I have received notification that Narrow Escape is back dockside in Long Beach Downtown Marina.
At Narrow Escape World Headquarters we echo Doug and Chuggy's comments and thanks to the Race Committee who watched our boys get safely all the way home too!
The LONG Road Home
There is not much new to report. They have been boring as hell on the way back to the mainland.
Typically the winds have been strong (NOW of course now!) and unfortunately adverse of angle as well - for coming back!
Like a mini Transpac they started back heading back a little low of course anticipating a lift as they approached the shore. Reaching with a reefed main and number three they managed some 17 and 18 knots surfs - so getting back quickly - at first.
But the wind angle has not fully cooperated and now they find themselves at a tighter angle and still lots of wind. Doug notes that this would have been an excellent time to use the second reef if the sail had been built that way! They are presently sailing on the Number 3 alone and making decent progress.
They expect to be back on the mainland sometime this afternoon - I would say about 1600PDT.
Typically the winds have been strong (NOW of course now!) and unfortunately adverse of angle as well - for coming back!
Like a mini Transpac they started back heading back a little low of course anticipating a lift as they approached the shore. Reaching with a reefed main and number three they managed some 17 and 18 knots surfs - so getting back quickly - at first.
But the wind angle has not fully cooperated and now they find themselves at a tighter angle and still lots of wind. Doug notes that this would have been an excellent time to use the second reef if the sail had been built that way! They are presently sailing on the Number 3 alone and making decent progress.
They expect to be back on the mainland sometime this afternoon - I would say about 1600PDT.
All's Well
But I am sorry to report that at 1625PDT today I was notified that Narrow Escape has withdrawn from the Transpacific Ocean Race.
The most recent news describes the Autohelm as being completely unable to keep up with required tiller response in the now windy and perfect conditions under spinnaker.
The course ahead also looks perfect and they could not imagine hand steering 24 hours a day for the next 8 plus days.
They report making good progress back towards the mainland.
More information will follow as I get it.
Heavy Hearted Blogmeister
The most recent news describes the Autohelm as being completely unable to keep up with required tiller response in the now windy and perfect conditions under spinnaker.
The course ahead also looks perfect and they could not imagine hand steering 24 hours a day for the next 8 plus days.
They report making good progress back towards the mainland.
More information will follow as I get it.
Heavy Hearted Blogmeister
Manglish
I am sorry to be so long publishing this. I only just barely stopped laughing now.
So I am going to speculate a bit here. Down in the LBC they speak the language with a slightly different vernacular. I expect that Chuggy and Doug picked up on some of that local accent and have taken it to a new level.
I am going to call it Manglish - short for Mangled English! And Chuggy speaks it to you here!
This report came from Cap't Chuggy off the boat, only coincidentally, around Happy Hour yesterday. As is my custom for reports going on the blog I usually try to tidy up spelling and grammatical issues but with this one I didn't know even where to start so it is here for you in original format.
I can just picture Cap't Chuggy and those big sausage fingers pecking away at some key board in those now pitching seas!
I might otherwise have titled this Post: "Chuggy put your glasses on "!
Stealth Mode
Conditions for sailing are much improved on the patch of the Pacific that Narrow Escape is presently transiting. Or have they?
Well we don't know for sure. Because not exactly going to plan our team has switched to Stealth Mode. This morning they failed to provide the Communications Vessel, Alaska Eagle with a position report.
Maybe they are about to undertake a bold tactical maneuver and don't want their fleet to know it. Or maybe it's because they are so relishing the sailing (finally) they just forgot. Or maybe they are both nappytime and "Billy the Stick" is driving (quite well actually). But more likely there is some problem with that haywire, unreliable, glorified Cell Phone, pile of junk Sat Phone!
Here is a teaser from my latest book "Behind the Blog", to be released soon:
"You might be wondering why we have been incommunicado. It turns out that when you go to use the Sat Phone if you enter the wrongy password three times the whole thing locks up you have to return the thing to an authorized reseller to have it reset"! (Evil, what's that password again, Webster).
There has been a running debate between your Blogmeister and the onboard crew as to the merits of new technology. Being old school I advocate SSB Transceiver with a Pactor Modem as the most reliable method of communication not to mention, all important, GRIB file collection. Are those chickens coming home to roost?
Anyways (not actually a word according to Hammer) because of the Transpac Tracker we do know that they are ripping along down the course now.
And what a difference a day makes:
At Narrow Escape World Headquarters we think things out there are near perfect now. The wind is aft of the beam and like Chuggy predicted maybe it is spinnaker time onboard.
Well we don't know for sure. Because not exactly going to plan our team has switched to Stealth Mode. This morning they failed to provide the Communications Vessel, Alaska Eagle with a position report.
Maybe they are about to undertake a bold tactical maneuver and don't want their fleet to know it. Or maybe it's because they are so relishing the sailing (finally) they just forgot. Or maybe they are both nappytime and "Billy the Stick" is driving (quite well actually). But more likely there is some problem with that haywire, unreliable, glorified Cell Phone, pile of junk Sat Phone!
Here is a teaser from my latest book "Behind the Blog", to be released soon:
"You might be wondering why we have been incommunicado. It turns out that when you go to use the Sat Phone if you enter the wrongy password three times the whole thing locks up you have to return the thing to an authorized reseller to have it reset"! (Evil, what's that password again, Webster).
There has been a running debate between your Blogmeister and the onboard crew as to the merits of new technology. Being old school I advocate SSB Transceiver with a Pactor Modem as the most reliable method of communication not to mention, all important, GRIB file collection. Are those chickens coming home to roost?
Anyways (not actually a word according to Hammer) because of the Transpac Tracker we do know that they are ripping along down the course now.
And what a difference a day makes:
At Narrow Escape World Headquarters we think things out there are near perfect now. The wind is aft of the beam and like Chuggy predicted maybe it is spinnaker time onboard.
Bonne Chance Oh Canada!
2011JUL08, 1300PDT
While enjoying now fabulous conditions, sailing the majestic waters of the Pacific Ocean, Chuggy and Doug take this moment to wish Kevy McMeel and the rest of their fellow Canudians Good Luck and Fair Winds for a fast and safe crossing!
While enjoying now fabulous conditions, sailing the majestic waters of the Pacific Ocean, Chuggy and Doug take this moment to wish Kevy McMeel and the rest of their fellow Canudians Good Luck and Fair Winds for a fast and safe crossing!
Barn Door In Jeopardy?
I wanted to start a whole new Post to present the only flicker of Bad News resulting from today's communications and weather forecasts.
All that good news for wind coming inshore to get NE moving today will, unfortunately, also stay around to kick start the big boys who start tomorrow at 1300.
With such a slow start for the Monday starters and a fast one, out of the gate for the faster boats Friday, Narrow Escape's chance of winning the Barn Door for the fastest elapsed time now appears difficult.
Above appears the Optimum Route that Raytech Performance Software generates based on the current long range NOAA Weather Predictions as parsed by Saildocs.com. You get full marks for noticing how the recommended route has changed to an almost classic Transpac Race Route from the atypical one output by the program since before the start.
Please note that the route now begins at their 0600 position and that we have returned to normal 6 hour Isochrones. Raytech estimates that the next 10 Isochrones will average 58 miles each or 580 miles VMC.
According to Raytech, as it interprets the wind speeds and angles embedded in the GRIB File, and applies the Target Boat Speeds contained in Narrow Escape's Polars file, they will be 426.37 miles (approximately!) from the start line when the big boats start at 1300 tomorrow. That means for any Friday starter to beat Narrow Escape they will need to average 24 % faster over the entire course.
And while I am at it Raytech also calculates that Chuggy and Doug will arrive alongside Diamond Head at 1402 HST on Saturday the 16th. So nice another fast afternoon trip down the Molokai Channel and a daytime finish. I'll tell Helen so she can make some dinner reservations - say about 1900 sound OK?
Shootin Hoops?
2011JUL07 - 0600, 32.54N - 122.33W, Bar 1014, Wind 8 knots @ 310, Sea 1 meter - long N swell, Cloud - 100%, DOC 98 miles.
This Message, containing some hilarity just received from the boat:
I replied how You try to think of everything but Murphy always has some other trick you didn't consider up his sleeve.And I scrutinized every possible bit of information I could discovered and I have developed a surprising theory:
They were faster with the Basketball attached!Actually that is probably not true. But as it turns out, over the last 24 hours they either lost very little, in some cases held their own and in others they and actually gained back ground on some of the Monday starters. Based on the light upwind race so far I was worried it would be much worse. And they shaved more than 100 hours from Transpacs Estimated Corrected Ttime - which means little this early in the race!
The longest days runs came from boats in the Aloha Division.
My research has lead me to conclude that in a rich get poorer kind of NHL Draft sort of way the wind out west was not as good for the leaders and progressively improved the closer you got to the shore. Our boy cleverly positioned themselves at the back of the pack to take most advantage of those conditions. I also have to wonder how things might have worked out yesterday without the basketball too.
And still more good news all of the weather gurus are predicting that the light winds of yesterday are a memory today so I hope NE will not have to endure that pain ahead.
In another message I received from the boat Doug observed how the better breeze offshore - which moves around - could move away from them faster than they could move towards it. In keeping with the good news nature of this report I am pleased to report that it appears that situation is also reversed. Over the course of this afternoon and evening the synoptic wind is forecast to move shoreward scooping up the Monday fleet and hurrying them along toward Hawaii in earnest.
The Allure of Southern California. . .
. . . apparently still has a hold on our boys at sea.
2011Jul07-0600, 33.37N-119.55W, Bar 1012, Wind 6 knots at 270, 24 hr. DOC 78, Sea 1 meter (comment @ 360), Cloud 100 percent.
No records were broken last night. Narrow Escape continued to move west however earning an I bet hard fought 78 miles in the last 24 hours. Their relative performance continues negative compared with many of the July 4th starters however.
The "boat for boat" leaders have extended to about 50 miles in front of NE. But that is not the bad news. The bad news is they still need to get about 175 miles further west before reaching any kind of reliable and stronger winds. The good news is they are predicted to be sailing in generally improving conditions all that way.
There is forecast to be more wind this afternoon and early evening than yesterday and while the wind will lighten again tonight there should still be some. And maybe some more good news. Depending somewhat on whose forecast you believe if the improving wind does not move further east, or stay on later tonight, the current scenario seems to suggest that none of the leaders will quite have the legs to get far enough west, before the wind lightens again overnight, to be able to break out into the more reliable and stronger synoptic wind. Such wind still forecast to prevail over most of the course for an extended period into the future. That means it now appears less possible that they will be sailing away in 15 knots of wind at a better angle while NE languishes for another overnight in 4 to 6 knots of wind. It is likely that the entire fleet of Monday starters should encounter the offshore winds over the course of Thursday's already improving trend even closer to shore.
It's all about damage control until then. Unfortunately we expect NE to continue to lose ground on her fleet for the next 24 hours. Limiting the amount will play a pivotal role in the catch up game when things improve.
Further offshore the wind all across the course presently ranges from 15 to 20 knots and at an angle Narrow Escape likes.
We remain on the edge of our seats here at the Narrow Escape Home Office.
2011Jul07-0600, 33.37N-119.55W, Bar 1012, Wind 6 knots at 270, 24 hr. DOC 78, Sea 1 meter (comment @ 360), Cloud 100 percent.
No records were broken last night. Narrow Escape continued to move west however earning an I bet hard fought 78 miles in the last 24 hours. Their relative performance continues negative compared with many of the July 4th starters however.
The "boat for boat" leaders have extended to about 50 miles in front of NE. But that is not the bad news. The bad news is they still need to get about 175 miles further west before reaching any kind of reliable and stronger winds. The good news is they are predicted to be sailing in generally improving conditions all that way.
There is forecast to be more wind this afternoon and early evening than yesterday and while the wind will lighten again tonight there should still be some. And maybe some more good news. Depending somewhat on whose forecast you believe if the improving wind does not move further east, or stay on later tonight, the current scenario seems to suggest that none of the leaders will quite have the legs to get far enough west, before the wind lightens again overnight, to be able to break out into the more reliable and stronger synoptic wind. Such wind still forecast to prevail over most of the course for an extended period into the future. That means it now appears less possible that they will be sailing away in 15 knots of wind at a better angle while NE languishes for another overnight in 4 to 6 knots of wind. It is likely that the entire fleet of Monday starters should encounter the offshore winds over the course of Thursday's already improving trend even closer to shore.
It's all about damage control until then. Unfortunately we expect NE to continue to lose ground on her fleet for the next 24 hours. Limiting the amount will play a pivotal role in the catch up game when things improve.
Further offshore the wind all across the course presently ranges from 15 to 20 knots and at an angle Narrow Escape likes.
We remain on the edge of our seats here at the Narrow Escape Home Office.
The Food is Still Holding Out!
This report just in from the boat.I told him that they were going to talk nicer about Narrow Escape when they arrived at the Classic Transpac conditions that are waiting just offshore!
Slow Going
2011JUL05-0600, 33.40N-119.15W, Bar 1011, Wind 200-240, TWS 2-6, SOC 2.8, DMG 48, Sea Calm, Cloud < 10 Percent.Well there is no getting far in conditions like these! Overnight the fleet was impacted by a small and very local low pressure cell nearly right on top of them.
Predictably Chuggy and Doug had a slow night.
Narrow Escape's design does not make much compromise for light wind sailing. It is long and flat with very little rocker resulting in a lot of wetted surface compared to its sail area. Since 2009 Chuggy has added a, roll up, Code Zero (badly trimmed picture above) to the inventory which they hope to use like a giant Genoa in the light windward work. But compared with other designs in their fleet, no matter what, Narrow Escape struggles in conditions like these.
Today better pressure (8 knots TWS) is estimated to stretch nearer inshore reaching it's apex at about 1500 today. This could be the play of the race - already. To reach it, and a rich get richer scenario of steadily increasing wind, Chuggy and Doug need to reach into their bag of tricks and find another 50 miles of offing before that time. Otherwise the area of increased wind retracts seaward again overnight.
Some of the boats in their division are 15 miles closer to getting there and those who do will sail away rolling up the (wind) carpet behind them. Those boats who escape will be sailing in progressively stronger winds and building a lead that may be difficult for those left behind to recover in the great weather pattern that has developed across the rest of the course.
Nothing interesting is forecast to happen after that until about dinnertime on Wednesday when the northwesterly wind 10 knots TWS is predicted to fill in over the area.
In the worst case scenario at least they will be well rested when things finally improve!
Above is a picture produced by Raytech showing Narrow Escape's 0600 position and the optimum route generated at that time.
The optimum route calculation is less than ideally reliable when wind strength predictions get into these low values and I don't think anyone wants to take a run up to Cape Concepcion.
The blue lines are Isochrones that Raytech explores when developing the optimum track. They are set in this picture at 4 hours. The Isochones show runs of just 12 to 16 miles for a while into the future but out on the west end of this picture they are averaging about 42 miles - so the trick is to get there!
These 24 Hours
Racing to Hawaii has evolved since the first race in 1906. Then just finding the islands was a sort of victory.
Now, using vast technology it is all about finding the fastest way to the islands. A key consideration in this pursuit is sailing in stronger wind and/or a more favourable angle. Other than Axle Fox no one I know can actually see the wind in front of his boat never mind miles into the future. Getting that right really impacts on the duration and enjoyment of your race.
Weather forecasting has come a long way in the intervening 100 years and now Meteorologists estimate the weather long into the future. These estimates are based on series of pressure predictions which they develop anticipating what might develop. They become less reliable the further out they go but still a useful tool. Now you can receive these weather charts on board and software, often found on board, can animate the charts to give a flowing picture of conditions expected.
And there are a lot of offshore weather routing services available to help sailors extract the nuances from the charts.
Reputedly one of the best for detailed inshore work around the Catalina Basin is Sailing Weather Service http://www.sailwx.com/. And I have reviewed it closely.
Presently the conditions down the course are near perfect. And they continue that way in the forecasts for the entire time our team should be on the water - so really good news except for the next 24 hours or 100 miles however you want to look at it.
The time tested, past the West End of Catalina and then head a little south, method has not looked good for more than a week because of some weird little High spinning near shore and another one further south.
In every scenario a course (scary) north of the great circle route is indicated at first and then a very near circle route the rest of the way. The Great Circle route is the shortest distance but it rarely pays. With the circle route you run a good chance of having the High come down and park on top of you - which means no wind.
The RayTech and Expedition Software, which read the GRIB Files (animated interpretation of the Weather Charts) are not nostalgic however and both suggest a course north after the start through Santa Barbara Channel all the way to Cape Conception - like 125 miles up the coast!
The time tested, getting past Catalina and then bearing off a little south approach has not looked good for more than a week with some weird little high spinning near shore and another further south.
I think our team will find their way near or slightly north of the great circle route on the shortest distance to the consistent wind.
You don't start to get into it at all until you are out past the islands - about 65 miles and complicating things greatly the consistent winds modeled pull out further offshore tonight meaning a potential night of drifting after midnight.
So here is what we think we know: The wind at the start was about 10 knots out of the NW. SailWX did not have that angle showing up until sometime between 1400 and 1700. If we begin to believe them at that point the wind still starts getting lighter before the West End.
There is an area of 4 to 6 knots TWS predicted out to past the islands but anything south of west is death.
It looks like there might be a bald spot with less than 4 knots TWS between the outer islands and about 85 miles offshore where things start to get better (8 knots TWS). But even then they must continue to apply themselves because that better wind pattern is predicted to retreat offshore in the wee hours around 0400 Tuesday morning.
The wild cards are catabatic effect wind near shore and islands and wind direction which I neglected to mention predicts fair amount of westerly flow between Catalina and the outer islands.
We must be mindful that there are newer designs that do much better that Narrow Escape in light wind and upwind and especially in light upwind.
If the predictions come true Chuggy and Dougie need to find a way to get out offshore about 85 miles in the about first 15 hours of the race. After that things get easier for our team.
Switching to Live
Your correspondent has just spoken with Doug and Chuggy by Cell Phone from the boat. This is expected to be the last live communication received here at Narrow Escape World Headquarters (NEWH)
The fleet are assembled and the wind in the starting area is about 10 knots out of the west.
Because the sail plan (even the upwind configuration) has been vastly increased and because Chuggy and Doug have been on a weight loss campaign - not to mention they are short a couple of princesses on the rail for optimum upwind performance - it turns out that this wind strength is roughly idea if you have to go upwind. They hope to not go upwind for long if at all possible. Anyone who remembers the boat will know that upwind was not it's favourite.
A discussion of the first part of the race, based on considerable input, will follow
In 15 short minutes they will be on the course racing.
The fleet are assembled and the wind in the starting area is about 10 knots out of the west.
Because the sail plan (even the upwind configuration) has been vastly increased and because Chuggy and Doug have been on a weight loss campaign - not to mention they are short a couple of princesses on the rail for optimum upwind performance - it turns out that this wind strength is roughly idea if you have to go upwind. They hope to not go upwind for long if at all possible. Anyone who remembers the boat will know that upwind was not it's favourite.
A discussion of the first part of the race, based on considerable input, will follow
In 15 short minutes they will be on the course racing.
Even more live!
1145 PDT Message from the boat:
"We are underway. Cruising around in the starting area and enjoying the sun and ten knots of wind.
Can't lay Catalina at the moment about 30 degrees shy."
Nearly Live
At a little after 1000 PDT this message was received from the boat:
"The bottom is clean and we are heading for the start line."
All going well the next time Narrow Escape is tethered to land will be after cheating 3 hours of a days earth rotation in the Ala Wai Basin in Waikiki!
"The bottom is clean and we are heading for the start line."
All going well the next time Narrow Escape is tethered to land will be after cheating 3 hours of a days earth rotation in the Ala Wai Basin in Waikiki!
Bottie Duty
The race crew are a little paranoid about the robust, and fast moving/growing, Barnacles of the LBC.
Even though they lifted the boat only a few days ago, and polished the bottom to a high lustre, in this shot DCB is making sure there were no survivors of that process - or any new speed robbing Cirripedia attached.
Groceries Come on Board
And it was a good thing that Evil and Roscoe are not racing this year otherwise there would be no room for all this food.
You might remember that the reason for the abbreviated crew and massive boat weight reductions was to travel light and fast to Hawaii - what I call the sprint assault.
The trouble is that with only too on board, running everything, the crew needed to budget 6000 calories daily!
There is no truth to the rumour that the weight of the groceries will completely offset every go fast measure undertaken to date!
Wilson Comes on Deck
Race Preparations are really getting down to the last details now.
My audience might remember in 2009 that they took along a Good Luck Charm and the named him Wilson. He was supposed to be a fair winds Tiki. Well, we all know how that turned out. The crew is nothing if not loyal I guess!
Skippers meeting/Send Off Party part three
And later that night they met up with friend, fellow Canudian and Weather Guru, Kevy McDinner - sometimes know as Doc Holiday.
Kevy has conducted several weather briefings and follow ups for the crew. In the picture above it looks like he is just putting the finishing touches on a routing strategy with Chuggy.
Kevy is sailing on Oh Canada which is an Open 60 Ocean Greyhound and the fastest rated boat on the course so there is high expectations for their results. Kevy and Oh Canada start on the 8th of July.
Skippers Meeting/Send Off Party part two
Er. . . sorry here is Chuggy soaking up the Race Instructions!
Skipper's Meeting/Send Off Party
Welcome back sports fans - actually it is me who has been offline but I am back now!
They really do it up right at Transpac don't they?
Here are pictures of our Leader Chuggy soaking up the instructions.
How to Practice Safe Sailing!
Hello All!
SoCal Ben reporting from beautiful Long Beach. The lads from Nanaimo are becoming quite self sufficient. For the 2009 race, I was asked for help locating everything from parts to fresh food. This year, nary a request until two days ago. So imagine my amazement when the first request was from Doug asking for help locating an 18" condom for Greg. Now I know that Greg is a humble man, but this brings humility to an entirely new level!
It turned out that the condom wasn't for Greg after all, but it was for "Billy the Stick." Billy the Stick is the hydraulic arm that connects the autopilot to the tiller. Billy will be doing a lot of the work and the condom is for protection against salt water. I didn't want to give up any of my personal stash. So I found an old innertube from my daughter's bicycle and presto Billy was practicing safe sailing.
The picture above is from our test sail on Friday, 7/1/11. It didn't take long to discover that Billy (like all sailors) tends to exaggerate a wee bit and that he really didn't need the entire 18 inches. Later Doug trimmed off a few inches. I understand Billy is now quite comfortable and ready for the 2,225 mile voyage.
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