Dana Point Series 2001
J/24 Class

Race 1, "Power Point Dash", so named because it heads down the coast towards the San Onofre power generating station, was run in light winds and smooth seas.  There was some comment about the race not being much of a dash and the wind power was minimal.  The race course was shortened from the original 16 to 13.2 nautical miles as winds weakened even further.

Race 2, "Random Loops Plus", started with good winds from the Southeast under rainy skies.  Although most were wearing foul weather gear, the rain was light and infrequent.  A seven and one-half mile course, twice around, was called.  By the time the second lap began, the wind had lightened somewhat, but it was still strong enough to keep rail meat on the weather side.

Race 3, "Gold Cup", was a windward/leeward course twice around.  Shortly after the start, there was a wind shift from Southerly towards the Southwest.  Moderate wind prevailed and the direction steadied by the time the fleet was half way towards the weather mark.  The fact that there were other classes on the course kept the race committee from moving the marks.  The last two legs were almost a straight reach up and down the course.

Race 4, "Olympic", was a single lap up to the windward mark and back again.  The race started in steady wind which held up most of the way to windward mark, but rapidly shut down as the boats arrived.  Finding wind on the way back to the finish was frustrating as it would momentarily hit a small area while other boats not far away had their spinnakers luffing.  Just when someone would believe they were going to get ahead of another, the fickle wind would move on and flirt with another boat.

Race 5, "Aliso Pier", was named after the landmark indicating how far up the coast the turnaround mark is located.  What remained of the pier after a bad storm was removed years ago, but the name of this race persists.  Good moderate wind from the Southwest held up during the entire 17.1 nautical miles of the course.  The race began under a very overcast sky that only started to lighten an hour or so before sunset, just about the time the racers were getting off the water.  While four of the six legs were basically continuous points of sail between the marks, the majority of boats sailed the second leg up the coast closer to shore trying to avoid a stronger opposing current existing a mile offshore by the turnaround mark.

Race 6, "Dana Point Circuit", consists of two large triangles.  Again, the sky was very overcast until about the time the racers finished.  The breeze was moderate around the 13.3 nautical mile course.  Sometimes it almost disappeared on the longest beam reach going down the coast, but it remained strong enough to finish all the boats with plenty of time to spare. 

Race 7, "Gold Cup", was a windward/leeward course twice around.  The wind was very light, making the four one mile legs a long sail.  Only near the end of the race did the wind strength start to pick up.  The current across the course was moderate and didn't play much of a factor. 

Race 8, "Olympic", was a single lap up to the windward mark a mile and one-quarter off and back again.  The second of the two races during this day had good wind the entire duration, which wasn't long.  There was some unknown difficulties at the start of the J/24 class that resulted in a general recall, but the reason wasn't because there were many boats over the line at the start.  The next start was difficult for multiple reasons, one of them being that previous class starters were finishing across the J/24 class start line!

Non-finish scoring:

DNC - Did Not Compete scores number of entrants in class to date

DND - Disqualified, Not Discardable scores number of competitors for that race plus one

DNF - Did Not Finish scores number of competitors for that race

DNS - Did Not Start scores number of entrants in class to date

DSQ - Disqualified scores number of competitors for that race plus one   (the extra point cannot be discarded)

NETD - No Entry To Date scores number of entrants in class to date plus one

OCS - On Course Side scores number of competitors for that race

^*  Tie was broken using Dana Point Series tie breaking rules as specified in the sailing instructions.