[C38] Transpac

Fri Jul 15 07:29:16 EDT 2011

I wouldn't be in a rush with that rating either Joe, for what it's worth I'm
barely hanging on with 132 (PHRF, cruising class) but am defending our C-38
honor in the Northeast with two 3rd place finishes in four races...next
one's tomorrow and two more each weekend after.

Good luck with your rating
Steve R
On Jul 15, 2011 7:07 AM, "Joseph Launie" <jlaunie at cox.net> wrote:
> Steve
> I tried to send Max 3 pix but they got held up by the webmaster.Too
> big I guess. I am not very good at pix. PHRF hit me 15 sec for the 42
> inch sprit and 6 sec for my electric winches. I am training new crew so
> have sailed with the new rig but not raced. No rush with that rating. Joe
>
> On 7/14/2011 9:04 PM, Steve Smolinske wrote:
>> Thanks Joe, yes a tough one to call but really easy because it was the
only one to make. I'd love to see your sprit, but I am not moving the boat
up, I have a delivery crew scheduled for the first of August. Can you
forward some pictures? What type of penalty did PHRF hit you with? I fly
home tomorrow and then off to Hawaii on Saturday.
>>
>> Steve
>> Peregrine
>> Seattle
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of Joseph Launie
>> Sent: Tue 7/12/2011 11:41 PM
>> To: Catalina 38 Listserve
>> Subject: Re: [C38] Transpac
>>
>>
>> Steve,
>> Good decision but a tough one. If there is any chance you could get to
Santa Barbara as you rattle up and down the west coast we would love to show
you our 42 inch retractable sprit and couple of A sails. (and 3 Harken
electric winches) Our new 1/2 oz (never up yet - crew still learning) is
made for the new 19 foot J. Deke Klatt, our Ullman sailmaker says we should
be either very fast or very funny for the other racers. Just found out my
old friend Eric Bowman is navigator on Katana w/ Dr Laura. I commissioned my
boat myself in 1991 and Eric and his buddy Kevin Miller of North sails
rigged the mast. Small world. Tough break but that is yacht racing. Joe
Launie/ Macavity (cell 805-451-6388)
>>
>> On 7/12/2011 10:41 PM, Steve Smolinske wrote:
>>
>> Hey all,
>>
>> What a heart breaker! Oh well stuff does happen! I should know more
tomorrow as the manufacturer is coming out to take a look at our water
maker. I won't speculate yet but when I know for sure Ill pass along what we
find out.
>>
>> As far as the race, what an amazing time it has been, the pre race
parties were a blast and the sailing community was wonderful, Before the
race I sent our navigator to a weather seminar, where he had lunch with Stan
Honey who remembered him from a previous Pac Cup, Stan offered wonderful
tactical advise for our boat and how he would run the race from his Cal 40,
I was fortunate enough to attend the Expedition seminar by Peter Isler. I
pointed out an error in his homework assignment the night before and had a
nice email exchange going with him on the problem, later when I was having
some issues before the race with the software he forwarded his phone number
and walked me through trouble shooting. As we were busily doing last minute
prep for the race Greg Hedrick the skipper for the last 20 years of
Pyewacket was very helpful pointing us to machine shops and other services
for sourcing parts. What a pleasure it was to meet these people and to find
them to be just real pe
>> ople who love the sport of sailing.
>>
>> So at the start, my tactian Dan Symonds did an awesome job of calling the
start, we were at the favored end on starboard tack, leeward boat and hit
the line within five seconds of the start under full speed, from there we
smoked Hassle on the way to Catalina by the time we cleared the island they
were well behind us before they tacked off to the North, through the night
we chased the fastest boat in our class keeping them insight. I really enjoy
the hunt for boats at night in distance races it has to be one of the most
enjoyable aspects for me to spot and track competitors during the night. The
next day when the reports came out and we were in first place we couldnt
have been happier. Our new Carbon fiber #1 was amazing, with that sail up we
pointed 15 degrees higher and moved along just wonderfully. We didnt know
where Hassle was at this point, but kept moving north to the Channel Islands
to the wind, later in the day we spotted Hassle on a converging tack and got
pret
>> ty excited that we had a boat race going. Their tack brought them in
front of us for the rest of the day and that night, when I went off shift my
words to B watch were your job is to pass Hassle, well when I came back on
and they had closed to within a 100 yards or so and said they just couldnt
catch them, I was a little charged up to say the least. I took the helm and
after an hour of following his stern said enough of this, footed off (new
#1) and blew by them and came back up in front of them. I told the crew our
goal is to be in front of Larry before each mornings reports were due. That
morning the wind died off and as I was below emailing our position Hassle
and Peregrine were side by side crews talking to each other over the rails.
we mananged to get a few boat lenghts ahead, but because we owed them 6
seconds a mile they pulled into first on the third day. we stayed close to
each other for the morning in no wind doing everything to try to get our
boats moving,
>> they ended up tacking North again and leaving us and our wind filled in
and we went towards Hawaii, I figured they would go far enough to find wind
and then foot down to our course which is what they did and the next day
they were 9 miles north and two miles behind us but still corrected out in
first. It was truley a blast having two boats so closely matched so close to
each other after four and five days. On a side note their navigators
girlfriend Shannon was part of our crew so you can imagine the fun the two
crews had with that with all the pre race bravado. Larry and his crew are a
great bunch of guys and I really enjoyed spending time with them before the
race.
>>
>> AS far as the water goes, we left the dock with our 6 gallons of required
emergency water, about 5 gallons in jugs and 20 gallons in the new starboard
tank we installed under the settee. We didnt make water the second day, but
did on the third day, we didnt have to make much but followed our charging
routine which included making water and running the frig. the fourth day
when we went to make water the water maker acted up rejecting water, then I
changed the salinity probe and did a flush of the system, it worked for an
hour making 8 gallons which filled our empty tank with 8 gallons before
crapping out and rejecting everything it made. At that point I worked on it
for six hours to no avail, and in the back of my mind knew then the race was
doomed unless I could get it fixed the next day. I could only really work on
it during the six hour shift I had off (We ran swedish shifts 6 on 6 off
during daylight and 4 on 4 off 4 on during hte night). So that night I sent
an e
>> mail to the factory, and the next day called our dealer for trouble
shooting and suggestions, the fifth day during the 6 off shift I replumbed
the water maker inlet and outlet, scavenging hose from the house water
plumbing and rerouting to further aft through hulls, hooked it up for manual
operation all underway in 20 knots to weather not a fun thing. Nothing
worked!!! the salinity was still through the roof. So frustrating as we have
used it all season and all the way down the coast. We took inventory of our
water and had 8 gallons in the tank, 5 gallons in jugs and 6 gallons of
emergency rations for a total of approx. 19 gallons to last 6 people the 12
days to hawaii. There is a penalty for using your emergency water during the
race so our calculations were we had enough water for 1 liter per day per
person until we reached Diamond Head. That was assuming we didnt run into
any problems or light winds during the way. The crew was coming up with
survival rationin
>> g plans including collecting rain water, drinking beer, pop and gatorade
etc to try to extend the water. But the call came down to my knowing that as
we got into the tropics 1 liter was not nearly adequate enough to insure
safety. Yes we could have survived on 1 liter, but no we could not have
safely driven the boat downwind with spinnnaker flying. I told the crew that
my fear was as dehydration set in and the headaches, blurred vision and
decreased judgement let alone potential physical problems that all it would
take was a moment of lapsed concentration at the wheel in the middle of the
night to injure someone or damage the boat and that a race was not worth
having to explain to a wife or child why I decided to continue. There was no
argument and everyone agreed that has hard as it was it was the right
decision.
>>
>> I have to say that with the exception of the water maker, everything
worked exactly as it should, power consumption calculations were spot on,
drawing less than 3 amps per hour, charging for 45 minutes to recharge our
220 amp bank, equipment and sail inventory flawless. We were one day from
crossing the ridge which also helped my decision to turn back as our
navigator pointed out once we crossed the ridge the return trip would be
much longer and more difficult based on wind angles to get back. When we hit
the dock we had used all our water and were just breaking into our 6 gallon
required reserve. At day five we had accomplished the three goals we set out
to meet when crossing the ridge, first being within a reasonable distance of
the fastest lead boat, Between the Sheets, we were within 12 miles of them.
Second being the farthest south boat of the leaders, both us and Between the
Sheets were on the same southerly course below Hassle and Sauvage, and third
being ahead
>> of Hassle. We owed Larry 3.2 hours and when we withdrew they were
corrected ahead of us by 2 hours but were a mile or so behind us. We owed
Hassle time based on our downwind sail inventory, we carried an A2, A3,A4
and two of our syms are 190% of J and the third being the standard size for
our boats. we were so looking foward to hitting the trades and having chutes
for every possible angle and wind speed. Oh well such is the sport of
Offshore Racing.
>>
>> Mr. Toad's wild ride best describes our return, My bowman is rather stoic
and when he heard me tell my wife on the way back that the ride was damp,
bumpy and wet he fell back in his berth laughing saying "now that is an
understatement". we were on a port tack beam reach for three days in 20-25
knots the entire time with the waves ranging from pretty civilized at times
to what we affectionatly call owner waves, the ones that only seem to come
over the side and hit the owner when he is driving. Shift changes got to be
a joke, "Nothing has changed, same course, same wind, same waves, no boats,
wet and cold, good night"
>>
>> It was a pleasure meeting Larry and his crew after more than a year of
playful bantering back and forth, what a great guy! Peregrine is currently
in his slip until the delivery captain who is racing on Between the Sheets
comes back and takes her North. I have been in email contact with Larry
since we pulled out and just today told him to get his butt in gear and
bring home a trophy! I am flying to Hawaii at the end of this week, because
as you know I have been telling Larry for the last year that I would have a
Mai Tai waiting for him at the dock when he arrives and Im a man of my word
LOL. I have an article in the works on the water maker installation and
starboard tank install that I did earlier and will pass along what I find
out about the water maker later this week.
>>
>> Steve
>> Peregrine #312
>> Seattle
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of Patrick Harpole
>> Sent: Sun 7/10/2011 10:01 AM
>> To: Catalina 38 Listserve
>> Subject: Re: [C38] Transpac
>>
>>
>> Sounds like a wise Captain
>>
>> Patrick
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: D McC<mailto:cat38skip at yahoo.com> <mailto:cat38skip at yahoo.com>
>> To: Catalina 38 Listserve<mailto:listserve at catalina38.org> <mailto:
listserve at catalina38.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2011 10:47 AM
>> Subject: Re: [C38] Transpac
>>
>> According to Transpac reporting, he had fresh water making/capacity
problems.
>>
>> $#!+ Happens at the worst possible moments !!!!
>>
>> ~Dave
>>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>>
>> Common Sense is a rare gift from the Gods.
>> Most people have only technical training!
>>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>>
>> The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in
sailing.
>>
>> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>>
>> When in doubt, try the vice You haven't tried before!
>>
>> --- On Sat, 7/9/11, S Orton<ssorton at hotmail.com> <mailto:
ssorton at hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> From: S Orton<ssorton at hotmail.com> <mailto:ssorton at hotmail.com>
>> Subject: [C38] Transpac
>> To: "Cat 38"<listserve at catalina38.org> <mailto:listserve at catalina38.org>
>> Date: Saturday, July 9, 2011, 10:27 AM
>>
>>
>> It appears Steve S has dropped out of the Transpac and is heading back to
the So. Cal coast after leading the Alpha Class for a couple of days- what a
bummer! Larry is still in the race. Has anybody read what Steve S's problem
is? It must be very serious as I believe he is one tough nut!
>> Steve O
>>
>>
>> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Listserve mailing list
>> Listserve at catalina38.org
>> http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org
>>
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Listserve mailing list
>> Listserve at catalina38.org
>> http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Listserve mailing list
>> Listserve at catalina38.org
>> http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Listserve mailing list
>> Listserve at catalina38.org
>> http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org
>>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://catalina38.org/pipermail/listserve_catalina38.org/attachments/20110715/2362e015/attachment-0001.htm>