Tag: Old Race Reports

On Saturday we had our first regatta with the big genoa and symmetrical spinnaker, competing against a group of big boats including — in order of magnitude Sabotage (Viper 830), Starry Night (J44), Eclipse (41 feet), Code Secret (J35) and us.

It was a hot hot day, with strong sun beating down on us, made more intense by a very light breeze that changed direction  throughout the afternoon: the first race was set heading upwind toward the west, the second race had windward to the east, and the third race was southeast.

We got the spinnaker up and around and down without a hitch.  In fact, our hoists were flawless (see especially hoist #2), and I would say we have now figured this out.  Especially impressive with Fairlead and Lindsay on the foredeck — first time up there for both with the spinnaker pole.

But the highlight of the day was the hat trick.  On the first downwind leg of the first race, Nonsuch knocked is very new Tilley hat into the water.  Such a shame, such a nice hat, what a loss.  But on our second downwind leg of that race (about half an hour later), at about the same spot, we started to think about Mark’s hat again, and lo and behold, there it was, floating in the water a wee bit ahead and a wee bit to port.  A big hustle on board, and a slight change of course, and Nonsuch was re-united with his hat! (and the $20 inside, unless that was a finder’s fee :-))

How did we fair against such stiff competition in such flukey wind?  We managed to finish each race ahead of someone (2x Eclipse, 1x Code Secret), and even gave Starry Night a bit of a run for their money on the first race with the lightest wind.

Looking forward to our next regatta — fresh air, good company, great snacks and lots of laughs. Just a bit less heat and a bit more wind, please!

Yes, Lazy Sheet took a bath.  Calmly, I mentioned to Bob that I was experiencing a tad of weather helm, and calmly he eased the traveler.  And in that interval, the low side of the boat plunged happily beneath the surface, smothering our foresail trimmer in a cozy blanket of baywater.  Glancing casually at the sole of the cockpit, I observed four inches of water merrily draining away, and simply return my focus to steering.

And such was our adventure tonight.  Somehow, despite big wind, the big genoa, plenty of hanging on for dear life…somehow, we just stayed calm and rocketed around the bay, laughing at all the gusts.

Yes, we bent a stanchion.  Yes we nearly launched Four Hands (again), yes, the spinnaker pole hit the forestay (again), and yes we washed both sides of the deck.  And yes, IT WAS A BLAST!!!!  Did we make the right choice at the dock (installing the big jib)?  Maybe not, but it was so much fun!  Besides, although the wind was blowing and the gusts were strong, nature wasn’t nearly as angry as on Tuesday night — and there is only one way to find out:  try!

Not only was the wind intense, but the course was intense too.  Before the start, we had to go back to the committee boat for a second look to make sure we had it correct.  Yes, we did: three upwind legs, two downwind legs and a reach to boot.  Game on.  Ready. Set. Go!

[Check out the duel with battlewagon, here in square brackets]

We timed our start well, and got clear air around the middle of the line, charging away with just Sabotage (who else?) crossing our bow.  Up we went, heeling like crazy in the mad gusts, crossing the other boats until the windward mark.  Once again, we rounded last in our fleet, just astern of Sandpiper. [180m behind Battlewagon]

But once again our spinnaker made all the difference.  Tonight we were the only ones in our fleet brave (crazy) enough to fly our kite, cresting over 9.1 knots on the downwind leg, passing everyone.  We were the third to the leeward mark [35m ahead of Battlewagon].   The next tack was made especially for us:  a reach to mark number 7.  Lazy Sheet put into practice everything he learned on the weekend, and we added another 150m to our lead on Battlewagon [180m behind us].

Upwind again, we lost ground [now 120m behind Battlewagon], but this leg was exhilerating — check out the footage!

Hoist again for a longer run back to mark 12 and we surged ahead once more [now 110m ahead of Battlewagon].  Was it enough to cover them to upwind finish?  We were getting optimistic, especially when the had to dip us before the approach to the finish line, but the fickle wind in the home stretch was not on our side, and we were 60m behind Battelwagon when they finished.  Just six boat lengths.  Just ten seconds!

But never mind!  What a fantastic ride to remember — better than anything they offer at Canada’s Wonderland 🙂

(and we all know what Lazy Sheet is getting for a gag gift:  Soap on a rope, for his next bath onboard!

What a blast!  This was the biggest wind we’ve ever raced in, with gusts that were knocking boats over.  We stayed on our feet, but gave both sides of the deck a good rinse.

I don’t have video proof tonight — of all the nights to leave the camera off — but one scene should sum it up in your mind:  Mike McBrien wringing out his socks on the dock after the race!

The race was a bit messy, but the joy of speed and the intensity of being on the edge of control was absolutely thrilling.  We started with a reefed main and the little jib, which was a good configuration upwind, everything on the boat was as tight as possible to remove power — shrouds, backstay, halyards, outhaul, cunningham.  Even so, a big gust rounded us up just as we were approaching the start line.  Good thing we weren’t closer to the committee boat!  From there, boat speed was excellent, but every gust threatened to round us up into irons.  Gadget was in the zone tonight, instinctively anticipating each gust and depowering the mainsail in perfect rhythm with each gust, and powering up again with each lull.  I wish I had the film — picture easing and hauling constantly on each upwind leg.  He’ll sleep well tonight!

The rest of our fleet flew big jibs and most didn’t reef their mainsail, so it wasn’t much of a contest.  Just a joy ride for speed.  Even so, we were hunting them by the leeward mark — no one had their spinnakers up, and we shook out the reef in our mainsail.  On the second upwind leg, we were even faster but chose a slower side of the course, and just missed the layline for the mark, causing two extra tacks in shifting air that slackened just when we needed something more.

The last leg was a run, and we saw some spinnakers flying.  Kiwi got us ready, but then we saw some impressive gusts wreaking havoc, and left our kite in the bag.

After the finish line we powered up on a reach and hit 8.63 knots, burying the rail deep in the surf!

And that just about sums up this thrill ride!

Tonight was the windiest race of the season so far, so we opted for the #3 jib (100%) rather than the newly repaired genoa.  In hindsight, we could have carried the bigger sail and competed well with the rest of the fleet, but with the lighter artillery, we just couldn’t keep pace on the upwind legs.  Downwind we were fast, and made up a lot of distance, flying our big blue spinnaker in plenty of breeze.

It was a great night for working on our maneuvers.  We’ve got most of it down, but there were a few good lessons in there, that are captured in the highlight reel so we can all learn from them. And there are some fantastic moments to celebrate as well.  Check it out!

Our start was unexpectedly tight, as most of the fleet went for the pin end of the line, where the wind was stronger.  As a result, we ended up in a sandwich, almost (but not quite) able to push Eclipse over the line, and forced up a bit after the start as Sabotage climbed up over our bow.  We tacked away as soon as we could, to get some clear air and start sailing as quickly and as high as we could.  But with all the big boats flying their big jibs, we fell the back of the queue by the time we rounded the windward mark.  It was nice to see Battlewagon put in a great start and be amongst the first to round.

Our hoist was great, and we accelerated quickly, but somehow the guy became uncleated and the pole went forward to the forestay.  That was lesson #1.  A great stretch of tweaking our point of sail, the pole position and managing gusts, and then it was time to jibe.  Couple of lessons in there as the guy popped out of the pole, and then went all the way forward again.  But we’ve got it now:  cleat the guy, and when something goes wrong — ease the sheet until the guy is in the right spot.

Another great stretch and we were bearing down on Black Magic, Eclipse and Battlewagon at the first leeward mark!

Our douse was pretty smooth, all things considered.  Probably should have started a little earlier, since there was quite a bit of traffic.  As a result, we didn’t have time to get the jib out until we were rounding.  But the beauty was that by now we were just a few boatlengths behind our fleet — I love the new spinnaker!

With plenty of traffic, and better wind over to Hamilton side of the bay, we tacked as soon as we were ready, and started slipping a bit further behind our fleet on the next upwind leg.  Four hands repacked the bag in no time, and we were riding the gusts once again.  Did I mention the gusts?  Skootch was a busy boy easing the traveller, hardening the traveller, easing the main, hardening the main.  He reacted to every gust to keep us as flat as we could be, but there were exciting moments of whether helm that brought water into the cockpit, and there was even a moment when I grabbed Skootches pants to keep him from falling further to leeward.  PERSPECTIVE was a bucking bronco!

The next hoist was great, but we learned another lesson (the foreguy — aka pole down — lesson), and nearly launched FourHands in the process — good thing he has froggy feet that suction onto the deck :-).  That was quickly fixed and we blasted by Christephanie at the start of a long run downwind.  We found a lot of speed and Lazy Sheet and Afterguy really developed the feel for adjusting the pole position and the sheet tension as we would alternately sail a bit higher (for speed) and lower (toward the mark).  Our next jibe was really smooth, and showed just how quickly we are all learning.  I think the pit position really does need a few more arms!

By the second leeward rounding, we had once again caught up with our cohort — we were within a boat length of Black Magic as we doused in traffic and powered up quickly in pursuit, but the little jib was no match for the others.  The last upwind leg was a lot of fun, though, as we had plenty of traffic to cross (shaving them all close), and the setting sun created a gorgeous watercolour canvas to welcome us across the finish line.

This was a drag race all-right!  Results are in and three boats crossed the finish line within 24 seconds of each other, after over an hour of intense focus.  Happily, we were the first of those, to clinch a third place finish on a beautiful, balmy summer evening with wry breeze that was mostly strong, except when it took a siesta.

But this was not just a night of a photo finish, it was a comeback story with all the high drama that Hollywood does so well.  Here’s how it went down (check out the link to the RaceQs replay to see the whole race animated, including second-by-second display of speed, VMG, and analysis of every tack and jibe):

Our start was solid, maybe second over the line, but in good clear air.  Once again, we couldn’t point as high as some of the others, and we found ourselves astern of Sandpiper, then saw Top Gun cross our bow, Remarkable out point us, Eclipse pull of their lee bow maneuver successfully (again, sigh!), and even Battlewagon made it around the windward mark ahead of us.  At this point we were dead last, but we weren’t far behind any of them.  Upwind, our top boat speed was 6.8 knots — we were all flying, with plenty of heel.

(About the pointing — I think it is time to shorten the forestay a wee bit to reduce forestay sag)

Spinnaker time, and our hoist needed a little extra time to sort out some lines that went afoul.  Top Gun, Sandpiper and Eclipse extended their lead while Remarkable took some time to get set, and Battlewagon struggled as we did.  Once we filled and jibed, we were just a boatlength astern of Battlewagon, and the wind began to subside.

Slowly, slowly, we crept toward the Burlington shore, sailing a higher course than our fleet with a bit more boat speed, but wandering off uncomfortably far from the competition.  Top Gun, Sandpiper and Eclipse began to grow small in the distance, and our only hope seemed to be to outpace Battlewagon.  But then the wind began to fill again, we jibed and were the first to catch it!  Within minutes we were cruising along over seven knots of boat speed, closing down on Sandpiper and Eclipse.  By the time we doused and rounded, we were only a handful of boatlengths behind them.  Our top downwind speed was 8.7 knots!

Our douse wasn’t particularly pretty or efficient, but we were ready to jibe at the mark and power up, and this move made all the difference!  Eclipse and Sandpiper rounded ahead of us, very near to each other and got caught up in each others wind shadows.  As a result, they were slow to power up, but we hardened up quickly on the new course and closed the gap to just a few boat lengths at the start of the upwind leg.  The drag race was on!

Sandpiper tacked away early, found clear air and a solid mode.  They looked unstoppable, so we turned our attention to Eclipse and Remarkable.  Top boat speed upwind was an impressive 7.4 knots, which helped us keep pace with the bigger faster boats, and we chose our  tactics wisely to finish the race on a starboard tack.  It all paid off as we crossed the line a few boat lengths ahead of Remarkable, who was followed closely by Eclipse.  Top Gun and Sandpiper were ahead of us.  Battlewagon was a distant sixth.

High fives all around! The feeling among us was the  welcome exhaustion after an extended period of focus that paid off.  It’s hard to describe, somewhere between satisfaction and contentment, between pride and gratitude.  There is a joy of knowing we are in the hunt, that the new gear performs better than expected.  Even though we have many things we can improve, we are already participating in tactical duels with other boats in the fleet, and this is adding another dimension to the experience.  On a warm summer evening in late spring, it felt like the beginning of something grand.

Boy was this ever a busy night!  Plenty of breeze, a bit shifty, only one guy (person, not line) on the fore deck, and a triangle course with two laps.  That means 2x hoist, 2x jibe at the mark, 2x douse.  Squirrel sure earned his snack tonight!

And we were joined by special guest Bob Duggan (Induljence) who took care of mainsail trim and went forward for the spinnaker maneuvers. Thanks for the great tips, Bob, and for all the work on the pointy end of the boat.

But why do we call this race “Eclipsed?” ?  Well, when you watch the highlight reel you will see it.  On the first lap we fell prey to all their tactics — a lee bow, forced up while flying the spinnaker (they were flying their massive genoa), and getting stuck in their wind shadow every time we tried to pass them to leeward.  After the first douse we lost them, but by the end of the second lap, we were hunting them down to the finish line.  They crossed about 25 seconds before us.  Were we eclipsed?  It’ll be within seconds one way or another, after handicaps are applied.

It was also a night full of highlights:  7+ knots of speed, water over the rail, a fantastic start where we pulled away from the fleet, a breathtaking crossing within a meter of the stern of Black Magic (we never saw them again after that), and water over the rail!  Oh and it was the first race of the year in short sleeves and short pants…great to feel warm out there!

But it was a race won and lost by technical execution, and we’re just not ready yet to win that kind of duel.  The legs were so short there was barely a time for a breather, and each spinnaker maneuver cost us precious boat lengths.  Give us another month of experience and a full crew, and then let’s see how it goes!

But two weeks of racing, and we are still outpacing Battlewagon handily!  Sandpiper was also behind us at the finish.  Black Magic won the race, but were we second or third?  Only after the PHRF calculation will we know if we were eclipsed or not.

Yes it was a twitchy night.  First the start sequence got bungled and restarted, but by then we were confused and guessing.  Then a great big ship anchored in the bay made the first part of the downwind leg very strange.  Add a few lines in odd places on the spinnaker and we had a twitchy night.  Would I trade it for any other night?  Never!

In the end we sailed over 6 knots of boat speed both upwind and downwind in winds that rarely got over 7 knots.  When we found our mode, we were fast!

Final analysis:  we were fourth out of five boats (ahead of Battlewagon!).  Both Eclipse and Sandpiper put in great performances to finish ahead of us, as did Top Gun (of course).

Here’s how it went.

We got completely confused during the race start, when the committee boat started blowing extra horns.  They were following protocol for re-starting the start sequence, but since we didn’t know the protocol it was beguiling.  Thank goodness Kiwi clued into what was going on, and said “I think we have about two minutes”. That gave us enough presence of mind to put in two quick tacks, avoid a trap and burn some extra time.  Somehow, we put in an awesome start, about middle of the line in clear air.

But Top Gun had a strong mode well to windward of us, and seemed to be pointing a bit higher, with Sandpiper 5 boatlengths astern.  After a few minutes, we estimated that we could tack across Sandpiper’s bow — it was a close run thing, but we did clear, and a good thing too because we didn’t have right of way.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t caught on video — we barely cleared their bow!

So at this point we were in second place, but that didn’t last.  Eclipse had tacked early and found some wind none of us caught, and just before rounding the windward mark, Sandpiper had made up the distance, coming charging up to leeward of us to round ahead of us.  Game on!

(We never saw Eclipse again, and they earned the gun.  And I have a suspicion we were faster on port-tack than on starboard.  Time to re-measure the mid and lower shrouds to make sure we’re getting enough mast sag to leeward)

But Sandpiper was slick.  A jibe-set on their first race of the year!  Our lads had the spinnaker up quicker than them, but our bear-away set sailed us toward the wind shadow of the big freighter in the middle of the bay.  Final analysis showed that Sandpiper’s decision  was the better one:  to jibe first and then hoist.  Kudos to them….we never caught up.

Our jibes were good opportunities to learn (read: strange things happened), but we kept ourselves ahead of Battlewagon and found a great mode after the second jibe — over six knots of gurgly water speed heading straight to the mark.

A very smooth dowse, jibe while rounding and we were away and flying to the finish line on one tack with a solid lead over Battlewagon.  For the third race of the year, I’m thrilled with how much went right while we were out there.  You could hear the gears of everyone’s brains learning!

But of course, with The Cunning Ham on snack duty, we promptly forgot about all that and enjoyed an impressive epicurean spread.  As Spring has reluctantly begun, none of us were shivering, and we lingered long under a twighlight sky.  See ya on Thursday!

What a great night! What a great crew! What a great result!

This whole race was tremendous fun.  There were only two of us in the fleet tonight, so it ended up as a match race between PERSPECTIVE and Battlewagon, and it started out as a tough battle on the upwind leg, but some good decisions, great maneuvers, terrific focus from everyone and a massive lift made all the difference.

Here’s how it went.

At the start, I thought we were in trouble, coming to the line on a beam reach with Battlewagon coming up quickly to leeward to close the door on us at the committee boat.  Only at the last moments did I realize there was room for us so we hardened up and went for the line, crossing just one boatlength behind Battlewagon, and to windward.  Not bad timing, but a horrible position as we were stuck with them at our lee-bow, a notorious spot of bad air.

We tacked away quickly to escape the lee-bow, but Battlewagon responded immediately to cover us.  Even though we put in a crisp tack, they were just as nimble, and we were in their wind shadow again.  Time to try a page out of all that winter reading:  we sailed a slightly lower course to go a tiny bit faster and sure enough we pulled forward out of their shadow into clear air when we could harden up again.  The intensity on the boat was palpable as we tweaked everything to get every last ounce of boat speed.  But it paid off in spades when we pulled far enough ahead to tack across Battlewagon’s bow.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget that sequence.  Full credit to the crew for really crisp tacking with the new big genoa (first time out with the big sail!).

And then something marvelous happened.  Battlewagon held their line, hoping to tack on the layline for the windward mark, but as we split away from them, we began to notice boats ahead of us getting lifted.  Sure enough it began to happen to us, and the lift progressed until we could pinch our way to the windward mark, cutting off a huge corner of the course, and avoiding two extra tacks.  This sequence put Battlewagon quite a way in our rear view mirror as we approached the windward mark.

Still plenty of time to blow it though, and it was time for the spinnaker hoist.  By now, we were all pretty keyed up, but managed to keep calm and sail on.  Four hands and Squirrel got the spinnaker bag attached, the pole hoisted, and sure enough, the chute went up clean first time!  There was certainly a lot of chaos in the cockpit as we fumbled around sorting out which was the guy and which was the sheet, but once the jib was furled and the guy was cleated, we found a good mode, sailing a hotter angle than the other boats heading downwind.  Soon an end-to-end jibe that was almost flawless, and once again we were on the line to the mark.  We tweaked the pole position and found ourselves on a broad reach going over six knots.

At the leeward mark we gave ourselves a bit of time to douse, and it all went flawlessly.  Then we opened up the jib and started gobbling up sharks on the way to the finish line, riding that same awesome lift all the way to the finish line after just one tack.  The sound of the gun as we crossed the line was a great reward for a great crew, and further confirmation that all the adjustments are paying off.

The spirit on board was ebullient as we cracked a cold one and toasted each other on a job well done, especially up there on the foredeck. And three cheers for the wind and weather: no thunderstorms, only a few drops of rain, and what threatened to be a drifter turned out to be a thrilling night on the water!