Sunday was always going to be a tough day. While my body was almost mended, a surfing accident involving bare feet and sharp rocks resulted in Scott not being able to sail. In his place we had Archie Massey, well known and successful I14 sailor partaking in his first race 18 race and certainly his first visit to the bow department! To compound matters, the forecast was for bottom end of No2 rig but the conditions when rigging said No1. The fleet chose No1 rigs and and so the die was cast.
Once onto the racecourse, it seemed to be the right decision. We had a little fun and games as Archie, 12kgs heavier than Scott, used his extra leverage to pull apart his trapeze system and do a quick dismount and swim before the start. Fortunately, we got up and running quickly enough and added a few extra knots into the system so a to avoid such happenings again.
For once, we lined up nice and high with time to burn and held on to our lane reasonably well. Archie was getting nervous as well were all pushing up on the line but having not had a single individual recall all year,w e knew it would either be a general recall or they would let us go. Celebrations of our good start were cut short by the third gun and sure enough, it was a general recall.
The next start was not as clean. While lining up, we noticed that where there had previously been less wind on the left of the course, now there seemed to be a fair amount of pressure everywhere. A few quick tweaks to the rig and we were ready to line up, but we lost control of the bow, ending up in a right mess that should have broken our pole but somehow didn't. Instead, it made sure were were at the back of the grid. Even worse, when tacking to clear everybody else seemed to have the same idea and we were chewing dirt for quite some time.
Finally, we found a lane and attempted to settle. A couple of good shifts followed by a couple of bad ones and we weren't pretty at the first mark, but set off in pursuit with me determined to prove to Archie that we could be quick downwind even with his extra bulk. And sure enough, by being a little smarter and a little faster, we made some serious gains.
The next beat wasn't pretty. We were at the top end of the wind range for the rig and it was not working well. It was the first time we had raced in that sort of stuff and it really highlighted some serious shortfalls in the rig that if we correct, should improve performance in lighter stuff as well. Having stumbled up the beat, we set off down the run with high hopes but they were short lived as the first gybe led to an opportunity to inspect the bottom of the boat. It really did show that it doesn't matter how good you are, if you haven't practiced sailing an 18 as a team, you are going to struggle.
We got up and running again and had some great rides but going for a gybe drop was, on reflection, a tad ambitious. This time resulted in another first for me. I managed to fall from the top of the wing and get my legs either side of the tiller. Ouch! While the "crown jewels" weren't trapped , everything else in that region took a bit of a hammering and it was just as painful as if they had been caught! I probably couldn't ride a bike for a few days, being rather bruised in the saddle area!
However, despite the mess and pain, we got sorted and sailed the last lap in great solitude to gain a hard fought finish. We might have been DFL (dead f###ing last) but 6 boats didn't survive. There were 2 broken masts and various tales but I think for some, the conditions simply knocked the resolve out of them. On returning to shore, my family, who had been watching on the ferry, told us that one of the sponsors had been saying that it was the toughest day we could have experienced. I certainly think that the 14-18 knots with No1 rig is harder than 22+ with No2. Talking to the experienced boys, it seems that it was a "big day in the office" for everybody.
The big learning to come out of the sail was that we need to work on tuning. I have been too accepting of the fact we were learning and that the boat had a reputaion for going well with the No1 rig but Archie has identified various areas we need to sort. So, it looks like I have a week of bimbling ahead.
Next weekend is a big one. We are racing on Saturday in the Australia Day race, followed by Sunday with a regular race. Lots of time to try new settings and ideas.
Once onto the racecourse, it seemed to be the right decision. We had a little fun and games as Archie, 12kgs heavier than Scott, used his extra leverage to pull apart his trapeze system and do a quick dismount and swim before the start. Fortunately, we got up and running quickly enough and added a few extra knots into the system so a to avoid such happenings again.
For once, we lined up nice and high with time to burn and held on to our lane reasonably well. Archie was getting nervous as well were all pushing up on the line but having not had a single individual recall all year,w e knew it would either be a general recall or they would let us go. Celebrations of our good start were cut short by the third gun and sure enough, it was a general recall.
The next start was not as clean. While lining up, we noticed that where there had previously been less wind on the left of the course, now there seemed to be a fair amount of pressure everywhere. A few quick tweaks to the rig and we were ready to line up, but we lost control of the bow, ending up in a right mess that should have broken our pole but somehow didn't. Instead, it made sure were were at the back of the grid. Even worse, when tacking to clear everybody else seemed to have the same idea and we were chewing dirt for quite some time.
Finally, we found a lane and attempted to settle. A couple of good shifts followed by a couple of bad ones and we weren't pretty at the first mark, but set off in pursuit with me determined to prove to Archie that we could be quick downwind even with his extra bulk. And sure enough, by being a little smarter and a little faster, we made some serious gains.
The next beat wasn't pretty. We were at the top end of the wind range for the rig and it was not working well. It was the first time we had raced in that sort of stuff and it really highlighted some serious shortfalls in the rig that if we correct, should improve performance in lighter stuff as well. Having stumbled up the beat, we set off down the run with high hopes but they were short lived as the first gybe led to an opportunity to inspect the bottom of the boat. It really did show that it doesn't matter how good you are, if you haven't practiced sailing an 18 as a team, you are going to struggle.
We got up and running again and had some great rides but going for a gybe drop was, on reflection, a tad ambitious. This time resulted in another first for me. I managed to fall from the top of the wing and get my legs either side of the tiller. Ouch! While the "crown jewels" weren't trapped , everything else in that region took a bit of a hammering and it was just as painful as if they had been caught! I probably couldn't ride a bike for a few days, being rather bruised in the saddle area!
However, despite the mess and pain, we got sorted and sailed the last lap in great solitude to gain a hard fought finish. We might have been DFL (dead f###ing last) but 6 boats didn't survive. There were 2 broken masts and various tales but I think for some, the conditions simply knocked the resolve out of them. On returning to shore, my family, who had been watching on the ferry, told us that one of the sponsors had been saying that it was the toughest day we could have experienced. I certainly think that the 14-18 knots with No1 rig is harder than 22+ with No2. Talking to the experienced boys, it seems that it was a "big day in the office" for everybody.
The big learning to come out of the sail was that we need to work on tuning. I have been too accepting of the fact we were learning and that the boat had a reputaion for going well with the No1 rig but Archie has identified various areas we need to sort. So, it looks like I have a week of bimbling ahead.
Next weekend is a big one. We are racing on Saturday in the Australia Day race, followed by Sunday with a regular race. Lots of time to try new settings and ideas.
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