GBCA Discussion Forum

Got a chance this last Friday to race in San Fransico Bay out by Tiburon, CA!  CYC puts on the races and I got a chance to hitch a ride with Bill Moore on his boat Shenanigans, which is an Express 27 out of SFYC!  The weather was 8-14 with lots of weather work and spinnaker time.  Water temperature was 56 degrees!  We took a third corrected with a Moore 24 being first corrected.  Great evening for racing.  The highlight of the race we were reaching in on spinnaker on the last leg of the race when we spotted a blow spout on the left side of the finish line.  You guessed it, it was a whale, type unknown.  Something that you want see on Galveston Bay anytime soon.  Great way to finish off the race.

Beverly did you by any chance get some photos yesterday from the Committee boat?  Great job on getting the race started on time and the work you did during the race.  One of the best races that GBCA puts on during the year.  Wonder if we could do a race like this in the fall but with full crews?

Thanks Chris for the information!  Team Tenacious is looking forward to the race and cook-off!  I understand that putting empty cans of Wolf Chili by your competitors chili pots is grounds for being kicked out of the cook-off!

Bob is the format going to be similar to the Saint Patrick Day race we did back in 2014?  If I remember is was a star course and was a great race.  Had all kinds of weather and wind conditions for the race. Not your typical rum race course!

Bob could you get the skipper's names correct under the results for Tenacious and the PHRF handicap is 195 not 194!

If we are recording boats finishing and they do not have a class flag they do not get counted.  Its just that simple.

Gerhard, thanks for the kind words!  Bee, great job on Stinger!  A few comments on the race.  After rounding weather mark we proceeded to sail into one of the worst fog banks that I have ever encountered in my sailing experiences.  All sense of sight was useless and we found that we could barley see pass our bow pulpit.  After going in circles for at least 15-30 minutes and having the GPS going in circles we went to using the magnetic compass to get through the fog. Gerhard I believe that you and your crew went to the same way of steering through the fog.  I moved up forward in the cockpit and held pen light with my left hand and steered the boat with my right. We put crew up in front with spot but with out a filter ever time we turned it on it would just blind us.  We steered the boat that way until around 0600 hours. After a while you start seeing things in the fog that are not there!  A few suggestions on the experience in the fog.  Carry a spot that has filters for it.  A red or yellow filter should work well for this type of situation. I use to work offshore in the early 80's and made my first trip down to Venice LA, without fog lights. Next time I went down for crew change I had fog lights on the car. Secondly, make sure that your magnetic compass is calibrated and working correctly. GPS can go out or start doing strange things at times and I am so glad I had mine on board.  I am not sure what US Sailing or Coast Guard recommends in this situation, but would recommend the use of a fog horn or bell on a regular basis to make sure that if other racers are in the area they could be aware of you sailing close to them.  We got to used the new Stealth 139% head sail for the first time and it gave us a real advantage going to weather and down wind in the really light winds. Butch built it the week of the race and was main reason why we kept good boat speed in the fog and light air. We started race with 125% headsail and reef in the main.  Wind gusts were estimated to be in the 16- 20's at start of race. Once on the weather leg it started going lighter and lighter. We went from reef to full main, taking down 125 and hoisting the new 139 in about 4 hours. The rest of the race was very little air and fog through the last half of the night to 8-12 in the late morning till we finished the race at around 1413 hours.  We finished in just under 24 hours of sailing.  Longest overnight race I have ever been on!  Glad every one made it back safe and sound.

What was done many years ago has no bearing on the function of what the club does today!   Why not consider the change of name to reflect what the organization is actually promoting and sponsoring, which is racing?

Quick question to anyone who knows the answer!  Why do we call the association Cruising and not Racing?  We are always racing and we never cruise! At least I don't remember any cruises.  Besides GBRA is more indicative of what the organization really is about.  Would appreciate any feedback and this also includes Bee.  

One of my true heros and one of the people that got a lot of us sailing in the 70's.  Life is sure getting short.  One of his greatest achiments was that he never wore a tie.  The copy below comes from Sail magazine.

Alter, the creator of both the Hobie catamaran line and an entire sailing subculture, passed away peacefully at his Palm Desert, CA, home on March 29.
Alter in his early surfboard daysBorn in 1933 in California, Alter came to know and love the Southern California beach culture in its early days, thanks to the time he spent at his family?s Laguna Beach summer home. It was here in the family?s garage in 1950 that he began his somewhat accidental career by combining his two loves, wood shop and water, and crafting handmade 9-foot balsawood surfboards for his friends.
As time went by, the business flourished?and his father grew increasingly tired of all the sawdust?so in 1954 Alter opened the area?s first surf shop in Dana Point.



As demand grew and balsawood became scarce, he and his friend Gordon ?Grubby? Clark then pioneered the development of the foam surfboard, which proved lighter and more responsive than anything that had come before it. After that, Hobie quickly became the leading surfboard brand in the world, and in the years that followed, the list of legendary surfers that worked or rode for Hobie comprised a virtual hall of fame. Throughout this time Alter also remained active as a top surfing competitor.


In the late 1960?s, Alter turned his attention to another of his water-based passions?sailing?and after much on-the-water R&D unveiled his namesake ?Hobie Cat? catamaran?a fun, lightweight and affordable craft that is credited with bringing high-performance sailing to the masses.

The MirageDriveThe ?cat that can fly? could be launched off any beach and soon became one of the world?s top-selling sailboats. After that came the Hobie 16, a boat that remains in production and is actively raced to this day!

Other cutting-edge innovations bearing the Hobie Alter stamp include the ?Hobie Hawk,? a high-performance remote-controlled glider (another of Alter?s many lifetime passions); the hugely successful Hobie Super Surfer skateboard; the lightning fast Hobie 33 monohull; and the revolutionary pedal-operated MirageDrive which is at the heart of Hobie?s Mirage line of inflatable and rotomolded expedition kayaks, many of which include sailing rigs.

Hobie Cat has also remained at the forefront of beach cat development, with boats ranging from the family-oriented, rotomolded Bravo and Wave to the super-fast Wild Cat which competes in the ultra-competitive Formula 18 class.


As a young man, Hobie declared that he wanted to make a living without ever having to wear hard-soled shoes or work east of California?s Pacific Coast Highway. By ?making people a toy and giving them a game to play with it,? he was able to realize this dream, and in the process introduced an active outdoor lifestyle and collection of products that made the world just a bit more fun.

Alter is survived by his wife, Susan; his sisters, Carolyn and Lillian; his daughter, Paula, and her partner, Ian; his son Hobie Jr. and his wife, Stephanie; his son Jeff and his wife, Laurie; grandchildren Cortnie and her husband, Dylan, Brittany, Scotty, Cody, Ashlyn, Tyler, Noelle and Justin; great-granddaughter, Serena, and many close friends that were always made to feel like they were immediate family.

A Hobie Wild Cat making knotsHobie received the Waterman Achievement award from the Surfing Industry Manufacturers Association in 1993, was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame in 1997 and admitted as an inaugural member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011 alongside Dennis Connor and Ted Turner.

















In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you consider a donation to either:

Sport of Kings Foundation ? in Memory of Hobie Alter
PO Box 2499 Capistrano Beach, CA 92624
sportofkingsfoundation.org

Surfing Heritage Culture Center ? Hobie Alter Scholarship Fund
www.surfingheritage.org

Orcas Island Community Foundation ? Deer Harbor Volunteer Fire Department? in Memory of Hobie Alter
www.oicf.us



All images courtesy of Hobie


 





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GBCA you hit it out of the park!  The race was as one of my crew described it, "a Rum race on steroids!"  Love the course and great job on Chris's part on running the race and the race instructions.  As usual too many people to thank for a great experience on the water Saturday and the great party that followed.  By the way, great trophies!

Charles selling C-22's as a new hobby?  Thanks but I have enough boats as it is!  Like I said I just try to stay close and hope for the best!

We might be a pain, but at least it keeps some order into the world of so many sailboats going out and trying to compete on the same race course.  I really feel sorry for you poor J boat sailors showing up with your light displacement boats and "big" A-kites, which on a close reach in light air become a 180% genoa. Is it fair to other more conventional boats and their rating? I don't know, I just try to stay as close as I can to the Catalina 22's and hope for the best! 

Bee as I understand just about every day that Oracle came out on the course to race they had a new measurement certificate, which means of course that the boat had been modified in some way.  I would think that Russell Coutts, especially after getting a two point penalty going into the finals for his crew carrying an extra 5 pounds on the AC45's, that he would know what he could do to the boat and what he couldn't do.  With that being said the Americas Cup has always been about change and technology and getting the advantage over your opponent.  I did read that the struts had been modified and the weight to the wing had been lowered to get the least amount of weight in the upper third of the wing. I would think that it would change the balance of the boat dramatically.  If this is the case and it is allowed during the competition, then it comes down to Oracles technology being better that the Kiwis and Oracle with the bigger budget.  Bring on the lawyers!

Congratulations are in order for Team Oracle USA in their victory over a gutsy New Zealand team following the greatest comeback in sports history!  I had posted earlier this week when they were down 3-8 about my feelings for this team.  Jimmy Spithill and the crew of Oracle did the unthinkable....coming back from an 8-1 deficit.  My heart goes out to Team Emirates and the nation of New Zealand in their loss to Oracle.  They showed nothing but class and great sportsmanship in this competition. For NBC Sports, great job in the coverage of the Americas Cup....the upside of this event is lots of great exposure to the sport of sailing. Can't wait for the Americas Cup challenge!