May Meeting: Lynne Reister and Lodestar Marine Surveying ...

Ship-to-Shore 

The South Sound Sailing Society’s Newsletter 

Volume 35 Issue 9 May 2006 http://www.ssssclub.com 

May Meeting: Lynne Reister and Lodestar Marine 

Surveying & Consulting 

When we’re sailing, what we can’t see is as important as what we can see. Shoals beneath the 

water’s surface, freighters in the fog, or changing weather systems can play havoc with an 

otherwise fine sail. We have resources to guide our way, though, to help us see what we can’t 

really see. Charts and depth sounders, radar, and weather fax all help us avoid those unpleasant 

surprises just out of sight. 

What about your boat itself? How do you know that what you can’t see isn’t more important 

than what you can 

see? Frankly, most 

of us don’t know. 

We kick the 

proverbial tires, look 

for apparent 

evidence of 

blistering, and poke 

our heads down the 

bilge. Some of us 

might crawl around 

on deck, tapping and 

listening to see if we 

detect dull spots 

indicating a problem 

below the surface. 

Unfortunately, most 

of us don’t have the 

skills to see all that 

really matters. 

That’s why we 

Star Racing last summer photo: Sean Trew 

2006 Star Races have started; Dinghy races start this month 

turn to surveyors, our lodestar in this process. They help us to know and understand weaknesses 

as well as strengths of the boats we sail or are thinking about sailing. They give us insights as to 

conditions of the deck core, electrical system, and hull-to-deck joints. We get objective 

estimations of fair-market value and pre-purchase condition. Surveyors point out problems we 

need to know about so we can address them before they ruin an otherwise glorious sail. 

You have a unique opportunity in May to tap into the expertise of a well-respected marine 

surveyor and get some questions answered. Lynne Reister, of Lodestar Marine, will be joining 

us to point out critical things to look for, and to look out for. Thinking about selling your boat? 

Lynne will give you pointers on how to price it for the market. Thinking about buying a boat? 

She’ll help you assess whether it’s a good value or not. What about your haulout this spring? 

When was the last time you did anything other than slap some paint on the hull? Are you sure 

you don’t need to take care of anything before the next race season begins or you set off for this 

summer’s cruise? 

NEW OFFICERS : EMERGENCY MEDICAL : LIFESLING : RACE PRACTICE 

Performance Sailing Seminar 

May 2 

1900 at Rod Tharp’s 

Thursday Night Racing Day 1 


first start 1830 

Spring Series Race 3 


first start noon 

General Meeting 


Visitors Welcome 

Doors open 1830, starts 1900 

Star Racing Day 2 



Spring Series Race 4 


first start noon 

board meeting 


1830 Apollos 

Sailing Class, class room 


Westbay 1830 

Sailing Class, on the water 


at the dock 1730 

Thursday Night Racing Day 2 



Spring Regatta 



Star Racing Day 3 



Thursday Races Day 3 

June 1 


Performance Sailing Seminar 

June 6 

1900 at Rod Tharp’s 

Wednesday Night Race 2 

June 7 


Star Seines 2 Day 1 

June 8 


General Meeting 

Election/Awards/Potluck 

June 13 

Visitors Welcome 

Doors open 1800, starts 1830 

Memorial Day Cruise 

May 27-8 

Penrose Point 

Wednesday Night Series Race 1 


first start 1830

Ship-to-Shore May 2006 

Lynne races and cruises extensively. And for you wooden boat 

enthusiasts, she is a specialist in wooden vessels. In fact, she lives 

aboard and is restoring a 1939 Monk-Grandy. Her list of 

credentials is too long for this article. See her web site at 

www.lodestarmarine.com for more on her background. 

Get your questions ready. We’re structuring this presentation to 

allow plenty of time for you to “ask the surveyor,” complements 

of South Sound Sailing Society. Think about it. What you can’t 

see may be more important than what you can see. 

Thera Black 

Benefit Race May 20 th 

Every so often it’s nice to link something we enjoy doing, 

namely, racing, with something that benefits the sailing world in 

some way. It’s fun, but 

it’s more than fun. You 

have an opportunity to 

do that very thing with 

the May 20 th Spring 

Regatta. That’s because 

we’re using this as a 

fund-raising opportunity 

to support the work of 

the Footloose Sailing 

Association. 

As most of you know, 

Footloose is a Seattlebased 

group that opens 

up the world of sailing 

to people with 

disabilities. When 

people leave the dock 

and get out on the water 

with the Footloose 

program they leave their 

disabilities behind and 

enjoy things that you 

and I probably take for 

granted. I guarantee you, though, they don’t take it for granted. 

So here’s what you need to know about the Benefit Race. 

First, it’s a race only in a figurative sense. Think of it as a 

donation race. The boat that donates the most money wins. Be 

creative. Drum up support from your race crew. Remember all 

those Girl Scout cookies and peanut brittle you bought from your 

co-workers’ kids over the years? Hit them up to support your 

boat. Ask your neighbors or people on your dock. I’ve even heard 

that one group of boats may make a fleet donation. Don’t have a 

boat? No worry. Race the boat of your dreams; just make a 

donation in her name with you as skipper. We encourage dreams. 

For those who keep track of these things, Footloose is a 501(c)3 

organization. You get a tax deduction for this next year. Which is 

more than you can say for that new Mylar sail you’re eyeing. 

Second, to count towards the Benefit Race you need to make 

your donation by the May 9 th Meeting. We’ll have a box at the 

Meeting that night that you can drop your donation into. Or if you 

can’t make the Meeting you can mail it in ahead of time. The 

insert in this newsletter has information on how to make a 

donation. For those submitting multiple checks, please make them 

2005 Regatta, photo: Dwayne Young 

out to “Footloose Sailing Association” and write the name of the 

donor boat on the memo line. 

Third, the largest donation wins the coveted perpetual trophy 

designed and built by George Hansen. It’s a beautiful piece you’ll 

be proud to display on your mantle or bookshelf. Plan on 

attending the June Awards Ceremony to pick up your trophy. 

Fourth, there is an opportunity for skippers to take Footloose 

members out on their boats to help crew during the race. These 

are people who do not need special adaptive devices to 

participate. If you’re interested in taking a Footloose sailor out 

with you, please let me know by the May Meeting. 

Finally, the Benefit Race culminates in a post-Regatta party at 

Tugboat Annie’s, at Westbay Marina. This no-host party begins 

when it begins. Those who aren’t participating in the Spring 

Regatta may well decide to show up by 1500 or 1530. 

Depending on the wind 

conditions, racers will be 

coming in shortly thereafter. 

It’ll be a fun ending to a fun 

day. 

Please participate in the 

2006 Benefit Race to support 

the Footloose Sailing 

Association. It’s a great 

opportunity to get a little 

more out of sailing and in the 

process, help others get a lot 

more out of sailing. 

See you there! 

Thera Black 

Cruise News 

MEMORIAL DAY 

CRUISE MAY 27-28 

PENROSE POINT 

Come join us for the 

annual Memorial Day Cruise to Penrose Point State Park. Penrose 

Point State Park has a number of mooring buoys on both the west 

and east side of the park. It also has a dock and pump out station 

in Mayo Cove. Watch out for the shoal that extends out from the 

small bay at the park just east of the west side mooring buoys. 

The potluck will be held at the picnic area just upland from the 

State Park dock at 1800 hours Saturday night. As usual bring 

what you like. Blindfolded Dinghy Races will be held at 1000 

Sunday morning, if the weather cooperates. 

Pete Judd, Murphy’s Lawyer 

Performance Sailing 

Performance Sailing meets the first Tuesday of each month to 

discuss sailing and related topics. In May and June we will center 

the meeting around composite boat building. Please join us at 

1231 Miller Ave. NE at 1900 

Rod Tharp, Strider 

RC Boat Experience Offered 

Go out with Flying Circus and see how it is done. Details on line.


RC Report: Program Review 

I want to encourage as many boats as possible to come out for 

the Spring Regatta / Benefit Race, for Footloose Sailing, / Party. 

Come on out whether you are into serious racing, or just to enjoy 

a fun day on the water with the family. Details in the notice of 

race in the S-t-S or on line. 

Now is the time to return the perpetual trophies. If you won 

one last year, please bring it to the May Meeting, or get it to me 

before then. We need to get in engraved for this year’s winner. 

The Race Program Review held on April 4 was well attended 

and produced the following results: 

A committee headed by the very capable Bill Sheldon has been 

formed to study class breaks. In addition to Bill the committee 

will also include the 

Class Captains and two 

members from each 

class that might be 

affected by change. 

Open communication 

with all skippers in the 

affected fleets is 

encouraged. It is hoped 

that this bottoms-up 

approach with strong 

class representation and 

open communication 

will prove more 

effective than methods 

used in the past. The 

goal is to group boats in 

such a way that every 

boat has a chance to be 

competitive in all 

Rushwind, Maclean Memorial Race 

weather conditions. As 

you know, this is an 

extremely difficult task to achieve because of the wide variety of 

boats racing in our Club. Some compromises will most surely 

have to be made and they may not be to your liking. But be aware 

that a strong effort was made to represent everyone’s interests to 

the best of our ability. The committee will report its findings to 

the General Meeting on May 9. 

The following proposals from the membership were accepted 

by the Race Committee: 

· Boats that turn on their engines to escape grounding are 

disqualified from that race. 

· Initiate a Summer Season Championship. 

· Move the starting line of the Hope Island Race to the Olympia 

Shoal. 

· Establish Hunter Point as a mark of the course in the Hope 

Island Race as an option for shortening the race. 

· Endorse Olympia Sailing Foundation and its new purpose of 

advancing youth sailing. 

· Develop a process of notifying racers of last minute race 

cancellations by utilizing our web site and designated marina 

postings. 

The following proposal was referred to committee for further 

work: Start D Fleet 30 minutes prior to the rest of the fleets in the 

Inlet, Island, and Maclean Races. 

Of all these changes only the Summer Season Championship 

will take effect this summer. It will consist of your best eight 

races out of all twelve of our Wednesday Night Races and the 

Spring Regatta, which is valued as one race. See the amendments 

to the sailing instructions in this S-t-S. This constitutes 

notification to the Membership. 

All other proposals will take affect in September when they 

can be properly codified in the next year’s Handbook. 

Finally, a big thanks to all participants for their courtesy 

and restraint under sometimes trying circumstances during 

the long meeting. 

Erik Dahl, Miss Conduct 

Small Boat 

Racing 

At 1830 on May 4 

the whistle will blow 

for the first race of 

the day of the 2006 

season and another 

great summer of 

small boat racing on 

Budd Inlet will be 

underway. Anybody 

with a sailboat under 

about 20 feet is 

welcome to come 

out. We sail in the 

photo: Barbara Emmonds 

inner bay at Olympia 

so a movable keel or 

dagger board is very 

helpful but not a necessity. Getting to know the bottom of the bay 

up close and personal can be a lot of fun, but as far as racing is 

concerned it is kind of slow. 

A committee boat will be at the start-finish line somewhere 

north of KGY radio station before the start to help the racers with 

course description, questions about the starts, registration, 

collecting money ... oh wait, it’s free!!! Where else can you be 

well entertained for 2 hours for free? How much did you pay for 

that chair lift this winter?? How much was the last movie you 

went to? And if you plan ahead, there are a couple of small boats 

you can borrow. So even the boat can be free. As I was saying the 

committee boat will be out there not collecting money, but 

generally trying to help when needed and trying to run 2 to 3 

races each race night. 

We will have racing every other Thursday night through the 

summer alternating with the Star races. If you just want to come 

out and help, there generally is room on the committee boat for 

another helper. The committee boat, Bill’s yellow runabout, 

usually leaves Westbay Marina around 1800. 

For a complete schedule and other information go online to the 

SSSS entry page and click on Portsmouth Racing. 

Jim Findley, Not Sirius 

more Maclean Memorial Race photos by Barbara on line


The Sailing Instructions are here 

Amended 

add: 

“21.6 Summer Championship Award 

21.6.1 To be eligible for this award a boat must sail eight, 8, of 

the races in the current Summer season: all Wednesday Night 

Races and the Spring Regatta where the regatta score will count 

as one race. Finishes only will be counted: points awarded for RC 

duty, DNF, or DNS will not be scored for this award. If a boat 

sails more races, only the best eight will be counted. These scores 

are then totaled. 

21.6.2 Awards go to the best three scores in class. In the event 

of a tie, the boats tied shall 

add their next best race and 

then compare scores. If still 

tied they shall repeat this 

process until the tie is 

broken or all the races the 

boats have sailed have been 

added to the score. A boat 

with no additional scores to 

add loses to those who 

have. If still tied, the boat 

that finished a head of the 

other the most times in 

races they both sailed, shall 

be declared the winner. If 

still tied, they shall remain 

tied.” 

Change: 

“21.6 Perpetual 

Trophies” to “21.7 

Star Racing 

Welcome to spring. A 

good sign is the launching of the Stars: the start of the Star racing 

season. The dinghy program will be underway too. As always, 

due to the need to write this a month in advance, I can only tell 

you what has happened and give a brief rundown on what we 

hope will happen. 

April 2 nd we had a barbecue and a meeting out here at my place 

for the Star fleet and their crews and friends. Since the weather 

wasn’t going to be the best, we set up in the shop which worked 

out quite well. We had a few new people who want to join the 

crew ranks show up. This was a chance to spend time talking 

about the different boats and gear and for crews to get to know 

the other skippers. After the meal and meeting, I had a boat in the 

shop on its back that needed to be rolled over and put back on its 

trailer. I used it to show how I do it. For many, this was the first 

time they had seen this done and were surprised how easy it is to 

do. 

I am encouraging as many boats as possible to come out for the 

Spring Regatta. We want to show the PHRF racers what they are 

missing. The Regatta is teamed with the Benefit Race, for 

Footloose Sailing, and several Footloose boats will join the races. 

There will be a party afterwards. Details in the notice of race: on 

line or in the S-t-S. 

Launching Stella Luna for the year photo Cary Thorogood 

Stars launched last month, more photos of the Star launch on line 

March has been a busy month for me, getting some of the older 

boats back into good shape and and doing a lot of new rigging on 

them. Five boats this year will be sporting new paint jobs, on the 

decks as well as the hulls and bottoms. We have had five others 

pass through just for bottom painting. Now that that is all behind 

us. We launched the boats April 13 th . The first race was on April 

27 th . I expect to have 16 boats in by the first race with four more 

in by the first of June. It looks like we will have two, maybe three 

that won’t be launched this year. 

I have had indications we may add three more boats to the fleet 

this season. My glass boat is for sale. When I sell it, I will pick up 

two more fixer uppers and have them in the water this summer. 

The wood boat I have been 

working on should be in the 

water racing by the first of 

June. It sure has been fun 

seeing the fleet grow, the 

skill level of everyone 

grow, and the fun everyone 

is having with this fleet. If 

you would like to get 

involved, just call or e-mail 

me, we can always use 

more people. 

I have spent a lot of time 

and effort to get the race 

committee boat looking and 

running well for this new 

season of racing. If you 

want to go out and watch 

the races, give me a call 

and I will try to get you 

out. For the next season, I 

intend to paint the boat 

and put some new canvas 

on it to better protect the 

race committee from the rain during the races. 

Let’s hope for a lot of sun and fair winds for this new Star and 

dinghy season. 

Bill Brosius 

Scorer’s Report: Trophy Time 

At our June Meeting we will hand out the awards won this 

year. After the last Spring Series race I head over to the trophy 

shop with a list of who won what. Before then, please go on line 

and check to make sure I have your awards correct. Look under 

Race Results, then Awards in Class. Are you getting credit for 

everything you deserve? Is your boat’s name spelled right? If not 

let me know. Now, before your award is made. 

I will also take the perpetual trophies in to be engraved with 

this year’s winners. So we need them back by the May Meeting. 

If you won a perpetual trophy last year, bring it to the May 

Meeting; or, before that, contact Erik Dahl, our RC Chair, or me 

and arrange to deliver it. 

Remember, if you have not raced since last summer, make sure 

you paid your race fee and that your PHRF dues are current, if 

racing PHRF. If you are racing with us for the first time, you also 

need to contact me and register. Portsmouth racers, dinghies,need 

not pay race fees, but you do need to register. 

Steve Worcester, Star 6932


LifeSling Clinic June 17 

It is time for our annual LifeSling Clinic. The LifeSling is a 

simple and effective tool/method of retrieving someone who has 

fallen overboard and getting that person back onto the boat. In our 

cold Puget Sound waters that second step is difficult because the 

person in the water loses strength very quickly, so he or she 

probably won’t be able to climb back on board without your help. 

This year’s class will be June 17 th , beginning at 0900 (not the date 

shown in your Handbook). 

The class is only $10 per person and includes a full day of 

classroom instruction, dockside demonstrations, and on the water 

drills. Each of you will perform an actual rescue with the LifeSling. 

Skippers are encouraged to 

sign up their crew and bring 

their own boat so we can 

demonstrate the use of the 

LifeSling as your boat is 

rigged. Individuals are also 

welcome. All participants 

need to have basic sailing 

ability and need to bring a 

PFD. If you have taken the 

class, please consider a 

refresher course. 

The LifeSling Clinic is a 

lot of fun and challenging. 

Please sign up at the May 

Meeting or by calling Dee or 

Andy Saller at 491-0175. 

We’d be happy to answer 

any questions you have about 

the class, too. 

Andy Saller, Liberty 

Sailing Class 

May 16 and 17 

We need your help. Centered around the Star Fleet, this years 

Sailing Class will be orientated to help introduce the youth of the 

area to Sailing. The two evening event will start with a class 

session at the View Point Room at Westbay Marina on Tuesday 

evening and an on the water session on Wednesday evening. 

Please help us get the word out to the teenagers in the community. 

Contact me at 786-1901. 

Class Tuesday, May 16, View Point Room doors open at 1830 

On the water Wednesday, May 17 at the boats at 1730 


Take A Teen Sailing 

This year I would like to provide more opportunities for the 

teenagers in our area to participate more in our sailing programs. 

We have 12 Wednesday night races and both Star and dinghy 

races. If you are willing to take a teenager out on your boat and 

show them the ropes, or if you know an interested teenager, 

please contact me, 786-1901. 


The start, Thursday Night Racing July photo: Jim Findley 

Thursday Night Racing starts this month 

Practice Sessions, 

make the most of your time! 

Andrew Kerr has given us a series of articles on racing/sailing 

faster. Below is the fifth in the series. 

As we know, practice is a critical element in any sport and yet 

time is seemingly becoming more and more limited! Here are 

some ideas on practice elements and content that can make the 

most of this limited time. 

You only have to take a casual look down a dock these day’s 

before the start of a race any where in the country to see how 

squeezed for time a lot of sailors are as they pace up and down 

with cell phones or 

blackberries, very often 

while casting off dock 

lines, before jumping 

aboard to head out to the 

course. 

In this article we look at 

practice sessions both fully 

crewed and short handed, 

and how evening/beer can 

races can be utilized for 

training as well. For the 

vast majority of teams 

there is the need to 

incorporate a new crew 

member as very few of us 

are lucky to have the same 

team at every event. These 

practice sessions can help 

integrate that new crew 

member in to the teams 

system and consequently 

help get the team up to 

speed in a shorter period 

of time. Even if your team 

can only practice a couple 

of these drills or has time to incorporate one element, a beer can 

race as a practice for instance, you will see the value both in 

more consistent sailing and general team comfort level with boat 

handling. 

If your team has a had a winter lay off from sailing then I 

suggest practicing a lot of time and distance work. Pick a marker 

and see how long it takes to accelerate to get there and do this 

over and over again. Part of the rust of a long lay off is very often 

either getting up to the line too early and consequently having no 

speed or being very late to the line. The acceleration drill will 

help with this problem that many teams experience early in the 

season. The great thing about this acceleration practice is you can 

do it shorthanded. 

Practice weekends and evening sessions, or well before the 

race starts, fully crewed: 

Either set a starting line or find two marks and line them up 

with an available upwind mark that is less than a quarter mile 

away. If another team would like to come out and join in it would 

be very beneficial for boat to boat tactics and mark roundings and 

benefit both teams. It is more fun too!!


Do a 10 minute rolling clock with a practice start at 5 minutes 

and then a race at zero - race up to the windward mark and then 

finish downwind by rounding either the RC end to port or the pin 

end to starboard with a spinnaker takedown and a tactical 

rounding up to close-hauled. 

Try all sorts of starting approaches so that you have a good 

repertoire to use: port tack approach, starboard tack approach, full 

speed approach, hang back approach etc. Really work on time and 

distance, and acceleration and holding position. The more 

approaches you develop the less predictable you are to your 

competitors. 

Some really good team skills 

to build on are: 

1) Roll tacking and roll 

gybing, particularly before the 

start in light air for max power 

and speed. Lots of tacks in 

general, with critique of speed 

loss and speed build after each 

one. Take time to really work on 

the perfect time to release the 

Genoa sheet and steering 

smoothly through out the turn. 

2) Simulated late gate mark 

selection with the pole down and 

stored and the chute free flying 

with the jib up. 

3) Coming in to the leeward 

mark on starboard tack and 

executing a pole down, gybe, 

chute down and tactical 

rounding. All types of takedowns 

and roundings. 

4) “Thin Building” on the 

starting line: i.e..: holding 

position about three lengths off 

the line, maintaining a good gap 

to leeward and then accelerating 

accordingly to top speed. 

5) If you need to slow down 

and hold position, try easing the 

vang to dump the wind off the 

leech. 

6) Practice weather mark 

roundings so that in a breeze you dive down hard and pin out 

competitors ahead from gybing and in light air you assume the 

correct angle immediately with the spin trimmer talking pressure 

on the sheet immediately. A good trick is to have the middle or 

bow ease the vang an inch or two before the weather mark, this 

will help the boat bear off more easily and also help the mainsail 

leech assume the correct shape, top baton parallel to the boom, 

immediately. 

7) Practice staying within the lay lines to the starting line and 

building a team awareness of where the safe starboard tack lay 

line to the RC and Pin end is. 

8) A rudderless drill with the team: hold the tiller/ wheel in the 

center or tie off and have the team sail the boat with sail trim and 

weight placement. A great challenge for the team is to see if you 

can do a start with out the rudder. This is great for team 

understanding roll tacking and gybing and helps the trimmers a 

lot with understanding the dynamics of starts and leeward and 

windward mark roundings as well as overall boat balance. 

9) Try a number of downwind legs without the pole to get the 

trimmers really in tune with rotating the spinnaker. 

10) On the light air sessions a good one to really go at is reach 

to reach gybe practice so that the timing of the rotation, steering 

and pole trip is as good as the team can do it. 

11) Heeling to weather downwind and optimized weight 

placement 

12) Man over board drill 

Maclean Memorial Race 

April 1 

He Lives was the RC Boat. Thank you. 

Correctd Finish Course 

Points Sail No. Yacht Name Yacht Type Rating Time Time 

A-CLASS Start Time: 10:00 Distance: 36.6 nm 

0.75 64985 LIBERTY C&C 35 122 16:35:24 7:49:49 

2.00 47914 KAITLIN RANC 32 175 17:10:55 8:57:40 

3.00 51496 PANDORA CAL 36 165 17:27:10 9:07:49 

4.00 39110 KOOSAH PEAR 36-1 155 17:34:35 9:09:08 

5.00 69276 ISABELLA C CHAN 37-1 154 17:35:34 9:09:30 

6.00 40 RUSHWIND FP 39 157 18:53:34 10:29:20 

H-CLASS Start Time: 10:00 Distance: 36.6 nm 

0.75 69880 UPROAR JBOA 80 129 16:16:20 7:35:01 

2.00 73392 BODACIOUS BENE 35 S5 129 16:37:24 7:56:05 

3.00 42884 STRING GAMES BENE35S5WK 132 17:40:03 9:00:34 

4.00 245 SPARROWHAWK JBOA 30 139 17:49:21 9:14:08 

S-CLASS Start Time: 10:00 Distance: 36.6 nm 

0.75 42433 ZEALOT JBOA 33 93 16:32:36 7:29:20 

2.00 87552 COURAGEOUS JBOA 35 73 16:34:28 7:19:00 

3.00 1005 SILVERHEELS SYN 54 16:50:14 7:23:10 

79 STRIDER F9A 27 DNF 

B-CLASS Start Time: 10:05 Distance: 23.8 nm 

0.75 39476 SINGULARITY MORG 27 204 15:36:15 6:52:10 

2.00 29462 INATI RANC 29 201 15:58:55 7:13:39 

D-CLASS Start Time: 10:05 Distance: 23.8 nm 

0.75 47727 ADAGIO RANC 28 215 16:28:00 7:48:17 

2.00 3285 POWER SURGE FARR 36 141 16:29:04 7:20:00 

3.00 37079 OSA RANC 33 182 16:34:57 7:42:09 

4.00 39173 BORU CROW 34 162 16:42:44 7:42:00 

5.00 39458 RELEAF PEAR 30 247 16:58:45 8:31:44 

6.00 69212 HAVIN' SUN FUN USY 27 232 17:27:53 8:54:55 

both going upwind and also 

down wind with the spinnaker 

up; excellent for seamanship 

and practicing maneuvers. 

13) A great one to try later 

on in lighter air is a silent 

practice. A start, upwind and 

downwind leg and a leeward 

mark rounding. This is great 

for team anticipation skills. 

The only communication 

allowed is for safety related 

reasons. My wife Stephanie 

tells me this silent practice 

was an instrumental element 

of there team training for the 

1995 America’s Cup on 

America 3 / Mighty Mary. 

Debrief by having each 

team member talk about there 

position and what they need to 

improve on for next time. 

While this debrief session is 

going on it is good to have a 

person jotting down notes for 

future reference. 

Evening session 

shorthanded with no 

spinnaker: 

For this session it’s good to 

focus on starts, and windward 

and leeward mark roundings 

with no spinnaker. 

Crew required could be bare minimum. Great opportunity to 

do numerous starts with a rolling clock and focus on time and 

distance, acceleration speed building and slowing down and 

holding position. 

Do as many leeward mark roundings as possible and critique 

each one. Do all approaches: on port, on starboard having to gybe 

and round simultaneously, and starboard approach with a gybe 

(gybe drop) then the tactical mark rounding. Really work on the 

Genoa being perfectly trimmed to every point of sail and the crew 

moving to leeward in light air to help the rounding. 

This is also a really good opportunity to practice pinching up, 

“check luffing”, to use the VMG gained by the leeward mark 

rounding to translate in to pointing and a resultant clearer lane 

from the boat who just rounded ahead.


Now lets try some time and distance work. Find a marker and 

see how long it takes from a slow position to sheet in , accelerate 

and reach the marker. Try this over and over again and it will 

help a lot with time and distance. 

Find a tuning partner: 

For regatta’s it is very beneficial to get another team to be a 

tuning partner. Go upwind with them for 5 to 10 minutes before 

the start and fine tune the set up. If they are faster, why? Check 

the critical settings: Genoa Halyard tension, forestay sag, 

mainsheet tension, Genoa Lead position, Genoa Sheet tension and 

in what mode of sailing they are in, Point mode or Fast forward 

mode? Once you have made your adjustments go upwind with 

them again and see how you go with them with the new settings. 

How are we doing? 

A great part of your regimen with your tuning partner is to go 

upwind on opposite tacks before the start or in practice for 5 

S-t-S Needs Photos 

We need more photos, of any and all SSSS events. 

Take your camera sailing and send us copies. 

minutes, or more, and then tack back and converge to see who 

crosses. This will give you an idea of the initial shift and the 

initial favored side of the course. 

Write it all down: 

After each regatta and race and practice session write down in a 

wet notes book what needs to be worked on for the next practice 

session. These notes are best recorded in the sail in or in the 

cockpit at the dock while they are fresh in the mind. 

Beer can race: have fun! 

This is a great opportunity to try some things: starting 

approaches, gybe drops, etc. that you may employ in the regatta 

format or for bigger events on your schedule. This is also an 

excellent time to train a new crew member and integrate them in 

to your teams system as well as introduce them to the local fleet. 

Take the time to teach and coach and make it fun. 

One big thing to watch for is falling in to the trap of practicing 

things the team is good at! Really focus on the chinks. As an 

example: if there is a tendency to get up to the line early and be 

slow at the start, let’s focus on time and distance and acceleration. 

A nice aspect of a post practice session / debrief is to have a 

social time as a crew. This makes it that much more enjoyable for 

everyone. Making it fun keeps people coming back for more; a 

good sense of humor keeps it light and everyone looking forward 

to more sailing. 

Andrew Kerr 

The Ship-to-Shore is published monthly, except July and August, 

by the South Sound Sailing Society, PO. Box 1102, Olympia WA 98507. 

The S-t-S is printed by Precision Printing of Centralia. 

Opinions expressed and products or services advertised do not necessarily 

reflect the policies of SSSS. Mention of products or trade names shall not 

constitute an endorsement by the S-t-S or SSSS of their use. 

If you are having a problem receiving the Ship-to-Shore, would like to submit 

(a letter, article, or photo), run an advertisement, or have other questions or 

concerns contact the Editor : Steve Worcester 

2425 Otis Olympia WA 98501 (360) 352-9283 e-mail: sts@ssssclub.com 

Deadline for submissions is the second Tuesday of the month. 

2005-6 SSSS Board Members 

phone numbers are local, area code 360 

Commodore Dan Decker 402-3896 

Vice-Commodore Dave Elliott 866-4724 

Secretary Carl Applebaum 664-4015 

Treasurer Terry Watness 701-9503 

Member-at-Large Thera Black 753-1850 

Race Chair Erik Dahl (360) 736-4595 

Cruise Chair Pete Judd (360) 482-3384 

Past Commodore Sue Bishop 786-8023 

Our Handicapper is John Martens, 427-8629


Ditty Bag 

Lewmar #7 winch single-speed chrome. 2 9/16" drum, 4 

1/4" base, 4" height. Very Good condition. $75. Call Dave 

(253) 549-4428 or email dhlester@gmail.com 

Free haul out of up to $100 credit on bottom painting. 

Rocky Pointe Marina Portland OR. If interested call Jim 

Lengenfelder 943-6199 

Adagio, 1978 Ranger 28. Sleek Gary Mull design: 

comfortable cruiser, successful local racer. Quiet Atomic Four, 

freshwater cooled, completely rebuilt 2003. Call Stephen 

Wade (360) 867 9984. 

Lifesling, very good condition complete with cloth bag, 

$50.Call Dave (253) 549-4428 or dhlester@gmail.com. 

Several Stars, $2,500 to $3,500, Bill Brosius 357-6932 

Star sails, many listed on line. 

WANTED 

Wind Vane monitor or workalike suitable for 32-foot boat. 

Will also consider older Sailomat EPIRB and/or SSB. Need 

these before end of April. Contact Jim at (253) 223-7502 

Partner for a Cal 25, full sails, 9.9 ob. Share moorage and 

expenses. 1/3 to 1/2 partnership, share price negotiable. Call 

Thom Abbott 456-3339. 

Ads are free for Members, run three months, and can be 

renewed. Contact me by the next Meeting to be listed in 

the next S-t-S. 

Time to Return the 

Perpetual Trophies 

If you won a perpetual trophy last year, you need to return it to 

our RC Chair by the May Meeting. 

Crew Sheet 

Crew Wants Ride 

Edythe Hulet, 357-6872, peakbagger@highstream.net 

Katy Calbreath 438-0361 

Jeffrey Hogan, 791-2800, hogan.jeff@sea.sysco.com 

wants to race, Laura Farris, 754-0957, laura_farris@comcast.net 

Karie Nicholas, (360) 870-1587, capcityballet@aol.com. 

Skipper Wants Crew 

Muphy’s Lawyer needs crew for SSSS Cruises, any skill level. 

Contact Pete @ Kd7lmq@yahoo.com 482-3384 

Want a ride? You could be listed here for free: 

Ads run three months and can be renewed. Contact me by the 

next Meeting to be listed in the next S-t-S. 

New: Regatta / Benefit Race / Party 

May 20, details inside 

PRESORTED 

STANDARD 

US POSTAGE PAID 

OLYMPIA WA 

PERMIT #480


Course: Medical Care 

for Long Distance Sailors 

Sponsored by the Olympia Yacht Club & PIYA 

Accredited by the American Red Cross 

May 20 and 21, at Olympia Yacht Club 

June 3 and 4, at Bellingham Yacht Club 

Course Content: sixteen hours of Wilderness First Aid Basics, 

an approved course of the Wilderness Medical Society with four 

hours of evening offshore medical supplement by Dr. Curtis 

Edwards. Course completion leads to Wilderness Medical First 

Aid certification. Course intended for wilderness back country & 

long-distance sailors requiring 

medical skills to care for victims 

subject to delay awaiting medical 

assistance. 

Course Requirements: 6 to 8 

hours of pre-course reading and at 

leas 15 years of age. Previous CPR 

certification is highly 

recommended and not included in 

course. 

Course Instructor: Curtis 

Edwards, MD, FACS. Dr. 

Edwards is a board certified 

general surgeon and graduate of 

the University of Washington 

Medical School, Seattle, WA and 

Red Cross Instructor. He has some 

impressive credentials, but you 

will have to read them on line. 

They are too long to print! 

Tuition: $130.00 paid in 

advance, includes all course 

materials and lunch both days 

Contact: Jan Visser (360) 754- 

6506 jan@ussailing.net P.O.. 

Box 523, Olympia, WA 98507; 

Curtis Edwards, MD: 

curt112@comcast.net. 

Registration Deadline: May 10 

for Olympia; May 20 for 

Bellingham. Jan Visser 

PHRF Re Measure 

We met again, on April 23, to measure sails. So far 23 boats 

have had their sails measured at one of the two sail measuring 

parties that we have held at the Olympia Yacht Club. This equates 

to 69 sails and a total of 414 individual measurements! Thanks to 

all of you who have taken time to participate and to help out with 

the process. However, we need to re measure everyone. So we 

will be holding more of these, hopefully with a little more lead 

time. We have folks who have been through the process and are 

willing to help out with individual sail measurements at your 

boat. Please contact me if you want to arrange to have your sails 

measured. Keep an eye on the SSSS web site for future measuring 

parties. 

John Martens, Singularity 

Spring Series Race 1 April 15 

Jody V was the RC Boat. Thank you. 

Course: 4 YB, R9 R9 R4, Distance: 4.8 nm 




0.75 18351 MISS CONDUCT OLSN 29 105 13:14:11 1:22:35 

2.00 69382 OPPOSITION HUMB 30 105 13:15:41 1:24:05 

3.00 69880 UPROAR JBOA 80 129 13:16:01 1:26:20 




2.00 82 MCSWOOSH 11M 78 13:15:46 1:22:00 

A- CLASS Start Time: 12:05 Distance: 4.8 nm 

0.75 69927 BALDER ERIC 38 125 13:16:15 1:21:15 

2.00 28415 EDGEWALKER OLSN 34 121 13:21:39 1:26:20 

3.00 39110 KOOSAH PEAR 36-1 155 13:21:46 1:29:10 

4.00 21042 ESCAPADE CUST 30 132 13:24:21 1:29:55 

5.00 64985 LIBERTY C&C 35 122 13:26:19 1:31:05 

6.00 47914 KAITLIN RANC 32 175 13:26:20 1:35:20 

7.00 69276 ISABELLA C CHAN 37-1 154 13:27:06 1:34:25 




0.75 39458 RELEAF PEAR 30 247 13:26:24 1:36:10 

2.00 47727 ADAGIO RANC 28 215 13:27:33 1:34:45 

3.00 37079 OSA RANC 33 182 13:32:56 1:37:30 

4.00 29770 DAMN YANKEE YANK 38 149 13:35:43 1:37:38 

5.00 2601 FOURTH CHAKRA CATA 30 234 13:39:32 1:48:15 


7.00 3285 POWER SURGE FARR 36 141 DNF 

Special June 20 th Meeting: 

Lin and Larry Pardy 

One of the great things about being Program Chair is that you 

never know who’ll be calling next. One minute you’re getting 

ready to throw dinner on the grill and the next you’re chatting 

with Lin Pardy who’s calling from New Zealand. Just like that. 

And just like that we’ve scheduled a special Meeting on June 

20 th so that you, too, can chat with Lin and Larry. They’ll be in 

the Puget Sound area for three weeks, getting Taleisin ready for 

her next cruise. It is our great fortune that they’re making time in 

their schedule to come talk 

with South Sound Sailing 

Society. They’ll be using this 

opportunity to launch the third 

edition of Care and Feeding of 

Sailing Crew. I’ll be looking 

for a couple of volunteers to 

help Lin and Larry with book 

sales that night, so if you’re 

interested, please let me know. 

I’ll have more details in the 

June S-t-S but go ahead and 

mark your calendars now: June 

20 th at the Olympia Yacht 

Club. Doors will open at 1830 

with the presentation at 1900. 

If you’ve been thinking about 

introducing a friend or 

colleague to SSSS, this would 

be a great opportunity! 

Please join me in welcoming 

Lin and Larry to the South 

Sound Sailing Society. 

MARGO WOOD 

FOLLOW-UP 

Thanks to all for the warm 

greeting Margo Wood received 

at our April Meeting. She was 

impressed with the turn out and 

reception, and sent this note to 

me afterwards: 

“What a warm and friendly group of sailors are in your South 

Sound Sailing Society! It was a pleasure to present my BC/Alaska 

seminar to such an appreciative audience, especially since they 

got a chuckle from some of my stories and comments. My best 

wishes to all for a wonderful summer of racing, cruising, and 

teaching those new to sailing the joys of the sport. By the way, if 

anyone wants to purchase Charlie’s Charts or Prairie Chicken in 

the future, Christmas shopping or?, do tell them to send me an 

e-mail and the fact that they are a Member of the SSSS and I'll 

give them the same yacht club pricing.” 

You can reach Margo by email at info@charliescharts.com. 

As I’ve learned over this past year, SSSS has a reputation for 

being a fun group for speakers to talk with. Certainly Margo 

would agree. 

Thera Black


2006-07 Officer Nominees 

It’s hard to believe I am nearing the end of my three year term 

of service. It has flown right by. As we wind down this year, it’s 

time again to put forward a slate of candidates for next year’s 

board positions. 

As per our By-laws, our 

officers will be nominated at 

the May Meeting. As Past 

Commodore, it is my 

responsibility to nominate a 

slate of officers. We will 

then vote on the nominees at 

our June Meeting. 

I present for your 

consideration the following : 

Commodore: Dave Elliot 

has served this past year as 

our Vice Commodore and is 

ready to take the next step to 

Commodore. Dave has been 

sailing since he was in 

fourth grade and a Member 

of SSSS since his early 

teens. He started sailing on a 

C-lark and then moved on to 

El Toros, and Lasers. He 

later taught sailing lessons 

for four years. He began 

racing with Sherwood Smith 

on his Yankee 30 Renegade, 

racing Toliva Shoal at 13 

and Swiftsure at 15. He 

raced with John Ericsson on 

Matilda, a Ranger 33, Bill 

and Vicky Sheldon on 

Imposition and with Gene 

and Margaret Sibold on 

Small World II and Rough 

Rider. He last crewed for 

Sherwood on Priority and 

Spring Series Race 2 April 22 

Isabella C was the RC Boat. Thank you. 

Course: 4 Y G9 G29 G4 11.7 NM 




0.75 18351 MISS CONDUCT OLSN 29 105 14:10:00 2:29:15 


3.00 69880 UPROAR JBOA 80 129 14:12:27 2:36:06 

4.00 69382 OPPOSITION HUMB 30 105 14:17:35 2:36:50 


79 STRIDER F9A 27 14:03:56 2:09:12 


2.00 82 MCSWOOSH 11M 78 14:06:02 2:21:15 

3.00 69399 FLYING CIRCUS EXPR 37 73 14:08:56 2:23:10 

A- CLASS Start Time: 12:05 Distance: 11.7 nm 

0.75 21042 ESCAPADE CUST 30 132 14:13:36 2:34:20 

2.00 47914 KAITLIN RANC 32 175 14:14:43 2:43:50 

3.00 39110 KOOSAH PEAR 36-1 155 14:20:22 2:45:35 

4.00 69927 BALDER ERIC 38 125 14:22:30 2:41:52 

5.00 64985 LIBERTY C&C 35 122 14:23:27 2:42:14 


0.75 115 SLITHER HOL 20 192 14:15:11 2:47:37 

2.00 260 SPIFF RANC 26 217 14:15:23 2:52:42 

3.00 69141 JODY V C&C 29 188 14:17:20 2:49:00 



0.75 29718 MARANATHA RANC 33-1 173 14:21:03 2:44:47 

2.00 29770 DAMN YANKEE YANK 38 149 14:25:55 2:44:58 

3.00 39173 BORU CROW 34 162 14:30:32 2:52:07 

4.00 2601 FOURTH CHAKRA CATA 30 234 14:50:32 3:26:10 


6.00 39458 RELEAF PEAR 30 247 14:58:07 3:36:17 

boats bolded and Isabella C have perfect attendance as of this race 

International 101. Dave began sailing with his Dad, Mark Elliott, 

on Astrologer, a Cal 34, in 1983 and campaigned that boat for 

several years before moving into Flying Circus in 1986. They 

have campaigned the boat for 20 years all over Puget Sound. 

Dave is married and has two children that are beginning to sail on 

Wednesday and Thursday nights. 

His focus will be to continue the Society’s excellent programs 

and expand our role in promoting the sport locally. This Club will 

thrive by providing opportunities to newcomers and young 

people. Dave was also recently appointed to fill a vacancy on the 

Griffin School Board. 

Vice Commodore: Thera Black is up for consideration in yet 

another position on the Board. She served as Secretary for two 

years and most recently as Program Chair. She races regularly on 

Strider and co-owns a Wittholz 15 catboat. 

Race Chair: Erik Dahl will leave the position after this year 

and has put forward Rafe Beswick as the 2006-2007 candidate. 

Rafe is a product of the south sound, growing up on Cooper Point 

and learning to sail on a succession of family boats and dinghies. 

He has participated in SSSS races since inception. He’s returned 

to his roots after a 20-year period of not accomplishing much in 

Seattle and is now a court reporter at Thurston County Superior 

Court and owner of the J 33 Zealot. 

Secretary: Bill Hutchinson is our candidate for Secretary. Bill 

has served us well as House Chair 

this year; always one of our most 

popular Members. He regularly 

races Havin' Sun Fun; he has only 

missed one race in the last two 

years. 

Treasurer: Terry Watness 

returns for another year in 2006- 

2007. He has served us well this 

year and we appreciate the 

continuity that a second term will 

bring. Terry owns a wooden boat, 

a 28 foot Herreshoff designed 

ketch, Seeadler. 

Past Commodore: Dan Decker 

moves on to Past Commodore after 

completing his years of service as 

Vice Commodore and most 

recently as our Commodore. 

House Chair: Don Waterhouse 

will replace Bill as House Chair 

for 2006-2007. 

As the deadline for this article 

approaches, I am working on 

nominees for Member at Large and 

Cruise Chair. Look to the web site 

for an updating posting as we firm 

up candidates for these two 

positions. Or come to the May 

Meeting and see. 

Sue Bishop, Destiny II 

Commodore’s 

Corner 

The year is passing at a fast and furious pace; there has been 

something every week and usually several something’s each 

week. All I can say is check your calendar and try not to miss 

some of the best times on and around the water to be found. 

There are races of large and small boats and people, and Cruising 

opportunities where you can make friends and share fabulous 

foods and wine. There are ceremonies of pomp and circumstance 

and parades to be cheered, Opening Day. There are opportunities 

to meet and hear from experienced and famous sailors from 

around the world . There are planning meetings to maintain and 

create programs and sailing events that will keep the SSSS the 

best place to be for years to come. 

It has been a chilly spring thus far but it doesn’t seem to have 

slowed us down at all. 

Be sure to call with any ideas, questions, or calls for help, 357- 

7075. 

Cheers, 

Daniel A. Decker, O-My-God


New Class Breaks 

for the Regatta and 

Wednesday Night Races 

Several racers have not been happy with our class breaks for 

some time. So at the race program review in early April, a 

committee was formed to look at our class breaks and redraw 

them should that be found desirable. Bill Sheldon was chosen to 

head the committee. We met twice at his house and came to the 

following conclusions. 

The Class Breaks Committee noted that there are boats that 

race in the summer that do not come out in the winter. Further 

there are boats that race in the winter that go cruising in the 

summer and so do not race then. To accommodate this change in 

our racing fleet, we decided two sets of classes are needed. 

Summer class breaks should be different then the winter class 

breaks. And so they now are. 

The changes below are for the Spring Regatta and Wednesday 

Evening Races only. The Class Breaks Committee has also made 

changes for the coming fall, winter, and spring racing program. 

These changes will appear in the next Handbook before fall 

racing begins. Make sure you check your class in the new 

Handbook before coming out to race this fall. 

Effective with the Spring Regatta and continuing through the 

summer Wednesday Evening Races, the following changes are 

made to the Sailing Instructions: 

The S/H class split has been changed so that H Class is now for 

boats with a base rating of 98 or slower. Note this includes Gayle 

Force; though her as sailed rating is faster, her base rating is not. 

Escapade has been moved to Class H 

The J-30s and the Beneteaus, Bodacious and String Games, 

have been moved to Class A. 

Most of the existing B Class has been moved into A Class. 

A new class has been created for the smaller boats, the Holders 

and the Santanas. This may well be the hot class. 

Note: If your boat is in a new class, please pick up your 

appropriate class flag at the May 9 Meeting. 

This change requires that our Sailing Instructions be 

officiallyamended, and so 

THE SAILING INSTRUCTIONS ARE HERE 

AMENDED, 

AS OF THE SPRING REGATTA, MAY 20 

Section: 4. Class Divisions is changed to read as follows: 

S-Class For the lighter faster boats with a base rating 97 and 

faster. Membership in this class is as assigned by the RC. 

H-Class For the lighter faster boats with a base rating 98 and 

slower. Membership in this class is as assigned by the RC. 

A-Class Other spinnaker or flying sail boats not assigned to H, 

S or C class. 

B-Class Boats of 20 feet overall. Membership in this class is as 

assigned by the RC but will include as a minimum the Holder 20s 

and Santana 20s. 

D-Class No Flying Sails, boats of any rating complying with 

D-Class rules in Sailing Instruction 11. 

Rules Review: Rule 18, Part 2 

This rule, rounding/passing marks and obstructions, seems to 

cause racers more confusion than any other single rule. That 

makes it worthy of our attention. In December we looked at when 

it applied. That article is posted on line, should you care to review 

it. This month we will go on from there to look at who rule 18 

requires to do what. 

We will start with a quick look at what Rule 18 requires of us: 

A boat clear astern at a mark/obstruction is required to keep 

clear of a boat clear ahead while she rounds, rule 18.2(c). 

A boat overlapped at a mark/obstruction is required to give an 

inside boat room to round. If the inside boat is also the right of 

way boat, outside is also required to keep clear of her, rule 

18.2(a). 

An inside right of way boat whose proper course is to gybe at a 

mark is not allowed to carry the outside boat past the mark, rule 

18.4. 

A boat that tacks inside the two length zone, acquires additional 

obligations not to interfere with boats rounding that did not tack 

in the zone, rule 18.3. 

That is the short version. Now let’s taker a longer look at what it 

means. 

The first question we need to deal with is, are you clear 

ahead/astern or overlapped at the mark. The definitions tell us to 

project a line from the aft most part of the lead boat at a right 

angle to her center line. If the other boat is completely behind that 

line, she is clear astern. If not, then she is overlapped. This is 

different than out on the course. Under most conditions the term 

overlap applies only to boats on the same tack. When rule 18 

applies, and only when rule 18 applies, these terms apply to boats 

on opposite tacks too. 

You can easily recognize when boats on similar courses are 

overlapped. Now you can see that should two boats be 

approaching a mark on radically different courses, they will most 

likely be overlapped. As rule 18 overrides rule 10, opposite tacks, 

a starboard tack boat may have to give a port tack boat room at a 

gybe mark. 

The relationship is established as you approach the 

mark/obstruction. Once the lead boat reaches the two length zone, 

the relationship is locked in. A boat clear astern when the lead 

boat reaches the zone must keep clear of the boat ahead until she 

rounds, even if the boat behind gets an overlap, rule 18.2(c). 

If you think about it for a minute, you will see why the zone is 

needed. As the lead boat turns to round a mark, she will inevitably 

create a last second overlap. Sail a couple of knives around a salt 

shaker and you will see what I mean. Allowing that overlap to 

govern would defeat the rule giving preference to being clear 

ahead, not to mention making for some wild roundings with rights 

changing at the last second. 

Similarly, if a boat breaks an overlap after the lead boat has 

reached the two length zone, it does not matter. The boat that was 

the outside boat is still required to give the inside boat room, 

18.2(b). When the lead boat enters the zone, your obligations are 

locked in, even if the relationship changes in the process of 

rounding. Things would be far too unpredictable if obligations


changed while we are rounding. We need some certainty to be 

allowed to fulfill our obligations. 

Note that if there is reasonable doubt that an overlap was 

obtained or broken before the zone, it will be assumed it was not, 

rule 18.2(e). So if you claim a last minute change in relationship, 

you may have to prove it. 

Further you can not claim rights as inside boat if, at the time the 

overlap is established, the outside boat is unable to give room, 

also rule 18.2(e). So you may not be able to claim inside rights 

from an overlap established at four lengths, if 30 boats are 

rounding with you and the mark is crowded. There may not be 

time for everyone involved to let you in. 

Before moving on, we need to mention the exception where the 

zone does not apply: when passing a continuing obstruction. A 

continuing obstruction is an obstruction that will be part of your 

sailing experience for some time, like a shoreline you are 

following or a right of way boat you are sailing with. Here 

relationships carry the same obligations, but they are not locked 

in. One can establish an inside overlap any time, if and only if, 

there is room to do so at the time, rule 18.5. 

Now we know who is required to act, what are they required to 

do? Most have no trouble understanding what it means to keep 

clear of a boat clear ahead while she rounds. So we will not spend 

any more time with this. However what it means to give room 

when overlapped is not so clear. So we will turn our attention 

there. 

But before we do might be the time to note another place where 

rule 18 overrides a right of way rule. A burdened boat is required 

to anticipate a right of way boat’s rounding. Most places on the 

course rule 16 applies, and when a right of way boat changes 

course she must give the burdened boat room to keep clear. But 

rule 18.2(d) overrides rule 16 when a right of way boat changes 

course to round/pass a mark. That course change, and the 

swinging of the stern that goes with it, is predictable. Room 

clearly includes room to change course to round. That the right of 

way boat changed course without giving you room to keep clear is 

no defense at a mark rounding. 

If boats are overlapped, then the outside boat is required to give 

the inside boat room to round/pass. If the inside boat has right of 

way, the outside boat is not only required to give room, she is also 

required to keep clear. So what is the difference? 

We know what it means to keep clear from our understanding 

of the basic right of way rules. If a boat can sail her course with 

no need to take avoiding action you have kept clear. So what does 

room mean? 

The definitions in the back of the rule book tell us that room is 

the space a boat needs in existing conditions while maneuvering 

promptly in a seaman like way. Rule 18 tells us that when rule 18 

applies, room is room for an inside boat to round/pass between the 

mark/obstruction and the outside boat. This includes room to tack 

or gybe when part of the maneuver. Combined, this means the 

room needed by a competent crew to round or pass in safety. This 

is more than the bare minimum needed, she gets a margin of 

safety, but not as much as the inside boat might want. This is the 

room needed to make a “seamanlike rounding”. 

If, on the other hand, the inside boat is also the right of way 

boat, outside must also keep clear. Inside is entitled to about as 

much room as she wants. She can make a “tactical rounding” to 

put herself in the best position on the next leg. The one exception 

is if the proper course for the inside right of way boat is to gybe to 

round the mark. In that case she is to sail no further from the mark 

than needed to sail her proper course, rule 18.4. She can still 

make a tactical rounding, but can not take outside past the mark. 

Take a moment to think about some roundings where the inside 

boat does and does not have right of way. For example: two boats 

overlapped on the same course and tack approach a leeward mark, 

which they will round and then go to weather. The outside boat 

will be the leeward boat and have right of way, the inside boat is 

only entitled to room. 

Two boats overlapped on the same course and tack approach a 

gybe mark, which they will gybe to round. The inside boat will be 

the leeward, right of way, boat. Outside must give her room and 

keep clear. 

Try another: two boats approach a leeward mark on different 

tacks and different courses; if they are to round to port, must 

outside keep clear? What if they are to round to starboard? 

To sum up, the inside boat always is entitled to enough room to 

round/pass in safety. If she also has right of way, outside must 

also keep clear and she is entitled to make a tactical rounding. 

There is one more part of rule 18 we have to look at. What 

happens if a boat tacks at a mark, inside the two length zone, 

when there are other boats that can fetch the mark? In that case 

the boat tacking must first stay clear of those boats while tacking, 

just like anywhere else on the course. 

She also takes on two more restrictions. She is required not to 

force another boat to sail above closehauled to avoid her, or to 

block the other boat. Should another boat get an inside overlap, 

she is required to give said boat room to round. It does not matter 

that this overlap is established inside the zone, as it will have to 

be. Further rule 16, acquiring right of way, is suspended and the 

inside boat has no obligation to give the boat that tacked in the 

zone room to keep clear. In short, if you tack in the zone you had 

best keep out of everyone’s way. 

As I said at the outset, rule 18 is the most difficult rule for most 

people. It is the longest of the right of way rules; it in and of itself 

is as long as all the rules in Sections A and B combined. But it is 

an important rule. Places often change at mark roundings. 

Collisions happen at mark roundings. So for reasons both of 

safety and competitiveness, this is an important rule to 

understand. I hope this has been of some help. 

Steve Worcester, Star 6932 

This S-t-S is Late 

The Ship-to-Shore is coming to you almost a week late this 

month, because we had problems getting the mailing out. I 

apologize and hope this did not cause you to miss any events, like 

Performance Sailing or the Dinghy Races. The on line version 

was posted on schedule. 

They say every cloud has a silver lining however. Because we 

are late, we managed to include the new class breaks which were 

not decided upon until well after we should have mailed.

May Meeting: Lynne Reister and Lodestar Marine Surveying ...

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