Half Moon Bay race writeup

I started late - the wind was light and I reached across the bay with the genoa up - when I got to the start, it was up to 17 knots and I had to switch to the jib - I needed sea room to do that so I couldn't do it right by the start line (this is a difference between single-handed and full crew, you need more time and sea room for most maneuvres) and I was already borderline on time...it was flooded so by the time I got to the start line, my division had started 5 minutes earlier and I crossed the line with Olson 34s...

Heavy flood so I decided to sail all the way to the West then North shores until the wind would be so light that the current shelter would provide no more benefits. Most other boats opted for that strategy and it was a crowded place.

I sailed right by the North tower and cross about half way all the way into the current relief of the South shore by Mile Rock where an early ebb at started.

I sailed pass Taz! another Express 27 who was sailing with a #4 up so was slower than Elise who had a #3 up (a bigger headsail)

We could round quite close to Seal Rock at Land's End as it was flat water and the wind dropped quite a bit. There was a nice counter current pushing you around.

The wind got light so I tried to sail further offshore until it picked up again trading places with Wetsu, as we were sailing right next to each other.

The jib was too small for the new wind conditions so I switched back to the genoa - and I stayed as far as I could without winds being too light. I set 10 knots as the limit as with 10 knots of breeze and a genoa up Elise was going at a pretty good clip and the extra distance didn't seem to be justified.

This should also keep me out of any 'holes' near land, particular before the last corner.

It was a loose beat but still mostly close haul for most of the race. I could set the spinnaker after the last corner heading back into Half Moon Bay.

I had lost track of the other Express 27 having focused just on boat speed for the rest of the race as there wasn't much more of a tactical call to be made until setting the spinnaker which I could do on a reach as the wind was light.

I saw Taz! and Wetsu's spinnakers behind me but I did not know where the other boats in our division were.

I gybed late as the wind was still light and I opted for boat speed and gybes Vs low and slow. The wind picked up quite a bit and unexpectedly when I got to Half Moon Bay which made for a really exhilarating power reach to the finish line. The boat was doing 8 to 9 knots and I was having way too much fun.

Finished, dropped the spinnaker and went into the harbor under main only as there was plenty of breeze.

During the trip I tried Brian's autopilot (named Brian after his inventor) which worked remarkably well. What I love about it is its simplicity. It's on/off, starboard + 2 degrees, port + degrees (so you don't need the minus), standby/AUTO (with an LED signal to let you know which mode the AP is on) and a panic button (OFF) which means you need to reset the power.

It also has an adaptive mode so I don't need to figure out which gain to put in (which I spend an incredible amount of time doing with the NKE for power consumption sake) - and the best way to save power on your AP is to trim your sail well. If the boat is balance, it is just easier on the helm and the AP is much happier :)

Changing sails upwind could easily be done without AP (with a bungee) but gybing, hoisting and dousing - even from the cockpit is about 1,000 times easier with an AP...otherwise you ahve about 10 seconds before you need to be back at the helm to keep it straight...and that's assuming no heavy wave action...

The sun came out and it was overall a wonderful day!