|
|
| Race
Report Less Pain The phrase 'fools in the rain' came to mind this morning as Hamish and I de-rigged our mast and pulled it out of the boat in the poring rain with winds gusting up to 30 knots. When I finally made it into the cafe after getting the boat put back together I certainly looked like a drowned rat and received plenty of quizzical looks. It was worth it in the end as our speed was good after the adjustments we made. The wind finally came to Palma after two weeks of light air sailing but the clouds and rain hung around. A few times today this bright yellow sphere appeared in the sky, but disappeared as quickly as it came. I'm not sure what it was but I hope it comes back. Today we raced triangle courses with reach (across the wind) legs, which are fast and fun when it is windy. In the first race we thought the pin end was favored and started at that end but ended up getting held out to the left on a 15 degree header for the first half of the leg by the boats starting to weather of us. Luckily we had good speed and made it to the first mark in the top 10. On the two reach legs we were able to pass a few boats but the leaders put some good distance on the fleet and we were left to fight for 5th though 10th and ended up 7th in the fist race. Our coach got on us a bit between races for sailing on the edges of the course and not engaging the fleet. The wind picked up to a solid 22 knots and we decided to start at the boat end. We hit the line with speed and out-hiked the boats around us to get clear air off the line. We had a good battle with Robert Scheidt (BRA) and Xavier Rohart (FRA) up the first leg and made it to the weather mark in first. On the first reach Scheidt caught us quickly and passed us to leeward and Rohart snuck in at the jibe mark. On the second reach we battled with Rohart, meanwhile Scheidt slipped away into the distance. We held position the rest of the way around the course and only once looked like we had enough leverage to pass the two leaders. We crossed the line, wet, tired, but in third place. It was a good day. Tomorrow was scheduled to be out lay day (day off or reserve day) but since we lost our first day of sailing to no wind, we will sail one race. The weather seems to be improving and we might see the sun by the end of the trip. Cheers! ---Brad Tip of the
Day: When reaching in planning conditions it is important to first get
the boat planning and then look for the mark. In marginal conditions you
can make gains in a boat like the Star by sailing high and fast (if planning)
in the puffs and taking the lulls low since you will be in displacement
mode anyway. A bit counter intuitive, but a good way to make gains. |