Arrgh! Beaten by the Commodore!

We are talking about seriously light winds here folks. In the first race, I fell behind on the first upwind leg. Staying ahead of Cameron only because he bumped my boat and had to do a penalty turn. He had been blanketing me and hindering my attempt to catch up with Kevin. I roared past Kevin on the downwind leg by paying attention to the shifts and being very still in my boat. On the last leg, from #2 to the finish line, it got interesting with random puffs that found some sailors and not others. Kevin gained back some ground as I gybed in vain, trying to keep up with the shifts. So it was neck in neck to the finish line. I had the inside position and made sure I headed Kevin up. He didn't take evasive action early and was pushed outside so I made it over the line a few boat lengths ahead. I don't recall exactly where the boats were at the two boat length circle, but I should remember that at the finish, a boat can ask for buoy room. In this case, it wasn't asked for and I think it was because Kevin was too far upwind for it to matter.

In the second race, the barge end was highly favoured at the start (the line was parallel to the wind direction). I got there a little too early, slowed down, and then couldn't get the boat going again for the start. It was a short race to #1 and back so there was no opportunity to make up for lost time.

In the third race, Kevin and I were neck in neck most of the way. He beat me to the upwind mark as he had the windward position for that leg. I passed him on the downwind and was headed to a win by several boat lengths at the finish. I looked back and saw Kevin heading up to windward instead of directly to the line. I knew he was going there because that was where the wind puffs seemed to begin. I thought about heading up also, but decided the extra distance might not be worth it if a puff didn't materialize. Wrong, wrong, wrong. A strong puff came in, hit Kevin first and by the time it reached me, we were crossing the line with Kevin inches ahead. Ouch.

Today was mostly about tactics and strategy. There was also a fair bit of luck involved for all of us. Finally, it seems that Kevin has a bit of an edge in upwind boat speed in the light air. I need to work on that.

Glenmore Sailing Club
Regattas 2007
Mid-Summer - Laser Radial

Back to Regatta

Laser Radial Fleet Summary (no drops)
	Points	Place	Boat
	4	1	98117 Kevin Brown
	5	2	184626 Kate Easton
	10	3	157871 Cameron Bellavie
Race #1 Wind: 0 knots
	Ordinal	Points	Boat
	1	1	184626 Kate Easton
	2	2	98117 Kevin Brown
	DNF	4	157871 Cameron Bellavie
Race #2 Wind: 0 knots
	Ordinal	Points	Boat
	1	1	98117 Kevin Brown
	2	2	184626 Kate Easton
	DNS	3	157871 Cameron Bellavie
Race #3 Wind: 0 knots
	Ordinal	Points	Boat
	1	1	98117 Kevin Brown
	2	2	184626 Kate Easton
	DNS	3	157871 Cameron Bellavie

*Dropped from Regatta.
s Dropped from Series.
abc Dropped from A,B,or C scoring group.

I am not the Wabajinx!

Bill Plaxton and I arrived on Thursday night hoping to catch some coaching with Lawrence Lemieux on Friday. The birds woke us at 5am Friday to announce that there was no wind. Lawrence didn't come. Peter hosted a great discussion on what the others had learned from Lawrence on Wednesday and Thursday. Shooting the mark, sailing in waves, and luffing rights were amongst the points discussed.

As I was complaining about the lack of wind EVERY time I come to Wabamun, James Brown pointed out that maybe I'm the jinx. Thankfully, the wind picked up in the afternoon, proving that I am not the jinx. We got in a good training sessionwith Mark Bugiak, paused for dinner and trained some more with Zach Grove. Saturday had me wondering again if I was the jinx. Enough wind for a race and a bit in the morning (course shortened on Race 2). The afternoon was spent reading at the clubhouse. After a wonderful and filling steak dinner, the wind picked up and a bunch of us dragged our full bellies out on the water. On Sunday, I would have abandoned had I been race committee. I think others thought the same, as most of us were late to the start line for Race 3.

Wabamun Sailing Club 2007 Sailweek Regatta
Results are final as of 20:31 on July 23, 2007
OverallRace 1
Wind strength: Force 2-3
Race 2
Wind strength:0-1
Race 3
Wind Strength: 0-1
Race 4
Wind Strength: 0-1

Wabamun

My first time sailing on Wabamun was supposed to be Saturday. A few drifts of wind brought our hopes up early Saturday morning; however, they had disappeared completely by 10am, the official start time. Red and White stripes up all day. I was informed that Wabamun translates to "looking glass". Why didn't someone tell me this before we drove up? Wabamun was certainly living up to its name. Baking hot all day with glassy water. Of course, a tantalizing breeze came up just as we began to eat lunch and disappeared just as we finished lunch.

Day 2: Up awfully early in hope of catching the morning thermals. The thermals slept in. Shortly after 9am, they began to drift in and we drifted out onto the lake. We all had one race, with the Radials and Bytes the last to start. The wind lasted long enough for us to do the first sausage of the course and then it died. As we drifted towards the reach mark, a boat appeared flying our class flags and the white flag with blue square: shortened course. I finished 9th, inches behind the 8th place boat and perhaps a boat length behind 7th place. I had a very good start. I was out in front and pulling ahead. The trick was that I couldn't tack And then I didn't tack. It seems the others found a slightly more favourable drift of wind. I need to work on the reach. I think with a few small adjustments, I could have caught at least one boat.

2007 Wabamun Sailing Club Open

Laser Radial                        
    Sail no  skipper                  1     Total

  1 182382   Sarah Hornett            1       1.0
  2 1        Melanie Grell            2       2.0
  3 185505   Robin Stubbs             3       3.0
  4 187867   Elisha Allen             4       4.0
  5 188901   Alexa Kenny              5       5.0
  6 178562   Zoe Lewis                6       6.0
  7 189805   Liam Quinlan             7       7.0
  8 187302   Dominque Grell           8       8.0
  9 184626   Kate Easton              9       9.0 

More Mistakes

Wednesday night at Glenmore:
Peter, Kate, Lizzie, Nick and Sean in Radials

Race 1 : (315) not a great start - mid line, not at highly favoured barge end. Was neck in neck with Lizzie for a bit, but pulled ahead on the reach from 1 to 5. Didn't catch Peter.

Race 2 (315) Over early. Would have been a great start! I ducked the line and then worked really hard to catch people. Caught the boys easily, worked at it and caught Lizzie later. Was gaining on Peter in the last upwind by working hard at adjusting to changes in wind strength and paying attention to my ticklers.

Race 3 (3636) start/finish line an obstruction. Great start. Was kicking butt on the upwind. Pulling ahead of Peter inch by inch. I was close to Bill too. Near the windward mark I tacked. My lifejacket got caught on the boom and I got dumped! Crap! Not only was it freezing but 4 or 5 boats passed me. I got him back up and moving pretty quickly. I then spent the rest of the race trying to catch everyone that passed me when I fell in. I caught Terry (full rig) and Lizzie but I didn't catch Peter. So disappointing! I wanted to see if I could hold or build that lead on the downwind. It is possible to beat him, but I have to have a perfect race. Perfect start, smooth roundings, top boat speed.

Race 4 (6s1s6p) a downwind start. Nasty mark roundings. dinged in the head by Peter's boom. Was ahead of everyone except Seamus and Elliot, then took the last rounding too wide because of a wind shift. Peter got round tight and pulled ahead. Terry came round and prevented me from tacking. This slowed me down and threw me a bit. It took me a little to realize I hadn't put the vang on or gone block to block. In the end, pulled ahead of Terry, Bill got me by a boat length because I had to duck him just before the finish. Peter beat me no problem.

Second radial in every race. I can beat Peter, I just need to visualize the perfect race and sail it.

Outta Control on a Death Roll

Finally some decent wind! I put work higher on my priority list than sailing today and was an hour late for practice. I should try not to do that again. Somebody needs to set an example for the team. I should show them how to rig faster too.

It was gusty tonight, but not too shifty. We tacked on the whistle for quite some time- Cameron, Dan, and I. I was gaining on them, especially Cameron. Kelsey said that it was because I was tacking smoothly. Dan certainly had me beat on boat speed. I was overpowered and he was wishing he had a full rig. What I need to work on here is remembering to sheet out a little to flatten the boat quickly. Also, when sheeting back in, I tend to want to reach into the boat to grab the sheet. This way I get a good pull in a position where my arms are strong. It is a very bad habit because the boat heels again when I reach in. Not fast. I must work on the overhead pull, maybe in lighter winds to gain strength first.

What goes up must come down.The wind seemed to pick up further for the downwind with some outrageous gusts. This time gybing on the whistle, which, to be honest, scared me. I did the first few successfully. I remembered to do an S turn and steer as the sail comes across. Then on one gybe things got violent. The mainsheet slipped out of my hand. The sheet was tied to the hiking strap but it was too long and the sail went in front of the mast. Fionnlagh rocked wildly, gunwale to gunwale, pitching forward. Death roll. I managed to grab the mainsheet between the cockpit block and the turning block on the boom. I hauled it in and Fionnlagh stopped the Death Roll. I was still wildly out of control. Dan was in front of me Somehow, he came out of his gybe on a reach, and was at about 90 degrees to me. Fionnlagh was surfing straight for Dan. I was trying to regain control but this all happened in a few seconds. After grabbing the mainsheet, the first thing I saw was the port side of Dan's transom and little hope of avoiding a nasty collision. But Fionnlagh came through for me, with his bow leaping into the air, over Dan's rudder. Yes, OVER the rudder. The timing was absolutely perfect. Dan's boat sailed out of the way just in time and his rudder never made contact with Fionnlagh's hull. "Oh my God!" Kelsey was freaking out in the coach boat about how close that was. I had other things to worry about.

You'd think I would learn. A few gybes later, I dropped the mainsheet again. Lucky for Dan he was aft this time. The nearest object was the barge. Wild rolling. At least I was well positioned in the cockpit with inside leg hooked under the hiking strap and outside leg forward with knee bent, facing the boom. Which by this point was waving all over the place. I grabbed the mainsheet and pulled. Wow. No capsize. GUST! Rock and roll. We are surfing! It felt highly unstable. Pull on the rudder. I didn't feel too comfortable heeling to windward to reduce the pull, but it didn't take much. It was very hard to hold. Fionnlagh tended to heel even farther in the gusts, carving through the water. We carried on like this and ran into the bay. I'm not sure I've ever gone that fast on a run. I probably did in Vic, but this felt much wilder.

Kelsey reminded me at the dock that I should take two big pulls going into the gybe and that might smooth things out a bit.

Icebreaker Results

Preliminary Regatta Results for Fleet = Laser Radial

Sailed:7, Discards:1, To count:6, Ratings:USPN 96.7, Entries:14, Scoring system:IceBreaker Sailing Instructions

	Rank			SailNo	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Total	Nett
	1st			189805	Quinlam, Liam	1.0	2.0	1.0	(9.0)	1.0	2.0	5.0	21.0	12.0
	2nd			187302	Grell, Dominiue	2.0	7.0	3.0	6.0	3.0	3.0	(12.0)	36.0	24.0
	3rd			185505	Stubbs, Robin	6.0	1.0	5.0	(7.0)	5.0	6.0	4.0	34.0	27.0
	4th			184536	Harrison, Luke	9.0	3.0	6.0	1.0	(11.0)	9.0	1.0	40.0	29.0
	5th			182363	Weldon, Mike	8.0	6.0	(DNC)	3.0	9.0	1.0	2.0	44.0	29.0
	6th			187867	Allen, Elisha	7.0	(8.0)	4.0	8.0	2.0	5.0	8.0	42.0	34.0
	7th			1	Grell, Melanie	5.0	10.0	8.0	2.0	7.0	(12.0)	7.0	51.0	39.0
	8th			43587	Reichenfeld, Lesley	4.0	9.0	(DNC)	5.0	8.0	7.0	6.0	54.0	39.0
	9th			184626	Easton, Kate	3.0	4.0	10.0	4.0	(13.0)	10.0	10.0	54.0	41.0
	10th			185531	Saunders, Michael	10.0	5.0	2.0	(12.0)	12.0	8.0	9.0	58.0	46.0
	11th			182382	Hornett Sarah	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	10.0	4.0	4.0	3.0	66.0	51.0
	12th			178562	Lewis, Zoe	12.0	(15.0 DNF)	7.0	13.0	6.0	13.0	11.0	77.0	62.0
	13th			18	Kenny, Alexa	11.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	10.0	11.0	(13.0)	78.0	65.0
	14th			177419	Neely, Iain	13.0	12.0	9.0	(14.0)	14.0	14.0	14.0	90.0	76.0

Sail into the sunset

Light winds. Practiced roll tacks. Must remember to hold mainsheet at chest level and release slightly when leveling. Rolling was good. Kinda fun to throw my shoulders back and watch for the main sail to start falling. Practiced gybes. I'm terrible at gybing in these really light winds. I need tips.

Head to head with Peter

Get your head in the game. Roll tacks were terrible this morning. I wasn't focussed. I got into it later in the morning as Peter and I sailed up the lake and back to do some speed work.
Keep the blocks in the corner - Peter gained speed in the light winds because his sail was at a better angle. He made sure the blocks were in the corner. As I eased the mainsheet a little to power up, the blocks moved in a couple inches on the traveller. I need to push them back out. Consider a low profile tiller - allows the traveller to be tighter.

Light, light winds tonight. Late for the start by at least 6 minutes. (52 Port) Passed 2 Bytes (Chris and Elliot). Was catching up to Liz and Kevin, but didn't quite make it. Finished the first race 1 minute behind Liz (4th Radial?).

(4141 Port) Second Race - got a really good start. I sat just behind the line with about 30 seconds to go. At 10 seconds I sheeted in, rolling to leeward and then flattening. The roll could use some work. After we crossed the start, Bill tacked in under me and didn't leave me room to keep clear. I ended up ducking him. I passed on a protest. For the first little while on the upwind, Peter was gradually pulling away. I was neck in neck with Kevin and Lizzie. I pulled ahead before the first mark (#4). I held the lead and built on it on the second trip to mark #1. In the end it was Peter, me, Kevin, Lizzie.

What was the key? Paying attention to the slightest changes in wind. The wind indicator was handy for picking up some serious changes in wind direction. With such light winds, the vane was the only way to tell. Staying still and moving gracefully in the boat (think ballet, may I have this dance, Fionnlagh?). Steering by heeling. Tacking slowly, rolling properly. I did lose some ground on the first leg of the second race because the lifejacket was catching on the mainsheet again. In the lightest air, keeping the sail trim, not baggy. Not pinching on the upwinds. Watching the wind patterns on the lake and using them to decide where to tack. Trying to stay free of the cover of San Juans.

First Wednesday night for the GSC Radial Fleet

I've been getting psyched up for tonight since Monday when I found out who the competition is this year. Lizzie is back but still getting warmed up as this is only her second night on the water this year. New guy Sean is to be watched but no threat at the moment. The big challenge is that ASA Head Coach Peter has moved over from the Fireball fleet into a Radial. Before I knew he was doing this, my goal was to win Wednesday nights. That is still the goal but it will be even more challenging now. Unless Kelsey is right and Peter's "old man moves" hold him back.

First race is 214214. I got off to a great start, neck in neck with Dave and ahead of Bill. Port end was favoured and I crossed on starboard and then tacked onto port. Peter was matching speed with me but seemed to be headed for Mark #3. Maybe he was playing with the idea of not tacking on headers to see where he ended up. Lizze was late crossing. I found out later that Sean capsized a few times after launching and was to cold to continue. Hopefully we'll see him next week.

The first leg was awesome. I was staying ahead of Bill for quite some time (a feat, considering he has a full rig). Dave and Bill both pulled ahead of me at the first mark. I was well ahead of Peter and Lizzie at this point. On the downwind they made up some ground but didn't catch me. I had a good gybe round #1 and then realized that it might have been better not to gybe and sail by the lee instead. Bill was sailing by the lee and Dave was not. It didn't make much difference in their speed. Around #4 I wasn't as quick sheeting in as I should have been. Still as I began the upwind and Peter approached the mark, I had to say "hurry up, Peter!". And hurry up he did.

In the end, Peter beat me in both races. I'd like to say I was a close second, but I was several boat lengths behind. Generally racing better than last year. I lost it tonight blowing tacks in the higher winds. I didn't handle the variable wind strength very well. In the lighter puffs I wasn't quite rolling enough on the tacks. In the heavier gusts I wasn't getting the boat flat fast enough. Several times I was tipped over enough that water was starting to enter the cockpit. Not fast. I need to work on the mental game. I know how to tack in both conditions, but I get messed up when it's variable. Plus with the water being as cold as it is, I'm still a little chicken on the roll tacks.

Little Bow Reservoir - S.A.L.S.A. camp

Sunglasses were mandatory for this trip. The glare from endless fields of snow on the way out there was blinding. From the causeway, Glenmore looked frozen solid and covered in snow. The weaselhead was opening up so hopefully it will clear by May 1. I drove past Chestermere to pick up Simon on the way out. Chestermere is liquid but the water level looks low. The drive was about 2.5 hours, including the stop at Chestermere. Very good roads, except the last 1.5 km was muddy and slick.

If you look at the horizon in the pictures, you will see a white line- snow covered hills. The morning was chilly with a decent breeze. I was apprehensive. A new lake, cold weather, shifty winds. Even though this was my 14th day on the water in 2007, it felt like the first. RVYC has become a place that I am comfortable sailing and the prairie winds feel different.

Pirates!

This morning we reached back and forth around two marks to practice roundings. It was a pretty busy course and as a result, I often turned in a bit of a panic to avoid other boats. The winds were super light so avoiding other boats with grace took serious advance planning. Other boats aren't very predictable either. Things I forgot to do:
- turn slowly
- full roll tacks and gybes
- gybe with sail about halfway out for best lift when rolling.
- steer with the body, not the rudder

The second drill was the paper clip drill. Three marks - two upwind, one downwind. Similar practice on mark rounding with extra challenge on the downwind mark as boats entered from two directions.

After a quick lunch we were back out again but the wind was dying. I practiced roll tacks on the way out. Remember to face forward. Turn the tiller hand to grab the rail and the tiller to pull the boat over. It is very hard to level slowly when there is no wind.

When the wind died completely, we played with the boats. Get the stern out of the water, get the bow out of the water, climb the mast, do a 360 race (capsize, turtle, right on the other side), get centreboard out of the water without getting wet. Some of the guys were able to tack the boat standing on the boom at the mast. I should have tried the lamba dance. This is done for more wind. A head stand in front of the mast, facing forward. After this, chaos reigned. Pirates were capsizing boats. People screamed when they saw them coming and again as they fell into the cold water. They tried to sink a laser by having a lot of people sit on the turtled hull. It stayed afloat, but just. Then the crowd boarded a byte with enough weight to sink it to the gunwales. Some of the pirates had the sense to capsize their boats before going after others. Some didn't and their boats sailed slowly around as if ghosts were driving. I herded a few to keep them from heading to the rocks.

The story was that wind was coming. 25 knots in Haro Straight. It was taking a long time coming. At 2:30 we headed in. I was drifting along fishtailing my rudder for propulsion when a 29er came up behind me. The boys were planning to flip me. I got onto the bow and started paddling with my arms. Off like a rocket! The 29er boys gave up. I paddled all the way back to dock. The water is freezing cold. I don't know how the kids played in it for so long.

Fingers crossed for more wind tomorrow.

Blah, blah, blah

I have stood here before inside the pouring rain. Last time there was wind. Lots of it. Today the water was like glass or, for those on the inside, like Chestermere. Rig but don't change was the call. Be ready if the wind comes, but don't get itchy sitting around in your gear.

We gathered in the sail hanging area. Peter talked about a few things. Brady's experience being rammed at CORK. What to do when on port tack and unsure if you can pass in front of a boat on starboard tack?
1. Cross - Are you feeling lucky? Risk a protest. Most boats won't ram you. It is quicker for them to duck and protest. If it is really close, you might be able to squeak out an extra couple inches by turning around the bow of the starboard tack boat.
2. Duck- This must be decided early - 5 boat lengths away. Ducking will lose you 2 boat lengths. If done right, you can cut that down to 1.5. The idea is to duck early enough so that when you cross the transom of the starboard tack boat you are close hauled and can get a lift from him.
3. Tack - if you lee bow him, this can be an advantage. Also, by sailing up a bit, you can force him to tack away.

Race preparation was also discussed. The usual stuff- eating well, sleeping well, checking your gear, boat, and rig. An interesting discussion on getting in the right frame of mind. Different people have different strategies. Some have music, some talk to others, some keep to themselves. What works for me?

At new lakes I always talk to people. That is mostly to allay fears of Loch Ness Monster type creatures that may reside in the lake. At Glenmore on Wednesday nights, I get there at the last minute, change and rig as quickly as possible. Rigging fast does seem to get me focussed. It helps me to feel confident in high winds to know that I have checked my rig carefully.

I listen to music in the car on the way there. I would like to make a few CDs for this. Geoff recommends slow music like Imagine for light winds, Bob Marley for medium, and Boston for high. Not bad, but I think I'll make my own selections. John Johnson was helping at the last camp, but only certain songs. The key is not to get over hyped and unfocussed. While hiking, I like to sing "Walking that fine line, between the wind and the sea, smoke and the steel, you and me" (Tom Cochrane and Red Rider).

The younger kids were getting wrangy. Lunch time. Excellent soup as usual and an interesting chicken/ avocado wrap. A breath of wind was imagined at the mouth of the bay. Coach Nigel went out in the coach boat to check. He reported back that the water was glassy as far as the eye could see. The other coaches went through the options:
1. Send everyone out and hope that enough wind appeared
2. Go to the museum (the only thing worse than having 20 kids running around the sailing club grounds is...)
3. Go swimming (many are unprepared for this as we aren't talking skinny dipping)
4. Go running (we just ate)

We had no choice. They sent everyone to the change room with instructions to be on the water in 15 minutes. This was a bad idea. The women's change room is grossly undersized and sadly much smaller than the mens. I was the third one through the door and the first one back out changed. It was chaos in there. Neoprene everywhere.

Three Laser guys were on the water when I launched. There was enough wind to drift out of the harbour between the rock and the boats. Fortunately it was a SW wind so no tight tacks required.

There was a lot of slow sailing. Tips:
Remember to sit forward- on the centerboard
Sailing upwind, heel slightly to leeward to allow the sail to drop and stay in position.
Upwind- flatten the sail out in severly light winds to allow the boat to get moving- block to block, snug vang, loosen main about a foot out from corner of transom. Outhaul tight. Cunningham- well now, that's top secret :)

We played around in circles for a while on a triangle course. Great practice for mark roundings. The course was tiny and there were a lot of boats. Getting on the inside definitely pays, but it isn't easy. After sending us out further upwind to work on speed, we were towed back in. The miniscule bit of wind that had propelled us for over an hour was gone.

Good Friday

Sunshine and wind this morning! Talk of 25 knots but I don't want to believe it. I'm rigged and ready to go at 9:35. The others are not. The 9 am briefing was at 10am. Then on the water by 10:15. We're not to come in for lunch until 1:30. The wind is stronger than yesterday but from the same direction with similar shifts and gusts.

Peter focussed on tacking at the briefing. Back foot over hiking strap. Take the mainsheet to the chest. Turn the rudder slowly. Face forward. Duck. Bring the mainsheet to the block (easing it). Tiller hand to the gunwale. Get across and level the boat. Switch hands on the main and tiller. Sheet in. I worked on this.

The first drill was windward/ leeward tacking and gybing. Must remember to loosen cunningham on the downwind legs. Remember position in boat. Outside foot at the front of the cockpit, knee bent. Inside foot tucked back under the hiking strap. Kinda like being in the blocks on a track. Ready to move forward, backwards, side to side. Shoulders square with the boom.

Then we did this crazy drill with 3 marks. It's like windward/ leeward except that you have to 360 every mark. Deadlier than death circles. Especially at the middle mark - boats entering from two directions.

Today I was hit a lot. Bang! Wham! Bump! The coaches saw enough hits that they were asking if there was anyone who hadn't hit me. Brady, Scott, Geoff, and a few others. The coaches also said the hits they saw were not my fault. True as it is, it reveals a few things. Some of the worst hits I didn't see coming. Like when Scott rammed me port side aft. It's not much consolation that it was his fault. His mainsheet got caught on my boat, turned his boat, and then mine capsized. I climbed over the top, but not quick enough. Fionnlagh turtled. I got wet righting him. The moral of the story is: keep my head out of the boat. If I'd seen him coming I could have yelled "Starboard" and hopefully avoided the whole situation. I didn't see Brady coming either but there were a lot of boats going into a mark rounding and I'd just come out of a tack to starboard. On a happier note, the hits also reveal that I'm not straggling behind the group anymore, that I'm stepping into the fray.

Easter Camp at Royal Vic

I am seriously travel weary when I get here. Nine flights in two weeks. This is city number 7. The airport was a mess this morning in Calgary. Long weekend travelers. Line-ups at the Park & Jet, huge line at baggage drop, and an enormous line at security. 10 minutes until my flight boards and there is a 40 minute line at security. I march past hundreds of people in search of a place near the front to butt in. There is a young woman traveling alone. No problem. Except for the problem of why she was a good choice. But this is a sailing blog. Not much sleep last night. Maybe 4 hours.

It was a beautiful day for sailing. It was cool in the morning, but probably 5 degrees warmer than the February mornings. I have a new Rooster main to try out. Although it seems quite similar to the original main, I like it better because it is tricolour (blue with red and yellow). The old one was evil red and black. I also have new paddling gloves from MEC. I'm hoping both that they will be warmer and that I will be able to grab lines off the deck with ease.

The wind is coming from the NE. Zoe has a difficult time tacking out of the harbour between the Big Rock and the boats. I'm nervous about it too, but out I go. No problem, just a lot of quick tacks and no room for mistakes. Plus you have to be willing to sail awfully close to the rock.

We started with windward/ leeward work. What did I learn?
- when rounding the windward mark, heel the boat to windward to help with the turn.
- play with the vang on the downwind leg. It's not set right until the leach is flipping slightly when by the lee.

We also practiced starting and stopping.
- to stop quickly: head up and then back the sail briefly. Ensure the vang is loosened before doing this.
- starting- the roll is critical

The wind was just right today. Not too heavy, but enough to be hiking some of the time. I felt like I got the start right once. Sheet in, allowing the boat to heel to leeward. Then flatten to accelerate, sheet in fully and tighten the vang.

After lunch we had a few short races. I was sailing well. I had one really good start. I dodged down the line after the port tackers took my spot and came into a hole with enough speed that I got clear air.

I'm so exhausted that I'm sure I've forgotten many important parts of the day. Finished up with drinks at the clubhouse followed by a late dinner at the Carriage House with some of the coaches. Must sleep.

Frozen Assets Part 2

Radial Fleet

Sailed:6, Discards:1, To count:5, Ratings:USPN, Entries:6, Scoring system:My scoring system

Rank	Fleet	Boat	SailNo	Helm	Crew	USPN	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total	Nett
1st	Radial		182725	Karl Jenson			1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	(2.0)	7.0	5.0
2nd	Radial		178861	Robert Berry			3.0	2.0	(8.0 DNC)	2.0	2.0	1.0	18.0	10.0
3rd	Radial		129277	Charlie Simpson			2.0	(7.0 DNS)	2.0	3.0	4.0	3.0	21.0	14.0
4th	Radial		184626	Kate Easton			(7.0 DNF)	7.0 DNS	3.0	4.0	3.0	4.0	28.0	21.0
5th	Radial		185559	Max Brown			(8.0 DNC)	8.0 DNC	4.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	37.0	29.0
6th	Radial		112284	Amanda Hind			(8.0 DNC)	8.0 DNC	8.0 DNC	6.0	5.0	5.0	40.0	32.0

The chart below shows wind speed and direction with the times I was sailing highlighted in red. This is measured at Discovery Island which is between Cadboro Bay and the Straight. Wind conditions in the bay may have been slightly different. RVYC had a wind measurement at the outer edge of the harbour. I can confirm that it registered winds up to 36 knots on Saturday so the bay conditions weren't much different! Interesting to note that the CYA Gold VII (the highest level in the Learn to Sail standard) requires sailing in winds up to 23 knots. I guess everything else is optional! I've only achieved Bronze IV which requires sailing in winds up to 14 knots. Note the charts are easier to see if you double click them. The second chart is temperature. Over my time in Victoria the temperature ranged from 4 to 13 C. No wonder I couln't feel my feet half the time!

WOW - Frozen Assets Regatta Day 1

Forecast: Gale Warning Continued

For all you non-nautical types a gale means wind speeds over 34 knots (>60 km/hr). My mom gets nervous going out in a keelboat in a small craft warning (>25 knots). Not that I wasn't terrified at the thought of going out in 30+ knots in an itsy, bitsy, very tipsy Laser Radial (sorry Fionn, I do love you).

Skipper's meeting at 11:45am with the first race scheduled to start at 1pm. This meant being on the water by 12:30 at the latest. Between 9 and 10am, I was driving along the coast- Dallas Road, Beach Drive. The idea was to take a good look at the weather coming across the straight. The result was that I watched very big waves crashing violently on the shore, on lighthouses, on islands, and rocks. I also saw 5 windsurfers at Willows screaming along (and falling in). Strangely, this increased my excitement and only made me a little more scared. Maybe I did lose my mind some time back...

Anyway, at the skipper's meeting they said they would put the AP flag up. This meant a half hour postponement. Tricky. All of the kids got their gear on anyway, most of the grownups didn't. I was debating but decided to hold off. I wasn't going to be the first one out there anyway! It takes about half an hour to dress, finish rigging and get on the water. They were waiting until the winds were sustained below 25 knots.

We watched Volvo racing videos on YouTube. Then I went and hung with the coaches for a bit and caught up on the should we or shouldn't we go out discussion. Race committee said if it hadn't calmed down by 2pm, they would call it off for the day. Coaches and kids migrated to the junior room. We chattered about boats and partners for doublehanded sailing and Olympic campaigns. At 1:50pm Geoff and Phil were getting restless and wanted to go out. Coach Steve was saying that if they called the race off, we would go out anyway for the practice. Steve then went to see if they had called it yet.

Steve reached the race committee member just as he was walking to the flag pole to raise the A flag to postpone all races until Sunday. The flag was not raised. In fact the AP flag was lowered and the horn blown. We had 45 minutes until the first race. Thanks, Steve!?

Rumor was that most grownups were staying in the bar. Laser sailors are a little looney and it seemed most were going out. Charlie had said he wouldn't. I was missing the GSC AGM and banquet. No sense in being here if I didn't try. Earlier they had said there would be 3 coach boats out. Now they are calling them crash boats. They are willing to have us try and fail. Full gear, just like the Frostbite. Windstopper gloves- although thinner than the sticky work gloves, they are actually warmer when wet. They aren't as warm as my crazy green claws, but the claws are terrible for grabbing lines.

I watched Drew get off the dock to increase my confidence that I could do it without getting blown into the massive rock in the harbour. Here's a photo of the rock (taken on beautiful Friday, not near gale Saturday):

Should I tape the kiss clips on the mainsheet blocks, or would I need to be able to unclip in a hurry? I checked and the three remaining Lasers on the dock had done so. I taped too. I talked to Fionnlagh and then realized I was getting funny looks from Louise. The hardest part is getting in and out of the dock I told her. Then I launched Fionnlagh, put the centreboard in and walked him to the corner of the dock. Brian Berry was coming back in in his full rig. It's too much for me he said. He'd only been out a few minutes. Hmmm... I was in his way so I pushed off and safely made it out of the harbour.

Everyone was reaching slowly back and forth behind the start line, sails flapping violently in the wind. The L flag was up and I couldn't remember what that meant. I reached back and forth as well. The trick was turning around at each end. I had to sheet in and pick up some speed. Even then, as I tacked Fionnlagh often stalled in the wind and the waves and I was stuck drifting backwards in irons. Once, I drifted back towards the committee boat. Ahgg! I grabbed the anchor line to try to avoid hitting the boat and to stop my bow from going between the anchor line and the committee boat. That would have been disastrous. The wind would attempt to capsize me onto the committee boat. My sail would have been shredded trying to sort that out. Somehow I managed to stay out of that trap and my hold on the anchor line provided a pivot to turn my boat so that I could sail off. My stern did bump the committee boat bow before I made it but things could have been much worse.

Boats were capsizing all over the place, especially Fireballs. After what seemed an eternity, they started the full rigs. They may have started the Fireballs first, but I'm not sure what happened to that race. Several of the Fireballs were capsized when the 1 minute horn blew. Radials and Bytes countdown started after the Laser start.
More to tell later.. out of time.

Later... I didn't get off to a great start, but it wasn't too bad. I was managing to tack without going into irons, for the most part. Keeping Fionnlagh level was the tricky bit. Also, I've never sailed upwind in waves like this before. The waves got bigger
I finished 4th of 6 boats today. Only 2 races were held. Forecast- might drop below 25 knots tomorrow.

Day 1 results (other fleets at http://www.rvyc.bc.ca/results/1172618153.htm). Note that DNC means that the boat didn't show up to the starting area. Was it worth my while going out today? Well, I saved 2 points by doing so and the sailing experience - priceless. The bar has been raised, the fear zone is smaller.

Radial Fleet

Sailed:2, Discards:0, To count:2, Entries:6, Scoring system:My scoring system

Rank	Fleet	Boat	SailNo	Helm	Crew	Rating	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1st	Radial		182725	Karl Jenson			1.0	1.0	2.0	2.0
2nd	Radial		178861	Robert Berry			3.0	2.0	5.0	5.0
3rd	Radial		129277	Charlie Simpson			2.0	7.0 DNS	9.0	9.0
4th	Radial		184626	Kate Easton			7.0 DNF	7.0 DNS	14.0	14.0
5th	Radial		112284	Amanda Hind			8.0 DNC	8.0 DNC	16.0	16.0
5th	Radial		185559	Max Brown			8.0 DNC	8.0 DNC	16.0	16.0

After the fact, I find Steve Cockerill's tips on Extreme Weather Sailing. His comments do confirm that it is possible to be too light to right the boat. He doesn't mention the effect of large waves along with big wind, which I think really complicates the idea of turning the boat in the water to do a San Francisco roll.
Rooster Sailing: Extreme Weather Sailing

I ain't afraid of no Cadborosaurus!

It's Friday and the regatta starts tomorrow. The day began with warm sunshine, puffy clouds and light winds. I checked out of Miraloma at 11, picked up the rental car and drove down to Cadboro Bay for lunch. I decided to try Olive Olio's as we hadn't been able to get in there on Monday. Lunch was tasty- cauliflower cheddar soup and salad. I took a quick detour to the beach for some photos. A life sized model of the fearsome Cadborosaurus is on the beach. Caddy is a 5-15 foot serpent sighted in this bay. I don't know if this monster has eaten anyone, but I sure don't want to find out. Imagine meeting this guy in the bay!


That said, I did want to go sailing. My training camp buddies have gone back to Alberta and most of the Royal Vic sailors are at school. Steve said last night that Phil would be coming out around 2pm. It wasn't even 1pm yet, but I decided to get rigged and see if Phil came early. He didn't. I checked my rig and then hopped in to face the sea monster alone. No coach boat, no other dinghys. Small comfort in the whistle tied to my lifejacket. If I really get in trouble it's possible that Steve will hear the whistle. Here's Fionnlagh preparing to get rigged:

I toodled around a bit, a few tacks, a lot of gybes. On the upwind I was working on leveling the boat, pointing, and speed. Then I did a few acceleration drills. After about an hour on the water, Phil joined me. I followed him. He gybed repeatedly downwind and then roll tacked all the way back up. He is roll gybing. I'm working on it. Phil reminded me to sheet in to 45 degrees before the sail comes over. This will help to prevent the mainsheet from getting caught on the transom. I'm gybing better than last summer, but more practice is needed to become consistent. It's still a bit wobbly and scary in high winds. The wind was a bit breezy this afternoon. At times I was planing downwind. At other times there wasn't enough breeze to push the main out on a run.

Then we headed out on starboard tack close hauled to work on boat speed. The wind was just enough that I had to hike out fully most of the time but I could keep the boat level. A few gusts increased the challenge. I was footing and sailed closer to Phil. He reminded me to watch my ticklers to stay close hauled.

We reached in, but it wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be. The wind was dying. We practiced acceleration a couple of times and then it began to hail. Phil reminded me that the key to good acceleration from a stop is to heel the boat well. It was very cold so we went in. Sailing in the hail is not fun. We had to tack between the rocks and the yachts to get to the docks. The wind was dead in patches and I roll tacked to maintain speed. Ooops! Rolled too far and capsized! Managed to stay dry- I climbed over the top and brought him back up. Managed not to drift into the rocks either (see photo of big ass rock below)!

2 hours of practice and I'm worn out! Forecast is for 30 knots tomorrow! Yikes!

Flying on the 470 Trapeze

Pouring rain, maybe 5 degrees C. AST has gone home, except for me and Zoe. Peter was keen on getting us to try double handed sailing. We had three 470's, eight sailors/coaches, and Maddy for the coach boat. Zoe took her Radial out and Peter borrowed Fionnlagh. Erin and Meri took their 470, Jenn took Phil Round as her crew and I had the good fortune of crewing for Steve. I haven't used a harness since high school in Doug Bell's Laser >>. I haven't run a spinnaker since Revelry in 2002, unless you count Philona's cruising chute. No pole with that. And keel boat spinnakers are different from dinghys.

Victoria Family Day Training - Crash

Big gusty winds today. Probably 20 knots. Outside Cadboro Bay there were waves and whitecaps. In the morning we did tacking and gybing drills in the bay followed by starting and stopping upwind drills. The we ran down to a mark outside the bay and began tacking upwind towards a mark that none of us could see. (I for one had no idea of even the general area where the mark was supposed to be). I totally forgot to crank the cunningham and was overpowered. The group stopped- at the time I didn't know it was because no one knew where the mark was. I stopped too as I caught up with then. As the coach boat approached, they all started again and I did too.

Steve pointed out I was working way too hard. Cunningham. I trying to yank it in, I stalled the boat. Then I was blown backwards. Steve yelled to ease the vang to power up. Before I could do that I capsized. As I swam to windward the boat was rapidly turtling under the force of the wind on the hull. I arrived at the centreboard just in time to see the last inch of it disappear through the slot. Oops.

Peter tried to help right it by raising one gunwale while I stood on the other but we didn't have enough leverage. I swam to leeward, kicked under the boat and managed to find the board. I kicked it up and grabbed the couple inches that came through the slot. Leverage. I righted the boat and then it came back over on me. Swam to windward, righted again and climbed in. Freezing cold. In the water too long. Luckily, it was lunch time anyway.

The reach back was fabulous- planing most of the way. Tricky tacking upwind to the dock between the yachts and the monster rock. I was shivering.

Key points for the morning:

• remember the cunningham when it's windy!
• when stalled, power up the sail a bit- ease vang
• good point: I remembered not to gybe as a gust hits. Best to be at full speed going into the gybe rather than get flattened by a gust right after the gybe.
  

Lunch talk
Keep the boat flat! It is an art. The idea is that increased wind power should increase boat speed, not heel. As a gust hits, ease the main so the boat doesn't heel under the force. As the boat speeds up, ease the main back in for more speed.

• Work on S turns while gybing
• Work on tacking slowly - i.e. less rudder (rudder=brake)

Afternoon
I was on port tack. I saw Zoe a little late, it took me a second to work out that she had the right of way. I thought she was about to tack to stay with the tack-on-the-whistle drill. She didn't tack and I tried to bear off but I was heeled from a gust and I couldn't ease the main without dipping the boom in the water- certain capsize under these conditions. Zoe's mistakes were not pointing high enough and being out of position for the drill. I ran out of time and before I could make the decision to capsize, my bow ended up on her stern, then back in the wate. No damage done. But the section of her mainsheet between the boom and the traveller was wrapped around my bow. This one small line prevented both of us from sailing free. I tried pushing her boat backwards from mine to get the bow out but there was too much force from the wind. Peter and Steve were yelling some instruction but I was focussed on the mainsheet and worried it would slip back further. Zoe capsized with her blades under Fionnlagh. I was still tangled in her mainsheet. I tried to get the pressure off her centreboard. Then Fionnlagh capsized the other way. Zoe cleared her mainsheet while I pushed the hulls apart to try to save the blades. Then we were free. The trick was to right both of the boats without another collision. I got up and out of the way. Zoe took a little longer. Net damage - small chip out of back bottom corner of my board, entire chunk of Zoe's back bottom corner gone. Sorry Zoe, my fault. I owe you a repair.

I found out much later that Steve and Peter were yelling for me to push the rudder and sail backwards out of the tangle. That would have been so much easier. I must work on my backwards sailing skills so that that becomes an intuitive option. Or maybe I should just look out for other boats!

Dear competitors, this photo might help you to recognize us on the race course:

Fionnlagh and Kate go to Sailing Camp

In spite of a general lack of sleep in the last two nights, I awoke early to the sound of rain. A brief venture outside revealed a total lack of wind. Still, I drove down to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club to meet up with the others and see what the plan for the day would be. When I arrived, people were busy rigging boats. The wind was picking up we were told. And so it was.

When the rain stopped, it was clear that Royal Vic is a beautiful place to sail. A view to the Haro Straight with snow covered mountains in the background. Coach Steve tells us the water temperature is 7C, which is probably quite a bit warmer than Glenmore most of the summer. Not that I was planning on testing the water.

We began with windward/leeward tacking/gybing practice. I felt rusty and the wind was picking up. Hiking required most of the time. I'm more confident gybing now than I was before Hastings. Roll tacks are terrible again but that is likely due to fear of the new waters.

Next drill was starts. Two minute countdown with the expectation that we would sit on the line and sheet in with 10 seconds to go. Later variation of this drill was two minute countdown with the start anytime in the last 30 seconds. This forced us to sit near the line early. I'm still having trouble with getting to the line at the right time. Too late, too early and over before the start. I also need to work on accelerating quickly from a stop. The coaches said no vang when sitting, a little vang just before the start. Sheet in, allow the boat to heel and balance it for acceleration. Then go all out on the vang and block to block on the main. It sounds so simple but I'm not executing quickly and smoothly.

The next drill was about improving boat speed. All on starboard tack we reached out of the bay. We were then divided into groups: Bytes, Lasers, and Radials. Three Radials. We pulled even with each other and took off when the coaches said go. I fell behind quite quickly. It was comfortable full hiking conditions with gusts above that level. My difficulty is in handling the gusts and keeping the boat level. The coaches were asking us to steer the gusts to keep the boat level instead of dumping the sail. This was not the whole story as I found out back on land. The idea is to punch the rudder quickly to level the boat and then return to even helm. I was luffing to wind which also levels the boat, but it's slow. The other piece that I didn't know was that dumping the sail is okay to avoid stalling in a gust, provided the dump is short and I sheet in again within a few seconds. When tired and scared, the tendency is to leave the sheet out, then I end up steering to the sail trim which puts me on a close reach instead of close hauled as I should be. Way off course.

I think we were on the water for a bit over 2 hours in the morning and another hour in the afternoon. Following the afternoon session, we joined the Royal Vic team for a tactics talk. I learned a lot about the effects of the wind shadow. Most surprising was that tacking past the transom of another boat should give a lift- making ducking more attractive in certain circumstances. We also talked about lee-bow effect and how it is important to tack out of that situation. If covered on a tack, it can be best to foot away to clear air.

Okay, that's enough techie talk for now.. or is it? All that close hauled sailing was answered with an equal distance of fast reaching. I learned a lot there too. Sit further back in the boat, keep shoulders square to the boom, position feet so that I can shift forward or aft as needed. The big difference was holding the tiller extension at the U-joint with the extension vertical for better control. So much easier on the arms and Peter said I have stopped stearing like a drunk! The gusts were fantastic and several times I thought the boat would take flight. Super fast planing is awesome and I am managing to keep the fear under control and smile a bit more on the water.

4 more days of camp to go.

Fionnlagh's Road Trip

Peter MacDougall came by this morning and we carried Fionnlagh out of the basement and onto the ASA trailer. I need stronger arms as I was struggling to lift the stern over the top of the stairs. I think I've lost a bit of strength since the end of the season.

Peter is taking Fionnlagh and 5 others to Victoria. I'll be joining them on Feb 15 for the ASA family day weekend training camp at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club. I'm hoping to stay for the Frozen Assets regatta, but tempted to return for the GSC AGM and Annual Banquet. If there is a Radial fleet and a decent forecast, I'll stay for the regatta.

Stay tuned for training tales.