Tanzer 16 -- Two Opportunities to Race

Tanzer 16 -- Two Opportunities to Race--Two opportunities to race your Tanzer 16 or Overnighter. South Sound Sailing Society hosts The Race to somewhere on Saturday, August 19 and the Fall Regatta on September 10. Worth the drive to Olympia. If we get enough interest, we will reserve a few tables at local. 

Race to Somewhere 1st leg. We sail out a few miles to Gull Harbor. First to finish (no handicap) gets an award--last to finish gets the rubber ducky. After lunch we race back to Olympia--this is a handicapped race. I like to call it the PNW Tanzer Invitational--if you have a boat you are invited. Email jslosson@aol.com for details. Excellent launch facilities located near the start/finish line.

Fall Regatta standard round-the-buoys race. Usually three or four separate races.

Tanzer 16 Light Air "Racing" in a mixed fleet.

Tanzer 16 Light Air "Racing" in a mixed fleet -- September 4, 2016  My crew couldn't make it. He picked a good night to miss. The forecast promised rain and no wind; the forecast was the reality.  It was cold too.  Nobody answered my call for crew so I decided to work on the committee boat.  There were a lot of boats so Jim F., the dinghy fleet captain, gave them a really long line.  Don't know why, but they all clustered at the end that was not favored--not that it mattered.  They weren't going anywhere soon.  Even the 420's and Lasers struggled to move.

This is one of two "clumps."

Eric, T-16 #1304, is usually quite competitive and he struggled to find air as did the two Harpoons that weigh even more than the Tanzer.

One of the Harpoon guys, Kevin, did adopt a strategy that worked well.  He put his big, burly crew guy up on the deck.  That lifted the stern clear out of the water.  Then he shifted his weight leeward and as far forward as his hiking stick allowed him.  It looked funny, but the boat moved.

Kevin celebrating his finish with his favorite beverage.  Kevin has been
known to smoke a cigarette, drink a beer, and manage a spinnaker while
single-handing his boat in a race.  He's a pretty good sailor!

Jim F, the dinghy fleet captain.  He is a wily competitor himself. He really
knows the winds and currents in Budd Inlet.  One good race strategy is just
to follow him and his Lido--if you can keep up.

So--one regatta to go (next Sunday) and then the boat goes back under cover until spring.  That's okay there is plenty to do on the new Catalina 22.

Tanzer 16 Spinnaker wrap -- What a mess

Tanzer 16 Spinnaker wrap  --  What a mess  --  August 23, 2016  We installed a spinnaker launching chute and retrieval sock last winter; it was a big effort.  Slowly we have been learning how to use it.  Mostly it works pretty well.  Very mixed results in last week's race.

We didn't expect to do very well.  We had three guys in the boat, and the winds were light.  But we thought at least we will get to practice a bit using the spinnaker.

The spinnaker fits nicely inside the launching chute.  It is supposed to keep
the deck clean and simplify the launch.

There are a lot of reasons why we shouldn't use the spinnaker on our races--primarily because the courses are too short.  However, if we could get it up and down quickly, the spinnaker would be useful in the light air races where our weight is such a disadvantage.  (See our page on Racing the Tanzer 16 in mixed fleets.)

The first hoist during the first race was perfect.  We were dead down wind, the sail came out of the tube in a flash and immediately started pulling us down wind toward the finish.  When the wind shifted to a beam reach the sail still worked well, we brought the sail in with no fuss.  Great!

But alas.  Our joy was short lived.  On the second hoist the sail came out twisted.  I tried to fix it.  It got worse.  I tried to fix it more--it got way worse.  Eventually it was wrapped in a tight knot around the jib furling drum.  I got frustrated.  Briefly considered taking my sharp rigging knife to the sail. Recovered my sanity.  Abandoned the  race. Cussed--including the F word and the "What a CF!" words.  I seldom swear on the water (sound carries).

It got way worse than this before it got better.

At two in the morning, I had trouble getting back to sleep and thoughts of spinnaker screw-up stalked me in the dark.  Finally fell back to sleep with the realization that the initial twist was caused because the sail head had flipped over when the halyard was reattached for the second hoist.  Further realized that we should not have attempted to use it in such a short race.  Main lesson from all this: When the spinnaker is a mess, don't spend time trying to fix it, just retrieve it and sail on with the jib and main.

The committee boat appreciated our early retirement from the race.  "If you can't be fast, at least quit early."

Adding a Catalina 22 to my little fleet next week.  We won't be racing that boat--unless of course there is another boat on the water.  Then we will be racing even if only one of us knows it.

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational--Pretty much a bust

Tanzer 16 PNW Invitational--Pretty much a bust  (but still we had a good time) -- August 16, 2016  Doggone there just wasn't any wind!  We sailed north for two hours and they called the race. One catamaran and four Buccaneer 18's managed to finish.  The rest of us just couldn't complete the 2.5 miles.  We had a great lunch.  Eric (T-16 1304) and I (T-16 1306) traded great Tanzer stories and looked over each others' boats.  The Buccaneers were all from out of town, and they read the wind better than we did.

The race back was worse.  I told my crew, Dan, "Well, either we will look pretty smart or very foolish because we are quitting first." At that point the race hadn't even started. It was the right call.  The little 2 hp Honda got us back to the dock in about 35 minutes.  The wind came up just as we turned into the marina--Still a good time.  Hope some more Tanzers show up next year.

Would you come down if there was a t-shirt?  Hats?  Free beer?

Yup, that's how much wind there was after we sailed 1.5 miles of a two and
a half mile race.

Gull Harbor, the lunch spot, is one of the most scenic little coves in Sourthern
Puget Sound.

Tanzer 16, labeling the lines

Tanzer 16, labeling the lines --  June 8, 2016 I like to have the halyards, topping lifts, down hauls, etc. labeled.  It helps when I have non-sailors in the boat.  In the words of one guest, "Why can't you just call it the sail raising rope?"  After painting the boat,  I had to replace some of the little tags.  I took a neatly typed list to my sign making guy.  He is not a sailor.

Normally I am pretty fussy about the boat, but I thought, "What the hell, it's a nice piece of whimsy." So I installed it.

Tanzer 16 -- PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational

Tanzer 16 -- PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational -- May 31, 2016  Just testing the waters here. If there is a PNW Tanzer 16 Invitational* it will be Sunday, August 14.

There will be two races.  The first race is out--Olympia to Gull Harbor.  --then lunch-- Then we race back from Gull Harbor to Olympia. The course distance is usually 2.5 miles and generally the race back has pretty steady wind. Usually the wind is a board reach--sometimes the whole race is just one tack.  I am thinking that we will finish with both races about 5:30--plenty of light left to load boats.

The first race is just first to finish--no handicap.  The second race is handicapped with Portsmouth Yardstick.

 If you are interested and you could make it, please let me know. Level of organization will depend on how many people we expect.  jslosson@aol.com.  Not looking for committment at this time--just trying to gauge level of interest.

This race will be part of the South Sound Sailing Society Dinghy Fleet Race to Somewhere.

*If you have a boat, you're invited.