Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The agony and the ecstacy......

Sunday. 2.30pm. Sydney Harbour. 10-12 knots and Sunshine. It must be time for some 18' sailing! But there was something different, something strangely unfamiliar about everything. And what were we doing sailing towards the Squadie? Well, for the first time this season, the wind had swung to a tricky Easterly and we were going to sail a new course. Now, I have nothing against the Beashel Buoy, but it was going to be good to visit another part of the harbour, or so we thought.

The boat park on a Sunday morning is a good place to be. The initial race for a place in the park is getting a bit competitive, with 10.00 am beginning to look like a 3rd row of the grid start. Some of the guys have given up Saturday night drinking, just to be in a fit state to get the boat down to the water early. The reward - a place next to a slip and an easy carry to the water. For those that do arrive early, there is a lot of friendly banter and there was a regular theme to what people were saying to me. It seems that a fair number of skiffies crew the Wednesday twilight race on leadmines and they had seen our little practice session in the big breeze. I don't know who was more surprised - the other sailors when they learnt we were caught out with our No1 rig or me, when 3 different people on 3 different boats confirmed that the squall was actually 27 knots. In fact, more than one leadmine ran for cover in the same way as we did. So, overall, I was pretty pleased. A bit of street cred, more wind than I imagined and others making the same decision to go home. Best of all, the damaged sails were back and looking as good as ever.

Out early, a bit of practice and we were ready for the start, which was postponed to allow the spectator boat to get out. Lining up well in the middle of the line, we found a hole , held our position and powered to the start in clear air with the boats around us...............only to find that our perfect start was actually 3-4 boatlengths down, due to the sag in the line and we were sucking fumes very quickly.It seems such a basic mistake, but so many report it that I am beginning to conclude that you need to be really good to start mid line. Maybe we will be better off mixing it with the fleet at an end, so as to be sure where the line is. It doesn't help that it takes all our concentration to hold our position, so we aren't getting our heads up to find transits etc.

Anyway, we were off towards Rose Bay and with little clear wind, it seemed the practice was paying off. We had good height and speed and were in the bunch. Approaching the bay, it became clear that the entrance was busy with Woolahra race start lines to sail through and more important, wind shadows from Shark Island, headlands and the windward shore. However, a good line into the mark saw us arrive mid fleet, somewhere around 12th or 13th. Oh, the ecstasy!

3 minutes later, we were leaving Rose by DFL (dead frigging last!). Once around the mark, wherever we went and whatever tack we were on, there was a boat screaming for right of way and I think we did more crash gybes in the first 300 metres of that leg than I have done in the last 300 races! I don't understand how we didn't hit anybody or go for a swim, but we had to play catch up. And that we did.

By the last lap, we were at the back of a group that were battling it out for some very minor races. A whole beat of crossing tacks, edging closer and place changes but on entering Rose Bay, the leaders got richer while we fell back a little. A humiliating slip in form beckoned, as we set off in not such hot pursuit. But, ahead somebody capsized and the others began to slow each other down as the gybed on top of each other and one by one, got spat out the back. Even still, were we going to be able to get back in the mix?

Approaching the finish, we remembered the old adage that you should always approach on starboard, gaining the right of way and maybe an overlap. A good gust allowed us to soak down and sure enough, we had overtaken one and caught the other who had to gybe to avoid us. We held them out and then gybed for the line, beating one boat by a matter of seconds.

So, overall, an improvement of 1 place compared with last week, further evidence that we are getting on the pace and some good racing. However, we know what we need to practice. Starting! I used to be able to do it so why not in the 18's? Only time will tell but one thing is sure, the highs and lows of 18 sailing have a long way to go.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Navy Seal survives 18 footer!

A great week of sailing related activity will, no doubt, climax tomorrow afternoon with the next 18 footer race. Hopefully, the time in the boat this week will have helped the learning process and we can continue to move up the fleet. And what an epic practice session it was.

We had been looking at getting a coach involved with our sailing and to this end, I have been chatting with Craig Ferris. I first met Craig 10 years ago, when he was coaching the top ranked Italian 49er team, the Bruni Brothers. Since then, our paths have crossed and we have always enjoyed exchanging pleasantries and catch up on sailing gossip. Craig is also rated as one of the best sheet hands in 18's, having been a regular on "The Rag" for years and a 2 times winner of the JJ. He is currently coaching the Singapore Olympic Team and especially the mens 470 squad.

Craig had wanted to get his charges out in an 18 for some time and we decided to kill 2 birds with one stone. So, on Wednesday, I met Craig and his team at Double Bay for an afternoon of 18's. Having 7 of us to rig the boat certainly helped and 25 minutes after arriving, we were heading out onto the harbour. The plan was that I helmed, Craig did his regular sheet job and we had the 470 boys take it in turns up front. We sailed a short course (2/3rds of a regular course) which consisted of 3 tacks, one bear away, a hoist and drop with a final rounding up so as to swap sailors. All changes were done "on the fly", so as to save time and not get messy.

We had a puffy 12-14 knots, which was perfect for what was needed. There was enough breeze for the crew to need to play the jib, which is nearly as big as a 470 main sail. Things didn't get off to the best of starts when we swam on the first tack. On an 18, you ease a little jib before the tack but, coming from a 470, the crew uncleated the jib (continuous sheet, self tacker) so when we arrived on the other side, there was no pressure in the sail. However, we were soon up and on our way again. The next big moment was the bear away. All four of our "joy riders" got the same briefing and all four froze at the same moment. Craig likened it to being "like rabbits caught in the headlights"!

The problem is that when bearing away in an 18. everything happens very fast and it's very different from most other boats. The speed build, the bow goes down and inertia plays its part. The key is, you have to run in at exactly the right moment, which is before you would think. If you wait until the boat starts to come over on top, you are too late and in trouble. The other problem is that the bow has to go in before the sheet hand or else everybody trips over everything. So, the boys were briefed that when Craig and I said "IN", they needed to run to the centre of the boat, without hesitation or question. However, as it always feels too soon, these poor guys froze and had to put up with a torrent of abuse. We were loving it!

By the end of the kite drop, No 1 was puffing and panting, so it was time to swap. No.2 was exactly the same, but without the swim. Luckily for Craig and me, there was still bags of opportunity for abuse! Then it was on to No.3, the only helm to brave it. Now, this guy was my height (which is short) and probably weighed about 63 kgs. I was concerned he was going to be pulled through the blocks and the kite hoist "challenged" him. A slow hoist coupled with looks of confusion were greeted by loud shouts from Craig and myself - "get out, get out, get out!" However, what followed next wasn't quite what was expected. Our man ran to the gunwale, grabbed the trap handle, swung out and promptly let go, without hooking on. A new definition of a "chase boat drop". So another swim followed.

Finally, we were onto the last ride before we headed in. Except for the first tack, when he didn't get the jib easing right (too much, yet again), Ben did well. Sure, he was a rabbit in the headlights during the bear away, but overall he was most suited to the task with the strength and speed needed. However, we couldn't let him get away without a suitable amount of abuse, something I am not so sure was a good idea, on reflection, as the following day I learnt he was a Singapore Navy Seal who could kill me in 25 different ways with his own bare hands and I wouldn't even know I was dead! Luckily, I think I am safe as he was with us for the best ride of the day, a long downwind leg with a bit of puff on and a sustained 20 knots plus. Big grins all round!

The purpose of the exercises was to give the guys some experience of other types of sailing. These guys have sailed very few types of boat, which is something that allows you to adapt to situations quickly. I also suspect that Craig didn't mind showing the lads his own ability. For me, it was a pleasure to sail with him, learn a few tricks, get his views on how we set up the boat and also to get some valuable time on the end of the tiller.

However, once we were ashore, there was an hour to wait for my regular team to show up from the office. What I missed in that hour was the wind slowly building. After the sail, Jamie commented that when he arrived he thought we were brave to have the No1 rig up. It wasn't brave. It was what I had been using. So off we set, to find a gentle 18 - 20 knots. Then, only a short time after launching, we were hit by some serious pressure. Although we don't have exact data from that part of the harbour, it is safe to say we were out there with the No1 rig up in somewhere between 22-25 knots of breeze. 2 swims later and I decided that discretion was the better part of valor. The forecast was for a rising wind and I could see no reason to lose the rig. Rather pleasingly, our big wind bear away went really very well, obviously benefiting from the earlier practice.

Once ashore, our decision look .........wrong, as the wind died rather than built but the damage was already done. A broken jib batten, torn kite and hole in the main meant a swift trip to our sailmaker the following morning.

The last time we sailed in that much breeze, we had the No2 rig up and made more of a mess of it. Hopefully, this is a sign of further improvements and that the 12-14 knots we expect on Sunday should be a "walk in the park".

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Progress

Another weekend, another skiff race and this time, some real progress. Having looked that the forecast, I made the decision not to sail the Moth on the Saturday as it was "fresh to frightening". It turned out to be a rather good move with 18-25 knots playing havoc with the Moths at Balmoral. I think I saw 3 blown out sails and more stacks than at a demolition derby!

However, the next day conditions had settled and the 18's sailed in 11-14 knots, sunshine and a very crowded harbour. We did a couple of runs before the race being followed by a coach boat with Craig Ferris looking at us and we gained a lot of confidence in our new rig settings. However, the first start was abandoned about 12 seconds before the gun, maybe for a cruiser that had sailed into the start area, maybe for the big ship about to steam through the course or maybe because it seemed like the whole fleet was already over!

On the second start, we managed to work a nice hole for ourselves, although just above one of the form boats, Fiat. However, our inability to pull the trigger saw us second row of the grid and looking for a tack. This felt a bit too familiar, but once we had cleared our wind and were heading back to the right side of the course, we found we weren't as stuffed as we had grown to expect. The leg was actually exciting, as we were sailing (and racing) with other boats and at times showing good speed. We also had found the height we had been missing so far this year.

A nice little shift near the top mark saw us round towards the back of the pack, but no longer in a position of being spat a long way out the back. Down the offwind legs, we gained and gained, helped by more than a few swims near Shark Island and as we approached the bottom mark, our practicing seemed to be paying as a good drop got us into a great position. We were probably 14th or 15th in a fleet of 25 and loving it.

Coming away from the bottom mark, we even sailed up from under another boat and simply pulled ahead, just on good pointing and boatspeed (well, maybe a little skill!). We found some of the chopped up harbour difficult to keep speed through and need to practice this but still arrived at the top mark in good shape, although with the to and fro nature of racing we had probably dropped a place overall. Rounding the mark, the group ahead managed to pick up a good gust that we were just too late for and we got a bit too much separation. However, we kept at it and seemed to close a little until Jamie called what turned out to be a great gybe angle. Coming into the bottom mark with pace, we even managed a perfect gybe drop that gained us 100 metres on the group ahead and we were back in the game.

The next beat was fairly uneventful. Unfortunately, we got a little left behind and ended up losing all of the 100 metres we had gained but went around the top mark in 17th. With a good gap behind and unlikely to catch those ahead, all we needed was a safe downwind section but it wasn't to be. This time it was our turn to be 3 stringing near Shark Island when the wind turned off and the boat came in on top of us. Although we got sorted quickly, we lost 3 boats and had another close behind. We charged for the line, trying to soak down inside the boat ahead but it was clear we would both have to gybe. All the time, another boat was below us coming up at speed. Could we put in 2 gybes without being caught? Could we pressure the boat ahead? Well, the answer to both was YES! The guys ahead swam on gybing, we just managed to keep clear and beat the next boat by 9 seconds.

It might have only been 19th place out of 25 boats, but for the first time we could see that we belonged in the fleet. We showed we could compete against decent crews but the most encouraging thing was that we know just how much we need to improve and now feel we can. However, we are still learning the hard way and the capsize is a case in mind, After the race we were told how to save those situations, with the assurance that now we no how, we won't capsize to windward again. I am going to put that guarantee in the bank and use it, if needed!

And now the biggest problem. We want to get straight back out there racing against other boats, but that will have to wait until Sunday. Hopefully, we will get a training session in during the week but the forecast is a bit full on, so who knows.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

People's Foiler hits the big Two Oh!

Having managed to clear the decks of all the daily detritus, I finally got to go for a midweek sail in the Moth when the Nor'easter was pumping. Having owned my boat for nearly 3 months, I had yet to sail it in more than about 12 knots of wind. This meant that my heavy weather sail was still brand spanking new so, with a good 16-18 knots blowing, I couldn't resist the chance to give it a go.

And I was duly rewarded for my patience. The Moth sailors in the UK have a little "speed table", membership of which is open to anybody who breaks the 20 knot barrier. before today, there were 25 members - now there are 26.

Since my last post about the Moth, it has been officially named. In honour of that great "ambassador" of the foiling movement, Doug Lord, the boat has been named "People's Foiler". Now it was time for her to prove her worth.

It was clear from the moment I sheeted in that it was going to be a fast day. Setting off on port close hauled, I sailed about 600 metres to the other end of the beach in what seemed like a matter of moments. It was hard to keep speeds below 12-13 knots, even though I was playing with the sail controls to see how the new sail responded. A quick tack and bear away and the GPS went crazy, but only a little more than the bombardment on every sense in my body. The acceleration, the speed, the sensitivity of the steering, the shear exhilaration. Instantly the GPS showed over 20 knots and just seemed to stay there. Before I had time to digest what was going on, I was deep into the moored boats near the club and looking to slow and get away.

Flushed with the knowledge that the 20 knot barrier was history, I pressed on. I found a comfortable 14 knots upwind mode and then it happened. Nothing changed except the GPS readout suddenly jumped to 20 and straight back down again. A clear spike and with it the doubt. A GPS spike is pretty common. Many claims of high speed in dinghies are no more than spikes, which most proud sailors refuse to accept. This has lead to claims of bathtubs sailing faster than skiffs and I don't want to add to the catalogue of false claims. So, was my membership of the 20+ club no more than a spike.

The rest of the sail went at speed but as usual, there was never going to be enough time. So, within half an hour of coming off the water, I was downloading the data to my laptop and checking the data for spike. Sure enough, there were a few of which my favorite was the one that showed I went from 12 knots to 21 in 2 metres. I don't think my Porsche could do that, never mind a boat.

However, the top speed of 21.8 knots (25.01 MPH) was genuine, which moves me into joint 13th on the table. I am well pleased and here is the evidence.







Tuesday, November 13, 2007

ISAF celebrate 100 years by showing their true colours

It would be remiss of me not to join the growing outcry over the ISAF council decision of the events for the 2012 Olympics in Weymouth, England. While many cat sailors remain in their insular little world, feeling the whole world is against them (no cat event in 2012), the big picture is that high performance sailing in general was treated to a loud 2 fingered salute. If ever ISAF showed how self centred and out of touch many of the council members are, this was the time. This isn't democracy at work, this is cronyism and self interest of the worst order and has to arte as the most shameful action I know of by ISAF.

Great way to celebrate 100 years of serving the sailing community!

The Wild Boys are Back.......................

Before getting into the happenings of the last week, lets get one thing into the open. Most people would be delighted at having a picture of them and their 18 in a national paper in an article entitled "The Wild Boys are Back".
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22741971-5001023,00.html

However, when the picture is the one below, maybe some might understand why this isn't my idea of the ideal picture to please the sponsors. However, at least we got the sponsors name into the article............

What seems a little harsh is that 5 boats capsized on Sunday, 4 during the race and the print the photo of the one who swam before the race. Yes! At last. A race with no swim. Even better we weren't last and we learnt a lot.

We had about 11-14 knots of breeze that was shifty as anything, making it really tough. A busy harbour kicked up an inconsistant chop, so getting settled was difficult. Worst still, the first leg the triangle downwind had a really difficult area on the entrance to Rose Bay with big wind shadows, gusts and shifts of 30+ degrees. If you tried to gybe away, things got too tight to get back to the mark and Shark Island got in the way. So, noty the easiest day in the office.

However, after a poor start (must pull the trigger earlier) we trudged up the beat trying to find a good lane. Eventually, after nearly losing touch with the fleet, we found a lane that got us back to the fleet in time to see how we could compete downwind. And compete we did. We actually overtook a few boats, some with speed, others by handling Rose Bay well. However, this only led to exposing our real weakness. We couldn't point if our life depended on it. Getting on the inside of a few lifts hid this for a while, but there is no hiding from the fact. Added to this, we managed to rig our downhaul wrong, leading to the downhaul strap ripping off. In the bar afterwards I lost count of the number of people who said "we have all done that!"

After the race we were also able to ask last year's skipper, Herman, about the pointing. It seemed we were using a fraction of the vang that we should have been, so hopefully that is another lesson learnt. What is a bit of a shame is that I actually felt we were sailing the boat OK but with no upwind speed, it is hard to be sure.

Anyway, the team are a bit more fired up so those of you on the harbour should see us outr training a bit more. First session is on Thursday, when high on the agenda is learning how to pull the vang........hard!

As we seem to be going back in time (newspaper on Monday, 18 racing on Sunday), i guess a little update on the Moth sailing is in order. On Saturday we had one of the top boys from St. Georges sailing with us at Balmoral and he made us look silly. I won the start comfortably, only to see Dave traveling at speed behind, going lower and far quicker. A quick pull away later and the speed was matched. Even better, Dave tacked away to the side that never pays! A couple of minutes later I look over to the other side of the course and he is dead and buried! Then the wind softens, angles change and one boat foils the whole of the beat while the rest of us wallow. From there, whenever I saw dave, he was foiling and I wasn't.

On reflection, I don't yhink it is a boat difference but an experience one. Dave was sailing angles I haven't seen before and it is clear I need a rethink. I need to do some serious training with the GPS in VMG mode.

Monday, November 5, 2007

A weekend of contrasts, Part 2

I guess I should have known better. It was tempting fate, setting the scene for a 2 part report, with part 1 being the 13th post on this blog! However, I am not superstitious so I didn't give it a second thought. Anyway, I was right about one thing, though. It was a weekend of contrasts and the contrast began at about 4.00am on Sunday morning when I first woke up knowing something was wrong. The feeling in my stomach was either butterflies ahead of the days 18 sailing or something a little more serious. Regrettably, within minutes, I discovered it was the later.

While the nausea had subsided by the time I should have been heading down to Double Bay, there was no way I was in a fit state to sail. In fact, the only thing I was capable of getting on board of was either the bed or the sofa, where I spent the day. I still have no idea whether it was something I ate or a bug, but the net effect is that the efforts I was making to put on weight for the 18 are back to square one.

So, the comparison between the toys will have to wait another week. The long range forecast suggests that next weekend will be 15-20 knots both days which should give lots of opportunities for more swimming practice. While we probably won't get a midweek training session in the 18 this week, I hope to get some practice sessions with the Moth, as Saturday is the first Interclub (open meeting) of the season. With a forecast for fresh winds all week, it could prove to be "educational"! However, if it stays like today, I won't be going near a boat.

I have been sat at my desk watching the Canadian and Russian Laser sailors practicing in the big seas between the Heads. The wind has been 20-30 knots and they have all been swimming. More impressive than the wind is the size of some of the waves. We are half way up the hill and I can only just see the tops of the masts in the troughs. I have seen some of the Lasers going hard "down the mine". I guess it beats working!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

A weekend of contrasts, Part 1

People keep asking me about the differences between my 2 toys. Well, this weekend should help highlight them as it is Moth racing on Saturday, 18 on Sunday. So, let the show begin...........

Finally, after about 4 weeks, I have the Moth back with all its parts and my racing season can get under way. The first thing I noticed is how easy it is to rig and launch. It certainly passes the "if you can't lift it, don't sail it" test! For the first time in weeks, I didn't risk a hernia or back injury. In fact, for the first time in weeks, I actually sailed a whole race without injury. Lets hope that doesn't prove to be one of the differences between today and tomorrow.

We had a very present southerly breeze, ranging from 6-7 knots up to...........well, we thought 12-13 knots but Seabreeze.com.au said it was gusting 15-16 knots. 7 Moths started, 6 finished. I got a good start and foiled off to the wrong side of the beat rounding the windward mark 3rd. The best thing was that the 2 boats that had sailed the right way were lowriders! Just goes to show that boatspeed just gets you to the wrong place faster.

By the end of the first reach, I had broken through into the lead and the closer to the gybe mark we got, the more the wind came on. This caught me by surprise and the gybe was more than just wobbly, it was wet. This allowed the second place through but by the end of the next leg, I was leading again and extending. Another lap and half with a big lead and I was feeling more and more happy about life!

I don't know whether it was sailing in a bit less pressure or a loss of concentration but suddenly I was battling for the lead and next thing I know, a good lead was gone and I was battling to stay in second. In fact, at the last gybe, I even lost that place, but only for a short time as the superior speed of the Bladrider worked its magic and ensured I finished 2nd. Not bad for the first proper race of the year. I now know what I need to work on (gybes and tack) plus a few tweaks to the boat.

Landing and packing away was also quick and easy, a nice contrast to the 18.

So, what have I learnt that is of use for tomorrow? Not a lot! The boats and the racing are so different, which is what is so good about owning the 2 of them. However, it did remind me that I actually do know how to get off a start line and race. All I need to do is take that to the track tomorrow.

The appliances online.com.au team are pretty fired up for tomorrow, although we have a guest appearance at sheethand as Jamie is in NZ. I will present Part 2 as soon as possible, with some real observations about the differences between the 2 best boats you could ever want to sail.