260909 PEYC Fall 3 of 5

Creation: 260910 0509 Last Modified: 260910 0509

Crew

Position	Person
Helm	Lynn Ellwood
Main	Sue Fraser
Middle 1	Ali Meller
Middle 2	Anik Karimjee
Mast	Joel Massicotte
Bow	Steve Ellwood

Course

J2 - Organge marks, windward/leeward. Slightly biased so long tack was on port up wind.

From Ali:

Weather

Better than forecast. We were expecting 10-12 base with 20 knot gusts as two storm cells approached us.

We got 7-12, gusting to 15 and the storm cells split around us - the Shangri-La of Ontario.

Race Result

÷ Lickety 55 corrected seconds ahead of us.

Race Review

Because of the looming clouds, visible gusts and expectations of the forecast we decided to hoist the no.3 gennie.

The wind started easing before the start. Rebel, who had a #3 up at 6 minutes before our starting gun, there starting gun, pulled out another sail and did a sail change. The fuss must have messed them up because the start they were not on the line.

Bear hoisted what looked like a #1 gennie. We were feeling like the #3 was a mistake. BUt rather than fuss we decided to start with the #3 and change it out if need be on the downwind leg.

Lickety in Flying Sails, who start 5 minutes before us, port tacked the fleet with Foxy at the pin. The rest were late and had no change to get up to them.

Both Lickety and Fox took off on port toward the western side of the course, doing very well on the fleet.

Our start plan was to run the line on starboard and near the pin flip over to port and go.

Lynn and Sue executed that plan well.

The X-treme, driven by Peter from JLS in KYC, talented driver, got under us and forced us over the line, they went over too.

We ducked their transom and returned. Both of us caught up to the Ranger 22.

I Flag - around the ends if a vessel is on the course side between 1 minute and the start gun. This rule WAS written into our SI’s, I have read both the SIs and the NoR this morning - it is no long there. Whew!

The concern was that were did not start properly because we didn’t round the end (pin or boat) after being on the course side of the line before the start. No rule, no foul.

So we are back on starboard, and suddenly the Ranger is immediately across our bow on port. T-bone city. Or it could have been. Lynn pressed up to avoid, Paul in the Ranger tacked, we sailed over him, and he did circles.

He was the perfect gentlemen on the dock afterward, apologizing. He believed we would peel to port - which we were going to do and which we did, but his imagination was running about 15 seconds ahead of reality. Ooops.

So we were delayed in our start. Bear, coming in on port crossed us on port. And the Xtreme when east.

I was concerned we weren’t pointing with Bear, they were lifted 15 degrees higher than us. We got the boat settled and started rolling even with them. Their big sail was paying the bills.

And then the wind shift, 20 degrees, lift.

All of a sudden our inside and aft position became a closer to the mark and even position. Picton Bay, giveth…

The Xtreme got around the mark ahead of us. That lift helped them a lot too.

During the hoist the batten in the jib caught the leach of the spinnaker and gave the novice bow person (me) conniptions. Sorted we took off.

Bear rounded and make a good hoist, they were bearing down on us.

The track was starboard gybe all the way to the mark. We sailed past all the rest of the fleet - except Lickety and Fox.

We got a little messed up with Lorieli. She was white sail, wing on wing. Our course was deep but straight at the mark. We didn’t want to gybe yet.

I didn’t direct the boat either up or down from Lorieli enough and we did languish in their disturbed air for too long. The right thing to do would have been to heat it up head over them with enough marging that they wouldn’t want to mess with us then gybe down to the mark.

I was worried about giving Bear the inside at the mark rounding. So I hesitated. Duh.

In the end yes they slowed us, ad yes we took them up such that their foresail wrapped around their forestay and we sailed away. Nice guys…

Sue was standing in the cockpit telling Lynn where to bias the course for clearer air and puffs. Every effective.

Shortly there after I called a gybe, to protect the inside. The wind was moving more ahead, as we got closer. Carrying the kite was a problem. Close Reaching.

We are 10 boats or more from the leeward mark. Hoisting the jib as usual. Jib won’t go. Stuck. Stuck.

Mark is approaching.

We do a headless windward taken down of the spinnaker, pole dangling around the mast.

As Joel cleans up the mess I try to get the sail up - and the boat is going slow - but at least its going slow UP wind again.

We obviously lost a lot of gauge to weather, Bear is inside and going well.

Down and up the jib and it clears, we hoist and get settled.

We start to climb on Bear with some speed, a little, on them.

Our number #3 jib isn’t hindering us at all. We are all on the rail holding the boat down.

Bear wipes out a couple of times when a gust hits them.

We take over to stbd and at the cross they have to duck us. We recovered from the jib problem.

It seemed there was better pressure on the eastern side, we crossed the course and tacked at the start line pin straight into the windward mark - so the wind shifted to the course right, the west.

We were calling the puffs, and trimming the main for control. All fast and just lovely.

Bear, who stayed on port around the leeward mark for a long time, came closer together with us at the windward mark but they didn’t impact us. The Xtreme was out of it. And Rebel, was on the course some where but we hadn’t seen them the whole race.

We executed a solid hoist fully set only a few boat lengths from the mark. Clear sailing one gybe to the mark.

Hoist jib, then I was the pole and Joel tidied up.

We were dead down wind. Gybe the main, pull in the chute. Round, beautiful.

Now to the finish line. Lickety is the only boat in front of us - but not by 5 minutes, her start lead. We shall see.

The evening was threatening and yet turned out lovely. You gotta show up.

Lessons Learned

Eyes Aft on the Run

Having a focused dedicated watcher looking aft and no where else gave us those little half step here, and half step there advantages that accumulated.

Leave the White Sails Alone

Sail around them, don’t try to muscle though them to leeward, is slow.

Thinking about trim and sail shape never stops

Ali Meller special gift is watching the sails. Comments and questions that lead to adjustments and improvements in boat speed.

Comments

Comments from the web site, captured two weeks after the event.

Joel — 260910 0835

We also got into a good rhythm hiking weight out and in with the gusts to keep the balance and heel optimal on the upwind.

Sue — 260910 0940

Lessons learned:

Lynn and Sue learned that the number 3 has a very fine groove for driving. A small amount of halyard tension was the difference between point and power. The balance between main and #3 is significant. Mainsheet must be full trimmed, vang on, and traveller to at least 3/4 windward except in puffs when there was plenty of weather helm

Spinnaker hoist-jib cannot be out too far. The spin luff and tack got caught up and prevented a smooth hoist.