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.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Thursday, 23 July 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
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.
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.
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