistent from the south over Dolloff dam. An A mark was set near Rabbit Island with a B set in front of south channel and the C mark toward Clayton's.

The first race was a SABCACF with all three boats converging on the A mark nearly the same time. Craig lead the way around but was passed by Jim just before the finish.

Race 2 was a SACAF. At the start John split up the middle and Craig and Jim stayed right. John was able to get to A first while Craig and Jim were neck and neck for a whole lap where at the second A mark rounding Craig hit Jim with his spars and cost him a penalty circle to give Jim the second.

The third race was a SACABCF and all the boats took separate routes to A. After a stern pass to Craig, John was able to get to A first again with Jim and Craig close behind.

After the racing we met up with Jon and Sam and gently harassed Jon about getting his sunfish on the water. Hope to see him join us next week. We then went back to John's for some dogs on the grill.

Results are:
John: 3,1,1=5
Jim: 1,2,2=5
Craig: 2,3,3=8

Week 01 - Cinco de Mayo

It figures...after several weeks of weather where every day had a high at least in the 60s, we got a cold, wet day to start the 2009 season off. At least we had a decent breeze.

We had three sailors the first week and welcome back Craig after a several year hiatus. We got out right on time with marks set for a 6:00 start and got the three boats ready to go. We set an AC course to the North of Middle Island with A set to the east as the wind was coming out of North channel.

As we went to start, Jim put down his rudder and snapped the top off of it holding the tiller in his hand. He managed to limp his way back the the committee boat and Craig and John started the first race, a single lap SACF. Craig easily took the first race while John struggled to get off the line.

The second race was a two lap SACACF and started with a great tacking dual in pre-race maneuvers. John was able to get out in front this time and stayed there for the remainder of the race.

John handed his boat over to Jim for the third race. Jim and Craig started a third race pretty tight, another SACACF. Craig had a good lead at the first C rounding and but lost it somewhere after tacking wide. Jimmy was able to get out front for the win.

Pulling into the dock, John noticed his rudder was splitting as well.

Thanks to Dee for a great enchilada casserole to warm us up on a cold day. It went great with our Dos Equis.

Results are:
Craig:1,2,2=5
John:2,1,DNS=6
Jim:DNS,DNS,1=7

Spring 2009

Get ready! The 2009 season will soon be upon us. Keeping with tradition we will be starting the first Tuesday in May which is Cinco de Mayo this year. Dinner should be a Mexican theme with Dos Equis and Corona. The committee boat is slated to leave at 5:45 each Tuesday.