On Friday morning, Natural High is participating in the 42nd Annual Southern Straits Classic (www.southernstraits.ca). As this is my first overnight race I am nervous as hell :lol:

We are sailing the Short Course, mainly because it is our first big race with the new boat, and the medium course looks like quite the beating in the rain as the winds are usually SE or NW. Forecast is currently 25-30 kts and rain. Not the most relaxing time.

I have a spot tracker so if anyone wants to follow our progress with 10 minute position updates:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=07mftSCdTqqbpLIqtSOWVIvW4XGkOrNJH

Good Luck. I still have anouther month and a half until any racing. Be safe and sail fast.

Make sure you have a bail out port on your GPS for the western end. and work it out so you can get somewhere protected in the dark.

what are the projected wave heights in that area in that wind?

remember there is never a problem if you have to turn back and don't finish ... this is only a personal challenge where you need to weigh safe vs foolish.

the tiller and boat motion can be a serious problem in deep short waves in the dark.

But then what we do in our late 60s is not what younger people would do in their 30s.

Our best for a safe challenge at whatever distance is comfortable. how many on your crew?

‘Straits is a good race but you can get some pretty good wind/wave action out in the Straight of Georgia. Not to mention it can get fairly cold. Here are a few tips from the years I have done the race…..

Try to pick the leading boats in your fleet and make a plan to cover/stay with them and refuse the temptation to sail away on your own.

It is good to rotate your helmsman sooner than later and try to rotate your different driver’s time on the helm as much as possible…I have watched a fresh guy on the helm add as much as a knot of boatspeed and added point in the wee hours. Helm fatigue slows you down.

Organize your crew dinner BEFORE it get’s dark. It is also good to ensure that after dinner all crew are wearing (or are very near) harnesses and whatever they are using for PFD’s

Have at least two GPS on board, lots of batteries and ensure that both GPS have your waypoints programmed in advance.

Final advice is that major gains are often made in the wee hours of the night…try to keep as many crew up on deck at as possible and always work the boat hard.

Good luck and have fun…there are some good boats registered for the short course and your fleet should be a good one

One more thought ... do not use your lightweight 3DLs for this race.

LakeSailor's final advice re wee hours is right on ... but the hardest thing to do with tired crew not used to sailing max out at night.

You grossly over estimate the budget for my racing program. My newest sail is a used J/29 Mylar main that I scored for $140!

The forecast is now up to 30-40 but diminishing alter in the race. In squamish we see those winds regularily, but never the steep waves that develop in the Strait; that is my biggest concern... I don't feel like breaking anything (see budget comment above).

I searched this site for info on what others had done for emergency steering system; there is a thread but it did not have solutions. I think a combination of dragging a drogue off of the primary winches and the Spin pole lashed to my bilge cover as a rudder will suffice. Any thoughts?

My tactician has lots of experience with this race, most of the time in his Catalina 27 and he won his division in '08. That gives me a little more comfort. Sphincter is still tight though

Oh, I missed some questions:

I am down to six on my crew or possibly 5. Nice for logistics/organizing in a long race but not a lot of weight now that the winds are forecasted to be up.

We may see 6 foot chop or so in those winds. Lakesailor may know better; historically I tried never to be out there in 40 kts.

The western rounding mark is right at a major port city that we can duck in to if needed. It is always fun when a rounding mark in a night race are a bunch of submerged rocks.

light or heavy main? one or two reef points? you let that mylar luff a while it will fall apart. You'll have a good idea of a go no go decision the first hour in over 25 with 6's depending on the wind direction.

Rule is to start underpowered and as the crew gets comfortable kick it up.

don't hesitate to bail if crew starts to show signs of seasick.

Hey one of my favorite sails is a 1.5 oz spin from Ebay that cost $200. takes two guys to haul it up.

As Mylar goes, I think it is pretty heavy. The 4 rolls of clear duct tape I used to re-enforce the weakening leach and some other rub areas just adds to it's $140 prowess. I fully expect it to blow at some point, if not this race it'll be the next. Unfortunately it only has one reef point and it is a small reef. But I am packing my old one design dacron main with two reef points if things take a turn for the worse.

It actually looks like it will be more running and reaching with this forecast

"It is also good to ensure that after dinner all crew are wearing (or are very near) harnesses and whatever they are using for PFD’s"

ummmm....

This should read - "Before it gets dark the skipper should REQUIRE the use of PFDs and Harnesses".

You are CRAZY to let your crew sail at night without them.

Not to sound like a wet blanket. (-: