Offshore racers and cruisers
GBCA is partnering with TMCA to run an offshore race from the Galveston Jetties to Sabine Pass on May 22nd.
The NOR is available here (https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/regatta_uploads/9880/2015GBCATMCASpringFlingOffshoreNOR.pdf)
The cost to enter the regatta is free, but we ask that you register for the TMCA spring fling (http://www.tmcaspringfling.com/index.php/catalog) at Pleasure Island Marina in Port Arthur, Texas.
The passage across Lake Sabine should be deep enough boats with draft of 6' and less. For those with a draft greater than 6', there is the Sabine Pass Port Authority Marina on the Sabine ship channel. TMCA is arranging for transport to and from Pleasure Island, and you can arrange for docking there through TMCA.
More information on the Spring Fling is at the TMCA Spring Fling website (http://www.tmcaspringfling.com/).
A basic information flyer and point of contact for questions and docking at Sabine Pass Port Authority marina can be found here (http://www.gbca.org/resources/Documents/SPRING%20FLING%202015%20101%20for%20GBCA%20Spring%20Fling%202015%20Offshore%20Race%20May%2022-25.pdf)
Waypoints for crossing Sabine Lake are here (http://www.gbca.org/resources/Documents/Pleasure%20Island%20Waypoint%20Coordinates%20-%20UPDATED%20(1).pdf)
Hope you'll come out to the Spring Fling!
Any information on start times for the Spring Fling offshore race? If we are starting early morning I may wish to bring the boat to Laguna Harbor or Galveston Yacht Basin Thursday evening.
Ron E
Stellar of Course
We (Stellar of Course) and Walter and Beverly (Shaken Not Stirred) will be headed to Lake Charles on Monday after Spring Fling. If anyone is interested in traveling along with us we would be glad to have you join us. Plans are to sail to the north end of Sabine Lake and thru the Thousand foot cut into the intra coastal. Maybe overnight at Shell Island and then on to Lake Charles. Stay at one of the Casino Marinas for a day or two and then head back home. Last year I made this trip and stayed at Taylors Bayou Outfall on the way home. Nice anchorage but need screens as bugs can be bad. From Taylors Bayou to Kemah is doable in one day.
So, if you are interested just let me know.
Ron Eddleman
S/V Stellar of Course
No official times yet, but from some back of the envelope calculations, slower boats would need to start fairly early, (0500 ish) order to get there at a reasonable time.
I hope to get something more concrete later this week.
We racers really need more start information on the Spring Fling Regatta since it greatly effects trip start, crew notice, etc. Can we get something soon.
Daysailor :-\
I would like to add my support to the need for more information about start times --- etc. Friday's are a tough time to get crew. It would help to know what my start time is so necessary arrangements can be made in a reasonable time frame.
It's approximately a 55nm course with a pursuit style start. The intent is to have boats finishing by 1700 hrs so they can attend the party with band on Friday night. So boats with a rating of 300 are likely to be starting at sunrise on Friday morning. SI's are still being finalized.
Laguna Harbor is offering complimentary overnight staging Thursday night before the beginning of the Spring Fling.
See more information on the TMCA Spring Fling website by clicking here: TMCA Spring Fling (http://www.tmcaspringfling.com/index.php/captain-s-info-2/16-laguna-harbor)
That's all fine and understood but the issue is do we make a mad early scramble from LYC or do we head down on Thursday and play musical cars?
We plan to start the race at 05:00:00. We need to start early enough so that boats will have a chance to finish at a reasonable time.
The largest handicap at this time is 301. The smallest is 33.
The formula to calculate the start time on a handicap is:
seconds =55.27x(301-R), where R is the rating and seconds is the amount of seconds after 5:00:00AM.
To find your time, add the seconds to 05:00:00.
This will be in a list of all competitors provided with the Sailing Instructions for tomorrow's meeting, at GBCA 7:00pm sharp.
Hope that helps.
-Bob
As a mathematician I cannot do 'arithmetic, but that would appear to be an 08:25:25 start for Stinger. Given reasonable winds we should finish around 16:25:25. Neat.
Thanks
Is there a mistake in the marks for this course? In particular for Sabine Jetty Channel marker 27?
Quote from: Bee on May 18, 2015, 07:15:52 AM
Is there a mistake in the marks for this course? In particular for Sabine Jetty Channel marker 27?
Had to have been a finger slip.
Correct coordinates for Sabine Jetty Channel #27 are:
29? 41.340 N 093? 50.317 W
Thanks for catching that, Bee. I do believe it was a finger slip.
Sabine pass marker 27 as listed in the original SIs is incorrect.
The corrected position to be placed in the SI's is:
N29deg 41.358'
W093deg 50.319'
I will update the SI copy online when I have access to the original files later this week.
An official notice has been posted on the online notice board
https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_notice_board.php?regatta_id=9880 (https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_notice_board.php?regatta_id=9880)
TMCA/GBCA Spring Fling racers:
The winds this Friday are predicted to be 9kts and building, from the East going to South East. But that of course may change.
It has been rightly pointed out to me that for the boats starting later, even though they are supposedly faster, will still have difficulty getting to Pleasure Island or Sabine before dark.
A solution to this is to break up the pursuit starts so that each fleet starts based on the largest handicap in each fleet, as opposed to the largest handicap of all yachts sailing. This will allow us to compress the amount of time needed to get everyone started and yet maintain the pursuit start paradigm. Hopefully, this will allow more boats to arrive before dark.
I will publish a change to the Sailing Instructions as soon as practical and advise everyone at that time.
To determine your starting time (for planning purposes) use the following formula:
seconds = 55.27 X (MAX-PHRF)
MAX: Largest PHRF rating in your fleet (PHRF Spin, PHRF Non-Spin, GBCA Cruising, TMCA)
PHRF: Your rating.
seconds: time after initial start in seconds.
Your start time: 05:00:00 + seconds.
I will publish appropriate starting tables in the SI amendment.
Please let me know if there are questions.
Regards,
Bob Hunkins, PRO
GBCA TMCA Spring Fling Offshore race competitors,
Revision 2 of the Sailing Instructions are posted at this location:
https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/regatta_uploads/9880/2015GBCATMCASpringFlingOffshoreSIs.pdf (https://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/regatta_uploads/9880/2015GBCATMCASpringFlingOffshoreSIs.pdf)
You are responsible for downloading the electronic version and reviewing it, and printing it if desired prior to the race.
As indicated in the previous message, there will be four pursuit starts instead of one. The base starting time will remain 05:00:00. Offset times for boats in each class will be taken from the yacht with the largest handicap rating in that class, rather than the entire racing fleet. The intention is to start more yachts earlier, and allow the possibility of more yachts to reach the destination before dark. Note that this is an intention, not a guarantee.
A suggestion was made to move the starting location to mark 6A Rather than Mark 11. This suggestion is deemed impractical for Race Committee logistics.
Competitors are reminded of Racing Rule of Sailing 4:
"DECISION TO RACE
The responsibility for a boat?s decision to participate in a race or to
continue racing is hers alone."
Thank you again for entering; may the winds be favorable.
Bob Hunkins, PRO
Thanks to all of the GBCA volunteers for all you do. This was a neat idea. Coming up the Port Arthur channel in daylight was very interesting for the old man in the back. Something different.
Thanks for a great race and thanks for setting up the start times by class. I know you made that changed based on anticipation of light winds, but we saw something on the order of 20+ bailing out of the Galveston Jetties. The bad news was wind direction. The good news was wind direction. It took us approximately 12.5 hours to cross the finish line but a little less then 6 hours for a midnight arrival at the Harbor House. Average speed was 7.33 knots overall with a top speed of 15 on return.
As usual, GBCA is the place to race.
I should have also said that the average speed was through the water and not GPS.
Bee, I took almost 19 hours to cross the finish line. I got to see the Port Arthur channel well after dark. I now seek the wisdom of those who did better. What was the best strategy with the wind and current directly against us? In hind site, I think I should have gone further out. I only went out 12nm and then would tack back across the rhumb line. Can you share your wisdom (other than get a faster boat)?
Well you finished so I would guess you must have done something right. You deserve congratulations for that for sure. I was very surprised that only 5 boats crossed that line. Even more surprised that Second Star didn't start. The conditions should have been perfect for a J122.
Stinger (J105) is surely a lot lighter (8,580#) then Royal Crescent. She was flying a new main and jib along with an all carbon genoa backup. Even in the conditions on Friday Stinger can point at something a bit less then 45 degrees off the wind so that is probably another advantage. Pedro Geonatti (UK Sales) was on board so sail trim was pretty much spot on all the time.
Personally, I am a rhumb liner. Every time, regardless of boat, we divert a long way from the rhumb line we seem to lose distance to everyone in our class. Pedro appears to have the same attitude. Consequently, we stuck close to the rhumb line most of the way. We did slog back to within sight of the coast line but that appeared to loose a bit to Harm's Way so after that we just covered Andy to the finish.
When we tacked onto the G33 rhumb line around 16:00 or so the wind dropped below 12 knots and we switched from the blade to the genoa. This kept us powered up until we rounded G33. At that point we hoisted a kite and sailed to the finish at approximately 9 knots. Not sure the kite helped all that much but it makes for a very stable and fast fun ride. We flew a 110 square meter kite back to the Galveston Jetties.
Outside of having a bucket load of relatively new sails and concentrating on details all the way, I doubt we did anything all that different from what you did. Don't sell yourself short. You finished and that is a good thing.
I should note that the wind decreased as one got closer to shore so going out and staying there was probably not all that bad of a plan. When heading into shore, we tacked as soon as we felt the wind back down.