Blossom Time Recap

After a truly awesome day of sailing yesterday we were unfortunately left with not much left in the bank wind wise today. Everyone was hoping the breeze would build but the best we saw might have been 3 or 4 knots out of the West. The RC did run one race from SBDC and the fleet struggled to finish inside of the 90 minute window. The breeze was 90 degrees to the startline which causes all kinds of mess when picking an approach. Someone could approach on starboard from below the committee boat and still force everyone up above the pin. I tried to find a hole right at the pin favoured end and was forced to spin around to remain clear of Wicked. We still started and had the kite flying right on the startline. We sailed above the pack with good speed but then ran into the dilemma of the day. Do we try to sail above the Rocket 22 and have then surely luff us all the way to the no wind West shore, or do we try to go below them and sail really deep to the better breeze we can see just off our left. Either decision was a crappy one but we held our course and tried to work towards the better breeze to the East. The Andrews 28 and Ghost Rider sailed above us from behind and were luffed as expected to the moon by the Rocket. We were stuck sailing against a 1/2 knot current with very little boat speed going nowhere fast. By the time we got to the B mark rounding the rest of the fleet was converging within a few boat lengths ahead and we decided to try something a little different. Thinking that the only breeze to be found was going to be on the right we kept the kite up and gybe around the mark sailing with great speed but a much lower angle into better pressure. Wouldn't you know it thought, the gamble failed when the middle of the lake found stronger winds while the right side faded and left us underwhelmed. We fought our way around the final mark and finished in the much better wind found now in the centre of the lake. It was the new Melges 24 Full Moon that showed the importance of clear air especially in very light conditions. They started all alone at the committee boat and poked their nose into the only breeze around. They quickly found themselves a half leg ahead of the fleet and sailing fast, right up until they hit dead air on the way to D. It was, as a good friend often say, a he who day. Congratulations to Gerard and crew on Warlock for claiming this years Blossom Time Regatta after claiming all bullets in yesterday's fresh conditions.

Blossom Time 2014 Day 1

What an awesome day to start off this years KYC Blossom Time regatta. The rain stayed away and temperatures stayed warm enough to sail in shorts without a chill. The breeze really was on for most of the day. The RC got off 5 races for all fleets I believe today. The breeze started off with about 5 to 10 knots out of the North and steadily built to sustained 15 to 20 by the end of race three. The RC kept the courses pretty short racing between CBDC for most of the day with two longer CAEC races to mix it up a bit. There was no time for a rest out there today and our crew worked their butts off keeping our boat moving fast. We had good close sailing with the other Melges 24, the Andrews 28 and GR. Epic downwind legs in 20 knots sure kept Tracy on her toes trimming that big beautiful yellow kite downhill. It is by no mean an easy job and she impressed the hell out of me with her performance today. My brother, who has never sailed before, joined us at the front of the boat and was smiling ear to ear as our boat speed approached 14 knots. Balazs did a great job keeping the front of the boat organized and was always at the right place at the right time. We stood our ground for most of today even in over powered conditions and look forward to another epic day on the race course tomorrow.

KYC Blossom TIme Regatta

Here are the sailing instructions and program of event for this weekends regatta.  Good luck to all competitors and welcome to all of our out of town guests.


 

 

Blossom Time Regatta 2014

Program Of Events

Friday, May 16th:

·     

                           Registration 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

·      Panama Red Rum sponsored by Liber Group Inc.

Live Music for the evening!

Saturday, May 17th:

·      Registration 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

·      Breakfast buffet (for purchase): 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.

·      Skipper’s Meeting 09:00 a.m.

·      Racing. First flag at 10:00 a.m.

Sunday May, 18th:

 

·      Breakfast buffet (for purchase) 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

·      Racing. First flag at 09:30 a.m., last race started at 1:30 p.m.

·      Awards/presentations 3:00 p.m. (approx).

Weekend pass $80.00 per boat! + HST

(**late registration after May 14^th will be $100.00 per boat so register online early)

                                       BLOSSOM TIME REGATTA

May 16 – 18th, 2014

Organized by: The Kelowna Yacht Club

SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

1          RULES

1.1                 The regatta will be governed by the rules as defined in The Racing Rules of Sailing, (2013-2016), the prescriptions of the Canadian Yachting Association where they apply, these Sailing Instructions.

2          SPONSORSHIP

2.1                 Advertising on boats will be allowed as long as it meets ISAF Regulation 20 as stated in The Rule of Sailing.

3          ELIGIBILITY

3.1                 The Blossom Time Regatta is limited to keelboats. Boats should have a current PHRF certificate. Any boat not holding a valid BC Sailing PHRF Certificate will be issued a rating by the Blossom Time Race Committee.

4          NOTICES TO COMPETITORS

4.1                 Notices to competitors will be posted on the official notice board(s) located in the lower salon of the Clubhouse.

5          CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS

5.1                 Any change to the sailing instructions will be posted before 9:00 am, or immediately after a skipper’s meeting (whichever is later) on the day it will take effect, except that any change to the schedule of races will be posted by 8:00 pm on the day before it will take effect.

6          SKIPPER’S MEETING

6.1                 A skipper’s meeting will be held at the flagpole on the front lawn of the clubhouse at 9:00 am Saturday morning.

7          SIGNALS MADE ASHORE

7.1                 Signals made ashore will be displayed at the flagpole on the front lawn of the clubhouse.

7.2                 When flag AP is displayed ashore, ‘1 minute’ is replaced with ‘not less than 20 minutes’ in the race signal AP.

8          SCHEDULE OF RACES

8.1       Races are scheduled as follows:

            Saturday, 17 May 2013 and Sunday, 18 May 2014.

8.2       Number of races:

The number of races will be dependent on the wind conditions and courses selected by the race committee.

8.3       The scheduled time of the warning signal for the first race on Saturday is 10:00. 

The scheduled time of the warning signal for the first race on Sunday is 9:30 .

8.4       On Sunday, no warning signal will be made after 2:00 pm

9          CLASS FLAGS

9.1                 The following is a preliminary guide, subject to registration, of classes.  Upon review at the close of registration, the Committee reserves the right to modify, delete, or add classes.

            Class                           Flag     Approximate PHRF

                     Santana 525           525              ---

                     PHRF 1                 TBA                        PHRF ≤ 165

                     PHRF 2                 TBA                        PHRF 166 - 199

                     PHRF 3                 TBA                        PHRF ≥ 200

            Class Flags will be handed out at the skipper’s meeting on Saturday.

9.2       All boats shall display their class flag while racing.

10        RACING AREAS

10.1               The racing area will be to the north of the Okanagan Lake Floating bridge.  See attachment “Race Area” for approximate location of race area and marks.

11        THE COURSES

11.1               Courses will be posted on the Committee Boat prior to the preparatory signal of each class start.  This changes rule 27.1.  The diagram in Attachment “Course Diagram” shows the courses, including the order in which marks are to be passed, and the side on which each mark is to be left.

12        MARKS

12.1               Marks A, B, D, E, F and G will be yellow can buoys located approximately as indicated in attachment “Race Area”.

12.2               The starting marks will be the RC Boat, displaying the RC flag and Mark S (green inflatable triangle). The finishing marks will be the RC boat displaying the RC flag and Mark X (red inflatable triangle). Approximate location of the starting and finishing marks is indicated in attachment “Race Area”.

13        THE START

13.1               Races will be started by using rule 26 with the warning signal given 5 minutes before the starting signal.

13.2               No later than the preparatory signal, the race committee shall signal or otherwise designate the course to be sailed.  This changes Rule 27.1.

13.3               The starting line will be between the shroud with a yellow cover on the RC boat and Mark S.

13.4     Boats whose warning signal has not been made shall avoid the starting area.

13.5               A boat starting later than 10 minutes after her starting signal will be scored Did Not Start. This changes rule A4.

13.6               Boats racing shall not pass through the start line or finish line unless they are starting or finishing.

14        CHANGE OF THE NEXT LEG OF THE COURSE

14.1               To change the next leg of the course, the race committee will signal the change before the leading boat in a class has begun the leg.

14.2               When a RC boat shall signal a “C” flag and a Class Flag, boats in that class shall round the nearby mark as described by the course number indicated at their start, and then proceed directly to the finish line and finish.

15        THE FINISH

15.1               The finishing line will be between the shroud with a yellow cover on the RC boat and Mark X.

16        PENALTY SYSTEM

16.1     The Two-Turns Penalty, rule 44.2, shall apply

                       

17        TIME LIMITS

17.1     For all classes:

The time limit will be 90 minutes. Boats failing to finish within 30 minutes after the first boat in their class sails the course and finishes, or within the time limit, whichever is later, will be scored Did Not Finish. This changes rules 35 and A4.

18        PROTESTS AND REQUESTS FOR REDRESS

18.1               Protest forms are available at the race office. Protests shall be delivered there within the protest time limit.

18.2               For each class, the protest time limit is 60 minutes after the last boat has finished the last race of the day. The same time limit applies to protests by the race committee and protest committee about incidents they observe in the racing area and to requests for redress. This changes rules 61.3 and 62.2.

18.3               Notices will be posted within 30 minutes of the protest time limit to inform competitors of hearings in which they are parties or named as witnesses.

18.4               Notices of protests by the race committee will be posted to inform boats under rule 61.1(b).

19        SCORING

19.1     The Low Point scoring system of Appendix A will apply.

           

19.2     1 race is required to be completed to constitute a series.

19.3     For all classes:

(a)          When fewer than 5 races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores.

(b)          When from 5 to 7 races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her worst score.

(c)          When 8 or more races have been completed, a boat’s series score will be the total of her race scores excluding her two worst scores.

20        SAFETY REGULATIONS

20.1               A boat that retires from a race shall advise the Race Committee at its’ earliest opportunity.  It shall further advice the Race Committee prior to recommencing racing.

21        PRIZES

21.1     Prizes will be awarded in each fleet.

21.2               A first overall prize will be awarded by calculating the lowest point score as follows: Total of Low Point Scoring System received by the boat for all races in its series, divided by the number of races of its class, divided by the number of boats in its class. Discards are in accordance with section 19.3 of these sailing instructions.

22        DISCLAIMER OF LIABILITY

22.1               Competitors participate in the regatta entirely at their own risk. See rule 4, Decision to Race. The organizing authority will not accept any liability for material damage or personal injury or death sustained in conjunction with or prior to, during, or after the regatta.

23        INSURANCE

23.1               Each participating boat shall be insured with valid third-party liability insurance with a minimum cover of $1,000,000 per event or the equivalent.

A3, 2014

Tonight was a little on the light side but the beautiful sunny skies and 27 degrees sure helped make up for a lack of stronger winds. We had a very shifty breeze that ranged from Westerly to Northerly with steady oscillation back and forth. The posted course was CDBDBC. During the last couple of minutes of the prestart the line showed quite a heavy pin end favour and we led the pack back towards the pin starting next to Blur. We had hoped to be able to pull away and tack but they showed great speed and pinned us sailing almost right to the port tack layline. We tacked simultaneously with them and managed to pull ahead enough to allow us to be just ahead of them on the starboard tack layline. It was a busy rounding at D mark with a tack, gybe set pulled off amazingly well by our crew. We fought hard to set up on port gybe above the layline to try to keep clear air while sailing towards better pressure on the Eastern shore. We gybed on what looked like a good angle to hold a reaching angle towards B mark but found the wind continuously coming forward and wouldn't you know it we were once again beating with the kite up. We had elected to go with the A1 reaching kite tonight and were sure glad we had. We doused at B mark and tried to sail fast back to the East shore. This leg was the hardest to sail well tonight with very shifty breeze and tons of dirt from whole fleets on the run. We did manage to once again poke our nose into better pressure and squirt ahead to D mark. Another quick gybe set and reach down hill. The big move that probably won us the race tonight was gybing much sooner in anticipation of the big header that we had experienced on the previous leg. It was not as pronounced but it did arrive on cue and gave us the perfect angle to reach at about 6 knots for the finish at B mark. Blur finished less than 3 minutes behind us with GR and J not far behind. It looked like the breeze shut off almost completely after that leaving several boats from all fleets bobbing helplessly in the evening setting sun. I am sure looking forward to sailing the Blossom Time Regatta this weekend at the KYC and hope to see everyone out there for this exciting event.

A2, 2014

After a day of steady breeze out of the North at about 10 knots the wind showed some serious signs of letting up and dying. At about 3 minutes to the start it filled in nicely allowing the fleet to set up in good breeze for the quick beat from C to D mark. We had a great start right on the line with speed just behind Woohoo who found themselves over early by a length or two. They had to peel off and dip the line in order to restart leaving us a nice big fat lane to sail in. Our only concern was putting enough distance between Shadowfax and us to be able to tack up to the layline for the D mark rounding. We rounded first and did a quick gybe set heading back for the East shore where it looked like better pressure was to be found. We had to pick our way through 2 fleets worth of traffic, most of whom had rights on us. Weirdest thing I saw tonight had to be looking back at Blur and having flashbacks to the 1980 caused by the look of their kite. They had the halyard and tackline way loose and it made the kite look like a blooper from the golden days of sailing. Weirdest thing was they were hauling ass. They were not pointing as high as us and still had tons of boat speed on us downwind. We managed to hold them off and gybe ahead of them leading them back down to B mark. The breeze started getting all squirrelly and we found ourselves beating with the kite up rounding B. We tried to keep the kite and gybe around B which worked for a very short while before forcing us to douse and reach for the better breeze nearest the Eastern shore. It was this leg that set us up to really stretch out. Most everyone had rounded B behind and beat right up the middle of the lake while we sailed a much lower angle reaching to the East. We nosed into the better pressure and doubled our boat speed. We took it right to the layline narrowly avoiding shallow water near the light house. We sailed the next down and back identically to the first with the exception of dousing at B mark the second time around. I haven't seen the results yet but with a little luck I think we should cover the spread. The new Melges 24 "Full Moon" made their first fully crewed appearance tonight and showed great bursts of speed including rounding the D mark 3rd after the first beat. Blur was crazy fast as always and J and GR were just slightly behind the leaders. All in all another great day of sailing in the Okanagan.

Blossom Time

Come join us May long weekend for the Blossom Time Regatta at the Kelowna Yacht Club.  There should be a great turnout this year with several boats coming from the South and North end of the lake to converge on the KYC.  Register online here.