After last week's 18 race, there was some hard thinking to do about our rig. It had looked bad and felt even worse, so we pooled our ideas of what needed to be done and on Thursday, it was time for some serious tuning. To aid the process, I contacted Michael Coxon of North Sails, who made the sails. He was coming down to the club anyway, so we agreed to meet.
I got the boat set up for him to look at and we had the bend numbers for the rig, so that we could see if the set up still matched the sail design. We got off to a bad start because he thought I had a crucial bit of equipment and I thought he was bringing it! So, rather than measure, we pulled the main on. Even before we began, it was clear something wasn't right as the bottom of the mast bent the wrong way!
Once the sail was set and a few strings were pulled, it became clear that all was not well. It looked awful. However, worse was to come as Cocko watched and pondered. Then he pronounced. The mast wasn't bending properly, due to a bad joint which was allowing movement. Therefore, instead of a nice even bend, we had all the bend in one place and no control over the sail. The solution was simple - take the mast apart and glue it back together. Sounds simple, but it needs 4 people to pull it apart and I had a day until the next race.
Thinking on my feet, I realised that the club had some spare masts which they were going to sell. Quick negotiations followed and we are now using a mast previously used by The Rag. This only left the minor issue of changing all the rigging over and setting it up in the boat. Friday was spent checking the rigging and getting it onto the new mast but the fun bit was still to come.
Being Australia Day, there was a race on Saturday, to take place in a crowded harbour with the whole fleet wishing they weren't there! So, for ma, it was an early start and I arrived in the boat park at 9.15am, to find half the fleet already there. For me, there was no time to lose and I proceeded to get the mast into the boat. Then came the fun part. I guess I sent close to 2.5 hours of tightening and loosening and tightening and ...........until, finally, the tensions were correct. Then, with the boat on it's side, came the need to measure the bend. It seemed remarkably close to where it should be and then, just when they were needed, the team arrived. We pulled on the sail and it looked great. So, time to see if looking good was the same as going fast!
The race was sailed in the strangest of conditions. A fairly light breeze from the East, or was it NorEast.......or was it ENE or was it...........who knows! A laid course with a mark under Shark Island, a mark at the entry to Rushcutters and a big naval vessel parked in the middle of the course!
We had a reasonable start and worked our way up the beat. It seemed we struggled for height at times while at other moments, we seemed very quick. Then we found some height and then we missed some shift. It wasn't going to be an easy day in the office. However, we rounded the first mark about 10th and sailed a decent run , although struggling to find an overtaking lane. The second beat was more of the same. At one point, we were next to the boat that outpoints the whole fleet, Asko, and we held them for a couple of minutes. then we hit a difficult patch, lost our rhythm and they just popped out from under us. Ouch! We probably lost a couple of boats and were battling for 12th down the next run but then it all went a little pear shaped.
On the next beat, we played the shifts as badly as I have ever done. I know you are meant to tack on headers, but it seemed every time we had to tack, for ferry's, islands, headlands etc, we tacked into a header. One tack saw us coming to at nearly 180 degrees to the direction we had come in on! Another couple of boats lost and the back of the pack snapping on our heels. At least we could hold our own downhill.
The last beat was tough and we lost a lot of distance but fortunately, no places. So we cruised to the finish and picked up 16th place. It felt far worse, even in a fleet of 26 boats. Our cause was helped by 3 OCS (over the line at the start) and a big crash between Fisher and Pykel and Noakes Youth, that saw F&P's pole enter the side of Noakes and out through the floor. Very messy!
So, the verdict is out on the new rig. It clearly wasn't slow, but the conditions weren't really right to make an assessment. We have a few minor tweaks to make before the regular Sunday race, which should be in a traditional NorEaster so, hopefully, more will be learnt.
However, the one thing that was great was having the team back together. The whole boat worked far better and it was great having Scott back up front. So, a short break for some sleep and it is back to the boat park for Part 2 of the weekend.
I got the boat set up for him to look at and we had the bend numbers for the rig, so that we could see if the set up still matched the sail design. We got off to a bad start because he thought I had a crucial bit of equipment and I thought he was bringing it! So, rather than measure, we pulled the main on. Even before we began, it was clear something wasn't right as the bottom of the mast bent the wrong way!
Once the sail was set and a few strings were pulled, it became clear that all was not well. It looked awful. However, worse was to come as Cocko watched and pondered. Then he pronounced. The mast wasn't bending properly, due to a bad joint which was allowing movement. Therefore, instead of a nice even bend, we had all the bend in one place and no control over the sail. The solution was simple - take the mast apart and glue it back together. Sounds simple, but it needs 4 people to pull it apart and I had a day until the next race.
Thinking on my feet, I realised that the club had some spare masts which they were going to sell. Quick negotiations followed and we are now using a mast previously used by The Rag. This only left the minor issue of changing all the rigging over and setting it up in the boat. Friday was spent checking the rigging and getting it onto the new mast but the fun bit was still to come.
Being Australia Day, there was a race on Saturday, to take place in a crowded harbour with the whole fleet wishing they weren't there! So, for ma, it was an early start and I arrived in the boat park at 9.15am, to find half the fleet already there. For me, there was no time to lose and I proceeded to get the mast into the boat. Then came the fun part. I guess I sent close to 2.5 hours of tightening and loosening and tightening and ...........until, finally, the tensions were correct. Then, with the boat on it's side, came the need to measure the bend. It seemed remarkably close to where it should be and then, just when they were needed, the team arrived. We pulled on the sail and it looked great. So, time to see if looking good was the same as going fast!
The race was sailed in the strangest of conditions. A fairly light breeze from the East, or was it NorEast.......or was it ENE or was it...........who knows! A laid course with a mark under Shark Island, a mark at the entry to Rushcutters and a big naval vessel parked in the middle of the course!
We had a reasonable start and worked our way up the beat. It seemed we struggled for height at times while at other moments, we seemed very quick. Then we found some height and then we missed some shift. It wasn't going to be an easy day in the office. However, we rounded the first mark about 10th and sailed a decent run , although struggling to find an overtaking lane. The second beat was more of the same. At one point, we were next to the boat that outpoints the whole fleet, Asko, and we held them for a couple of minutes. then we hit a difficult patch, lost our rhythm and they just popped out from under us. Ouch! We probably lost a couple of boats and were battling for 12th down the next run but then it all went a little pear shaped.
On the next beat, we played the shifts as badly as I have ever done. I know you are meant to tack on headers, but it seemed every time we had to tack, for ferry's, islands, headlands etc, we tacked into a header. One tack saw us coming to at nearly 180 degrees to the direction we had come in on! Another couple of boats lost and the back of the pack snapping on our heels. At least we could hold our own downhill.
The last beat was tough and we lost a lot of distance but fortunately, no places. So we cruised to the finish and picked up 16th place. It felt far worse, even in a fleet of 26 boats. Our cause was helped by 3 OCS (over the line at the start) and a big crash between Fisher and Pykel and Noakes Youth, that saw F&P's pole enter the side of Noakes and out through the floor. Very messy!
So, the verdict is out on the new rig. It clearly wasn't slow, but the conditions weren't really right to make an assessment. We have a few minor tweaks to make before the regular Sunday race, which should be in a traditional NorEaster so, hopefully, more will be learnt.
However, the one thing that was great was having the team back together. The whole boat worked far better and it was great having Scott back up front. So, a short break for some sleep and it is back to the boat park for Part 2 of the weekend.
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