SJE/LKE/JV/DV/JN
The wind forecast services each had their own unique idea of the expected conditions. The GFS said North 8-13 knots, Europeans 1-4 from the South, others said West. None said SWâŠ
As we left the harbour we were getting 9-13 knots, from the SW.
Damon was RC, standing in for Tom. He set a line that, by the time we got out there, was impossible to cross on starboard. He took the time to reset it, well done him!
The breeze settled to SW with 6-9 knots, with significant velocity changes some times down to 2-3 knots or up to 10-12 knots. And direction changes 20-30 degrees. Welcome to Picton Bay.
The Ranger 22 was sailed with Paul and Martin, our fleet captain. The tried to take us up to the right of the RC, but there problem was we are bigger and faster. We got a little separation and dived down below them âSteel Balls they call that in Match Racingâ - he was maybe nylon..
We got to the left of them and in the end we held them up at the RC and prevented them from starting at the gun. We got the half way down the line before the start.
The GC21 started at the RC a little late but they were rolling.
We had decided to look for pressure and sail our course in it - where we could. Cross on stbd, find a good lane and cross.
We did. But it turned out the right side was the place to be. The Ranger 22 after the start we gave them, flipped to port at the RC and in the end found the bigger breeze. They rounded the windward mark in front of us!
They were as surprised as we were ;-)
Pressure pressure pressure.
The crew is really coming into its own now. Everyone knows what needs to be done and when. Everyone is looking for things that âdonât look rightâ and they move to sort them out before they become a problem.
Of course so is everyone else by this time in the season. But man it feels good to have our crew work settled and effective.
We did keep the boat rolling. The first windward mark rounding had us set on stbd then quickly flip to port gybe. No muss no fuss, it was great.
The wind moved right to the point that we had trouble carrying the grey/purple spinnaker at the hot angles. But the wind was light and we scalloped our way downwind.
We found the chute would collapse in lulls as our apparent wind shot forward. Of course there isnât much to do. JV strapped in the chute and I headed down, but in such light air our boat speed overcome the wind speed and the chute collapsed.
Leeward mark rounding was beautiful. Gennie up, we dropped the chute very close to the mark and rounded ready to go.
2nd up wind leg was more of the same. LKE called out the boat speed, wind angle and our heading, telling me if we were headed or lifted and by how much. The verbal information helped a lot.
The team was watching the other boats, who has pressure, what angle are they sailing relative to us, where are the lanes we can use to get up the course. Again, just what you need to succeed.
There were serious wind holes out there. Some boats fell into them and stopped, it was painful. It happened to us too but not often.
The 2nd windward leg rounding was another text book event. This time we hoisted with no pole on stbd right at the mark (a little before the rounding truth be told) and then gybed straight away. DV/JN set the pole for the port gybe - smooth as silk.
The wind was dying. .5 knots of boat speed. When we hit 1 knot we were delighted!
We saw breeze on the eastern shore so we worked toward it. The boats coming upwind on that side obviously had pressure. And Lickety was a little ahead of us with the same idea. Mark Graham is a lifelong Picton Bay sailor and has consistently figured out the breeze hereâŠso maybe we were in good company.
The GC and Ranger 22 both stayed high on the right side.
And of course the wind filled from the right. Of course it did.
The lesson there is to bias the course to gently cover the competition. Its hard too that the wind fills from aft, so they would get the new breeze first. Thatâs sailboat racinâ.
By the time we were 2/3âs of the way down the track, we were starting to think that the GC would be inside us at the mark, and we would also be inside Lickety.
We came up to stay in front of the GC, and Lickety got around. We got some distance on the GC before the mark. When we rounded the excellent crew work made flipping to stbd tack right at the mark a joy.
We were on stbd and the GC was approaching the mark - naturally we shouted stbd and made them avoid us. They collapsed their chute, headed away from the mark to avoid. The 3-4 boat lengths distance between us on the downwind leg became a 15-20 boat length distance after they got sorted out and headed up wind again.
Final leg to the finish. We had good pressure and I believe we picked the path well. We headed right, where the breeze was.
Lickety was with us. They arenât in our fleet , we didnât want to mess with them. But we were parallel and we did sail over them.
The RC was heavily favoured.
They tacked out, too early to cross at the RC. We hung in a little longer and crossed the line with a head to wind 1â from the RC.
In all a very enjoyable race. Conditions were on and off light but not maddeningly so. We generally had breeze to work with. The crew work was awesome. All the time I could do what I wanted to do without being concerned that some maneuver would mess us up.
We crossed first, ahead of both fleets, in an 1h:12m race. But pressure ruled, and both the GC and the Ranger beat us on corrected.
Paul on the Ranger was delighted, in a dignified way.
Can we sail âbetterâ sure. But we sailed well this time. Can we do a better job of the wind? Well, we can try to perceive which way the breeze will fill first - be more aware of that.
Did we have a GREAT TIME? Hell yes!
Thank you team.
S