After such a great performance in the summer season, I’ve got the idea to use the fall season to scramble the crew around so we all get a taste of other jobs on board. Tonight was the first crew scramble, and it gave Four Hands a chance to helm the boat. Wind was perfect, around 11 knots at the start, fading to around nine knots by the finish; nice and steady. We used #2 with a fair amount of backstay and outhaul at the outset, which we eased as the race progressed.
It was a wonderful August evening, warm sunshine with a fresh edge in the breeze. Just enough cloud cover to make a perfect sunset. A great night on the water. (and as I was not on helm, a great opportunity to look around and enjoy it!)
How did the crew make out in their new positions? No problem at all! Tacks were solid and kept getting more and more crisp each time. Hoist was clean. Jibe was perfect. Douse was efficient. Check it out for yourself.
A few details…
- Start was good, timed well, about mid-line in clear air
- Upwind we tacked several times to keep near the middle of the course — the rest of the fleet chose to sail further toward Burlington shore, which seems to have helped them.
- We got caught in the bad air behind Celtic Spirit, which cost us a bit
- We also misjudged the layline, which cost us two more tacks and a few more boat lengths
- Once we hoisted the spinnaker, we quickly overtook Battlewagon, who only had three crew on board, and left their kite below decks.
- Slowly we gained on Eclipse, but there was too much ground to make up, so we doused calmly and enjoyed the beautiful sailing to claim our third place finish.
Way to go Les!
Watch for more Crew Scramble reports in the coming races!