Racing Log - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
These are the entries from the regular ships log that are from races we did on Pyxis.
9/2/95
Fairport, OH to Rondeau, ON. 40 miles
With Pat & Stacy
Race to Rondeau (start based on PHRF). We were 1st start at 0700 (215 PHRF). Committee boat was late to station and did not set up until 0705 and then he was behind the wall instead of at race mark C. Freespirit (Newport 27-2nd start) said we had to come back to start-we said we were on time and were not coming back and proceeded on coarse leaving C mark at 0710 on advise of Avalon (fleet captain). We were making 4.5 knots with 170 on a close reach 20 deg off coarse to Rondeau. By 1200 wind had died. Closest boat was over 3 miles behind us. Race was canceled and everyone motored the rest of the way (apr. 20 miles). We arrived in Rondeau at 1830. Consumed 4 gallons of fuel. Freespirit said they would have protested our start. We said we didn't care, we were on time at the designated start location and the committee boat should have been there or notified the fleet captain of the change in start ahead of time. The committee boat wasn't even at the mouth of the river at 0700.
9/3/95
Rondeau, ON to Fairport, OH. 40 Miles
Left a day ahead of the rest of the race fleet. Departed Rondeau at 1200. Wind west 23-28 knots waves 5-7 feet. We were broad reaching under the 130 and full main with the waves on the stbd 1/4. We were averaged 6.5 knots for the entire passage and 6.7 for 1.25 hours. We were routinely surfing and hitting 7 knots. In the middle of the lake the waves were 6-8 feet with the occasional 9+ footer. Waves were licking the stern pulpit. The boat performed wonderfully. We were just slightly over powered with the 130 but not enough to go out and change it. We arrived in Fairport at 1810 after a very fast passage-6:24.
WPT Time Lat Long H Dist Speed ET
RONDO12.30 42.15.2 81.54.6
002 13.05 42.13.3 81.52.4 139 2.49 4.26 35
003 13.57 42.09.3 81.47.2 137 5.60 6.46 52
004 14.57 42.04.0 81.42.0 144 6.54 6.54 60
005 15.59 41.59.0 81.35.4 136 6.96 6.74 62
006 16.57 41.54.6 81.29.4 135 6.28 6.50 58
007 18.14 41.48.7 81.21.5 135 8.30 6.47 77
008 18.55 41.46.1 81.16.8 126 4.36 6.37 41
40.53 6.42 6:24
9/20/96
Moonlight Race
Wind SE at 3-6 knots, waves <2' temp 60-70 visibility good.
Full main, 170.
Left the dock at 1800. Start was scheduled at 1935. There was no wind on the lake at 1830 and we motored to D mark. A little wind filled in and we sailed north a bit then back to the start at about 2 knots. Before the first flag went up the start was changed to 1940. At 1935 we passed the pin heading away from the mark and tacked back 2:30 before the start. We lost time in the tack and made less speed on the way back and were a minute late for the start in the back half of the pack. We drove over Midnight's Dream (Hunter 34) and fell in behind Windward. We were 130 deg off the wind for the 1st leg from D to H. Rounded H ahead of 3 boats and beat to W (3.22 miles). Rounded W ahead of 3 boats and finished at 20:10:55 with a 213 rating. 1,2,3 were Tachyon (Seidleman 25, 227 @ 9:56:??), Simaril (Pearson 30, 180 @ 9:57:??) and Free Spirit (Newport 27 214 @ 10:09:??). We were 4th over the line. Our finish was 4th in class and 8/13 overall in JAM. Came back to the dock in the dark, the new docking light works great.
1997 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Summer 1997 GRSC JAM Fleet
Sail sec/
NAME BOAT No. PHRF mi
Insatiable C&C 41 32621 77 143
Breakaway Soverel 33 32701 95 125
Jagon Santana 35 32559 132 88
Changes C&C 33 13272 151 69
Blue Streak C&C 33 22961 151 69
Windshadow Ericson 35 10791 169 51
Double Vision Lindenberg 26 21778 171 49
Constant Crisis Lindenberg 26 15997 173 47
Wildfire C&C 30 16617 175 45
Orion Hunter 28 50420 184 36
Eclipse Catalina 30 2265 192 28
North Star Catalina 27 5297 214 6
Free Spirit Newport 27 30108 214 6
Pyxis Pearson 26 14853 220 0
Delerious Aloha 28 53345 227 -7
Tachyon Seidelmann 25 1571 227 -7
Future Shock Santana 2023 708 240 -20
RnR&B Irwin 24 56 249 -29
7/9/97
Racing at Fairport, OH.
Wind NE 12-18 knots diminshing to 5-10, waves 2-5', visibility 20 mi, temp 65-70.
1820-2130
Main, 130, 150
First race of GRSC summer series. Our JAM rating is 220. Course was B (X-B-W-S1) with a behind the wall start, 5.21 miles, final time 1:49. We missed the start completely thinking it was still 5 minutes away and crossed the line last about 4 minutes late. We had to beat out the main entrance with 3 tacks. We should have started at the right side of the line. Once through the entrance we headed to the left side of the course thinking there would be more wind there. We crossed about 6 boat lengths ahead of Free Spirit (Newport 27 - 214)and tacked to port well above them and continued to gain on them. We were loosing boat speed in the diminishing wind and decided to change to the 150. The change took about 7 minutes. We crossed about 1 boat length ahead of Free Spirit the next time having lost some speed with the 130 and the changeover. We made 2 more tacks to B and just made the mark on the last about 2 minutes behind Double Vision (Lindenburg 26 - 171), 1 minutes ahead of Delirious (Aloha 28 - 227) and 2 minutes ahead of Free Spirit. We turned down wind to W and put the jib on a pole. We were gaining on Double Vision but the wind went forward as we closed on W and they took off. We rounded W about 2 minutes behind them. We were about 150 deg off the wind as we headed west behind the wall. The wind was clocking (CCW) and we tried to go wing-in-wing but there was too much chop and too little wind to keep the boat stable. We came up a bit to a broad run, inside 1 jib and went wing-in-wing right at the end in smoother water crossing the line about 3 minutes behind Double Vision, 1 minute behind Delirious and 1:40 ahead of Free Spirit. Not a bad first race especially considering the start.
7/16/97
Racing at Fairport, OH.
Wind W-SW 5-7 knots, waves 1-2, visibility 20 mi, temp 80-85.
1810-2130
Main, 150
We raised the main in the river and motor sailed to S mark for the start. The wind was from about 250 at 5-7 knots and the course called was F5 (F-D-B-S, 4.1 mi), which was beat - broad reach - beam reach - beat. We were late for the start by about 3 minutes. We came in on port and ducked a few boats and headed off to the right side. Windshadow (WS) was just to the right of us and Free Spirit (FS) was ahead of them. We seemed to be pointing better then either of them and gaining distance (we may have been pinching a bit too much?). FS and WS tacked and we tacked after crossing well ahead of WS and before we would have had to duck FS. We tacked because we thought they had the layline but we were still short. We carried the stbd tack about 2/3 of the way to the mark and tacked after Delerious passed well ahead. Delerious tacked again and we carried the port further and overstood by about 5 boat lengths. This was probably good. We came in to the mark very fast on stbd ahead of Delerious and right behind Double Vision (DV). On rounding we cracked off to a broad run (130 app) with DV to leeward. We worked past them and made the mark about 30 seconds ahead of them. We jibed at the mark and came up to a beam reach (90-105 app) and managed to maintain our lead to the next mark. We rounded and came up to a beat and carried port tack to the lay line. We came in to the finish on port about 4 boat lengths short of the committee boat. We might have been closer if we had pinched a bit more from the last tack. we tacked to cross at the middle of the line. DV came in about 1:35 after and WS about 3:14. The other boats behind us were more then 5 minutes out - Free Spirit, Delerios, RnB&B, and a Newport 28?. Tachyon was about 4 minutes ahead of us at the first mark and at least 8 at the finish. The clean bottom helped our speed a lot. We made about 5 knots on the beats and 4-4.5 on the reaches.
7/23/97
Racing at Fairport, OH.
Wind E 10-15 knots, waves 3-4', visibility 15 mi, temp 70-75.
1830-2230
Main, 150
With Paul and Kathy Mathews
OUR FIRST WIN! WOO HOO! Course was H (S1 start) which was W-D-H-X-S1, 5.29 miles. We had an excellent start. We crossed the line on stbd just behind and above Jagon and ahead and above Breakaway and ahead and below Orion and Tachyon. We were pulling away from Orion and Tachyon almost keeping up with Breakaway. Tachyon and Orion tacked away towards shore. We continued for several minutes until Breakaway was ahead of us then tacked towards shore. We had gained on the boats that went right so we tacked back before going as far as they did and had the mark (D) layed thanks to some good lifts. We were gaining on Jagon towards the mark. They were lower and were pinching to make it. We were third around D mark. The course to H was about 160 off the wind. We stayed a bit higher for boat speed at about 145 app. Most of the bigger JAM boats and all of the spinnaker boats passed us on the way to H. We jibed about 10 boat lengths from H and came up to a close reach back to X (apr. 60 app). We were making 6.5 knots and catching small surfs to 7 occasionally. We were gaining a bit on some of the boats ahead of us. We came through the entrance and hardened up to a beat to the finish. We tacked when we could make the middle of the line (about 10 boat lengths from the committee boat) and nosed it across the line. We finished 6 minutes behind Jagon and 2 minutes ahead of Tachyon. The boat handled very well. We were about 80% of the way to being overpowered with the #1 on the first leg. With Paul and Kathy coaching my steering I played the puffs and shifts better and probably got better speed from the boat. Crew placement made a big difference on the beat. When Paul (230 lbs?) went down to trim the jib we heeled another 5 degrees. With three on the boat crew position becomes more important. The cockpit gets crowded in tacks. Maybe having the person releasing the jib aft of the traveler and have them do the main then tail. It could use some practice.
7/30/97
Racing at Fairport, OH.
Wind E 5 knots diminishing to 0, waves <2', visibility 15 mi, temp 70-75.
1810-2230
Main, 150
Raised main in river and motor sailed out to S mark for the start. We were reaching along about 8 boat lengths from the middle of the line on port and tacked about 5 boatlengths ahead of most of the fleet that was coming in on starboard. We came up and headed for the pin end of the line pinching to leave room for Jagon at the pin. We were 1st or 2nd across the start crossing the line about 8 seconds after the horn. We continued on starboard to the left side of the course. Jagon drove under us and tacked when they were clear ahead. We continued left in the diminishing wind. We tacked and barely crossed ahead of Tachyon (should have ducked but misunderstood him to say we were clear ahead) and headed to the right side of the course. We tacked again on the layline But got knocked in the 1-2 knots of wind. Barely enough to make headway. We rounded just behind Insatiable and just ahead of Delirious and made it halfway to the 2nd mark when the race 2 hr time limit expired before any boats had finished and the race was abandoned.
10/01/97
Daysailing from Fairport, OH.
Wind N 10-15 knots, waves 3-5', visibility 20 mi, temp 60-65.
Main, 150
1800-2020
GRSC fall follies race #1. Behind wall start, course W (S1-W-S-X-S1), 3.84 mi. The start was a reach across the line. We were early to the line and did a circle maneuver to eat up some time and fall in behind Tachyon and along side of Changes at the start. We pulled ahead of Changes (below us) and were catching Tachyon (above us) and had W mark laid on a close reach. We were well powered with the 150. Changes passed under us and once clear of our air they pulled away. We rounded the mark wide to leave room for Tachyon and came up on the wind for the lopsided beat to S. We were not pointing as well as any of the other boats and were moving farther to the right side of the course. We re-trimmed and tightened the jib halyard and gained about 10 degrees pointing making 5-5.5 knots. We tacked for S about 1/10 mile away and fell off to a beam reach for X (about 70-90 app). We made 5.5-6 knots on the reach. We rounded X and headed off on a broad run to avoid the shoal then jibed for the pin. We went wing-in-wing for a bit to give us some more room for the shoal and make it a higher reach into the pin. We spotted the pin about 3 boat lengths away and had to jib twice to round it. We were right behind Tachyon and about 30 seconds ahead of North Star (Catalina 27). We rounded the committee boat and sailed back to the river and dropped the headsail on the way up in the lee of the main, then dropped the main and motored into the dock.
10/8/97
Racing from Fairport, OH.
Wind E 0-5 knots shifting to SSE, waves 1', visibility 14 mi, temp 65-70.
Main, 150
1800-2200
GRSC fall follies race #2. Behind wall start, course X (S1-X-S-W-S1), 3.84 mi. There was 0-1 knot of wind at the start. We got across the line at the pin about 20 minutes after the start horn. The rest of the fleet was about 200-300 yards ahead. We slowly headed wing-in-wing towards the main entrance. The spinnaker fleet started behind us and pass to our right. We were barely making way and turned up on a beam reach towards the breakwall and picked up to 2 knots. We fell back to dead down beside Turbulence (express 27) and slowed to almost 0 again. There was not enough wind to fill the headsail. Wind filled to about 2 knots and we were going almost 1 knot about 30 yards behind Turbulence. We finally got the to main entrance and came up to a reach (70 app) and accelerated to 3 knots on course to S. We were catching up with the fleet and passed North Star (Catalina 27) and were about 300 yards behind Tachyon as they rounded S. The wind was patchy and came and went for the entire race. It was down to almost 0 as we approached S. We made it around with barely any speed and headed up and tacked for W. We were barely making headway for about 20 minutes. The wind started filling in and we were up to 3 knots. This held as we got lifted to W. We had to do 1 short tack to make it around the wall then fell off to a close reach (60 app) and were going 5 knots. Wind backed a bit and we made it the rest of the way at about 4 knots. We crossed about 1 minute ahead of North Star and probably 10 minutes behind Tachyon.
1998 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7/5/98
Racing from Fairport, OH
Wind NNW 5-8 knots, waves 1-3', visibility 5 mi, temp 75.
1830-2200
Main, 150.
First race of the GRSC summer series for 1998. Course was HFDS, a triangle. We came into the start on port ducking the entire fleet (5 other boats) and crossed at the middle of the line. Most of the other boats were involved with each other and about 200 yards after the start we were in 2nd place behind and to leeward of Jagon. We were making 4-5 knots in 1-3 foot disorganized chop. The waves were slowing us a lot. The course was skewed and we were lifted to the mark. We tacked for it about 4 boat lengths away. We were 4th to round behind Jagon, Breakaway and Eclipse. We were about 100 yards behind Eclipse (Catalina 30) on the close reach at 5.5 knots to F mark. We caught up with them but didn't manage to get by. We probably could have with another 1/2 mile. We rounded F about 1 boat length behind them and went wing-in-wing dead down to D mark. We were making 2.5-3.5. We were occasionally rolled by waves and put the jib on a pole. Eclipse pulled away from us and we managed to stay ahead of Nature's Way (O'Day 27) and Free Spirit (Newport 27). We rounded D mark about 3 minutes behind Eclipse and just ahead of Nature's Way. The leg to the finish was a very close reach. We made 3.5-4.5 knots in the varying wind. We pulled away from the boats behind us and passed Eclipse about 3/4 of the way up the leg. They had gone too far right. We also caught up with Fantasia (C&C 34) and had to duck them right at the line. they were coming in on starboard. I thought they would tack ahead of us and shoot across the line which was about 3 boat lengths away. Their course was about 75 degrees off the line. But they crossed us and made us duck them. They ended up crossing about 2 seconds ahead of us but I think they would have been 20 seconds ahead if they had tacked for the line just before crossing us. They were racing spinnaker and started 5 minutes ahead of us. They should have finished about 11 minutes ahead of us. We may have finished 3rd on corrected time.
7/22/98
Racing from Fairport, OH
Wind SSW 8-15 knots, waves 1-2', visibility 10 mi, temp 85.
1810-2020
Main, 130.
Course FDS.
With Chris Duer. Raised the main in the harbor and motor sailed to S mark for the start. The wind was 7-10 but looked as if it might build. There was rain about 10 miles west (you could still see Eastlake) and I did not want to be wrestling with the 150 in a squall so we put up the 130. We were first at the start crossing on staroard at the pin end. Everyone else was close behind and above us. We went right for a few minutes then tacked and ducked the faster boats that were now ahead of us (pretty much everyone). We went right to the layline and tacked. We barely made the mark and had to really pinch to get it. We were heeling 15-20 degrees and making 5.5-6 knots. The 2nd leg was a broad run (150 app) and we made about 5 knots. R&B&B (Irwin 24) was behind us as we rounded and racing spinnaker. They barely caught up with us on the leg and rounded just ahead of us. The leg to the finish was a close reach. The wind had built to about 13-15 and we were a bit over powered and heeling to about 20-25 degrees making 6-6.5 knots (port tack). R&B&B was sailing flat with 6 aboard and maintained their lead and crossed just ahead of us. They did start 5 minutes ahead of us with the spinnaker fleet.
10/18/98 (40)
Racing from Fairport, OH
Wind SSW 20-30 knots, waves 4-6', visibility 12 miles, temp 60-65
0945-1200
Reefed Main, WJ
Raised the reefed main and jib in the harbor and sailed out the entrance. Course was from Fairport to Mentor and back. The start was a line extending from the west wall. Start was at 1025 and we were on the right side. It was close hauled in 4-6 footers and 20-30 knots making 5-6 knots. We were a bit over powered hard on the wind. We were not able to point well in the waves and were getting pushed way to the right. We decided to tack and get closer to shore in seek of smaller wave. We went pretty far inshore and did find smaller waves but it didn't last long. Our tacking angle was about 120 degrees. We were back in big waves soon and should have stayed out. We lost a lot of time. We got to Mentor and being so far behind we turned back and had a great broad reach back. We caught lots of great surfs to mid 7s and 8.5 on one exceptional ride. We sailed in the main entrance, headed up, dropped the jib, motored to the river and dropped the main. We were on the dock at about 1200.
1999 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Summer 1999 GRSC JAM Fleet
Sail sec/
NAME BOAT No. PHRF mi
Breakaway Soverel 33 32701 95 125
Changes C&C 33 13272 151 69
Double Vision Lindenberg 26 21778 171 49
Silmiril Pearson 30 180 40
Orion Hunter 28 50420 184 36
Eclipse Catalina 30 2265 192 28
North Star Catalina 27 5297 214 6
Free Spirit Newport 27 30108 214 6
Pyxis Pearson 26 14853 220 0
Natures Way O'Day 27 221 -1
Delerious Aloha 28 53345 227 -7
Future Shock Santana 2023 708 240 -20
7/14/99
Racing from Fairport, OH.
Wind ENE 2-6 knots, waves <2', visibility 8 mi, temp 75-80.
Main, 150
1800-2130
With Chuck and Nathan Duer. Race was S start, course A2, A-G-F-S. We were about 2 minutes late to the start. We made about 3.5 knots on port and 4 on starboard on the way to the first mark. We did not point as well as the other boats and lost time (5 min behind Natures Way). Course to the second mark was dead down wind and we made about 1.5 knots wing-in-wing. We headed from there to E mark by mistake because I miss-read the course card. We Were about 300 yards from the correct mark when I figured it out and we went bact to go around. We finished about 8 minutes behind Natures Way. I think we would have been right with them had we not made the course error. After the race we sailed on a beam reach for the east end of the wall then notored to the river and up to the dock dropping the sails on the way.
7/21/99
Racing from Fairport, OH.
Wind E 8-14 knots, waves 2-4', visibility 8 mi, temp 75-80, some rain.
Main, 130
1800-2130
First race with Alex - He stayed below in his car seat strapped to the dinette table. Race was S start, course B2, B-H-G-S. We raised the main at the dock and motored out to S mark, mostly head to wind. We were last across the line with Silmiril (P30). Everyone was pointing higher then us and we lost a lot on the first leg. I was doing everything myself and wasn't sheeting the headsail very well. We were 4-5 minutes behind at the fist mark, the other boats were all pretty close together. I think we gained a bit on the second and third legs and held on well on the last. Had we been pointing well on the first and been better at the start we might have done better. The bottom is also a mess, it hasen't been cleaned all season.
10/14/00
Racing from Fairport, OH.
Wind SSW 0-5, waves <2, visibility 6 mi, temp 55-60, light rain.
main, 130, 170, asym spin
0930-1600
With Jason Stanley. Annual Road Kill Ragatta. Race was from Fairport entrance to Mentor C mark and back, about 8 miles. We prepped the boat and motored over to Harbor 220 for the 0930 skippers meeting. We left Harbor 220 at 0950 and headed out to the lake for the 1030 start. We set the main in the river and motored out to the lake to pick a headsail. We started with the 130 but right after the start I decided that was a mistake and changed to the 170. We were making about 3 knots but the wind was diminishing. With the small sail to start and the change over we were quickly at the back of the pack. The bottom haden't been cleaned all season and that probably helped slow us down as well. We made 4 long tacks to the mark. The first boat to finish was Wish (J/105) with an elapsed time of 2:36. We haden't even gotten to the turning mark yet. Had we bailed out then we could have gotten back 2 hours earlier, but we went on and rounded the mark and set the asymmetric spinnaker. We made about 2 knots on the broad reach back. About 1/2 mile from the light the wind died away and we dropped the sail and motored in.