250521 KYC Thursday

Crew Helm - Steve Main - Sue Middle - Howard Bow - Jasmine (Guest)

Weather 240 degrees +/- 15ish 10 knots +/- 2 short choppy waves - right on the bow on stbd. Outline of Race The boat is very, very manoeuvrable - turns on a dime, stops on a penny and picks up speed with sail trim on nickel - its glorious With the PHRF1/2/RS21 start together our biggest concern was not the favoured end - the pin - it was being able to maintain clear air. We decided to take the boat end. Some of the crew commented that it was difficult to hang on as I flipped the boat around like it was a Laser on an Olympic line. We pinged the line - we have to learn what the measured number on the Vakaros is, feet or meters…we were 2.6 “something” away right before the start. I carved a hole to leeward right near the boat, I crowded Brandon down the line a little as he was under us. Crowding him put me away from the boat and as a result a larger PHRF boat got in between us. At the start we were fine, but Brandon had boat speed and nosed out on us. The larger PHRF boat, Shibaruz, an very fast Abbott 33, was moving faster than we were on our windward hip so of course they were going to roll us. Living in this pain because we were the meat in the sandwich was hard. As Shibaruz moved ahead we were able to tack and take their transom and head off on port tack. The third RS had come in late at the boat and tacked right away, they were much lower but in clear air the whole time. We got the boat going quite well. We were a little higher and a little faster than the pink boat that peeled off early. Orange (Brandon) continued on starboard. When we came together that the top of the course, both boats were behind us. Pink tried to hang in with us but again we were higher and faster to they footed off. Orange footed off early being impacted by both of us. BUT BUT BUT - we were aiming at G mark THEY were aiming at X mark. They were right. We ended up after releasing our mistake (or rather just deciding that they knew something that we didn’t) fell down and were reaching to the X mark having given up our lead to both boats. We were evenly matched downwind, the gap at the top was maintained - and we were still 3rd - eventhough Pink and Orange split and took opposite sides of the course. At the bottom pink claimed boat room on us because they believed they were in the 3 boat circle before us - I disagreed - but I didn’t fight it. We did not go far enough before the gybe and so we were SLOW as we approached the mark - more work on gybing angles is required. Orange was gone by that time. It seemed that we were out of phase for much of the 2nd windward beat. The wind has softened, but the chop had not. I just wasn’t handling the waves as well as I did when there was more pressure. More learning. 3rd again at the windward mark and while consistent downwind, Orange and Pink escaped to the east side of the course and did well. As 3rd there was little point in us just following them - but the other side didn’t pay. 3rd place of 3…sad but we learned learned learned - what did we learn…see below. I have almost certainly missed some lessons please let me know. Learning

1. Jib Trim
   1. Tack/Halyard up/down
      1. This is how we change the leech curve - if we don’t pay attention to this, the tell tales will break inconsistently from the top of the sail to the bottom.
2. Rig Tension
   1. RS21 Rigging guide
   2. Use Spinlock at dock pre launch to check base tune - adjust accordingly
   3. “1” Turn MIGHT be 90lbs of tension on outers
3. Hull Trim
   1. Keep the bow from digging in BUT keep the transom from being pushed under the waterline - want clean flow of water off the transom - bottom of the hull should be at the water level - smooth separation
4. Sail Trim
   1. Boom Vang
      1. Vang Sheeting is the only way to manage the leech - go BIG to bring the boom below the center main sheet attachment point
         1. Allows for flying the upper tail 50% of the time rather than 100%
      2. Play the vang frequently - it is not set and forget
   2. Backstay
      1. When overpowered go to the backstay before the main sheet
         1. Mainsheet (with vang sheeting) will move the entire plane of the sail in and out - that’s fine sometimes - but to depower slightly it messes up the foil down low as much as up high - down low power doesn’t cause nearly as much heeling as upper power
         2. Using the backstay will open the main’s leech and depower the heel inducing upper portion of the main while keeping the power down low
5. Sailing Angles
   1. Get the Polars RS21 Polars Polar Chart laminated (2)
      1. Tape them to the hull on either side
6. In the Short Choppy Kingston Waves
   1. Don’t let the bow dig in
      1. Upwind
         1. Keep the sail plan powerful - full
         2. Foot, don’t pinch
         3. Steer up and down the waves - experiment - bear off to climb the face, head up on the back side
         4. Call large waves
            1. Ease jib to power up the larger waves
      2. Downwind
         1. Seek to ride the waves
         2. Up in the lulls and down in the puffs - on a wave top
         3. Helm is guided by Asym trimmer reporting pressure/no pressure in the sail
            1. If pressure look to go down
            2. If no pressure come up
         4. Work the main
   2. Crew weight together over the keel
      1. Move fore and aft frequently
7. Start
   1. KYC SI’s KYC 2026 Keelboat Notice of Race & Sailing Instructions
      1. Vakaros
         1. We need to learn to use it - practice
         2. https://support.vakaros.com/
      2. Course
         1. the SECOND line of the posted table is RS21 course always (same course as Sharks)
         2. Check the Mark Map - KYC Marks 2022-04-19 - map
            1. Tape Laminate of chart to the cockpit
            2. Write down the course / bearing / land marks with sharpie on laminate
      3. Start Order
         1. RS21 is Pennant 4
         2. Watch for the 4 flag in the start sequence - we might be 1st start or not
   2. If in mixed fleet
      1. keep your breeze clear
         1. RS21 is very sensitive to disturbed air
      2. pick a spot on the line that allows option to tack out if/when a larger boat rolls us