Lecture attendees filter into the meeting room at the Northwest Maritime Center

The title “Racing on the Bay:  the Insiders Advantage” drew over one hundred sailboat skippers and crew  wanting to learn the secrets of sailboat racing on Port Townsend Bay. Lifetime  Port Townsend sailors Daubie Daubenberger and  Joe Daubenberger shared their expert knowledge gathered from decades of sailing and racing, with additional input from ace sailors Piper Dunlap and  Stig Osterberg.

Pete Helsell of the NWMC introduces 3 of the 4 speakers, Joe and Daubie Daubenberger and Stig Osterberg.

All speakers agreed that to be competitive it is essential to do basic boat preparation, crew practice in  tacking, jibing and all assorted maneuvers. Daubie presented and elaborated on three racing principles: Technique, Tactics and Strategy. Piper complemented this with numerous illustrations on a dry-erase board, and Joe and Stig provided back up, clarification, and examples to bring the illustrations to life. The evening ended with  a slide show of second-by-second racing sequences from the start of one of last year’s races, and the lecturers evaluation and instructive critique of the boats in each slide. It was truly an informative presentation… an evening of great interaction with much sage advice.

Piper illustrates information presented by Daubie to an attentive audience

We (the PTSA Board of Directors) hoped this event would  create enthusiasm for new sailors to join us in racing on the Bay, and in the final analysis appears to have done so. We have enrolled 7 new members to the organization, and at the end of the evening we had  collected $875 in annual dues from new and existing members, $20 for youth sailing, $125 in burgee sales, and $485 in lecture  admission. The total expense for production of the evening was about $355 (all receipts are not yet in but this is close), and these funds will be used to cover the organization’s 2010  operating expenses outlined in an earlier post to this website.

Secretary Steve Scharf shows his PTSA spirit

A huge THANK YOU goes out to our presenters, and to all who helped with organization, advertisement, and the dirty work of setting up and putting away chairs…and of course to all you sailboat racing junkies who attended the lecture and are itching to get out on the water and commence with the fun!

Bill Gladstone, the author of the North U series of racing books, has a posting on US Sailing site, here, on when to split tacks with the leaders when you are behind.

You know the old adage: “Can’t catch ‘em if we follow ‘em.” So, when you are behind you’ve got to split tacks to catch the leaders. In fact, splitting tacks is often a gamble with poor odds of success. To understand why, first answer this question:  Which way are the leaders going, the right way or the wrong way?  (Hint: they are in the lead.) If they are going the right way then splitting to go the wrong way is a low percentage play.

What to do instead:
First off, recognize that if the leaders don’t make any mistakes, you won’t catch them.
Don’t just split tacks for the sake of splitting. You’ve got to sail fast, and stay within striking distance so you can pass when they stumble. When the leaders are going the right way, then go that way. If they become preoccupied tactically and miss a shift, or fail to respond to a change in conditions (either tactically or in trim) then you get your chance.

But if you split for the sake of splitting and go the wrong way, then you will likely fall further behind; and you won’t be in position to capitalize when the leaders make a mistake.

Sail fast, be patient, and pounce when the opportunity arises.