Threes Company means second best

When I arrived at the club there was very little wind. The forecast called for south west at 10 knots but that wasn't the reality. I loosened rig tension settings to 5 knots. However once we got clear of Ontario Place the wind was much brisker. The rig tension was tightened up to better reflect the actual wind speed of 15 knots.

We did a couple of wind checks. The readings were 210 and 199. The wind went back and forth all night. The RC set the course as 3 0 x 3. The windward mark bearing was 227, at 0.8 nautical miles. Port tack was favoured. We tried to do a port tack start but had to duck the starboard tackers. Unusually we were over early.

The fleet settled in. We were behind Threes Company all night. We owe them time with PHRF handcap. We rounded the upwind mark and headed back to leeward. We tacked away at the leeward mark but we we met again at the 2nd windward mark rounding and they were still a couple of boat lengths ahead. This pattern repeated for the next legs.

The winds died as we approached the finish. Notorious (in another division) caught us just before we finished. We had to gybe in order to keep in clear air. Threes Company was 1st; but we were ahead of 3rd place Jazz.

Link: RaceQs track

Holely Moly

Everyone was a bit late to arrive (except the skipper). I had the boat prepped for launch and even got the bilge pumped. Unfortunately I had forgotten about the lost shackle for the boomvang. We rearranged some shackles and eventually got things sorted. Given all this we were too late for a practice with the chute.

Dragon Lady was back in service. The start line was nicely set. There was an east wind at about 15 knots. Great seeing whisky back on the RC yardarm.

Unfortunately on the way out we noticed a hole in the genoa. I had not put the sail tape on board. There was no work around as there was with the shackle. A bit embarrassing; the boat seemed to handle OK.

We had a good start. There were boats to windward and we had to wait to tack back. That really wasn't a problem as there was a lift as we approached Ontario Place. We were first to the mark. We went deep downwind waiting for the others in our division to round the mark and commit to going on port or starboard gybe. I think this was a mistake; the boat was too slow sailing deep. Windburn caught up to us. We gybed south and crossed clear ahead; but had lost a lot. We gained some as we rounded the leeward mark; once again first.

On the second upwind leg we initially covered the J 22. They tacked to go on port but we elected to break cover and go on starboard. This was a good idea. We rounded the wind mark once again ahead.  We gained a lot on the J 22. On the downwind leg we gybed sooner and kept a hotter angle than on the first leg. Windburn may have made back some of what it lost on the 2nd upwind. We lead the fleet around the course; none of the later starters were able to catch up.

We finished as we should i e lowest PHRF boat first, but was it enough. We timed Windburn's finish and I wasn't optimistic (but still hopeful). Given the PHRFs we were either 1st or 5th.  It was 2nd (but Sirus wasn't scored).

I was happy that we handled the boat well. Helm needs to avoid the 5 degree lapses. We could do be closer to the start. I think we had good mark roundings,  hoists, and douses. Some more thought has to be given to downwind tactics. All in all a very enjoyable day.

After hauling out I found the sail tape. A holely sail is still a good sail with a good crew.

All good things come for those who wait out a rain delay

 

There was a major rain system that moved through in the afternoon, but the forecast was good for the race’s time period. When I arrived at the club there was increasing cloud. An isolated cell was over Malton and was making it ways towards Humber Bay. Various skippers and the PRO huddled around the computer monitor looking at a live radar feed. The decision was made to  go into AP.

The crew went to the bar and had a beer. The rain arrived and left. So go or no go? Go. We got the boat launched and set up stuff on our way to the course. Windburn was the only other boat in our division. I was worried that we would arrive at the start only to have no wind and things definitely cancelled. There was sufficient wind to start but not much more. The course was D 4.

The storm left a lot of chop and with the light wind we had a difficult time to make way. At the start, I wanted to avoid stalling by heading up before we had some speed. Things went well. We had sufficient speed to get ahead of Windburn and give her bad air.

The wind picked up nicely and we took off.  As lead boat we had to find the mark. The ipad with installed mark waypoints was very helpful. The downwind leg was too hot for a chute. There were good gusts; the boat apparently was sailing over 6 knots.

Annoyingly the compass would not stay on and a shackle broke on the boomvang.

I think we were a bit too fast for the RC. They had moved but not anchored. A finish or a leeward mark rounding? The committee boat being unanchored was increasingly favoured, but if this wasn’t a finish we would need to round the mark/pin. It became increasingly clear that it was most likely a finish so we bore away. Horn.

Our first bullet of the season!