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!