MG

Started good wind, then very light and shifty

Light wind overall but we had up to 9 knots

MOB, side docking, docking. Strong current due to big tide swing (ebbing)

Light wind. Practice MOB, and heave to + reefing. Casual racing with Oasis V with Kathy as skipper

It was a warm October morning, and both crews rigged dockside with sweat and urgency. Headsails were swapped, 135s out, 155s in, gennakers flaked and ready. A light-air duel was brewing. At the helm of Oasis VI were skippers Gerrit and Annette , with Gunnar, Marco (mate), Robert, Steven, Fan, and Barnabas. On Oasis V, Don and Kathy led Francisco (mate), Matt, Mark, John, Shaheen, and Rae With 2 knots of breeze the pre-start was lively in slow motion, boats ghosted back and forth to keep steerage, trimming in and out, counting down to the horn. Oasis VI had to give way to a boat from another class lingering over the line on starboard tack, losing precious time. Oasis V slipped through clean. Soon after, Gerrit called for an early tack, sending Oasis VI offshore in search of wind. Don kept Oasis V hugging the coast with the fleet. For hours, the boats vanished from each other’s view. Then two-thirds into the race, they reappeared, nearly bow-to-bow: VI on port, V on starboard. Different strategies converged in an uncanny crossing. Oasis VI held port tack and lined up cleanly for the windward mark. Oasis V dipped low again and lost the edge it had briefly regained. That moment proved decisive: VI reached the windward mark, platform Edith, ahead by a good margin. Both boats executed clean gennaker hoists and sailed on a broad reach toward the shortened finish at the last platform, Eureka. Oasis VI crossed a few minutes ahead, a narrow win shaped by trim, tactics, and timing. Post-race takeaways revealed Oasis VI ran its fairleads further aft, adjusting them dynamically. Oasis V had theirs more forward. Don noted it may have given VI a slight edge. Another factor: VI’s prop was left spinning; V suspects theirs was locked, a drag in light air. Finally, Gunnar offered a local insight: on starboard tack in the San Pedro Channel, the swell can stall the headsail telltales. Port tack rides smoother and faster.

Awesome