Training News

Since I have a goal to do Single-Handed Transpac in 2014, I am starting to prepare for it, some things will take time...I need to do a lot more single-handed racing obviously, as opposed to just sailing/cruising, I need to practice doing this over several days at sea, I need to increase my general level of fitness and ability to recover fast (Endurance sports interwoven with high intensity workout do wonders for that, hence biking with at least once a week a heavy high intensity/low volume workout on hills. Great that SF is so full of them :)) - of course, how to set up the boat, etc.. will also play a role.

I like to not do things in a rush, particularly for a project like this! 

I delivered Elise so Berkeley Yacht Club on Friday night last week on my own. I set the boat up with a headsail since it was clearly going to be a downwind sail. Nice breeze between 15 to 22 knots (which meant about 8 to 15 apparent), gentle swell. I had prepared the spinnaker for a launch from the rail just forward of the companionway which is what I would most often do single-handed as I want to avoid having to go to the foredeck (slow) as often as possible. Clearly, setting up the pole is unavoidable, although it is possible to float the spinnaker of course.

Pole was set up and I hoisted the spinnaker, bringing the main in so the chute wouldn't get stuck between the shroud and the mainsail. No problem there, I squared the pole, trimmed the kite and went off to Berkeley, sailing by the AC boat at mooring. I drove to the kite instead of trimming and very occasionally trimmed when there was a big wind shift (like when I past Alcatraz. Nice broad reaching the whole way. I gybed (using Andrew Evans' tip): I squared the kite with the pole about 2/3 of the way out and the clew 1/3 back, then first gybed the main, then set the autopilot on (wind mode) at about 150 apparent, then walked forward to move the pole to the other side. I think that 150 was still a little too high (last time I did a gybe practice, I had sailed too low and the kite wrapped, which was easily corrected but still not ideal) so the kite collapsed on itself since there was no support on the new windward side. Not a big big deal, it didn't wrap and it unfolded back as soon as the pole was set up again. I then walked back to the cockpit, trim the kite again and off I went.

I wanted to practice a douse without AP, simulating AP failure since it was such a nice warm evening. I therefore decided to douse in the companionway and just leave the pole up (in real life, I would then have gone upwind, and remove the pole - as upwind, even a bungee can keep your boat nicely going with trimmed sails for a while. I had run the halyard back to the cockpit in order to do that. I ran the line with the tiller between my legs (including the guy) - then grabbed the sheet forward of the turning block, released the guy and sheet and started to gather the foot, then released the halyard. Small complication...the guy got stuck around the winch so I had to go back and unstuck it as I couldn't bring the entire chute in - as I did this, I accidently pushed the tiller the wrong way and the boat gybed which meant that I now had the chute against the shrouds on the windward side. Not good. I gybed back and completed the douse without any other major issues. The halyard was either full on or full off and it ran just fine. I stuffed the chute down below and headed into port.

Bottom line: I managed to mess up both my gybe and my douse but nothing broke :)

I did hill repeats yesterday (8 of them!!! up the hills of Bernal Heights) and I went for an 11 mile round this morning, with some hills. September has come early and it was sunny and quickly getting hot!