First Wednesday Night Race of 2006
We ran our first Wednesday night race of the season, finally. Though it had poured rain all day, there was a bit of a reprieve between 6:00 and 7:30 PM and six boats sailed 2 short races in a puffy 15 knot northeasterly.
I've made a number of rigging changes / upgrades to Flying Circus to get ready for this season and I made the last two on the way out to the course. I put on new lifelines and changed the topping lift. During the offseason I had added a windward sheeting traveller car, changed both the main and jib cunningham arrangements, added extra purchase to the vang, re-rigged the outhaul to a cleat under the boom and got new blocks for the spin sheets. We also had the bottom painted over the winter with anti-fouling and repairs done to both the pulpit and pushpit. Add that to the all new sheets and halyards and new sails we got last year and we've had a good upgrade to the boat. So the boat is in good shape and we have no excuses.
For the first race, we didn't need any excuses as we registered a bullet. We got a good clean start and played the shifts well enough on the beat to get around the windward mark cleanly and scoot away from the fleet. Also to our advantage was the fact that we used a genoa and had five people on the rail. Some others played it conservative and went with a small jib to compensate for their lack of crew weight.
We got a decent start in the second race but wound up have to pinch and were forced to tack away by Mr Hanky. (That boat really points!) We had a decent upwind leg, but Second Chance wound up rounding first after catching a big righty while the rest of the fleet was center-left. We rounded third behind Second Chance and Flying Chicken with Al and Mr Hanky right on our tail. Al came into the mark on port and almost tried to stick it inside us on the rounding. We shouted him out.
The downwind leg was very tight with four boats coming down together. Al passed us by jibing earlier than we did, squeezing us between him and Chicken and gaining the favored end of the finish. We wound up fourth. Bad tactics by me, trying to hold our place and not take any chances. Al did exactly what I would have done if I were in his spot and it paid off for him. I should have known it was coming and gained the advantage by jibing first. Well, that's sailboat racing.
The crew work was excellent all around. Laurie is a great addition to the team and with the return of the core gang from last year -- Meg, Scott, and Erin -- we can now work on taking it to the next level. I was especially pleased last night with the chatter from the crew about wind, waves and other boats and Scott was right on with tactical calls. I think sailing with Andrew on the Etchells on Tuesday evenings has helped him become more confident in giving tactical advice.
We were third for the night, beaten by Second Chance (3-1) and Al (2-2) to our (1-4). But we did beat Flying Chicken (6-3), Mr Hanky (4-5) and Pit Party (5-6). Now we're looking forward to getting more participants out there and to having it FINALLY STOP RAINING!
A news summary of the race is posted on CascoBaySailing.com.
I've made a number of rigging changes / upgrades to Flying Circus to get ready for this season and I made the last two on the way out to the course. I put on new lifelines and changed the topping lift. During the offseason I had added a windward sheeting traveller car, changed both the main and jib cunningham arrangements, added extra purchase to the vang, re-rigged the outhaul to a cleat under the boom and got new blocks for the spin sheets. We also had the bottom painted over the winter with anti-fouling and repairs done to both the pulpit and pushpit. Add that to the all new sheets and halyards and new sails we got last year and we've had a good upgrade to the boat. So the boat is in good shape and we have no excuses.
For the first race, we didn't need any excuses as we registered a bullet. We got a good clean start and played the shifts well enough on the beat to get around the windward mark cleanly and scoot away from the fleet. Also to our advantage was the fact that we used a genoa and had five people on the rail. Some others played it conservative and went with a small jib to compensate for their lack of crew weight.
We got a decent start in the second race but wound up have to pinch and were forced to tack away by Mr Hanky. (That boat really points!) We had a decent upwind leg, but Second Chance wound up rounding first after catching a big righty while the rest of the fleet was center-left. We rounded third behind Second Chance and Flying Chicken with Al and Mr Hanky right on our tail. Al came into the mark on port and almost tried to stick it inside us on the rounding. We shouted him out.
The downwind leg was very tight with four boats coming down together. Al passed us by jibing earlier than we did, squeezing us between him and Chicken and gaining the favored end of the finish. We wound up fourth. Bad tactics by me, trying to hold our place and not take any chances. Al did exactly what I would have done if I were in his spot and it paid off for him. I should have known it was coming and gained the advantage by jibing first. Well, that's sailboat racing.
The crew work was excellent all around. Laurie is a great addition to the team and with the return of the core gang from last year -- Meg, Scott, and Erin -- we can now work on taking it to the next level. I was especially pleased last night with the chatter from the crew about wind, waves and other boats and Scott was right on with tactical calls. I think sailing with Andrew on the Etchells on Tuesday evenings has helped him become more confident in giving tactical advice.
We were third for the night, beaten by Second Chance (3-1) and Al (2-2) to our (1-4). But we did beat Flying Chicken (6-3), Mr Hanky (4-5) and Pit Party (5-6). Now we're looking forward to getting more participants out there and to having it FINALLY STOP RAINING!
A news summary of the race is posted on CascoBaySailing.com.
posted by bearaway at 10:25 AM
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