2022 Puerto Vallarta Race at San Diego Yacht Club - Day 6
by San Diego Yacht Club 15 Mar 2022 17:43 PDT
March 10-18, 2022
As the sun comes up Tuesday for the 2022 Puerto Vallarta Race, the YB tracker reveals great stuff. If you believe the windy.com weather overlay, you might notice a little river of green with white lines flowing south out of the Sea of Cortez. THAT IS MONEY!
First, the more 'northerly' direction the wind, the better for sailors reaching to the east on a port gybe. Second, the green-ish tint indicates wind strength of 10ish knots. The wind strength key is across the bottom of the screen. While it is not a vibrant green (high teens), it is not covered in the dreaded blue bayou that indicates wind of 5 knots or less. The Tuesday 0800 roll calls are reporting a few lulls in the green winds, but Race Committee expects that as the daily thermals mature, the winds will develop and help the fleet stay compressed and on a fast track to the finish.
The second great thing the YB tracker is revealing is the fleet. The majority of the fleet is compressed within 100 miles of one another moving at 5 to 10 knots straight towards the finish line, and passing 40 to 90 miles south of Cabo, at 0800 race time. This generates a lot of competitive energy and optimism on the race course. They have the next 18-24 hrs in that "green means go" wind to cover the final 150-250 miles to the finish. If this model holds up, it will likely be a very busy night and morning at the marina for hospitality and Customs processing.
It is great to see the Thursday starting Class 6 boats White Cloud, Envolee and Such Fast still mixed in with the Friday starting Classes (5, 4, and 3) for predicted finish times. They are no doubt trimming, plotting and working hard for class and even overall podium finishes.
Class 5 Akaw! and Class 2 Good Call are going to demonstrate the high risk/low miles "inside" pass within 10 miles from the Cabo beach. Their 0800 speed and direction look good, so fingers crossed for them. And committed outside strategist Class 2 Pied Piper is going for the payoff of a 130-mile south of Cabo transit. If the dreaded blue bayou materializes inshore, and swallows all the happiness and optimism of that group, Pied Piper will revel in the payoff and be tactical heroes!
To close today, a few words about time as the fleet races to stop-the-clock. Race time is Pacific Standard Time, which was in effect at the start last week. The racers are still operating on that time frame. Puerto Vallarta is on Mountain Standard Time (they don't do Daylight Savings here in Mexico). So, Race Committee started the race on Pacific Standard time, ignored the switch to Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, changed to Mountain Time when they relocated to the destination harbor, but ignored Daylight Savings Time switch again, and don't acknowledge that the finish line is actually in Central Standard Time zone. Or...as you read the finish times on the race tracker, you could also think of race time as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) minus 8 hours. Simple!
John Raymont, Fast Exit II, Ker 51:
"Great day of ocean racing! Having the 4-hour delay on the tracker really causes consternation, as the leaderboard is screwy compared to the real world, but it does send off alarms. Long straight drag race ahead which favors waterline - damn. But we will make a race of it for sure."
Roy Disney, Pyewacket 70, Volvo 70:
"Lots of sea life, mother and baby gray whale, sea turtles and packs of seabirds picking off flying fish that we scare up. Looking forward to PV and life's treasures on shore. Pleasant evening on the Pyewacket 70."
Mark Surber, Bribon, TP52:
"Don't you just love hanging out in the lee? What happened to the wind, and how do we make it come back!"
Steven Davis/Tim Dornberg, Vela, Santa Cruz 52 (Monday Evening):
"Vela here. Beautiful day of sailing. Finally getting into shorts and T-shirts. Saw whales breaching within a 1/4 mile of our position. We had a little halfway celebration today. Lots of fun."
Wayne Zittel, J Worlds' Hula Girl, Santa Cruz 50:
"East of Cabo! Beautiful sunset, night, and morning. Not really in the Sea I guess, a bit too far south, but it feels like it. The Zen sailing phase begins!"
Marchetta Furey, Mirage, Santa Cruz 70:
"What a great race so far. Had artichoke crab toasts for happy hour followed by fresh grilled ribeyes for dinner last evening. Happy boat with 12 souls sailing along!"
Paul Farrell, Spin Doctor, Andrews 40:
"Wind just shut off to 1.5 kts from 220ish. Final leg to PV. Seas calm, no clouds. Just enjoyed coffee and quiche."
Cecil & Alyson Rossi, Ho'okolohe, Farr 57:
"Went big last night trying to strategically lighten up the yacht for the passage through the Cabo lee. Waygu beef steaks on the grill with artichokes and back potatoes. Tried to call Gary and Ben on Pyewacket for wine pairing suggestions but no luck so went with Duckhorn cab, and Roembauer chardonnay for the non-red drinkers, and ice cream for dessert."
Jim Puckett, Amazing Grace, Farr 57:
"Close encounter last night. We were sailing at 7 knots when we saw a whale slap his fin on the surface about a boat length dead ahead. Veered hard to port and missed him by less than 20 feet. Looked like a juvenile grey, maybe 25-30' in length. We need a bigger boat."
Follow the race tracker showing boat positions at 1-hour intervals with a 4-hour competitive delay at yb.tl/sdpv2022.
Tuesday 0800 Standings Report available here.