So Sunday dawned and we lost 2 regular crew members for the day so we knew we needed to get away early and do a quick review before the start of two short w/l races for the day.
The RC started the races right on time and had a fairly square course set. However the breeze was coming directly from the East, and your trusted skipper new that it was going to go south at some point, but when was the question.........
We started well, mid line on time with 2 boats to leeward of us. The breeze was light though. After about 10 minutes of racing that new breeze could be seen coming in fast to the right of us.......and all those that started behind us, including the latter divisions starting got it first....axe murder job in full effect!
Needless to say the race became a fetch back and forth with no passing lanes and those that got the 1st mark first won, and we weren't won of them.......finished 6th:(
Race 2 saw the RC move the marks around we got underway in nice 6-8 knot breeze. We had a choice to make again in this race, go left or go right after the start. Well we couldn't quite get our bow out in front of the leeward J 36 so we tacked away and went right......well that turned out to be wrong as those that continued left won big time, getting to the first mark ahead of us by 1-2 minutes.
After rounding mid pack we ran our polars downwind and made up some good time on the leaders. We did an early windward takedown to be safe and tacked rigth at the mark. We left Karina and SilverWing behind and now we were hunting down Joy.
We managed to keep up with Joy upwind to the mark and then had one last chance to get them on the last downwind run. We jibeset at the mark and were linging up our angles to the finish. We were making up ground on Joy but was it going to be enough to correct out.......Well as it turns out it was and got a well earned 3rd place finish.
Because of our terrible morning race we lost out on the podium but came away happy with our boat speed for the weekend.
Thanks to Tony - Val - Nick - Andy - Dave - Darcy for a great weekend.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Semiahmoo Regatta Weekend
This past weekend we participated in the Semiahmoo Regatta, a 2 day event featuring a 20+ mile distance race and 2 short W/L races.
Day 1 was the distance race and 5 of our crew for Van Isle were out on the boat plus 2 fill ins so we were pretty pumped for a good race. The course is pre determined, it is a square so you are guaranteed a wide variety of sailing conditions.
The start line was placed and we were in the second sequence. We tried to run the line on Starboard but just couldn't so opted for a port start.....hoping no one would dip start on Starboard and ruin our plans. Well as it turns out we nailed the start and led the parade of boats to the first turning mark just off White Rock Pier......close behind us SilverWing - C&C 115, Avalanche - Express 37, Joy - J 36, and Karina - Arcona 37 and fellow competitor for the Van Isle 360 this year and others.
Once around we started the long 7 mile beat. The question was do we go into shore for tide relief and the hope for a shore "lift" or go out and search for the forcasted freshening breeze.
Well we went out and after about 10 minutes, though we had 2 others following us, thought we better compress with the others soon. So when we did we quickly found out that the beach was the place to be as both SilverWing and Avalanche were ahead of us. We were holding our own against the Joy and Karina though so we new it was tactics not boat speed that cost us.
Well after about 45 minutes and few more bad decisions, we were about 1 mile off the next turning mark.....when the bottom fell out on us. After watching boats make continuous gains going in, we decided to try it ourselves, albeit in a dying breeze. Just then those behind us were heading out.....did they know something we didnt'.....appparently yes as within 20 minutes the breeze went southerly and those on the left - further out, were able to fetch the mark in a nice 8-10 knot breeze while we struggled up wind in 4-5 knots to get into it.......net result, we rounded 8th of 9 boats:(
So with the now building breeze we hardened up for the one tack beat to the Pt Bob bell buoy and managed to pick off Whirling Dirvish - our sistership, and Joy, that pesky J36.
We turned the corner and launched the circus tent and hunted Karina down.
This 6 mile run was great practice for our new polars to sail downwind and they didn't dissapoint. We were slightly faster than Karina managing to get along side of her and at one point pass her but then the breeze oscillated to the west and she got her lead back. We did a quick jibe and held those charging from behind off and set ourselves up for good starboard tack to the mark, with those in front approaching on port.
We managed to get inside of Karina and Kaos at the mark but needed to jibe and we didn't execute as well as we wanted and both squirted by us. Now we had a 120 TWD run to the red nun and this is where we really shine. We were sailing lower but faster than our competitors just a few boat lenghts ahead and they were worried we would try to roll them to weather....as it turned out we just sailed faster and slid by to leeward and never saw them again on the 4 mile run to the finish. We now were just a few minutes behind the Express and the 115.......
We nailed our angles on the remainder of the run and made up all the distance we had given away on the beat, and finished knowing we had a 2nd at worst, not knowing where the 1d35 had finished.
Well as it turns out, we won the race by 4 minutes on corrected time over Karina.......with SilverWing getting 3rd!
Now on to Day 2........more to follow!
Day 1 was the distance race and 5 of our crew for Van Isle were out on the boat plus 2 fill ins so we were pretty pumped for a good race. The course is pre determined, it is a square so you are guaranteed a wide variety of sailing conditions.
The start line was placed and we were in the second sequence. We tried to run the line on Starboard but just couldn't so opted for a port start.....hoping no one would dip start on Starboard and ruin our plans. Well as it turns out we nailed the start and led the parade of boats to the first turning mark just off White Rock Pier......close behind us SilverWing - C&C 115, Avalanche - Express 37, Joy - J 36, and Karina - Arcona 37 and fellow competitor for the Van Isle 360 this year and others.
Once around we started the long 7 mile beat. The question was do we go into shore for tide relief and the hope for a shore "lift" or go out and search for the forcasted freshening breeze.
Well we went out and after about 10 minutes, though we had 2 others following us, thought we better compress with the others soon. So when we did we quickly found out that the beach was the place to be as both SilverWing and Avalanche were ahead of us. We were holding our own against the Joy and Karina though so we new it was tactics not boat speed that cost us.
Well after about 45 minutes and few more bad decisions, we were about 1 mile off the next turning mark.....when the bottom fell out on us. After watching boats make continuous gains going in, we decided to try it ourselves, albeit in a dying breeze. Just then those behind us were heading out.....did they know something we didnt'.....appparently yes as within 20 minutes the breeze went southerly and those on the left - further out, were able to fetch the mark in a nice 8-10 knot breeze while we struggled up wind in 4-5 knots to get into it.......net result, we rounded 8th of 9 boats:(
So with the now building breeze we hardened up for the one tack beat to the Pt Bob bell buoy and managed to pick off Whirling Dirvish - our sistership, and Joy, that pesky J36.
We turned the corner and launched the circus tent and hunted Karina down.
This 6 mile run was great practice for our new polars to sail downwind and they didn't dissapoint. We were slightly faster than Karina managing to get along side of her and at one point pass her but then the breeze oscillated to the west and she got her lead back. We did a quick jibe and held those charging from behind off and set ourselves up for good starboard tack to the mark, with those in front approaching on port.
We managed to get inside of Karina and Kaos at the mark but needed to jibe and we didn't execute as well as we wanted and both squirted by us. Now we had a 120 TWD run to the red nun and this is where we really shine. We were sailing lower but faster than our competitors just a few boat lenghts ahead and they were worried we would try to roll them to weather....as it turned out we just sailed faster and slid by to leeward and never saw them again on the 4 mile run to the finish. We now were just a few minutes behind the Express and the 115.......
We nailed our angles on the remainder of the run and made up all the distance we had given away on the beat, and finished knowing we had a 2nd at worst, not knowing where the 1d35 had finished.
Well as it turns out, we won the race by 4 minutes on corrected time over Karina.......with SilverWing getting 3rd!
Now on to Day 2........more to follow!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Pimped our ride
So we have finished with the updates to the boat and now the testing begins. We have already noticed a significant improvement in our upwind performance in both medium and heavy cnditions so it seems we are on the right track.
More to come shortly as we have less than 7 weeks till our big adventure begins:)
More to come shortly as we have less than 7 weeks till our big adventure begins:)
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Check out the little video showing some of the racing action on Sat March 19th at PRYC, Cinco de Mayo was running the Race committee that day. As Cinco is on the hard in Anacortes currently getting new bottom paint and some other modification to make her ready, safe and fast for Vanisle 360 Terry, PRYC Rudderpost editor, was kind enough to take us out on his Catalina 400 to officiate and run the race.
It was a decent day, starting the first race with SE winds of 12 to 15kn, tapering down to 5 kn at the end. We started a second race, but winds died down to 0 to 2 knots with a strong flood flushing boats back through the startline. It looked like it was going to be a really long day with Jabiru, Div 1, Vampire, Div 2, and Toucan Div 3 being the only boats still out on the water at 2:45pm. We decided it would be a good idea to shorten the course and finish potential finishers at the first mark, but no one made it. Vampire and Jabiru got on the radio at 3pm, and decided to call it a day, finally. Race for Toucan was declared abandoned.
Good day to be on the water!
Cheers...
It was a decent day, starting the first race with SE winds of 12 to 15kn, tapering down to 5 kn at the end. We started a second race, but winds died down to 0 to 2 knots with a strong flood flushing boats back through the startline. It looked like it was going to be a really long day with Jabiru, Div 1, Vampire, Div 2, and Toucan Div 3 being the only boats still out on the water at 2:45pm. We decided it would be a good idea to shorten the course and finish potential finishers at the first mark, but no one made it. Vampire and Jabiru got on the radio at 3pm, and decided to call it a day, finally. Race for Toucan was declared abandoned.
Good day to be on the water!
Cheers...
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Dates leading up to Vanisle 360
March 12th – 2011 – Delivery to Anacortes for bottom and rigging work
March 19th – 2011 – RC duties for PRYC races 4 & 5
March 26th – 2011 – Delivery from Anacortes back to PRYC
April 2nd – 2011 – BARC distance race
April 9th – 2011 – PRYC races ( 2 that day )
April 30th – 2011 – IYC regatta
May 14th – 2011 – BARC distance race
May 19th – 2011 – Round Saltspring Weekend
June 2nd – 2011 – Delivery to Nanaimo for Van Isle
March 19th – 2011 – RC duties for PRYC races 4 & 5
March 26th – 2011 – Delivery from Anacortes back to PRYC
April 2nd – 2011 – BARC distance race
April 9th – 2011 – PRYC races ( 2 that day )
April 30th – 2011 – IYC regatta
May 14th – 2011 – BARC distance race
May 19th – 2011 – Round Saltspring Weekend
June 2nd – 2011 – Delivery to Nanaimo for Van Isle
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Race 2 & 3
Raceday for March 5th dawned and we all awoke to fairly clear skies and a breeze of 5 k out of the SE.
Some confusion as to who is going to be committee boat for the day gave us a late start but with the sun being out this did not matter. Spellbound managed to get the course organized, marks set and all was good.
Course was set as 3A x2 for all Divisons and off we went. First start for us was a late one but we managed to not fall too far behind. Lots of "tactics" were pondered in the cockpit and it was decided to stay right as we had a strong ebb current ripping at 90 degrees through our W/L course.
Some tacks later we went around the top mark as last boat in Div but not far behind, opted for a gybeset and off we went. Turned out to be the right move, gained lots of ground back on the way down. Some traffic at the leeward mark kept us a bit to the outside. Again top mark gybeset and back down we made up more ground, but in the end could not get Jabiru and Danu coming in from the pin end and crossing well ahead of us. We were hopeful as we had timed about 66 seconds behind Jabiru in a 56 min race, very close - too close to tell who had his nose ahead.
Second race was much of the same. Same course, same laps, same wind, but the current had come to a near standstill halfway into the second race. Start was much better this time around, calling Jabiru up at the line, who in the end did go up as he needed "time and opportunity to turn" delayed reaction on Jabirus part as well as our part for not getting that little red thing out of a pocket. 2 well sailed laps with exceptional crewwork followed, in the end it was enough for a 3rd place finish.
the numbers:
1 sat spent sailing
2 3rd place finishes
5 kts consistent breeze out of SE
6 awesome crew
8 degrees C
18 sec separating 1st from 3rd in race 1
Check out the video from the day:
Our friend Arnie from EX, J/29 brought his GoPro HD out and put another neat video together showing the events from his perspective.
Cheers!
Some confusion as to who is going to be committee boat for the day gave us a late start but with the sun being out this did not matter. Spellbound managed to get the course organized, marks set and all was good.
Course was set as 3A x2 for all Divisons and off we went. First start for us was a late one but we managed to not fall too far behind. Lots of "tactics" were pondered in the cockpit and it was decided to stay right as we had a strong ebb current ripping at 90 degrees through our W/L course.
Some tacks later we went around the top mark as last boat in Div but not far behind, opted for a gybeset and off we went. Turned out to be the right move, gained lots of ground back on the way down. Some traffic at the leeward mark kept us a bit to the outside. Again top mark gybeset and back down we made up more ground, but in the end could not get Jabiru and Danu coming in from the pin end and crossing well ahead of us. We were hopeful as we had timed about 66 seconds behind Jabiru in a 56 min race, very close - too close to tell who had his nose ahead.
Second race was much of the same. Same course, same laps, same wind, but the current had come to a near standstill halfway into the second race. Start was much better this time around, calling Jabiru up at the line, who in the end did go up as he needed "time and opportunity to turn" delayed reaction on Jabirus part as well as our part for not getting that little red thing out of a pocket. 2 well sailed laps with exceptional crewwork followed, in the end it was enough for a 3rd place finish.
the numbers:
1 sat spent sailing
2 3rd place finishes
5 kts consistent breeze out of SE
6 awesome crew
8 degrees C
18 sec separating 1st from 3rd in race 1
Check out the video from the day:
Our friend Arnie from EX, J/29 brought his GoPro HD out and put another neat video together showing the events from his perspective.
Cheers!
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