There are times when a day on the beach is worth more than a day on the water. The Balmoral race team cancelled racing early and a decision to stay ashore was easy to make. 15 to 25 knot bullets rolling off the beach, straight through the moorings was never going to be my idea of fun. However, there is a small section of the Balmoral Moth fleet that is hell bent on destruction testing..................."I bet my main won't last past the first gybe........." So I head home for a better view of the action.
The view from 30 metres above the water is very educational. Yes, I have watched the sailing from the house before but this time it was different. The gusts were very clearly defined and I now know why Robbie Greenhagh will be spending so much time up Origin's mast. Sure, you can see the wind on the water from inside the boat but up high, you get a real sense of what is happening. And in this case, it was "3...2...1....WIPEOUT". These were bullets that not even Neo could dodge!
However, the really educational bit was observing the relationship between boatspeed and the speed at which gusts moved. Now, we all know the theory and have experienced the effects in practice, but I can highly recommend a day observing from above to sharpen your feel for where the wind is coming from when sailing faster than the wind.
So, am I going to use this? By placing large sums of money on Adam Beashel to win in the 18's whenever it gets puffy! After all, he has spent a lot of time up high and he will be the only one not tempted to stick his finger in the air to see where the breeze is coming from! As for myself? I suspect I will be able to tell the crew exactly when it's going to go pear shaped ........."3....2....1....WIPEOUT!"
The view from 30 metres above the water is very educational. Yes, I have watched the sailing from the house before but this time it was different. The gusts were very clearly defined and I now know why Robbie Greenhagh will be spending so much time up Origin's mast. Sure, you can see the wind on the water from inside the boat but up high, you get a real sense of what is happening. And in this case, it was "3...2...1....WIPEOUT". These were bullets that not even Neo could dodge!
However, the really educational bit was observing the relationship between boatspeed and the speed at which gusts moved. Now, we all know the theory and have experienced the effects in practice, but I can highly recommend a day observing from above to sharpen your feel for where the wind is coming from when sailing faster than the wind.
So, am I going to use this? By placing large sums of money on Adam Beashel to win in the 18's whenever it gets puffy! After all, he has spent a lot of time up high and he will be the only one not tempted to stick his finger in the air to see where the breeze is coming from! As for myself? I suspect I will be able to tell the crew exactly when it's going to go pear shaped ........."3....2....1....WIPEOUT!"
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