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.
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.
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