After the first day of the regatta, I'm tied for first place! Very exciting! With 25 Radials, this is the largest fleet I've ever raced in. The wind was exceedingly light and shifty today, resulting in several postponements. Several times, we began the start sequence only to have the AP flag go up with one minute to go. Collective groans.
Chestermere was a great place to be in May (although very cold) but now it is proving to be less than ideal for sailing. The big challenge for this regatta will be keeping the daggerboard and rudder free of weeds.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
If you build it, they will come
Tonight a fleet of Radials appeared on the reservoir! Liz has a brand new sail and mast section and plans to come regularly. Two other guys may come again but one will go for the full rig next time.
The winds were light and most of the full rigs pulled ahead of us easily. Chris was trying out his new laser and was sometimes within reach of the radials. I was ahead of him for a good deal of the time, but I think he beat me to the finish line most of the time.
In the first race I had a decent start and was sailing well upwind. I lost a bit of ground at the windward mark (3) because I made a tactical error a couple of tacks before the mark which allowed Chris to get the inside. I rounded right beside him but he was a little shakey coming out of the turn and I had to wiggle suddenly to avoid hitting his transom.
The winds were light and most of the full rigs pulled ahead of us easily. Chris was trying out his new laser and was sometimes within reach of the radials. I was ahead of him for a good deal of the time, but I think he beat me to the finish line most of the time.
In the first race I had a decent start and was sailing well upwind. I lost a bit of ground at the windward mark (3) because I made a tactical error a couple of tacks before the mark which allowed Chris to get the inside. I rounded right beside him but he was a little shakey coming out of the turn and I had to wiggle suddenly to avoid hitting his transom.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Who invited this family?
It was youth and family night at the sailing club. I went down to check it out. They had the BBQ going and quite a lot of young kids around. One of the parents was taking a Byte out. Another Laser sailor dropped by indicating that he was joining the club and will be racing on Wednesday night. He has both rigs but will probably use the full rig in winds up to 25 km/hr. He hasn't done much Laser sailing before but has sailed many other boats. Hopefully this will give me an advantage in the race on Wednesday night. There wasn't any interest in taking Elvira out, so I went out on my own with Fionnlagh.
The wind was fairly steady and moderate so I decided on roll tacking practice. First, an unspoken race with the Byte was in order. We started near the barge on the same tack at about the same speed and headed for mark 3. Some of the time I was matching the Byte for speed and some of the time I was faster. I didn't really pull ahead until the wind picked up. I could have tightened the outhaul to keep the boat flat but I hiked out instead. I was really pushing it- trying to hike straight legged and needing to be all the way out to keep the boat flat. This effort gave me more speed than the Byte and I pulled ahead. I did a decent mark rounding- releasing the vang somewhat just before the turn. On the downwind leg the Byte started catching up to me. I altered the sail position a bit as it didn't seem that I was on a dead run and that didn't help. Then I changed course a bit, scooched forward and heeled the boat a bit. That worked and I pulled away from the Byte, passing the barge well ahead of him. I was up for another round, but it looked like he had to head back in to check on his kids in the Optis.
Probably just as well as I needed to really work on roll tacks. I headed back up the lake tacking frequently. In general, I find it difficult to heel the boat to windward. I don't think I'm heavy enough. Certainly there is some positioning to be learned as it is tricky to put all your weight to windward and not fall in. The other thing I'll have to watch out for is leveling the boat. At my weight, it is difficult to bring the boat level quickly enough to provide acceleration. I'm sure at some wind strengths I won't be able to right it at all. Over the half hour I did become more comfortable roll tacking. I wasn't always successfull in accelerating, but at least I didn't lose speed on the tacks. The other thing I need to figure out is how to get the tiller extension past the mainsheet without moving the rudder. Ideally, a roll tack can be executed without using the rudder at all.
I finished off the evening with some jibing practice. I was mostly successfull at jibing without getting the mainsheet caught on the transom. The winds were light, so it was relatively easy. I'll need to work on jibing in higher winds and then learn to roll jibe.
As the wind died, I realized that someone had invited the entire mosquito family to the lake. They began biting me every few minutes on the water. I was sorry I hadn't thought to bring bug spray after Wednesday's experience. I had to wait for another boat to pull out of the water before I could bring Fionnlagh ashore. It was like some one rang the dinner bell for the mosquitos. I had five biting me all at once. I pulled Fionnlagh out as quickly as I could. I thought I would derig really quickly to get away from the skeeters, but it was so bad that I ran to the car for a wind breaker to keep them off my arms. I didn't have anything to cover my legs below the knees but they didn't seem to be biting there as much.
I tried wearing knee pads tonight to prevent further bruising on my knees from bashing the boat. They weren't ideal knee pads as they are intended for rollerblading and have a hard cap. This makes for a slippery situation when kneeling on the dock or the deck. While on the water, they seemed to be quite effective. They do look ridiculous, but then so do the bruises on my knees!
The wind was fairly steady and moderate so I decided on roll tacking practice. First, an unspoken race with the Byte was in order. We started near the barge on the same tack at about the same speed and headed for mark 3. Some of the time I was matching the Byte for speed and some of the time I was faster. I didn't really pull ahead until the wind picked up. I could have tightened the outhaul to keep the boat flat but I hiked out instead. I was really pushing it- trying to hike straight legged and needing to be all the way out to keep the boat flat. This effort gave me more speed than the Byte and I pulled ahead. I did a decent mark rounding- releasing the vang somewhat just before the turn. On the downwind leg the Byte started catching up to me. I altered the sail position a bit as it didn't seem that I was on a dead run and that didn't help. Then I changed course a bit, scooched forward and heeled the boat a bit. That worked and I pulled away from the Byte, passing the barge well ahead of him. I was up for another round, but it looked like he had to head back in to check on his kids in the Optis.
Probably just as well as I needed to really work on roll tacks. I headed back up the lake tacking frequently. In general, I find it difficult to heel the boat to windward. I don't think I'm heavy enough. Certainly there is some positioning to be learned as it is tricky to put all your weight to windward and not fall in. The other thing I'll have to watch out for is leveling the boat. At my weight, it is difficult to bring the boat level quickly enough to provide acceleration. I'm sure at some wind strengths I won't be able to right it at all. Over the half hour I did become more comfortable roll tacking. I wasn't always successfull in accelerating, but at least I didn't lose speed on the tacks. The other thing I need to figure out is how to get the tiller extension past the mainsheet without moving the rudder. Ideally, a roll tack can be executed without using the rudder at all.
I finished off the evening with some jibing practice. I was mostly successfull at jibing without getting the mainsheet caught on the transom. The winds were light, so it was relatively easy. I'll need to work on jibing in higher winds and then learn to roll jibe.
As the wind died, I realized that someone had invited the entire mosquito family to the lake. They began biting me every few minutes on the water. I was sorry I hadn't thought to bring bug spray after Wednesday's experience. I had to wait for another boat to pull out of the water before I could bring Fionnlagh ashore. It was like some one rang the dinner bell for the mosquitos. I had five biting me all at once. I pulled Fionnlagh out as quickly as I could. I thought I would derig really quickly to get away from the skeeters, but it was so bad that I ran to the car for a wind breaker to keep them off my arms. I didn't have anything to cover my legs below the knees but they didn't seem to be biting there as much.
I tried wearing knee pads tonight to prevent further bruising on my knees from bashing the boat. They weren't ideal knee pads as they are intended for rollerblading and have a hard cap. This makes for a slippery situation when kneeling on the dock or the deck. While on the water, they seemed to be quite effective. They do look ridiculous, but then so do the bruises on my knees!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Pirates on the West Nile?
Fionnlagh's third go at Wednesday night racing. Scorching hot today so no wet suit required. I was late getting there and consequently about a minute late for the start. Kevin Brown helped me get Fionnlagh off the dolly and we both beach started at about the same time. He was sailing full rig and passed me before we reached the first mark. After that, the first race was mostly a write off. I got mixed up with the San Juan fleet and those big guys steal a lot of wind. There wasn't much wind to go around tonight so I skipped the last two marks and headed for the start line for the second race.
I got a decent, but not great start on the second race.
The third race was probably one of my best races yet in terms of relative boat speed. I made two strategic errors that put me back in my usual position. At the start, the port end of the line was highly favoured as the wind had shifted since the line was set and it was closer to mark 1. We were all working to that end of the line. To make things more interesting, the wind was picking up as we were counting down to start so our estimates of when we would arrive at the pin end of the start line were a little skewed. There were two lasers sailing along the line on starboard tack, hoping to head up and cross as the horn went off. I tacked in just below them on starboard tack. The last time I looked at my watch there were 8 seconds to go. I was figuring that the two boats above me would head up over the line and I would head up immediately after, just inside the pin. Unfortunately, the boat above me reached the pin just before the horn. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to force him over the line early, so I didn't call it. Instead, I forced him past the pin, preventing him from jibing immediately. Then I jibed and headed up over the line ahead of him. As I confirmed at the clubhouse later, I did have the right to push him over early and should have called "UP" to indicate that I wanted to head up. This would have been a significant advantage for me as he would be over early and have to restart. I'm not really sure if there would have been time or room for me to cross before the pin anyway, but if I'd known the rules, I could have pushed him over sooner. There were a few boats that were messed up in this start. Someone was recalled, someone else was prevented from heading up. The result was that Kevin, Chuck, and I were behind the others and I was ahead of Kevin and Chuck. I maintained my lead rounding mark 1. I was doing a bit better with the roll tacks. On the downwind leg, I was really worried they would catch me as they both had the full rig. I squished forward in the boat and saw that Bill was healing his boat to windward. I did the same to reduce the waterline and get the sail higher up. It seemed to work. As we approached mark 4, I was still ahead but faced with a new challenge. The San Juans were reaching towards the same mark for their race. I'm still working on how to jibe and sheet in quickly on a mark rounding so adding figuring out right of way with the biggest boats on the reservoir made me very jumpy. I managed to navigate through and sheet in quite quickly using two hands (just wave the tiller extension up and down while sheeting with alternating hands). The trouble was a big San Juan was in front of me, just upwind stealing my air. When I looked back, it seemed the other two were catching up to me.
I got a decent, but not great start on the second race.
The third race was probably one of my best races yet in terms of relative boat speed. I made two strategic errors that put me back in my usual position. At the start, the port end of the line was highly favoured as the wind had shifted since the line was set and it was closer to mark 1. We were all working to that end of the line. To make things more interesting, the wind was picking up as we were counting down to start so our estimates of when we would arrive at the pin end of the start line were a little skewed. There were two lasers sailing along the line on starboard tack, hoping to head up and cross as the horn went off. I tacked in just below them on starboard tack. The last time I looked at my watch there were 8 seconds to go. I was figuring that the two boats above me would head up over the line and I would head up immediately after, just inside the pin. Unfortunately, the boat above me reached the pin just before the horn. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to force him over the line early, so I didn't call it. Instead, I forced him past the pin, preventing him from jibing immediately. Then I jibed and headed up over the line ahead of him. As I confirmed at the clubhouse later, I did have the right to push him over early and should have called "UP" to indicate that I wanted to head up. This would have been a significant advantage for me as he would be over early and have to restart. I'm not really sure if there would have been time or room for me to cross before the pin anyway, but if I'd known the rules, I could have pushed him over sooner. There were a few boats that were messed up in this start. Someone was recalled, someone else was prevented from heading up. The result was that Kevin, Chuck, and I were behind the others and I was ahead of Kevin and Chuck. I maintained my lead rounding mark 1. I was doing a bit better with the roll tacks. On the downwind leg, I was really worried they would catch me as they both had the full rig. I squished forward in the boat and saw that Bill was healing his boat to windward. I did the same to reduce the waterline and get the sail higher up. It seemed to work. As we approached mark 4, I was still ahead but faced with a new challenge. The San Juans were reaching towards the same mark for their race. I'm still working on how to jibe and sheet in quickly on a mark rounding so adding figuring out right of way with the biggest boats on the reservoir made me very jumpy. I managed to navigate through and sheet in quite quickly using two hands (just wave the tiller extension up and down while sheeting with alternating hands). The trouble was a big San Juan was in front of me, just upwind stealing my air. When I looked back, it seemed the other two were catching up to me.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Wednesday Night Racing - Part 2
There is very little wind when I arrive at the reservoir. There are storm clouds to the north and that makes me nervous about going out. Was that thunder or someone moving a boat? I don't see any lightning but hte lack of wind is just the calm before the storm. Even though Logan Campbell's accident was a power line, not lightning, it makes me keenly aware that electricity and masts can change your life in an instant.
Most of the others are on their way to the starting barge already. Eight minutes until the Fireball warning. I push off, concerned that I won't get there on time for the Laser start. Also concerned that I won't be able to get back in fast enough if I see lightning. There is so little wind that I can't tell whether to run or beat. My cheering section hasn't arrived yet. I look to the shore for a sign of the wind direction but the boat patrol flag is limp.
Most of the others are on their way to the starting barge already. Eight minutes until the Fireball warning. I push off, concerned that I won't get there on time for the Laser start. Also concerned that I won't be able to get back in fast enough if I see lightning. There is so little wind that I can't tell whether to run or beat. My cheering section hasn't arrived yet. I look to the shore for a sign of the wind direction but the boat patrol flag is limp.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Driftwood Regatta - Day 2
The day begins at 05:45. Yes, I know the race doesn't start until 09:30 and it doesn't take me THAT long to get rigged but I have no choice in this matter. My knees hurt. My fingers hurt. Something aches every time I move. The last thing I feel like doing today is sailing. But sail I must. Clearly sleeping all day isn't going to be any fun.
Based on the standings yesterday, I only need to beat Michael Leitch in 4 races today to not be last. I beat him twice yesterday. I beat him once because he capsized before the start and couldn't get his international canoe up again. The second time I beat him, he was actually in the race. To the uneducated observer, it would appear that he beat me; however, in X-class, times are corrected based on a handicapp system to account for the expected performance of the different boats in the wind conditions for that race.
The forecast is for winds at 20 km/h, dropping in the afternoon. It sounds so innocent. Some might imagine a steady wind from the west at the ideal velocity. Translate that forecast to Glenmore Reservoir and you have winds anywhere between zero and thirty kilometers per hour with persistently inconsistent shifts, mostly from the W-NW with the exception of certain spots on the lake where the wind will come from the E-SE. In fact, the winds on Glenmore are so fickle that they actually stop for an early lunch on sunny days and by the time the sailors have paddled in to the dock for their lunch, the winds are on the way back out.
I was hoping for lighter winds than forecast and it seemed to be picking up as we waited for the other classes to start. I got off an okay start this time, sailing slowly along the line and then heading up seconds before the gun. Of course, this meant that I wasn't quite at max speed over the line and I ended up leeward of the others. The wind was dropping. I sat with most of my weight forward of the cockpit, eased the main to gain some power, kept a bit of vang on to bend the mast, made sure the cunningham was off, and eased the outhaul (but not too much). I kept to the middle of the lake where the wind was usually strongest. I was losing ground on the tacks as the other radials were roll-tacking smoothly and I was making clumsy attempts at it. I gained some ground after rounding the windward mark. After rounding number 6 I set a wide course for the windward mark, noting that it was in the wind shadow of the shore and a sharp turn could stop me dead. I gained on the others approaching the mark as they lost speed before rounding. The wind was shifting and dying.
Race Results (Regattas 2006, Driftwood, X-Class)
Regatta Photos
More Regatta Photos
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Driftwood Regatta
One of my competitors, Luke, said the water was so muddy it was like sailing in Nestle Quik. I had to clear logs off the boat ramp to get started this morning and there was a lot of debris in the water from the recent downpours. Only 3 Radials registered for the race so they put us in X-class racing with a Byte, a Taser, and an International Canoe.
I got off to a bad start in the first race, crossing the start line just after everyone else.
Regatta Photos (Saturday)
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