(Newport Beach, CA)- Last Friday, a fleet of eighteen offshore racers headed south from the Newport Harbor Yacht Club starting line set off Newport Beach, CA and they basically flew down the 800.0nm race down the Mexican coastline to the famous beachside resort of Cabo San Lucas at the southernmost tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Always a challenging race, this year the fleet was blessed with strong northerly breezes that fluctuated from northwest to northeast and back again. The conditions were epic for the "big boats", Roy Disney's PYEWACKET 70, a former Volvo 70 race boat, shattered the course record set many moons ago by 14 hours! That gives you an idea of how quick the race was for most of the fleet.
Looking forward to that challenge were two thoroughbreds in the J/Design stable. Racing in ORR Class C were Standish Fleming's J/125 NEREID and Roger Gatewood's J/145 KATARA. For the duration of the race, we received daily reports from KATARA's log...it makes for entertaining reading and insights on what it's like to sail offshore with a full race crew.
Log # 2
Position: 32 53.0N 1117 48W
Speed: 12.8 kts
Distance to go: 748.1nm
Weather: Cool, Sunny. Seas 5-6'
Winds: 298 at 16kts
Sail Package: Tweener
The start occurred at 1300 PDT in a very light (3-6 kts) breeze out of the south. Weird for a downwind race, but we started with the LM Genoa up and started completely close-hauled.
First day is nearly in the books. Bow team Avery and Alex just executed their first offshore headsail peel, bringing us from the Light medium upwind genoa to the reaching Tweener (similar to a code zero).
We've just put blue watch (Ron, Clay, and Avery) to bed as we anticipate that we will be shifting from the Tweener to the A4 running kite in the next hour to hour and a half. One of our biggest competitors, Horizon (a Santa Cruz 50) is just above us with a kite up and working their way down to us. We'll likely do the same as they get closer, but we're currently working just a little hotter in the hopes that we can maintain more of the gradient pressure that exists just offshore of us at the moment.
Looks like everyone is having a good time. Steve got his first helm time in a race on Katara a few hours ago. Capt. Roger drove us through the start and several hours after that. Liam, Sam, Steve, Ron, and Roger have been our helmsmen so far.
If the forecast holds true, we're in for a pretty wild ride overnight and into tomorrow with breeze in to the 20s and a building sea state.
Hope everyone else at home is warm and dry in their beds - it's looking like it's going to be a little chilly for us out here tonight.
Log # 3
Position: 30 44.13N 117 28.7W
Speed: 14 kts
Distance to go: 625.9nm
Weather: Cold! Seas 5-6'
Winds: 306 at 23kts
Sail Package: A4
It's almost the end of night 1. The crew is still working on getting in to their watch schedule, and I think several (myself included) are quite tired.
Just after sunset we went from our Tweener to our A4 heavy weather running sail. Avery and Alex managed the bow for the maneuver, Steve and Clay worked the mid-deck, Liam and I were on trim, Ron worked the main, and Roger drove.
There is an area of lower winds speed just inside of us which we've been attempting to avoid. So, at times, we're sailing a much hotter angle than we normally would with this sail. We've got validation in the fact that we can see Horizon, Bretwalda, and several others in our class doing nearly the same thing along our line.
We got distracted last night and no one made dinner, so snacks got hit hard. We'll make sure we've got someone on kitchen duty this evening.
Conditions have been very pleasant, with seas 6-7' and breeze mostly in the teens until just the last few hours where we have seen a build to near 20 kts.
Log # 4
Position: 29 27.2N 115 34.3W
Speed: 12-18++ kts
Distance to go: 532.34nm
Weather: Beautiful day out with a slightly confused 6-8ft sea state.
Winds: 308 at 22kts
Sail Package: A4
What a day! Good breeze, cool weather, not too sunny, an acceptable sea state, and one hell of a fast boat. We've enjoyed the day running downhill bouncing between waves where our helmsmen (Roger, Sam, Steve, Ron, Liam, and I) have tried to keep the pointy side forward and the white side up. Earlier this morning we put in our first gybe and started reconnecting with the shore. We were leveraging a further right (320-ish) wind direction than we had seen before which made the port tack more optimal.
As I am writing this, I heard the loudest of roars from upstairs. Glancing through a port hole, I see an entire universe of white foam go flying by the window as the new deck team (Ron, Clay, and Avery) with captain Roger just laid down a new race record for the boat of 25.8 kts!! Ron sneaked this one out after having had to share the previous 22.8 kts record with Clay and Avery. Later, we were all awakened when our southern "gentleman" Steve was a whoopin' and a holerin' as he was laying down his own record.
Now. Where was I? Right. We're headed to shore. After a few hours on port working our way back to the coast the breeze went left (near 305) again which makes the starboard tack preferred. We executed our second gybe of the trip (a beaut, if we may be so bold) and started heading back offshore.
While not perfect conditions competitively for this boat, we've been sailing extremely well against our polars and our own modeling, and the crew is having an absolute BLAST!
Ron, Clay, and Avery just took the 1400 watch with Roger finishing out the last two hours of his captain watch with them.
I figure somewhere in the next 10-12 hours we'll be on the hunt for another righty where we can capitalize and head back ashore.
We've got our arrival "betting pool" started. It ranges from a *VERY* optimistic Avery hoping for a 0700 Tuesday arrival (hehe - not gonna happen, kid), to least optimistic old salt Ron guessing at 0400 Wednesday. For SOME reason they wouldn't let the guy with Expedition and all the routing work take his best guess.... The prize is absolutely nothing more than bragging rights, but it's a KATARA tradition.
Log # 5
Position: 28 32.3N 115 19.4W
Speed: 15++ down to 11ish kts
Distance to go: 484.14nm
Weather: A stiffening breeze with a confused 7-9ft sea state.
Winds: 315 degrees, 22 gusting 30kts
Sail Package: keep reading...
Welp....Every great sailboat race comes with its challenges to test sailors' resolve and skill and to keep the thrill of adventure in the game.
About 1 hour ago we were screaming along under our A4 running spinnaker when a wave caught us and caused a roll out. OUCH! Unfortunately, this also "over-shocked" the A4 and we lost both sheets holding it in. An all-hands on deck was called and, in relative short order, the team had recovered the sail.
We're not making much headway with just the Light Medium #1 genoa, as the only other spinnaker we have for these conditions is the A3 reaching kite. Our plan for now is to be conservative overnight reaching under just the genoa and re-evaluate tomorrow morning at day break. Hopefully at that time we can get the Kite back up, as we're currently down over 3.6 kts VMG towards the finish line...UGH!
In other news, there were no injuries and we're currently making dinner - Chili Mac & Cheese - Thanks, Clay! Avery is also whipping up a salad for everyone.
Log # 6
Position: 27 27.1N 115 we.9W
Speed: 10-20 kts depending on waves
Distance to go: 403.4nm
Weather: A stiffening breeze with a confused 7-9ft sea state.
Winds: 315-330 at 18-24 kts
Sail Package: Reaching A3
Now, we're back in this here sailboat race! Just before 2200 hrs, Roger and I did a comprehensive analysis of the forecasts, sea state, and current winds and decided it was time to launch the A3 kite. While not a downwind runner like the A4 that we lost, this sail is FAR superior for this task than our #1 Genoa was. We timed the hoist with a watch change (these are *VERY* big sails) and by 2230 we were under A3 and a full main again. VMC (velocity made good towards our target) jumped by over 5.6kts. We also did a gybe as part of the maneuver and are now working our way back towards the coast.
If the breeze continues to stay left (not exactly what's forecast) then we'll stay on this Port tack as far as it will take us - it's much closer to the finish line than the other board. If the breeze shifts left through the morning and in to the afternoon, then we will gybe out again for a little while to get clear of the peninsula.
Clay and Avery took kitchen duties this evening and we had a freeze-dried chili mac & cheese again dressed up with some fresh cut onions and cheese. Lots and lots of snacks aboard, so no one is going to go hungry.
We lost quite a bit of ground to our competition for the several hours we were running just on the Genoa, but we're slowing making some of that back up according to the tracker we all carry.
The sea state is challenging for our primary drivers, but Ron, Liam, Steve, and Sam are giving it their all and doing excellent.
Hope that the 320-330 TWD holds for us and that we just keep truckin' down range.
Log # 7
Position: 26 27.2N 114 1.3W
Speed: 9-12 kts
Distance to go: 308nm
Weather: Champagne sailing.
Winds: 300-320 at 11-20 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Spinnaker Staysail, Full Main
Early this morning the breeze decayed enough for us to downshift to our light-air running spinnaker, the A2. Not only did it give us a boost in speed and better angle, but all of us who drove it say it's a heck of a lot easier on the helmsmen.
We're currently the inside boat and we just executed a gybe to get us out and around Lazarro Point. I figure we'll be here for 5-6 hours before gybing back on to Port tack.
Breakfast was home-made pancakes and sausage (thanks, Sam!) and was hugely well received.
Roger and Sam are swapping watches as we speak with Roger taking the 1200-1600 Captain's watch. For the first 2 hours of his watch, he'll have the current deck team of Liam, Alex, and Steve to help him. The off-watch appear all to be asleep which is great, because there's still plenty of fighting and sail wrangling left to be done.
Alex, our last second pick up when one of our crew couldn't get his passport sorted in time (dang Rona), is doing an excellent job on his first offshore adventure. Great attitude and always ready to jump in.
Our other newbs, Avery and Steve, both seem to be excelling and soaking in the experience. I think Steve summed it up just a few minutes ago on deck when we were talking and he goes, "I could get used to this. This is pretty good stuff. Think I might have to do some more of this". You tell em, Steve!
First 24 hours of the race we covered 254.5nm, a really great run for this boat. We'll know what the second 24 looks like in about an hour once we've passed the 48-hour mark.
If you've got any influence with whoever you believe controls the wind, put in an order of a hard Lefty right around our boat for about the next 6 hours that we can capitalize on as a header and make better angle to the finish line.
Latest projections have an arrival of late evening on Tuesday - but we all know how fickle these things can be. We've still got a lot of racing (over 300nm) to do, and almost anything could happen.
Log # 8
Position: 24 52.9n 113 12.2w
Speed: 9-13 kts
Distance to go: 215 nm
Weather: More Champagne sailing.
Winds: 300-320 at 14-19 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Less than 250nm to go! Much of today was extremely enjoyable conditions. Cool and sunny on deck, pleasantly cool and dry down below for crew rest, and champagne sailing. Wind at a great angle with plenty of pressure to keep us moving. We launched the Spinnaker Staysail to compliment the A2 and they worked nicely together most of the day. As the evening came in, we got a little uptick in wind speed as well as a slightly more confused state. We've dropped the Staysail as it's easier to control and recover the spinnaker without it.
Early evening, we made a gybe over to starboard tack to work our way out away from the coast to line up for what we were hoping was a layline right past Lazaro Point. Unfortunately, when we gybed back, we weren't quite clear of the point, and more importantly there was growing concern on the latest forecast models that there was a large hole forming over the point and bay just below it. Our initial routing runs had us cutting through there with minimal impact on pressure and a shorter distance. Now that appears unlikely, we've gybed back over to starboard again for what should only be a 3-5 hours before we'll head back over to port tack to follow the coast around towards the finish. This is the first significant slip of our routing arrival times, now projecting either very very late Tuesday or early sometime in the first few hours of Wednesday.
Dinner was freeze dried sweet and sour pork and it seemed to go over fairly well. We picked up a bunch of bags of pre-made salads as well which have been going well before dinner.
Seems everyone is in their sleep cycle and have been doing well at being on deck ready to go for the start of their watches.
Spinnaker trim teams Clay/Avery, Liam/ALex, and Alex/Steve had been doing their best to keep the kite full in concert with the drivers in what has, at times, been challenging confused seas.
Ron, Sam, Steve, and Liam have done the lion's share of the driving, and I've jumped in 4 or 5 times to get them some rest and a chance to eat.
Roger seems to be enjoying himself, and these are certainly conditions that makes one wish to be on deck.
Speaking of which, I'd rather be up there hanging out with the Blue team (Ron, Clay, Avery) and their 1st half watch captain Roger than down here, so we'll sign off.
Log # 9
Position: 23 47.9N 112 13.0W
Speed: 10-12.5 kts
Distance to go: 136 nm
Weather: Gorgeous sunrise on a clear crisp day.
Winds: 310-325 at 14-19 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Dawn of the last day! And what a gorgeous dawn it is. Roger, Avery, Ron, and Clay have had what most consider to be the coveted watch - the 0600-1000 dawn patrol. They've spent the last hour or so watching a gorgeous sunrise on what's currently a beautiful cool crisp morning.
We're currently in VMG mode (go down wind as fast as possible watching your target wind angle) and we're watching very closely several of the competitors ahead of us. There is a large area of light air that started to develop overnight right off the coast north of Cabo. We gybed out to put a little more distance between us and that and so far, have had steady breeze near 15 kts.
Nereid, the J/125, is a ways ahead of us and closer to shore and the latest position reports indicate she's lost a significant amount of speed. We're currently tracking the same line as the Santa Cruz 50, Horizon (an EXTREMELY well sailed local boat), and are watching anxiously to see any sort of deterioration to their speed. We're using the boats ahead of us as a set of whiskers to help determine when we may want to gybe out again (hey, you get to be up front, but you've gotta share data- Sailing Instruction 2.13.4).
Our arrival time has slipped some due to the expected lighter breeze later today, now looking at something like 0200 tomorrow morning. Still a very quick run down here. When we did the Puerto Vallarta race down here last year at this time, we were less than half way there and nearly completely becalmed.
Sam is whipping up some freeze-dried biscuits and gravy (right, I have no idea how you freeze dry biscuits either.... stand by and we'll update on edibility on the next log) and fresh eggs (from past experience we have determined that freeze-dried eggs are absolutely inedible and aren't even suitable for wild animal consumption).
Log # 10
Position: 23 27.9N 111 37.9W
Speed: 8-10 kts
Distance to go: 99.5 nm
Weather: Gorgeous clear crisp day.
Winds: 290-305 at 10-14 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Welcome Shore Family, to this special "double-digits" edition of the KATARA Log. Just moments ago, we sailed through the 100nm to destination mark and are now officially in the double-digits!
It's been a very pleasant day, but we'd certainly sign up for more breeze if that was an option. There is a very large hole in and around the finish line, and several of the faster boats that were ahead and approaching it this morning struggled to get through. The forecast swears we are supposed to be bringing some breeze with us from behind which would be awesome, but we've spent most of the early morning up to now trying to sort when to gybe out to shift lanes and when to come back in and optimize our VMC (velocity made good on course). It's a fine line, because every step we take outside adds mileage to our distance but sailing too close to the hole and losing pressure is equally as devastating. Looks like we may be in for 2-3 more sets of small hour-long gybes to shift lanes as we get closer. For now, she's light but cooking along.
Breakfast freeze dried biscuits and gravy was met with generally positive reactions, with Liam and Alex seeming to particularly like it. The fresh eggs Sam made for on top were universally appreciated.
We got Clay on the helm for the first time this trip this morning 0900-1000. These are very tricky conditions and we've largely been sticking with our most experienced offshore helmsmen (Ron, Liam, Sam, Steve, and I). Clay did an excellent job and took great coaching from Sam and I who took turns sitting next to him walking him through the maneuvers. Roger, Avery, Alex, and Clay have been largely leading the spinnaker trim team and have been giving it their all to keep us powered up and give the helmsman the options he needs to keep the pressure on.
Looking like a very late-night arrival - somewhere near 0200 PDT perhaps. The crew house starts today, so as long as we can find our way to, and inside, it we'll have a lovely nice dry clean place to lay our heads this evening.
POST-LOG
In the end, thanks to the KATARA team for their daily log of their experience sailing one of the signature offshore races in the Southern California yachting schedule. It's a classic race and challenge for what is largely a "downhill sleigh ride". Despite their 7-8 hours of 3.5 kts VMG under genoa on their third night, the consequence of blowing up their A4 downwind runner, the KATARA team managed a 4th in class, just behind their classmates- Standish Fleming's J/125 NEREID. For more Cabo Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
Always a challenging race, this year the fleet was blessed with strong northerly breezes that fluctuated from northwest to northeast and back again. The conditions were epic for the "big boats", Roy Disney's PYEWACKET 70, a former Volvo 70 race boat, shattered the course record set many moons ago by 14 hours! That gives you an idea of how quick the race was for most of the fleet.
Looking forward to that challenge were two thoroughbreds in the J/Design stable. Racing in ORR Class C were Standish Fleming's J/125 NEREID and Roger Gatewood's J/145 KATARA. For the duration of the race, we received daily reports from KATARA's log...it makes for entertaining reading and insights on what it's like to sail offshore with a full race crew.
Log # 2
Position: 32 53.0N 1117 48W
Speed: 12.8 kts
Distance to go: 748.1nm
Weather: Cool, Sunny. Seas 5-6'
Winds: 298 at 16kts
Sail Package: Tweener
The start occurred at 1300 PDT in a very light (3-6 kts) breeze out of the south. Weird for a downwind race, but we started with the LM Genoa up and started completely close-hauled.
First day is nearly in the books. Bow team Avery and Alex just executed their first offshore headsail peel, bringing us from the Light medium upwind genoa to the reaching Tweener (similar to a code zero).
We've just put blue watch (Ron, Clay, and Avery) to bed as we anticipate that we will be shifting from the Tweener to the A4 running kite in the next hour to hour and a half. One of our biggest competitors, Horizon (a Santa Cruz 50) is just above us with a kite up and working their way down to us. We'll likely do the same as they get closer, but we're currently working just a little hotter in the hopes that we can maintain more of the gradient pressure that exists just offshore of us at the moment.
Looks like everyone is having a good time. Steve got his first helm time in a race on Katara a few hours ago. Capt. Roger drove us through the start and several hours after that. Liam, Sam, Steve, Ron, and Roger have been our helmsmen so far.
If the forecast holds true, we're in for a pretty wild ride overnight and into tomorrow with breeze in to the 20s and a building sea state.
Hope everyone else at home is warm and dry in their beds - it's looking like it's going to be a little chilly for us out here tonight.
Log # 3
Position: 30 44.13N 117 28.7W
Speed: 14 kts
Distance to go: 625.9nm
Weather: Cold! Seas 5-6'
Winds: 306 at 23kts
Sail Package: A4
It's almost the end of night 1. The crew is still working on getting in to their watch schedule, and I think several (myself included) are quite tired.
Just after sunset we went from our Tweener to our A4 heavy weather running sail. Avery and Alex managed the bow for the maneuver, Steve and Clay worked the mid-deck, Liam and I were on trim, Ron worked the main, and Roger drove.
There is an area of lower winds speed just inside of us which we've been attempting to avoid. So, at times, we're sailing a much hotter angle than we normally would with this sail. We've got validation in the fact that we can see Horizon, Bretwalda, and several others in our class doing nearly the same thing along our line.
We got distracted last night and no one made dinner, so snacks got hit hard. We'll make sure we've got someone on kitchen duty this evening.
Conditions have been very pleasant, with seas 6-7' and breeze mostly in the teens until just the last few hours where we have seen a build to near 20 kts.
Log # 4
Position: 29 27.2N 115 34.3W
Speed: 12-18++ kts
Distance to go: 532.34nm
Weather: Beautiful day out with a slightly confused 6-8ft sea state.
Winds: 308 at 22kts
Sail Package: A4
What a day! Good breeze, cool weather, not too sunny, an acceptable sea state, and one hell of a fast boat. We've enjoyed the day running downhill bouncing between waves where our helmsmen (Roger, Sam, Steve, Ron, Liam, and I) have tried to keep the pointy side forward and the white side up. Earlier this morning we put in our first gybe and started reconnecting with the shore. We were leveraging a further right (320-ish) wind direction than we had seen before which made the port tack more optimal.
As I am writing this, I heard the loudest of roars from upstairs. Glancing through a port hole, I see an entire universe of white foam go flying by the window as the new deck team (Ron, Clay, and Avery) with captain Roger just laid down a new race record for the boat of 25.8 kts!! Ron sneaked this one out after having had to share the previous 22.8 kts record with Clay and Avery. Later, we were all awakened when our southern "gentleman" Steve was a whoopin' and a holerin' as he was laying down his own record.
Now. Where was I? Right. We're headed to shore. After a few hours on port working our way back to the coast the breeze went left (near 305) again which makes the starboard tack preferred. We executed our second gybe of the trip (a beaut, if we may be so bold) and started heading back offshore.
While not perfect conditions competitively for this boat, we've been sailing extremely well against our polars and our own modeling, and the crew is having an absolute BLAST!
Ron, Clay, and Avery just took the 1400 watch with Roger finishing out the last two hours of his captain watch with them.
I figure somewhere in the next 10-12 hours we'll be on the hunt for another righty where we can capitalize and head back ashore.
We've got our arrival "betting pool" started. It ranges from a *VERY* optimistic Avery hoping for a 0700 Tuesday arrival (hehe - not gonna happen, kid), to least optimistic old salt Ron guessing at 0400 Wednesday. For SOME reason they wouldn't let the guy with Expedition and all the routing work take his best guess.... The prize is absolutely nothing more than bragging rights, but it's a KATARA tradition.
Log # 5
Position: 28 32.3N 115 19.4W
Speed: 15++ down to 11ish kts
Distance to go: 484.14nm
Weather: A stiffening breeze with a confused 7-9ft sea state.
Winds: 315 degrees, 22 gusting 30kts
Sail Package: keep reading...
Welp....Every great sailboat race comes with its challenges to test sailors' resolve and skill and to keep the thrill of adventure in the game.
About 1 hour ago we were screaming along under our A4 running spinnaker when a wave caught us and caused a roll out. OUCH! Unfortunately, this also "over-shocked" the A4 and we lost both sheets holding it in. An all-hands on deck was called and, in relative short order, the team had recovered the sail.
We're not making much headway with just the Light Medium #1 genoa, as the only other spinnaker we have for these conditions is the A3 reaching kite. Our plan for now is to be conservative overnight reaching under just the genoa and re-evaluate tomorrow morning at day break. Hopefully at that time we can get the Kite back up, as we're currently down over 3.6 kts VMG towards the finish line...UGH!
In other news, there were no injuries and we're currently making dinner - Chili Mac & Cheese - Thanks, Clay! Avery is also whipping up a salad for everyone.
Log # 6
Position: 27 27.1N 115 we.9W
Speed: 10-20 kts depending on waves
Distance to go: 403.4nm
Weather: A stiffening breeze with a confused 7-9ft sea state.
Winds: 315-330 at 18-24 kts
Sail Package: Reaching A3
Now, we're back in this here sailboat race! Just before 2200 hrs, Roger and I did a comprehensive analysis of the forecasts, sea state, and current winds and decided it was time to launch the A3 kite. While not a downwind runner like the A4 that we lost, this sail is FAR superior for this task than our #1 Genoa was. We timed the hoist with a watch change (these are *VERY* big sails) and by 2230 we were under A3 and a full main again. VMC (velocity made good towards our target) jumped by over 5.6kts. We also did a gybe as part of the maneuver and are now working our way back towards the coast.
If the breeze continues to stay left (not exactly what's forecast) then we'll stay on this Port tack as far as it will take us - it's much closer to the finish line than the other board. If the breeze shifts left through the morning and in to the afternoon, then we will gybe out again for a little while to get clear of the peninsula.
Clay and Avery took kitchen duties this evening and we had a freeze-dried chili mac & cheese again dressed up with some fresh cut onions and cheese. Lots and lots of snacks aboard, so no one is going to go hungry.
We lost quite a bit of ground to our competition for the several hours we were running just on the Genoa, but we're slowing making some of that back up according to the tracker we all carry.
The sea state is challenging for our primary drivers, but Ron, Liam, Steve, and Sam are giving it their all and doing excellent.
Hope that the 320-330 TWD holds for us and that we just keep truckin' down range.
Log # 7
Position: 26 27.2N 114 1.3W
Speed: 9-12 kts
Distance to go: 308nm
Weather: Champagne sailing.
Winds: 300-320 at 11-20 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Spinnaker Staysail, Full Main
Early this morning the breeze decayed enough for us to downshift to our light-air running spinnaker, the A2. Not only did it give us a boost in speed and better angle, but all of us who drove it say it's a heck of a lot easier on the helmsmen.
We're currently the inside boat and we just executed a gybe to get us out and around Lazarro Point. I figure we'll be here for 5-6 hours before gybing back on to Port tack.
Breakfast was home-made pancakes and sausage (thanks, Sam!) and was hugely well received.
Roger and Sam are swapping watches as we speak with Roger taking the 1200-1600 Captain's watch. For the first 2 hours of his watch, he'll have the current deck team of Liam, Alex, and Steve to help him. The off-watch appear all to be asleep which is great, because there's still plenty of fighting and sail wrangling left to be done.
Alex, our last second pick up when one of our crew couldn't get his passport sorted in time (dang Rona), is doing an excellent job on his first offshore adventure. Great attitude and always ready to jump in.
Our other newbs, Avery and Steve, both seem to be excelling and soaking in the experience. I think Steve summed it up just a few minutes ago on deck when we were talking and he goes, "I could get used to this. This is pretty good stuff. Think I might have to do some more of this". You tell em, Steve!
First 24 hours of the race we covered 254.5nm, a really great run for this boat. We'll know what the second 24 looks like in about an hour once we've passed the 48-hour mark.
If you've got any influence with whoever you believe controls the wind, put in an order of a hard Lefty right around our boat for about the next 6 hours that we can capitalize on as a header and make better angle to the finish line.
Latest projections have an arrival of late evening on Tuesday - but we all know how fickle these things can be. We've still got a lot of racing (over 300nm) to do, and almost anything could happen.
Log # 8
Position: 24 52.9n 113 12.2w
Speed: 9-13 kts
Distance to go: 215 nm
Weather: More Champagne sailing.
Winds: 300-320 at 14-19 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Less than 250nm to go! Much of today was extremely enjoyable conditions. Cool and sunny on deck, pleasantly cool and dry down below for crew rest, and champagne sailing. Wind at a great angle with plenty of pressure to keep us moving. We launched the Spinnaker Staysail to compliment the A2 and they worked nicely together most of the day. As the evening came in, we got a little uptick in wind speed as well as a slightly more confused state. We've dropped the Staysail as it's easier to control and recover the spinnaker without it.
Early evening, we made a gybe over to starboard tack to work our way out away from the coast to line up for what we were hoping was a layline right past Lazaro Point. Unfortunately, when we gybed back, we weren't quite clear of the point, and more importantly there was growing concern on the latest forecast models that there was a large hole forming over the point and bay just below it. Our initial routing runs had us cutting through there with minimal impact on pressure and a shorter distance. Now that appears unlikely, we've gybed back over to starboard again for what should only be a 3-5 hours before we'll head back over to port tack to follow the coast around towards the finish. This is the first significant slip of our routing arrival times, now projecting either very very late Tuesday or early sometime in the first few hours of Wednesday.
Dinner was freeze dried sweet and sour pork and it seemed to go over fairly well. We picked up a bunch of bags of pre-made salads as well which have been going well before dinner.
Seems everyone is in their sleep cycle and have been doing well at being on deck ready to go for the start of their watches.
Spinnaker trim teams Clay/Avery, Liam/ALex, and Alex/Steve had been doing their best to keep the kite full in concert with the drivers in what has, at times, been challenging confused seas.
Ron, Sam, Steve, and Liam have done the lion's share of the driving, and I've jumped in 4 or 5 times to get them some rest and a chance to eat.
Roger seems to be enjoying himself, and these are certainly conditions that makes one wish to be on deck.
Speaking of which, I'd rather be up there hanging out with the Blue team (Ron, Clay, Avery) and their 1st half watch captain Roger than down here, so we'll sign off.
Log # 9
Position: 23 47.9N 112 13.0W
Speed: 10-12.5 kts
Distance to go: 136 nm
Weather: Gorgeous sunrise on a clear crisp day.
Winds: 310-325 at 14-19 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Dawn of the last day! And what a gorgeous dawn it is. Roger, Avery, Ron, and Clay have had what most consider to be the coveted watch - the 0600-1000 dawn patrol. They've spent the last hour or so watching a gorgeous sunrise on what's currently a beautiful cool crisp morning.
We're currently in VMG mode (go down wind as fast as possible watching your target wind angle) and we're watching very closely several of the competitors ahead of us. There is a large area of light air that started to develop overnight right off the coast north of Cabo. We gybed out to put a little more distance between us and that and so far, have had steady breeze near 15 kts.
Nereid, the J/125, is a ways ahead of us and closer to shore and the latest position reports indicate she's lost a significant amount of speed. We're currently tracking the same line as the Santa Cruz 50, Horizon (an EXTREMELY well sailed local boat), and are watching anxiously to see any sort of deterioration to their speed. We're using the boats ahead of us as a set of whiskers to help determine when we may want to gybe out again (hey, you get to be up front, but you've gotta share data- Sailing Instruction 2.13.4).
Our arrival time has slipped some due to the expected lighter breeze later today, now looking at something like 0200 tomorrow morning. Still a very quick run down here. When we did the Puerto Vallarta race down here last year at this time, we were less than half way there and nearly completely becalmed.
Sam is whipping up some freeze-dried biscuits and gravy (right, I have no idea how you freeze dry biscuits either.... stand by and we'll update on edibility on the next log) and fresh eggs (from past experience we have determined that freeze-dried eggs are absolutely inedible and aren't even suitable for wild animal consumption).
Log # 10
Position: 23 27.9N 111 37.9W
Speed: 8-10 kts
Distance to go: 99.5 nm
Weather: Gorgeous clear crisp day.
Winds: 290-305 at 10-14 kts
Sail Package: Light Air Runner A2 Spinnaker, Full Main
Welcome Shore Family, to this special "double-digits" edition of the KATARA Log. Just moments ago, we sailed through the 100nm to destination mark and are now officially in the double-digits!
It's been a very pleasant day, but we'd certainly sign up for more breeze if that was an option. There is a very large hole in and around the finish line, and several of the faster boats that were ahead and approaching it this morning struggled to get through. The forecast swears we are supposed to be bringing some breeze with us from behind which would be awesome, but we've spent most of the early morning up to now trying to sort when to gybe out to shift lanes and when to come back in and optimize our VMC (velocity made good on course). It's a fine line, because every step we take outside adds mileage to our distance but sailing too close to the hole and losing pressure is equally as devastating. Looks like we may be in for 2-3 more sets of small hour-long gybes to shift lanes as we get closer. For now, she's light but cooking along.
Breakfast freeze dried biscuits and gravy was met with generally positive reactions, with Liam and Alex seeming to particularly like it. The fresh eggs Sam made for on top were universally appreciated.
We got Clay on the helm for the first time this trip this morning 0900-1000. These are very tricky conditions and we've largely been sticking with our most experienced offshore helmsmen (Ron, Liam, Sam, Steve, and I). Clay did an excellent job and took great coaching from Sam and I who took turns sitting next to him walking him through the maneuvers. Roger, Avery, Alex, and Clay have been largely leading the spinnaker trim team and have been giving it their all to keep us powered up and give the helmsman the options he needs to keep the pressure on.
Looking like a very late-night arrival - somewhere near 0200 PDT perhaps. The crew house starts today, so as long as we can find our way to, and inside, it we'll have a lovely nice dry clean place to lay our heads this evening.
POST-LOG
In the end, thanks to the KATARA team for their daily log of their experience sailing one of the signature offshore races in the Southern California yachting schedule. It's a classic race and challenge for what is largely a "downhill sleigh ride". Despite their 7-8 hours of 3.5 kts VMG under genoa on their third night, the consequence of blowing up their A4 downwind runner, the KATARA team managed a 4th in class, just behind their classmates- Standish Fleming's J/125 NEREID. For more Cabo Race sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.
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