When I was good, I was really, really good...

...and when I was bad, I was awful.

Frozen Assets, Day 2
BigWaveDave forecast 15 knots today and I think he was pretty close to the mark. Environment Canada forecast sunshine and 10 degrees and it really felt like they were wrong.

It was a bit windier than I would like on the way out to the start. There actually were waves. Ooops. I should have studied up on wave sailing techniques. I didn't sail very far up the course prior to the start because I felt tired and sleepy and wanted to save energy for the race. These were full hiking, grommet to the boom conditions. I would watch the Laser full rig start to see what the gents thought was the favoured side. Anne said she thought left was favoured. That made sense to me because the wind was coming over land from the NE and the left was not sheltered by the island.

I decided on a midline start because I wanted to go left and avoid crowds or sliding into the pin. This was lining up to be an excellent strategy. Lots of space left, 46 seconds to go. Adjust the controls, 46 seconds to go. Sadly, not lightning fast adjustments but a stopped watch. Argh! No way of knowing when the horn would go as the last signal was at one minute. I reached into position behind the line and watched the other boats. I would trust their timing. Unfortunately, it was already too late. As I checked, the other boats were sheeting in and nearer the line. I sheeted as fast as I could and was clear enough that I didn't get buried in bad air, but I was a boat length or two behind the line at the horn. I was sailing reasonably well mid fleet. I don't recall a lot of the details of the race. I do remember the first downwind leg.

As I approached the gate on Starboard tack, a full rig came in from Starboard on a Port tack heading in front of me. I called starboard. Unbelievably the guy responds by saying that he is trying to get to the other gate. He hits me, not hard, but enough to slow me down slightly. I tell him he still has to obey the rules of the road. He continues interfering and not giving right of way. I steer windward of him and say protest. He says whatever and sails to the other gate. Now a couple of the boats I passed downwind have passed me back. I work it upwind, sheeting to keep the boat flat, hiking hard. On the last downwind I had managed to be neck in neck with 4 other boats. Now a couple of strategic errors. First, I did not check out the position of the gate relative to the finish line in advance. Compounding that, I was outside of two boats for the left gate mark and the finish was a reach left of there. Even worse, there was a boat to windward of me. This is all hunky dory when we are on starboard heading for the gate. As we approach, though, everyone wants to gybe. The trick is that gybing loses you the right of way unless you are inside the two boat length circle. Given the pinwheel, I don't think I was ever within two boat lengths of the mark. I need to study the rules on this situation. the guy inside of me looked as if he was going to gybe. I saw that the angle was just good enough that I could sail by the lee to the finish so I yelled starboard. He didn't gybe. Then we were all round and a gust came through and we are roaring neck in neck to the finish. I'm not sure, because it was impossible to see but I think 2 of the 3 beat me over the line. Why? because the hand the inside which was shorter and when I sailed by the lee, they were in my wind. Blah.

I was determined to make up for that with the second race. I was in serious danger of losing my third place standing from day 1.

more later...
Regatta photos

Frozen Assets Regatta 2008

2nd
4th
2nd
third from last?
5th

I think that is how I placed today. Won't be sure until the results are posted. There were 10 or 11 radials in the fleet.

The day began with light wind from the east. First start was scheduled for noon. As we sailed out of the bay to the race course, the wind died. The first full rig start was abandoned.

I arrived at the course early enough to sail a fair way towards the windward mark. It seemed that starting mid line and staying left until the gate and then heading right was the way to go. Past the gate, there were lifts on port tack and the wind was stronger on the right because it wasn't sheltered from shore. With the wind this light, I was afraid they would start us and we would end up drifting around. Fortunately, there was enough wind to keep moving. My strategy worked out well. I had a decent start in clear air and found myself pulling away from the others on the upwind leg. I didn't manage to pass Aiden on the downwind, but I was happy to finish second until I found out this was Aiden's first race in a Radial!

In the second race, I was doing reasonably well with a similar strategy. This time, the others were closer and that made it more challenging. I pinched the windward mark, and the shift was not in my favour. I hit it. I decided I just had room to round again before the others came in and I did that instead of doing turns. I'm not sure if this was the best call or if it was even a legal way to clear the penalty, but it worked out okay. One or two boats passed me. The downwind was tight, but I couldn't catch up what I had lost at the mark.

The wind picked up and shifted to the NE for the final three races. We waited around for a bit while they moved the marks. My toes were cold but I was otherwise fine. Not true. I was also hungry. I had half a green pepper, a handful of lettuce, chocolate pudding and a granola bar for lunch. Seemingly not enough. I should have taken the time to eat the apple. Or brought some snacks aboard. As I was jumping and dancing around in my boat to try to warm up, I began to think about what I was wearing. Really just a few millimetres of neoprene with a spray top and shorts on top. And two toques. Yeah, it must be the toques that make me think I'll be warm enough. Yikes! I mean, a few millimetres of rubber. That's like going outside naked on a fat day. In February, no less!

My big problem when the wind changes is that I'm lazy. I know that the favoured side has changed. After race 3, I have seen that success is on the left in the full rigs. This doesn't strike me as logical given the geography so I persist with going right in race 4. It works out very badly for me. Race 4 was really about me tacking badly and not flattening the boat quickly. I also got stuck between some CFSA boats at the start and missed a few good shifts as a result. Note to self - when wind changes, note the new favoured side and get on board!

Race 5 was decent, but I was no longer kicking ass on the downwind and that made the difference between 2nd and 5th. I should have gone by the lee and then reached in, but no one else was and I was too lazy to gybe and take the risk that I would screw up and lose ground. The Strategy Paradox. Gotta risk big to win big. Same with roll tacks in the lighter winds today. I was afraid to really throw my shoulders out because I felt like I would get stuck under the boom and tip. The result was medium roll tacks. Not great, not terrible. Just average. I must get used to taking the risks.

By the way, I am now totally exhausted. In the third race, I was hiking a lot and in the fourth and fifth races, I was hiking full out on the upwind, but not quite planing on the downwind. In the fifth race, I was losing strength and having trouble staying out. Argh! More fitness needed. Way better than last year, especially on arm strength but my abs just aren't up for a 2 hour workout! Oh, I forgot to mention that yesterday I was trying to figure out why my hip flexors were so sore on the long tacking day. I played with position and tried to use different muscles. I came to the conclusion that either the hiking strap was too tight or my calf muscles are too big. So I loosened the strap a couple of inches and that straightened out my legs considerably and I think the hip flexors won't hurt so much now. I certainly felt my abs and quads more today.

I can't wait to see where I am in the standings - no one won more than one race so it is anybody's guess who's in the lead. I expect to be in the top five.

Big Wind?

The forecast was for 15-25 knots all day today. Fantastic, but I don't want to wear myself out right before the regatta. I was aiming to get to the club by 11am. I got a little busy in the morning and it became clear that noon was a better goal. On the way to catch the bus I realized that I hadn't been to Munroe's yet and this would be my last chance. So I stopped in for a quick look. I was waylaid by a Japanese guy from the hostel. He was really struggling with English so having a conversation was a time consuming thing. It's too bad really that I didn't have more time. Anyway, I probably talked to him for half an hour. I think I made it to the club just after one with a relaxed, heel dragging sort of attitude. I chatted with a few sailors, then took a while to change. I finally made it on the water after 2. The wind was still decent - full hiking. I'm told I missed white caps this morning. It would have been good to do a few screaming reaches. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to work on in higher wind. Tacking and gybing smoothly and keeping the boat flat.

As it turned out, the wind was steadily dying. I did a few reaches in the best of it and then headed upwind out of the bay. Really just wanting to relax, sail, and see the mountains on the horizon. I played with the controls on the way out to work on boat speed a bit. Hard without another boat as a reference. I was working on being one with the boat. Responding to it more quickly, feeling the speed. Outside the bay, the wind seemed even lighter. I just kept going towards Discovery Islands for a while. I wish I had taken a look at a chart. It might have been nice to land on a beach and explore a bit. I recall from cruising last September that you really do need a chart to land this island without hitting something. I didn't want to take any chances with no coach boat and only one other sailboat out.

As the wind died, I played with boat trim a bit - sitting way back in the cockpit and watching the wake smooth out as I moved forward. I need to remember to sit a bit further forward than I have been in light wind. I worked on gybes a bit as I headed back to the bay hoping for more wind. Then a few more starts - I wish I had some video showing and explaining this. As the wind really dropped off, I headed for the dock. I was still a few hundred meters out when the wind died completely. I drifted on my momentum for a while, then pumped the sail for a while, and finally used the rudder to paddle in past the big rock.

All in all, a great day sailing. I wasted the best wind, but I didn't wear myself out. I really enjoyed relaxing in the sunshine, bonding with my boat.

Perfect Conditions

Last night I watched the Cockerill Upwind DVD and as a result, planned to work on sheeting for mark roundings, roll tacks, and windward heel. I also wanted to work on starting from stopped to get the steps and timing down. I have to say that the wind was absolutely perfect for practicing all of these things. Not too strong, not too light. I started with the roundings and I think I have sped up my sheeting by grabbing the sheet lower down instead of going hand to hand and then pulling right up. I still need to work on timing of the rounding so that I hit the mark tight as I turn upwind. Also need to work on gybing with the rounding a bit more.

Roll tacks are going better. Playing with windward heel, but still don't have a feel for when it helps and when it slows me down. I had a few decent starts. It helps to actually stand up and step above the leeward toe rail to roll the boat. Still, even with a good roll to leeward, I don't always get power coming up. Is that the rate of righting, the angle to the wind, or the sail trim? In just hiking conditions, it took me 5 seconds to go from stop to full speed. In lighter air it took 10. Next time I should remember my wind indicator.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The Olympic mountains were visible, but not clear and bright. As I came out of the bay, I could see the snow on the mountains to the east. I love sailing in such a beautiful place.

When I was doing the mark roundings, I was actually too hot in full wetsuit and spray top. I wished that I'd skipped the double toque today. Rain and serious wind forecast for tomorrow.

Heel, starts, and skiffs

The idea was to get an early start today because most people were leaving in the afternoon. In the end, we only made it on the water half an hour earlier. The first drill was one I haven't done before - heeling on the whistle. Michael had us heeling to windward and leeward, upwind and downwind. The point is that we are all lazy about keeping the boat flat at times and this drill really demonstrated how slow that is. The heel affected the steering which resulted in more rudder which slowed the boat. On the downwind, I was reminded of how much heel helps with a gybe. Heel to windward going into it turns the boat, then flatten for the pump, then heel to windward again to straighten up.

On the gybes, I was steering too violently today, but slowed it down later on. As with tacks, I am better at gybing onto port than onto starboard. I need to work on being symmetrical.

Michael has been yelling at me to be more energized in the boat, like a coiled spring, like an explosion for two days. Maddy also commented at the end of the day that I'm quite static in the boat, not responding as much as the others. Last summer I had a similar comment from Noah, when he pointed out that I should be more aggresive with the boat like Braden. I have at times been more dynamic. I think this is mostly a mood thing. Being cold and feeling cautious about falling in probably results in slower movement in the boat. Come to think of it, I had advice from Peter last year to move more in the boat - fore and aft as well is in and out.

I'm having trouble with static starts. When we line up in irons on the line, I have trouble getting the boat to roll to leeward. Often when I flatten, I don't get a lot of power - mostly because the boat is pointed too high after spending too long trying to roll. It works better if I stand up, but I need to smooth it out and figure out the timing so that I'm not late or early off the start.

Today I was feeling frustrated with the number of people that screwed up the starts by trying to squeeze in where there was no room, or rolling in front of people on the line. I need to watch out for that more and be aggressive about defending my spot. The trouble with practice is that you don't protest as there are no consequences and the kids seem to push the rules as a result. Even in a race it is difficult to enforce the rules at the start because there is so much going on that it is often difficult to know what actually happened. It is difficult to focus on lining up and defending at the same time. I need to refresh my memory on the details of the rules at the start.

In the afternoon I was the only non-skiff sailor so I went in the coach boat and watched the 49er, I14, and 29ers for a while. Same principles as the Laser, with the added fun of a jib and a spinnaker. At the end of the afternoon, I hopped in the 49er with Liam Law. Liam very calmly and patiently showed me the ropes, both as crew and as skipper. It was a fun ride - I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime. I do realize that it wouldn't be as fun in less than ideal wind conditions as capsizing in the skiffs can be quite an event.

Less wind - is it possible?

This morning the water could be described as polished glass. The good news is that the sun was shining. Still, the decision was to go back to the gym in the morning. Blah. Now all of my muscles are sore. I think I would rather have gone running.

The afternoon was good. Enough wind to hike at times. We started with the sausage drill to improve our mark roundings. I think I got more out of it today. Then tacking and gybing on the whistle. I got stuck in bad air at the beginning and fell behind on the upwind. When we turned downwind, I was sailing well and people didn't catch up so the gap widened. I did a couple of roll tacks with what felt like good timing. I need to work on reproducing that every time. I think it would be easier to learn in warm water! It is amazing how much the fear of falling in screws me up. I managed to keep the boat upright today.

We did a few starts and stops. It is important to heel the boat over while sheeting in and also to head the boat in the right direction while leveling. After that we did a long tack out towards Trial Island. Some interesting currents on the way there. A few sailors actually hit rocks. The only damage was Robin's centreboard. He hit a rock hard and the top of the board split off.

To Sail or Not to Sail

Cadboro Bay was so glassy this morning that the reflections of the houses on the far shore could be seen in the water. And then it started to rain. With no sign of wind coming, the decision was made to send us to the gym.

I'm still not a big fan of gyms. The idea of trudging along on a machine when you could be outside exploring is not at all inspiring. I'm also not a believer that an intense weight workout is a good idea in the midst of an intense camp. I was mildly sore from yesterday and thought a little recovery time would be a good idea. The forecast was for 10 knots in the afternoon, so I wanted to save a bit for that. Maybe that's not intense enough. I'm still chicken about falling in and want all the energy I can get to prevent that. To keep the intensity up without wearing us out, I wish the coaches would do more instruction on race tactics and strategy. I know boat handling is the priority and without that we can't win a race. I think it would be helpful to learn tactics and strategy at the same time, in depth.

I'm also thinking that next winter, if I want to sail, I should go somewhere warmer. Then I won't be afraid of falling in, my toes won't get cold, and I might be able to convince some friends to come along.

In the afternoon the wind picked up and we sailed long enough to complete one drill - sausage drill - before the wind died completely. The drill was about mark rounding, but the course was a reach both ways. I would have preferred to work on a windward/leeward course. I did not do well at rounding close to the mark. I did fairly well at easing the sheet before rounding and keeping speed through the turns.

A New Season Begins - With Light Winds

I'm back in Victoria for another training camp. Winds <15 km/hr, cloudy and 7 degrees. I'm warm enough on the water except for my toes.

I worked on roll tacking a lot today. Michael pointed out that I'm better at tacking onto port tack than onto Starboard. It has to do with how I'm balancing and anchoring my weight in the boat when I roll. Steve recommended tucking my toes under the toe rail and using the hiking strap as I throw my shoulders out. I've been a bit chicken about doing this because I'm afraid I won't get back in and under the boom fast enough. I was the first one to fall in today as a result of trying. It also highlights the need for new booties. I was planning to look for some here anyway. The neoprene socks/ water shoes combination isn't working for warmth or grip under the toe rail. Hopefully I can get to Bosun's before close Friday night or check out the selection at MEC.

We also worked at stopping and starting a lot today. News to me was that you should have the sail set when starting to maximize the power from the roll. With the vang off, some of the power spills off the leach.

We sailed in the bay for a couple hours in the morning. In the afternoon, the coaches towed us out to find wind. Lesson learned - it isn't good to be too close behind the tow boat. Water funnelled up through the centreboard slot and swamped the cockpit faster than the bailer could drain. Not a big problem except for the fact that the water is COLD. That was a big reason for my frozen toes in the afternoon. We sailed almost to Trial Island and then back to somewhere off Willows and were towed back in from there.