Last Race 2009

Once again we had to wait for the wind to fill in for the start. The RC set a course to Mark 5, Gibraltar, Dufferin, T3. We had a reasonable start; mid line.

Balance was clear ahead and we were not going to catch them. Second would be OK for a series win.

The first mark rounding was crowded. Windlight was just ahead; and a Beneteau was just astern and to our windward. There wasn't time to sort out whether or not to fly chute. I said 'wait' as I had not decided; but I guess the chute has an auto hoist setting and it was put up anyway. The chute came down once it was clear that our course was too high. I wanted to stay windward of Windlight. Windlight did not allow us to go to windward and kept us astern. Once we had a good angle to the next mark, we bore away and flew the chute. Windlight now sailed a different course. She definitely gained.

We rounded the mark and and gybed the chute. The layline to the next mark allowed us to fly the chute; but we were at the limit. Windlight had a lower course. They seemed to be unable to fly her chute and sail a course as high as we did. Her lower course meant that at some point she would have to drop her spinnaker in order to make the mark. (I think they had a halyard problem that prevented them from having a good gybe.) At the mark, we were within feet of her stern, i.e. we had gained! We tacked away and went south; Windlight didn't cover. There was a huge wind shift. We got a nice lift to the mark!

At our next crossing we were on port, Windlight was on Starboard. We had to duck, but we could make the mark. (BTW: I am very happy when we have caught other boats!) Windlight had to tack. That extra tack was basically the difference. We beat Windlight by 30 seconds! A great race to end the 2009 season.

Race or Family cruise?

My last chance at a trophy was the fall Round the Island. The winds were very light. The RC was short of crew so David decided to lighten the boat by joining the RC. The winds were so light that we had to put the motor on to make it to the line in time for the warning signal.

Our start was good but slow. We were not able to make much headway and we slowly drifted to the north. It seemed that boats south were doing well with sails filled and better speed. What was the problem? Another development was that the split ring holding the main sheet block broke. We had to do a bit of repair work. Our sail trim was not optimal! After we got the main sheet block repaired I decided to try to improve our performance by lifting the motor out of the water. It was dragging. Surprisingly (I should have known this) we now had much better boat performance. We were able to work our way south and get into better 'winds'. I thought we were catching up to the fleet but this maybe an example of wishful thinking. At Gibraltar we had an interesting port tack crossing in very light winds. We manged to tack, make the mark, and stay ahead of the starboard tacker. The tack didn't slow us down and we were able avoid pinching to the mark.

At T1 we were able to fly the spinnaker. I noticed the J22 gybed as it entered the Outer Harbour. My thought was to do something different; to go further north and then gybe. Bad idea. We got into a wind well; there was absolutely no wind. I felt very embarrassed (angry?) as the other boats to the south sailed by. Embarrassing for me, but entertaining for the fleet? It took us forever (at least it seemed so) before we were able to get south enough to make somewhat decent progress.

Once we got into the Inner Harbour the winds started to pick up. We had a pleasant sail. What a nice day to be on the water! Before the start, the RC had given the skippers an apple pie. The event was billed as the Fall Round the Island RACE or a Family Cruise. Skipper's choice? I now decided that we must have been on the Family Cruise; this wasn't a race afterall. We went to the restaurant and consumed our lovely Family Cruise pie just as a very violent thunderstorm went through. An interesting and enjoyable end to my first 'Family cruise'.

Humber Bay Lost and Found

It was windy enough that while at the dock we discussed whether or not to use the jib. We sort of decided that it would be a good idea. Force of habit produced the gennie. Funny how routine took over from the rational discussion.

The RC went to "0" and set the windward mark at Dufferin. No offset. It was not a true windward/leeward. Port tack favoured? Once again it was a crowded start. The choppy seas and high winds (there was a lot of heel) made for sloppy tacks. I had to do fast tacks in order to keep clear and the crew's agility wasn't up to the required speed and conditions. The sloppy tacks meant that we were not able to hold our position relative to the fleet and we lost speed. We had an OK start but "Three" was well ahead; by mid leg, I was pleased to see the CS 30s were behind.

We had a good mark rounding at Dufferin. On our way back to "0" Flemming, the PRO, hailed the fleet with a plaintive: "Would someone please answer!". Grand National, while moving to the finish position, had dislodged a spinnaker from the depths of Humber Bay. The spinnaker rose to the surface and snagged the prop. It made for some amusing radio chat. Napadelus answered first; but Diva, who was withdrawing from the race due to an equipment problem, was the one to tow GN back to the club. Polaris asked "Are you abandoning the race?", an appropriate but as yet unanswered question. After the obvious response "yes" was received, we elected to proceed to "0" anyways. No use in wasting a "race"!

'No problems'

AHMEN V was held on Sat., Sept. 26. Once again the forecast called for rain. The western horizon was ominously dark, but the rain was not expected until late afternoon. The wind was from the east; the first mark was T1. We started just a bit behind and to windward of Balance.

We broke tacks; Balance was clearly ahead on our first crossing but we slowly gained. I think it was because we had good tacks. If you are sloppy on your tacks then you will slowly lose ground. (Of course it is a case of relative performance.) The ability to scamper from side to side on J 24 is a definite skill. South of Centre Island we were clear ahead of Balance.

There was a little bit of traffic as we approached the layline. Some of the faster boats from start 4 had caught up to us. They really didn't cause a problem since they were faster and passed us to leeward. When they tacked onto the layline they were clear ahead.

The mark rounding at T1 was good. The only problem was that an R boat was having problems getting their chute up. They had rights so we tacked away. The course to the next mark was very much port gybe favoured, so we were now heading 90 degrees to our proper course. We gybed back as quickly as we could. It was a very long downwind run to the other side of Humber Bay.

At the leeward mark we made a windward takedown of the chute. We headed up to close haul to the next mark and then had a close hauled course to the finish. We finished well ahead of the other boats in our division. What a contrast from last Wednesday when everything seemed to be a problem!

It as a very active day of sailing in Toronto. The I 14s had a regatta just south of Centre Island and the Hobie 16s had a regatta in Humber Bay. I didn't see much except for a brief glimpse of a boat as she flew past the bow.

The problems began after the race. The wind was offshore. I had the main dropped too soon. The boat was depowered but had to head into the wind to make the dock. The crew had to provide the last bit of power with a push off of the dingy dock.

The next incidence was when we were putting the boat onto the trailer. The tongue fell off the dolly and onto Nick's knee. It looked very painful. The tongue seemed to hit just below the knee, a very bad spot.

The final problem was that the race committee didn't score us. They confused our sail number, 3708, with 7308! Brian is really good when he can win a race without even participating!

Other than Nick's trailer encounter, it was a great day. The rain held off. I was really happy about our ability to make gains; basically because the crew was efficient in their boat handling. 'No problems' make for a good race.

Problems

There was rain in the morning and the forecast called for another late afternoon shower. The storm arrived at 16:00 but cleared in time for the launching of the boat. The wind slowly began to rebuild and by race time there was a good northerly breeze. Grand National dropped a 'pin' near where Mark 1 should be, and Dufferin was the windward mark.

Once again it was a very congested second start. I was once again on the pin side and I was not able to figure out how to navigate to the line. It took us three attempts to make it; the first two failed as we were knocked by the exhaust from bigger boats. (We were perhaps the smallest boat on this start.) Once started, we did well and were able to cross Polaris. However, clearly the start was problem 1.

Problem 2 was trying to make the windward mark. We overstood but were badly knocked as we got closer to the mark.

Problem 3 was discovered when we hoisted the chute. The sheet was under the lifeline and had to be reattached. Once that problem was solved we discovered that the spin sheet was jammed into the genoa block. It took us awhile to get it unjammed. All of this sorting out meant that the chute wasn't flying!

Problem 4 was getting around boats at the leeward mark. We were windward boat and the two leeward boats had problems gybing. Their spinnakers got wrapped around their forestay. We might have been able to gybe over and go on their other side if we had thought about doing that earlier; but that was not possible now.

Problem 2 recurred on the second rounding of the windward mark; even though I thought I had made an extra extra allowance!

Problems? We didn't do well but ... there was no rain; we did a good job at recovering from various mishaps; the nav lights worked; it was a great day to be on the water. What problems?

Line Honours (note should have been posted Sept. 14)

The third AHMEN was on Sept. 13. The wind was from the north at around 10 knots. We had a beam reach start to Mark 1. It is a bit different being on a beam since we could head directly to the first mark. Foehn headed us up but not above close reach. We had power but no longer sailing directly towards the first mark. Foehn bore away. They were over. By being headed up, we took that bit of extra time to be on the start line. We were well ahead of the other boats. A great start.

The first mark was a beam reach; the second leg was almost a dead down wind. We rounded and dropped the chute without any problems. We were now on a long beam reach to T1 at the entrance to the eastern gap. The nice breeze at the start became very light and shifty. According to the archived records the wind dropped to 5 knots. Balance decided to try their chute and were able to make up some ground. We tried as well but the wind seemed to be too far forward and we quickly dropped it. As Balance approached they seemed to loose power; perhaps because of our shadow or perhaps because they were headed and the chute was no longer efficient. We started to gain.

Fantome, in start 4, slowly was overtaking us. We were almost on the T1's layline and I made sure to keep windward. I wanted to prevent the bigger boat from passing to windward and robbing us of wind. We were far enough ahead to be able to do this. After the rounding there was no longer a problem. We separated; Fantome's wind shadow was no longer a threat.

The winds seemed to pick up as we headed back to Gilbaltor. When we headed into Humber Bay proper the winds were gusty. Gusts may have been up to 15 knots. It was pretty much a question of keeping the boat as flat as possible and avoiding any rounding up in the gusts. It made it a bit exhausting as I constantly had to adjust the sheet, traveler, and tiller; while squatting, as much windward as I could. An uncomfortable position for a long race.

We obviously did well as we finished well ahead of Balance. Windlight finished third but in corrected time, was able to get second place. Another great day on the water. Great start; led the entire race! Getting line honours when you are not the fastest boat in a division is always a great race.

Animism

The wind was from the east and the RC made the first mark, T1. We had a poorish start; slightly shadowed by Balance, but not a big deal. My thought was to head towards the island. At NYC, local knowledge says that with an east wind you should head towards the island; to take advantage of the inshore lift. I didn't notice any advantage, perhaps because we were too far west. We stayed further out, and our course gave us a more direct line to the mark. The wind was strong but it was shifty. South of Centre Island, Balance crossed us, and headed further south. Most of the fleet over-stood; perhaps it was because of the wind's oscillations and skippers were worried about getting a knock close to the mark. I also over-stood but not nearly as much. I stayed on a close hauled course in order to have a bit of insurance against a knock. It paid off. We easily made the mark; Balance had over-stood by too much and was now behind.

Animism is a religion which includes the belief that objects have souls. There are times when I wonder about the validity of such a world view. One such time was our attempt to hoist the spinnaker after rounding T1. Everything went SNAFU. Halyards and the topping lift swung with wild abandon. Spinnaker poles had to be wrestled into submission. Clearly this could only be explained by evil spirits who had taken control of these objects and directed them to rebel against humanity! Needless to say, it took us awhile to get things sorted. The only solace was that our call on the layline had given us enough of a lead to deal with the evil spirits, or whatever, that were preventing us from getting the chute up and under control.

The next leg was a very long downwind run to Mark 1. Balance was to the south and slowly gained. They were sailing on a hotter angle. Neither of us could make the mark without gybing. Balance decided to douse the chute, and gybe to the mark with their genoa. We opted to gybe and do a windward takedown at the mark. This paid off; we had gained but could not take the lead.

There was a short beam reach to the finish. We beat Balance on corrected time, in spite of a brief revival of animism and its evil gremlins.

New series

New series; new crew combo. So new that the RC hadn't sorted out the SI's. Fleming came over and announced, just as we were about to drop the boat into the water: "You realize there is no RC!". Charles couldn't make the fall series's earlier start time, and Janet was off on a Croatian cruise. The replacements were John, who would handle sheets; and Nick, who would do foredeck. The early start was almost too much for Emi and David. They arrived at 17:31, just in time for the RC to have sorted things out.

I definitely wanted to do a few practise gybes/tacks before the start. The wind was from the east, so the waves had had a chance to build. The east wind was a good direction for a downwind run to the start. The hoist did not go perfectly and the gybes were a bit rough; but at least we had a bit of experience for the new crew.

There were two starts; all white sail would be in the first start, and all FS would be second start. I found it difficult to maneuver in the very mixed fleet. Our start was horrible; I wanted to get into clear air, so we tacked. I had to duck a late starter. Late to the start line; bad air; having to go back to duck , note to self: "what not to do"! The fleet headed north-east towards the island; while we were headed south, out into the lake and the chop. Even clear air had its down side. However, by the time we headed back to the fleet, it seemed that we had gained. Clear air has its upside too.

Being more south of the shelter of the island we encountered the worst of the chop. The motor almost came off; an unnecessary distraction for the skipper. I resolved to take the motor off and store it below - next time. We crested one particularly big wave and the boat was half out of the water. I had headed up and we were in danger of tacking. There were some anxious moments but no real problem.

We had a good hoist. The downwind leg went without incident. We approached the leeward mark on port. When we were more or less directly downwind, we gybed. Now on starboard we took the chute down. Right at the leeward mark we gybed back onto port. It was a bit slow but we had everything well sorted for the next hoist.

We were well behind Flawed; I decided to go separate routes. This payed off. At the windward mark we were clear ahead. When all else fails I am willing to trust luck and this time I was lucky. Unfortunately our set wasn't great and we ended going too far on starboard. When we got sorted, our angle was too much on a downwind run compared to Flawed. Flawed was able to sail on a hotter angle and they were well ahead of us at the finish. They were third, we were fourth.

This was the first outing for this particular crew combination. We had a horrible start but the fact that we were able to catch up, made for an exciting race. A good first race for the new fall series.

Janet's turn

After the regular season, there is a tradition at National that a crew member gets to be on helm for a race. It is a great opportunity for experienced crew to get a feel at being on the helm. This year one of my longtime crew members was available for the first time in 4 years. It was Janet's turn. David replaced Janet on foredeck; Charles was on holiday; Emi was mastman; and I took over handling the genie sheets. In effect everyone shifted one position.

The wind was from the east and the surface was a bit choppy. I wanted to get in a few practise gybes. The east wind was prefect for a downwind run to the start line. Things went well but not smoothly. I am somewhat anxious with a new race skipper and I made the assessment to change the foresail from genie to a jib. Janet mentioned that she felt the wind would die. We got the sail change done in plenty of time. Unfortunately David and Emi got wet with the choppy sea and with the manhandling of the sails on the bow. David had to sit on the pulpit to unattach/attach the hanks. We haven't done a sail change for awhile and it was good practise.

I am a bit slow to be on the start line and this start was true to form. Once again we had a bit of bad air and there was difficulty to get free of the traffic. We approached the windward layline on port and had to duck a few boats. As we hoisted the chute we discovered it was twisted; but the crew managed to sort it out quickly. Unfortunately the wind started to die. We approached the leeward mark on port. I decided to do an extra gybe so that we could douse on starboard and be ready for a standard starboard tack hoist. The mark rounding went well and we were able to get ahead of Windlight.

The strategy on the windward leg was to cover Windlight. The fleet was now well spread out; so traffic was not an issue. We did a repeat of the first leg with a few tacks taking us up the the windward mark layline. The hoist went well. The plan was to sail on a hot angle to make the most of the increasingly light wind. Patience and focus were needed in the light wind. (At least this wasn't a NO wind race.) We finished well ahead of Windlight but well behind a J4 and two J22s. The main problem was my dumb call to switch foresails before the start. Janet was right about the wind!

It was a very respectable result. We dealt with the issues e. g. the first spinnaker hoist. I think the experience, of crew members working in a different position, was a good one. "Janet's turn" was a good experience for the entire crew.

No wind race

The crew was uncharacteristically late. Janet arrived at her usual time and appeared slightly distressed to learn that she was, unusually, the first to arrive. At 17:30 I put in a call and found out that Emi was in the parking lot and David was at Rees and Lake Shore. There were fewer boats to launch; the 'practise boats' were no shows. Fortunately there was no wind, so no hurry to get to the start.

There was some wind; at least enough for the RC to put the first divison into sequence. We lingered near the pin, a few boat lengths below the line, and waited for our start. I think we can say that there is virtually no wind if the warning flag droops! What flag is is it, 'Warning' or 'AP'?

We finally figured we were in sequence and slowly made our way to the start. We were on port tack but had no problem with rights. You have to move before you can have an issue with ROW! A somewhat bigger boat, a CS 30 (?), sailed slightly higher and we ended up being in bad air. Should we tack away or not? I opted to not tack since tacks would be costly; it would take forever to get 'power' back, and there was a risk that we would stall completely. The boats in clear air had a huge advantage. The RC made an assessment of the fleet's progress and, almost immediately after the start, announced "Shortened course".

Rounding the windward mark was tricky. The current had a big impact given the lack of wind. It was slow. We had to do a couple of painful tacks. On the downwind leg we tried to sail on a hottish angle. A beamish reach is not a great way to make progress towards a downwind mark, but it was the only way to have any speed.

Windlight had an interesting race. They were slow to start; way behind everyone else. She sailed on one tack much further south than everyone else in the fleet. In a sense they were doing everything wrong. The light wind conditions made the 'wrongs' right. They had clear air at the start. They did the minimum number of tacks. They had caught up to us on the downwind leg. With her bigger mast she was able to make the most of the very light wind and easily passed us.

We had caught up to Flawed. This was a similar situation that I had faced on the first upwind leg: whether to gybe/tack away when you are being shadowed by another boat. The problem is that in light air you have to sail at a lower angle; you can not sail towards the next mark. You also lose boat speed with every gybe/tack. When you make choices, to tack or not, you are never sure whether you made the right choice. In this race we had two incidences were one skipper chose bad choice "A", not to tack, while another skipper choose bad choice "B". Flawed decided to gybe away. I would say, after the fact, that bad choice "A" was better, but of course the evidence is subject to interpretation and the two incidences, although similar, were not identical. Flawed clearly had difficulty finishing.

We finished in darkness. We got the sails down and the motor on. Things were sorted just when Flawed finished and was ready for the tow back to NYC. It was a beautiful night. The moon was almost full. The Toronto skyline was in its 'cite des lumieres' glory. This was definitely the best part of the no wind race.

J Practice

Wednesday's race was a practice session for the EYC regatta bound J 22's and J 24. There were 4 22's and one additional 24. The increase number of participants made for a long queue at the dry sail crane and a crowded dock.

We were a bit slow to the start with Flawed, and a Star to leeward and Threes slightly ahead. Half way up we had to do a crash tack to avoid hitting port tack Windlight.

We caught up to Jack Rabbit on the last down wind leg. She gybed away while we stayed on starboard. The now light wind may have shifted a bit to give us a knock and Jack a lift (but I am not sure). Jack had gained a bit and finished maybe two boat lengths in front.

Nick, in the other J 24 finished well ahead of us: 11 minutes! It was almost like we were in two separate races. Unfortunately he was so far ahead that I couldn't get a sense of what he was dong. I wasn't able to learn anything by observation. It really highlighted for me how uncompetitive I would be in a class regatta.

AHMEN II

No Wednesday sailing this week due to the lack of wind. AHMEN II was on Saturday. Another great day. This time there was no need to wait for the wind. We once again had a nice breeze from the south east. The RC set the same course for white sail and spinnaker fleets: Gibraltar, Dufferin, Mark 3, Mark 5 and with the finish at Mark 3. The course was a good length. Everyone was finished by 14:30. The NYC RC did a great job.

We started more or less with the fleet. The less part meant we were in less than clear air; so I guess not good. It was pretty much a starboard tack direct to Gibraltar. Our windward mark rounding did not go as well as I would've liked. There was no offset. We needed to get the chute up, pole off, gybe, in a short period of time, i e immediately. I did not really communicate this effectively.

What I would really wish for is that my crew spend some time developing mind reading skills! We don't spend every weekend doing practise so our minds have not been preset. The key to successful competition is to have your mind go on autopilot. You know what needs to be done without thinking (or verbalizing).

It was pretty much a port gybe to Dufferin. We started to get bigger boats shadowing us and interfering with our wind as they overtook. The course was pretty much a point to point so there really wasn't a way to avoid this. At each mark you could lay the next. We were on starboard gybe on the last leg from Mark 5 to Mark 3.

Nick was able to sort out the GPS; this worked well except with his obviously wrong direction that the next mark was 180 degrees from were we and the rest of the fleet were heading! It isn't only me that can't enter waypoints. There was an interesting discussion about: What is Mark 3? EYC 3 and TSCC 3 are all Mark 3 but which one is AHMEN 3?

There were a few extra boats from NYC (this event was hosted by NYC). We knew we couldn't catch the semi professionals on Threes Company. It was a bit of a surprise that they finished second behind Short Sale. We were not close enough to beat Balance today; we got a fourth.

What a great day! It was a prefect day with a nice breeze and flat seas. I loved it.

First Race: AHMEN 2009

There was a disturbing forecast of thunderstorms; but that wasn't until late afternoon. The big problem at 11:30 was that there was absolutely no wind. The RC hoisted AP as we drifted. After about an hour's wait the wind slowly filled in from the south east. We had enough to start. The course: Gibraltar, '3', times 2. It was almost windward leeward.

We had a good start; first to the windward mark. On the downwind leg Balance was able to gain (see photo). I decided to tack away; to avoid being covered by Balance and with the hope that the wind would be better away from shore. I waited too long to tack back. At the leeward mark Balance AND Windlight were clear ahead. OOPS! Windlight had spinnaker problems and by the time they sorted things they were out of the race.

The plan now was to follow Balance and hope to stay close enough for a PHRF win. It worked. A first on the first! The rain arrived at 16:00 just as we were finished derigging the boat. We were ready for some much needed refreshment (thanks Nick) to celebrate a good first race for the 2009 AHMEN series.

PHRF piffle!

There was a good wind from the west. We started on time but behind Shimakaze; so had to suffer from bad air. Threes Company started a bit later but at the committee boat. She took off in clear air. We tacked away and headed north to find a clear lane.

At the windward mark Threes was well ahead. We had a good hoist. The downwind leg was very port gybe favoured. We quickly gybed over. At the leeward mark, we did a windward douse. (The chute would be on the right side for hoist at the windward mark. We could prep and be ready to hoist at the offset mark.) Threes and Wind were ahead and went north so we went south.

At the windward mark, Threes and Wind were still ahead but we had managed to make up a lot. By breaking cover we were able to gain back some lost ground. We hoisted at the offset and quickly qybed. Everything went well; while Wind struggled with their hoist. It took them quite awhile to untangle things. She was no longer in the race.

We came in second, several minutes ahead of Shimakaze but we still lost second place on corrected time by 9 seconds! PHRF piffle!

Wind: Light

The Race Committee boat said that the 'wind' was from the southwest so there must be some wind! Boats on the first three starts sailed on port tack but I wanted to go south. The 'wind' seemed to be 'better' once one got out into the lake. We started abeam of Flawed Logic on starboard; Jack Rabbit tried a port tack start and had to duck us. The three boats stayed close together. During one crossing Flawed just cleared us but had to duck Jack Rabbit. I mean close! Fortunately no motor off her transom.

Jack Rabbit managed to get ahead of us by the windward mark. I made things worse by over standing the mark. Jack Rabbit had a poor hoist; as did we. The light winds made downwind sailing very painful. We followed Jack Rabbit to the leeward mark. The droopy sails obscured our view. The only way for me to steer was to follow Jack Rabbit's reflection of her pink spinnaker in the water.

Jack Rabbit didn't head up to round the leeward mark. They looked like they were finishing. Hopefully! An end to this madness! I leaned out further to see if I could figure out the RC signals. If Jack Rabbit was withdrawing she would lower sails and start her motor. She didn't. I couldn't make out the lifeless flags on the RC. Is this a psyche game? When they had crossed the what would have been the finish and there was no sound; I knew the race was not shortened. We headed up to round the mark.

Once again I made my way south but progress was excruciatingly slow. Windlight and Flawed Logic stayed further north. Unfortunately for us the wind filled in from the north. It was a beam reach to the windward (and now thankfully the finish) mark. Windlight (appropriately named?) finished first and we were second.

Rip

Another hiatus from Wednesday racing! I was off to the 'great white north' for an unanticipated event and so was unable to race last week.

So everybody was nicely rested? The wind was from the east and the RC had another very long start line. I decided to start near the RC boat. After looking over the first starts it looked to me that the south side was favoured. We had a good start but I was not particularly happy with our tacks; we were not staying focused, so with each tack we were slipping behind. I tried to be calm but eventually (after the second windward mark rounding) all I could do was shout: "The pole, the pole, THE POLE"! It wasn't until we got a nice rip in the spinnaker that I calmed down.

We are in a much more competitive fleet this year and our failure to keep up is frustrating. It is not a question of doing things slower; we must step up the pace and avoid silly mistakes if we want to stay competitive. I do!


On Thursday I took the chute over to the sail loft. Just as I entered the sailing loft, 'Dr. House, M.D.' appeared and announced: "I know I have a crappy spinnaker, but I want it repaired; because I have an incompetent crew." How insensitive! I noticed a shy smile from the secretary. The salesman, after a cursory look at the damaged chute, said: "I have seen worse." In an instance 'House' was gone; it was almost as if he was never there. How surreal!

I was told that by Wednesday the loft expects to have fixed the rip.

Back

The two week hiatus in racing is over, but will there be any wind? We headed out to the start towing Threes Company. As we approached the start, the wind slowly started to fill in from the east. By the start we had a very good breeze from the east.

There was a very long start line and the pin end was very favoured. Port tack was also favoured. I prefer to start on starboard. We started on starboard near the pin. That worked well as we forced Threes Company to tack away. We sailed on starboard almost to the layline and then tacked over. A two tack leg.

The downwind leg was pretty uneventful. The RC had gates. The south gate was favoured and we opted for that. This meant a windward takedown. This is a new procedure for the crew. I wasn't happy with the result but no real harm done. We lost a few boat lengths though. ": )" Jack Rabbit and Threes Company went south. I made a quick assessment: didn't look like much wind there, we were in bad air from boats ahead, "Tack". This was a good call as the wind was much better on the north side of the course. By the windward mark we got Jack Rabbit and had caught up to Threes Company. Things were going well except that Viking Blood rounded to windward and stole our air. I was very anxious that we hadn't lost way and wouldn't make the offset. We did; but we lost a bit to Threes Company.

On the downwind leg the wind died and it was very hard to keep up boat speed. I basically followed Threes Company (i e they were my tacticians). Unfortunately K.I.S.S. blocked us from our preferred track. We had to sail almost downwind while Jack Rabbit sailed on a hotter angle. It was a close finish but we beat Jack Rabbit for a third. Windlight, first and Threes Company, second.

There was a nice post race chat with Jim and Alf. We all had a good time. It was great to be back racing.

No wind

There was very little wind but the RC still managed to have three starts. We (tonight: Charles, David, Emi, and myself) are in the fourth start. We tried to stay close to the line but was struggling to make the pin. The gennie back filled when the wind did a one eighty degree shift. We dropped it and manually moved the boom to the port side. The gennie was rehoisted and we tried to manually keep it formed. I figured that with 5 minutes we could make the last 50 feet. We were moving. All the crew was to leeward and I couldn't see a thing. I was very anxious to keep up boat speed (?) and avoid hitting the pin. The wind completely died (There was wind?). One, two, three blasts from the RC; and so ended our race.

We tried to tow a J 22 back but we ran out of fuel ourselves. Flak came to our rescue. One of my rules is to have reserve fuel. The local gas station is closed for repairs so I had deferred getting refuelled.

Last week we didn't go racing due to the storm but there was a race and this week we showed up but there was no wind!

Indecision

I was my usual indecisive self last Wednesday. It was raining; should I go anyway? Can I contact the crew in time? I didn't want to go especially if there would not be a race, but I don't want to be perceived as a fair weather sailor! I would feel badly if a race was held and I wasn't there. However, I have been doing a lot of sailing, with events on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Eventually I decided not to go and that was that. A clear and unequivocal email was sent to the crew. I must demonstrate an air of confidence to my crew (?). I spend a bit of time thinking but once I have decided I have decided. Indecisive or ambiguously decisive?

The New Normal?

Another Wednesday night race? There have been a few changes from last year, which may have settled in; creating a new ambiance to the Wednesday series. Allan is not going to be PRO this season. A couple of J 22's are now regulars. Jack Rabbit is not a regular, our close rival for the past three seasons. Many more drysailers are taking part, with the result that we had a problem in having sufficient space at the wall. What are boat to boat rules for launch and haulout?

The conditions were very subtle with a very light wind from the south east. With this type of wind there is a strong probability that, as the land cools off, an offshore breeze will develop. A 'wind well' is created near shore.

We had a resaonable start and headed towards the island. Fairly quickly we tacked and were almost able to make the windward mark. We had a good mark rounding but the wind died due to the onset of the offshore breeze. We tacked away from shore and caught up to Flawed Logic at the leeward mark. They were still able to round in front of us. After the second windward mark rounding we got stuck leeward of another boat and this slowed us down considerably. This was a big no no in boat to boat tactics. We eventually cleared the bad air but we lost a lot of time in the very light wind.

It was an enjoyable race but we finished 2nd last! The new normal? Hopefully not!

Confusing times

The regular RC for Wednesday was unavailable so Stephen had to assemble a back up group to run the race.

I was somewhat concerned that the winds would be too light to race. Both Monday and Tuesday night races were November Alphaed due to no wind. However the wind filled in nicely from the west; light and variable. Stephen set the start line at Dufferin and the windward mark was 0.9 nm. on a bearing of 295. Stephen also had gates, one green and one yellow. (Isn't a green buoy a finish mark in the SIs? No.)

I was glad to see that our old rival, Jack Rabbit, was was racing for the first time this season.

We had an OK start. The main problem was bad air from the rest of the fleet. I noticed that Jack Rabbit had a much better start near the RC Boat and was in clear air. During the prestart it appeared that the winds got very 'fluky' near shore. My plan was to stay in the middle and I think this strategy worked.

After the first leg the wind shifted and starboard tack was very favoured. Stephen changed the course to 320 (the windward mark was moved and the offset mark was removed). At the leeward gate, we had a good windward douce of the chute.

We were a bit slow on the second windward mark rounding. The offset mark was gone so we didn't have the usual time to launch the chute. The wind seemed to continue to shift north. Port gybe was very favoured. We were not able to do a fast gybe because of a slowness in getting the genoa down. Everything got sorted eventually. Candlelight was having even more chute hoisting difficulty.

I was somewhat confused by the finish (i e the Green mark) but Janet sorted it out for me. I was not the only one confused about the finish as Jack Rabbit did an unnecessary third circuit. The net result of everybody being somewhat confused was that we ended up with a first!

Sailpast 2009

I had a good time at Sailpast 2009. I find this a bit weird since it is mainly an opportunity to socialize. Emi and I did get in about 90 mins. of sailing, but most of the time was spent at the club, beer in (left!) hand. A surprisely pleasant way to spend a late spring afternoon.

A cold and nasty day

The forecast for Wednesday night wasn't good. Thunderstorms. I thought there was a good chance that we wouldn't go out; if we did, we would be drifting in light wind and rain. I took the opportunity pre launch to get some sails mended. By 17:30 there was a good wind from the east and little or no rain.

The RC went a long way south and I expected that we would be using Gibraltar Buoy as a windward mark. However the windward mark was set just north of the Gibraltar Point. (Very good mark setting!) We had an OK start but were blocked by Candlelight and Flawed Logic on the north side of the course. At the windward mark I provided a bit of navigation assistance to a new skipper unfamiliar with the course. We had a problem with the first leeward mark douse. The combination of pole down, free flying the chute, mark rounding, and gybe resulted in some tangled lines. It took us a while to get sorted and by then we were too far behind. The winds got very light. We finished, just as the rain restarted!

It was a long trip back to theclub. We were late for the results. The RC hailed me as they were leaving the club, to let me know that we got a third.

ABYC Open 2009

The first J 24 regatta of the season was at ABYC on the east side of Toronto Harbour. Emi and I sailed the boat over Friday afternoon. Beautiful day; we sailed most of the way but had to motor in the last 20 mins..

Saturday winds were from the east and very light. On the first race, we had a poor start and generally a bad race. This was our second worst finish for the event; we left the worst result for the last race!

The crew, (Adrian on foredeck, Claudiu mast, Emi assistant pit and Jaimie as tactician and pit) had not sailed together this season and it showed. Our second and third races were noticeably better. Our crew skills improved but we were still only able to get a couple of 9 (out of 15) to finish Day 1. Day 2 winds were also very light from the south. Our second race was the best result with a 7th place finish. Our last race was terrible. The light wind conditions on the start made it impossible to navigate. We fouled another boat and did 720 turns so very poor start. (Results)

I was pleased to get the 7th place finish. It may not sound like much of a victory but getting into the top half of the fleet is very difficult to do. We had a great regatta and it was very enjoyable to be sailing in a fleet at such a skill level. This is a team effort and it was great sailing with such a good crew (especially Jamie who is clearly a very good racer).

W1

The Wednesday series started last night. Grand National also made it to the start line. Allan has taken over as RO and Kim was in the mark boat. The wind was S at 12 knots. There were 4 starts with our group starting last. Jack Rabbit didn't compete.

We had a good start except for some confusion about the time. A couple of boats held back and we wondered if we mis timed the start. There was no Individual Recall flag and our timers were in agreement. We didn't go back.

Over the course of the race I convinced myself that we must have been over early. The hold back boats were good racers and I assumed that they would be right. By convincing myself of this I put myself into a foul mood which not only was wrong it wasn't helpful! A lesson for me is that if I have confidence in timing, I should go with that, and not worry about other possibilities.

We are a bit out of practise. David is now mast man and has to familiarize himself with new geography. At one point he had to be hauled back after almost falling over board! The spinnaker hoist did not go well and ended up with a large tear. We went wing on wing while Charles with help from Emi and David did a repair. (After the race Charles told me he suffers from seasickness and was not happy about going below. He did a grat job in spite of his legitimate anxiety.) The repair was completed but only after we went slightly off course. Notorious wasn't expecting us on Starboard and we had to get out of the way. No protest but they did their turns. Very nice to see that.

The second downwind leg went much better. The chute went up and the repair held. I think that getting the repair done was a sort of 'victory'; it was certainly good to see that we were able to react positively to a problem.

I found out that, the hold out boats from the start thought they were in a fifth, non existent start.

We ended up getting a second. This put me in a much better mood!

Spring RTI 2009

The first race of the season is the Spring round the Island. Centre Island protects Toronto Harbour from Lake Ontario. It takes about two hours to sail around; a nice daysail. The race this year was very well organized. The skippers, who registered early, got a bit of swag. The cruisers were encouraged and given a separate start i e last. "Don't worry about the start; keep clear of the other boats and start after everyone else." The efforts of the Race Committee paid off with a good turnout.

The day was a good spring day. Sunny, temp around 14, with a WSW wind at about 12 knots. Course: start at Dufferin buoy, south east to Gibraltar buoy, east to the eastern Harbour entrance buoy, through the Eastern Gap and finish just east of the Western Gap. David, Myrna, Emi and Adrian were crew. This was Myrna's introduction to racing.

We were third start. We were well set up a minute to go but I started too early and allowed boats to get below me. We were over early. (I am going to have to learn to be cool at the starts!) Repeat: "It is OK". The course was basically a series of reaches. The race was a follow the leader type; so with the bad start we were doomed. We did fly the chute briefly when we headed north from the eastern Harbour buoy. We were able to catch up to the white sailors.

It was a fun race and it was good to see most of the club on the water.

First 2009 Sail: May 13

It certainly didn't feel like summer but it was still great to be on the water again. The weekly series doesn't start until next week but, with the mast up, why waste a Wednesday? This was a shakedown event for boat and crew.

Chris is on sick leave; Janet will do foredeck. David wants to learn about spinnakers and so will fill the mastman position. Emi is the new addition and will replace David on pit. Charles and I retain our roles as tactician and helm.

I had thought of doing an around the island however I got a feeling from the crew that this was too ambitious for a first sail. We ended up heading south and tried to do a mark rounding at Gibraltar. The chute didn't cooperate. No damage done. We were a bit out of practise; hopefully we did enough to activate dormant muscle memories.

Mast Step 2009

Mast is up! The crew decided to do the mast stepping on Wednesday rather than Sunday. I was a bit concerned as David and I were the only ones to make it on time. We were able to help Harrier and Kokomo step their masts before Emi and Charles arrived.

It was a bit chilly and the threatened rain did not start until after supper. A good breeze from the east didn't have an impact on the project. I was my usual hesitant self about what to do; but as things progressed I became more confident. For the last 3 years I haven't needed to step the mast. Even with tasks that I have repeated every year, I am amazed at how much I forget. I think this was the first year that I managed to thread the main sheet without having to redo it a few times.

So looking forward to the practise event next Wednesday.

Spring Tasks: Boat Prep

April is a transistion month for sailors. The snow has gone but it is still too cold for being on the lake. Prefect conditions for boat prep. My boat is 'dry sailed', so I don't have to apply anti fouling and with a 'maxi dinghy' I don't have to worry about engines and plumbing. This year I got to help out in prepping a friend's 36 footer; a much more typical yacht prep experience!

The first thing we did was take down the tarp and associated supports. The hull was in good shape. The surface was power washed last fall, at haul out, so there was no dried on gunk. We did a light sanding (see photo). VC 17 was used for the anti fouling. A packet of copper powder is mixed with the liquid. The powder is very fine. Care has to be taken to keep it from blowing away. The resulting mixture is applied to the lower part of the hull. The stuff will evaporate quickly. You don't want to take too much at a time as it will quickly harden. The whole process is messy and boring. It was nice to have a crew to work with and provide some tims!

We checked out the thru hulls. The engine had to have a good look over to see that all the hoses were secure. If the engine still isn't working by launch at least you will have time to arrange for a tow to your slip. Running the engine dumps the engine anti freeze on land; otherwise it would be dumped in the water.



On my own boat I had comparatively little to do. The club wanted the trailer clearly marked with name and club member number. I once again tried to fix the windex. The old base was removed and I have installed a new one. (Interestingly the new windex base is not the same. Fortunately I had salvaged parts that I could use to fit my existing hole.) I also got the boom reassembled. Another project is to see if I can fit the compass holder thru the mast's rope guide slot. This concept requires further thought. The fixed attachments on the mast prevent me from adopting my original concept. I also got new spark plugs for the 4 hp auxilery. Nothing really needed to be done prior to launch day except for the windex.

The final thing will be to arrange for some help to get the mast stepped. I hope to do this on Sunday when the wet boats will have been launched.

Spring Task: Crew Recuitment

Spring has sprung. Every year I start out with great hopes for good things in the upcoming season; not all of which are realized but, not all good things are foreseen! Sailing is something were you never know what will happen (but you have to plan).

Sailing is a group event and one of the first things I have to do is find out whether or not last year's crew is still interested. Canadians emerge from hibernation as slight variations from last year's iteration of themselves. People have life changes or new interests, e. g. economic collapse. Crew recruitment is a priority for any skipper.

What I am looking for in a potential crew member:

1) expertise and experience - I prefer people who know more about racing than I do.

2) motivation - Whether one looks forward to the on water experience or sees the on water stuff as a necessary inconvenience on the way to the bar.

3) self-improvement - The willingness to challenge one self; to change even if that means being outside the comfort zone.

4) teamwork

5) appreciation of the opportunity to race

Crew should have criteria that their skipper must meet. You should never go sailing with a skipper you do not respect!

My 'Wednesday night' crew has been with me for 3 years and we have done extremely well, i.e. defending Club champs for our PHRF class. Personnel management is not one of my skills, crew recruitment is a pain, so I am pleased to see that they plan to participate in the upcoming season.

Blackwater Wave TV link

From H2uh0 - Bonehead moves on the water and much more: Chaos in the Pacific

A link to a 42 min TV program about a family shipwreck in the South Pacific.

Mid winter's Eve

The AHMEN series has its awards dinner in mid winter. A friendly event for a friendly series. AHMEN is an acronym which is composed of the first letter in the name of the founding Yacht Clubs: Alexandra, Harbour City, Mimico, Etobicoke, and National. There is a buffet dinner and lots of door prizes. I was pleased that everyone from the crew was able to attend (although interestingly without the various non-sailing spouses!).

The series are six single long distance races. They take up about 3 hours and cover up to eight miles. The conditions can be very variable as the race course hugs the coastline of Humber Bay to the north with a long connecting leg on the south side. In summer there is usually a deadly wind well on the north side while on the same day there is a steady breeze in open lake on the southern leg. The late season races can be in near gale conditions.

I stumbled upon AHMEN races one summer afternoon. We were sailing around Humber Bay without any plans and came across the AHMEN RC Boat. Why not race? We did well. I have been a regular participant ever since. It may be a friendly series but I still like to win. This year we had a good AHMEN series; overall, we were second. We had a good time and I think everyone is looking forward to next season.

Sailing Quotes

Worth a look: Sailing Quotes

Focus! Focus! Focus!

Interesting comments from Scuttlebutt about crew and the importance of focusing on the task:

The importance of a crew member focusing on his specific task:

“The one thing our team has always done really well, is that everyone focuses on doing their own job and just their job. I think that's a problem that a lot of boats have difficulty with, especially when you have a lot of really good sailors together. It's hard for everyone to focus on doing just their job. More often than not, it's not that you run into problems with people messing up their job, but people sort of overstepping boundaries. So everyone always does a really good job on our boat. But probably with the conditions being so shifty and up and down breeze wise, we were seeing easily 10 knot ranges and the really big shifts, I think John, my brother, who was driving the boat, probably gets the MVP for keeping the boat moving.”

Importance of staying focused after the race: regatta routine aids focus:

“Maybe the fact that we have to take a taxi home to get to our condo,
so therefore we don't go out at night. That could be it. We stay at a condo that's over on the south side of the island. We don't go out that much, we go to the tent, then go to dinner, then go to bed usually. We definitely have an order of things to do when we get out to the racecourse. We're taking wind shots on the way out to the course just as soon as were out there…before we even go out my dad tries to get the rig to where he thinks the breeze will be for the day. We're just out of the harbor, we're checking the wind, we check it again. We check it a lot, just to be in tune with what we think is
happening.”

Team practice and experience helps with focus:

“Trying to put together a team that has sailed together before so you
can be really focused on going fast for the regatta, and everybody knows what they're doing. I will not hesitate to say our strongest point is our speed. If you have a good mix of all-stars and people who have sailed the boat before that's definitely better than all all-stars that maybe have never sailed before because things can get done a lot better. Like I said before, the most important thing on a boat is everybody doing their job. They've got to be good at their job, so they've got to be an all-star at that. ..”

-- Full report: http://linkbee.com/CNR1

Jan. 18, 2009

As an applied economist I see a lot of underutilized capital. Is there a better use of capital than sitting unused in a yard for six months?



Looking east










Looking north











Looking west

Aristosera, Winter 2009

TBS 2009

I have mixed feelings about the Toronto Boat Show. Been there, done that, several times. Tickets, parking, and 'Boat Show Specials', i.e. spending money you don't have! Inevitably I end up going and having a good time.

This year I was able to have lunch with one of my regular Wednesday crew. It is good to get together during the long off season. One can get a different perspective on recent developments, e. g. Derek's travails in the southern ocean. I also like hearing about what other boat owners are thinking about as they look forward to a new sailing season. A visit to the Club also provides an opportunity to see other members. It is important to keep current with scuttlebutt!

This year I wanted to avoid any extra expense. I volunteered for a two hour shift at the Club's booth. This allowed me to get into the event without buying a ticket! In addition to the two hour shift I also had to attend an information meeting to familiarize myself with the various club programs and membership requirements. The booth is manned by at least two people so you have an opportunity to wander about the exhibits without leaving the booth unmanned. As a 'racer' and 'drysailer' I find these club duties provide an opportunity to meet 'cruisers'. My booth mate was Andrew, who owns a 30 foot 'cruiser'.

The Club has 220 senior members, 30 drysailers, and 30 dinghy members. There are about 250 Crew members. The Club has a waiting list for docks, and there are only 10 available moorings. For non boat owners, the Club has a few good ways to start sailing. Racing is on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Cruising on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Crew members can join boats looking for crew. There is also a more expensive 'Shark Club' membership which allows for the use of Club owned boats. Most of the people visiting the booth were Club members, but we did have a few people interested in crew membership and one new boat owner.

One of my objectives for the Boat show was to get a sense of the economy. Boating should be one of the first items to be eliminated from the family budget. One significant development was the bankruptcy of one of the local yacht brokers. They still had a presence at the show, with the support of a boat manufacturer. Generally, I would say that traffic was poor for a late Sunday afternoon. My tour of exhibits was a quick visit to the Beneteaus. There are two new models, the '34' replaces the '343' and the '37' replaces the '373'. I didn't really like either. I would prefer a metal toe rail, the micro wave shouldn't encroach on the nav station, and the rotation of the galley sink makes it difficult to enter the salon when someone is washing up.

The Boat Show is a social event. It was a great opportunity to met people, mainly serendipitously. See you next year!