Crew, starting from the bow:
Michiel: Foredeck
Nathan: Tactics and pit support
Suzanne: Pit/Trim 2
Mark: Trim 1
Nat: Helm
Wind was anywhere between 2 knots to about 7.5 knots, so definitely a light day - it went up and down throughout the day. We sailed in fog, sometimes heavy fog, so heavy that we had to use the GPS to locate the finish line...I am actually really pleased with the way we handled this race - and this is not a result thing actually. It was really great team work. We also learned something interesting: put your speedo on and keep looking at it - there might be some really counter-intuitive sail trim tricks that you come across by accident and that make your boat go faster :)
Start:Our start was so so as we had to duck Great White in order to clear the Race Committee boat (we may have been clear but we didn't want to take any risks, they also had an anchor line sticking out) but in light air it matters a little less - on the first upwind there was more or less a consensus to be on the left side of the course and we followed the fleet.
First Upwind:We slowly ground our way up the fleet, passing boats here and there. First 1/3 was painful as we didn't find our groove, but then Mark really actively trimmed the genoa which allowed Nat to not move the tiller, or very little and the entire team was very focused on weight management, slowly moving weight around to maximize heel. We used the speedo to check on the optimal weight distribution around the boat as the 'ideal heel angle' is never quite the ideal in real life - and a few degrees here and there can make a difference. In light air, you really want to squeeze out the maximum you've got out of the boat, even a 10th of a knot can be a real boost when you're only going 1.5 knots in 2 knots of breeze...- the boat got into a really nice groove and we picked up speed. We were also pointing very nicely. We arrived at the mark with the first 1/3 of the fleet and it was a pretty tight pack. We were on port tack and wanted to find a line to the mark we could tack into. We ducked a couple of boats and tacked too early - which meant that we had to stall the boat for a short period of time to fall below a boat, as right after a tack, you remain a little lower for a few seconds to get the boat back up to speed as fast as you can. Since it was a tight pack, that just killed us and the majority of the fleet went flying in front of us. We could count only 4 boats behind us, out of 17!!
First Downwind:I really liked what we did right then - we could have thrown the towel and enjoy the rest of the day but we remained focused and continued to optimize boat speed. We trimmed the spinnaker heavily with the pole (in light air it helps determine the max sail area you can deploy with the spinnaker, judging by the speedo...) - at some point the pole was really aft even though the wind was pretty far forward but the minute we moved it, the boat would slow down considerably, so we had to weird and counter-intuitive sail trim moments on that one. Suzanne and Mark also worked the pole tip (up mostly to air out the sail further and help it stay full) - Nat tried to keep the tiller as still as possible, focused on the boat speedo and the main telltales. We went way left (right if you look at the race course upwind...confusing heh?) and stayed on that course for the longest time - [Note of the author: for some very bizarre reason, my body was aching to jibe much much earlier than we did but I couldn't explain it. Some kind of weird intuition. However, I was not doing tactics so it was not my call, it was just this really weird feeling] - we jibed a little late as the boats on the other side of the course got more breeze and earlier but that would have been hard to predict. The wind was really quite all over the place, sometimes shifting 20 degrees back and forth. We rounded the mark really nicely (douse and jibe at the same time) but didn't really pick up positions.
Second Upwind:Elise got into a really nice groove and started picking up boats. We were very focused on boat speed again, very focused on the genoa, playing with the car position and the sheet constantly - as well as weight distribution. The breeze was a little bit more steady on that leg which made it easier to sail through. We also did a couple of nice tactical tacks that allowed us to overtake a couple of boats. The crew was communicating very well, people were focused on their job. Our poor tactician couldn't do much because the fog started to come down pretty heavily and we already had trouble finding the windward mark...We did pretty well at that upwind as we caught up with a lot of boats then - a lot had to do with boat speed and picking the side of the course that seemed to be favored windwise (as we learned on the downwind): the left
Second Downwind:There was a bit more wind then, about 7 knots so it was much easier to jibe and keep the kite full. Trim team used the speedo a lot and constantly fiddled with the trim to get max boat speed out of it. In light air in particular, it really really does make a difference. Our jibes were really good and neat and when we got to the downwind mark, we had picked up a few boats. We jibed right after rounding the mark and we had a much shorter course to the mark than a lot of other boats who went to the sides of the course, including the leading boats. Yet, we managed to keep a pretty hot angle which made the boat go faster in this light air and come down to sail our polars most of the time (sailing your polars basically gives you the most efficient way to get to the mark, in the distance Vs boat speed compromise). Very nice tactical calls on that downwind. The mark rounding (jibe/douse) was perfectly executed and we were upwind in no time. That required a fair bit of team work and coordination but everyone was bang on and remained focused.
Last Upwind to Finish:That one was very very weird. The fog was so heavy that we could only see the two boats that were sailing right next to us. We decided to pick one and match race it, we picked the fastest of the lot, Great White and focused our tactics on that boat. It allowed us to pick up two other boats that way on that final upwind. There was a bit more wind so weight distribution mattered a little less, except that it was good to have folks on the rail. Our tactician/navigator had to turn on the GPS to help us locate the finish line (fortunately it was a permanent mark at one end of the line, hence a mark we can find on the Bay charts!)
We stayed very focused until the end, tacked right by the finish line as boat end was closer and finished a few seconds ahead of Great White.
Our final results was 7 out of 17. Given that we were 13 out of 17 at the first windward mark rounding, not that bad!!! We picked up 6 spots.
Key takeaways:- Sail by your speedo and make constant small adjustments in light air to always get the best of your sails and weight distribution. Even if it is counter-intuitive.
- Keep the tiller super still
- Trim your spinnaker with the pole first, then the sheet in light air - and check best pole angle by the speedo
- Don't tack back so quickly after you pass a boat
Everyone left very satisfied -
