So, the season of goodwill is now out the way and Sydney returns to normal. The Olympic sailors have left town, which means that my phone has stopped ringing with people begging for a ride on the Bladerider. A few were even angling for a ride on the 18, which reminds me just how cool the whole thing is. It is too easy to fall into the way of life and just take it for granted. In the same way, it is too easy to think that with a couple of good results, 18 sailing has been well and truly mastered! The first 2 races of the year showed just how much work is still to be done.
Back from the holidays and with a practice session under our belt, we felt ready to really rock and roll. We lined up for the first start, found our hole and as the gun went, the guys congratulated me on the start. The 3 boats to leeward were clearly over and once they peeled off, we were in the driving seat, except there was no second gun. WTF! All three of us are puzzled but what can you do. Next time we sail the fleet, not the line!
Worse was to follow as we seemed to be slow, or was it just because we were eating everybody's exhaust fumes. Tacking for clear air sent us deep to the wrong side and it got worse. Either we sailed the wrong way in clear air or we ate dirt. Downwind was a precession but we did have speed and the gaps closed. We started the second beat with hope and the will to attack. But then it became obvious. We had no speed and the problem was the jib.
The whole time we had been sailing the boat, we had been attaching the jib sheet to the sail incorrectly. I spotted this on the current World Champs boat (Fiat) before we rigged so corrected this. However, it didn't occur that the different way would prevent the sail being sheeted properly and sure enough, as the breeze increased, we couldn't sheet in hard enough. In fact, we couldn't get the last 50mm in. Under powered and unable to point, all the good work downhill was wasted by a really stupid mistake. I felt that I had let the guys down.
On the run, Jamie did what he could to sort out the sheeting and while he improved it, we were still 30mm off where we needed to be. Plus we hadn't sailed some of the run flat out. So we limp around at the back, , getting our worst result for months.
The following Thursday we practiced with the new No2 main. It is so sweet and so was our boat handling. Only fly in the ointment was that I damaged my hamstring on a bear away but it wasn't going to stop me. With the forecast for Sunday calling for 20 knots, we felt ready for whatever is thrown at us. And what did we find on Sunday? 18 to 20 knots. Perfect!
So we head out to the start in good spirits, ready to take on whatever is thrown at us only to be hit by something we haven't come across before. We bear away at speed, dig in a little and pop straight out without thinking. Then, very soon after (1-2 seconds) we come to an abrupt halt. We hadn't spotted the kite coming out the bag and we were suddenly doing a good impression of a trawler. To capsize or not............not as the case turns out but by the time we were sorted, we were well into the start sequence and upwind of where we needed to be. A quick bear away and fast reach followed by a gybe and we were lined up at the wrong end of the line, third row of the grid and with 10 second to go. Another fine mess!
So, yet again, we have to tack and go the wrong way to clear our air. Coming back, we are well down but we seem to be going well, even to the point of thinking we had speed. Then we hook into a good shift and we are climbing through the fleet. We got the top if the leg wrong and round with more ahead than we would like. A good hoist and a couple of gybes later, we had a good lane into Rose Bay and the gybe mark. A few boats were swimming and after another slick gybe from the guys, we set off on the tightest reach for the bottom mark, reeling in boats all the time.
I think by the time we dropped the kite, we had taken 6 or 7 boats through good handling and a little speed. Better still, we are close up behind a group and on a charge. Everybody is being pushed low and we drop some way low of the mark. On heading up, we realise we are a little short of the mark and have to pull away again. WE get to the mark and harden up and out I jump onto the side. But where I think the rack should be there is fresh air and I am heading to the middle of the boat. The rest was inevitable, although the problems we encountered shouldn't have been. A very slow recovery and some further stupidity from "Surefoot Simon" saw us heading in with some muscle in my shoulder damaged enough to stop me raising my hand above my head.
I was devastated. The guys had sailed really well and we were actually very competitive. We swam from a silly mistake that I probably couldn't repeat if I wanted to. We all had friends watching and I felt I had let the guys down. My body keeps breaking and it isn't funny any more. I sit here typing this with a shoulder that nearly works, a damaged hamstring, a damaged thigh and bruising all over! It takes too long to recover, a bi-product of getting older, and I hate it! It feels that all the good work I did to get my body into a state to take the stresses and strains of my lifestyle has all been undone!
The festive break gave me a chance to catch up with my Moth sailing. I treasure the time I get in the boat and look forward to after the JJ (18 worlds) when I can spend more time in the boat. It is a truly addictive experience but at the moment, I am only using it for joy rides. While the boat handling might be going OK, for the first time I did some tuning against somebody who is close to the pace and I realised that the boat is currently set up for ease of sailing rather than speed. After some chats from Rohan, I have been sorting a few new bits and settings and cannot wait to try the boat again.
Back from the holidays and with a practice session under our belt, we felt ready to really rock and roll. We lined up for the first start, found our hole and as the gun went, the guys congratulated me on the start. The 3 boats to leeward were clearly over and once they peeled off, we were in the driving seat, except there was no second gun. WTF! All three of us are puzzled but what can you do. Next time we sail the fleet, not the line!
Worse was to follow as we seemed to be slow, or was it just because we were eating everybody's exhaust fumes. Tacking for clear air sent us deep to the wrong side and it got worse. Either we sailed the wrong way in clear air or we ate dirt. Downwind was a precession but we did have speed and the gaps closed. We started the second beat with hope and the will to attack. But then it became obvious. We had no speed and the problem was the jib.
The whole time we had been sailing the boat, we had been attaching the jib sheet to the sail incorrectly. I spotted this on the current World Champs boat (Fiat) before we rigged so corrected this. However, it didn't occur that the different way would prevent the sail being sheeted properly and sure enough, as the breeze increased, we couldn't sheet in hard enough. In fact, we couldn't get the last 50mm in. Under powered and unable to point, all the good work downhill was wasted by a really stupid mistake. I felt that I had let the guys down.
On the run, Jamie did what he could to sort out the sheeting and while he improved it, we were still 30mm off where we needed to be. Plus we hadn't sailed some of the run flat out. So we limp around at the back, , getting our worst result for months.
The following Thursday we practiced with the new No2 main. It is so sweet and so was our boat handling. Only fly in the ointment was that I damaged my hamstring on a bear away but it wasn't going to stop me. With the forecast for Sunday calling for 20 knots, we felt ready for whatever is thrown at us. And what did we find on Sunday? 18 to 20 knots. Perfect!
So we head out to the start in good spirits, ready to take on whatever is thrown at us only to be hit by something we haven't come across before. We bear away at speed, dig in a little and pop straight out without thinking. Then, very soon after (1-2 seconds) we come to an abrupt halt. We hadn't spotted the kite coming out the bag and we were suddenly doing a good impression of a trawler. To capsize or not............not as the case turns out but by the time we were sorted, we were well into the start sequence and upwind of where we needed to be. A quick bear away and fast reach followed by a gybe and we were lined up at the wrong end of the line, third row of the grid and with 10 second to go. Another fine mess!
So, yet again, we have to tack and go the wrong way to clear our air. Coming back, we are well down but we seem to be going well, even to the point of thinking we had speed. Then we hook into a good shift and we are climbing through the fleet. We got the top if the leg wrong and round with more ahead than we would like. A good hoist and a couple of gybes later, we had a good lane into Rose Bay and the gybe mark. A few boats were swimming and after another slick gybe from the guys, we set off on the tightest reach for the bottom mark, reeling in boats all the time.
I think by the time we dropped the kite, we had taken 6 or 7 boats through good handling and a little speed. Better still, we are close up behind a group and on a charge. Everybody is being pushed low and we drop some way low of the mark. On heading up, we realise we are a little short of the mark and have to pull away again. WE get to the mark and harden up and out I jump onto the side. But where I think the rack should be there is fresh air and I am heading to the middle of the boat. The rest was inevitable, although the problems we encountered shouldn't have been. A very slow recovery and some further stupidity from "Surefoot Simon" saw us heading in with some muscle in my shoulder damaged enough to stop me raising my hand above my head.
I was devastated. The guys had sailed really well and we were actually very competitive. We swam from a silly mistake that I probably couldn't repeat if I wanted to. We all had friends watching and I felt I had let the guys down. My body keeps breaking and it isn't funny any more. I sit here typing this with a shoulder that nearly works, a damaged hamstring, a damaged thigh and bruising all over! It takes too long to recover, a bi-product of getting older, and I hate it! It feels that all the good work I did to get my body into a state to take the stresses and strains of my lifestyle has all been undone!
The festive break gave me a chance to catch up with my Moth sailing. I treasure the time I get in the boat and look forward to after the JJ (18 worlds) when I can spend more time in the boat. It is a truly addictive experience but at the moment, I am only using it for joy rides. While the boat handling might be going OK, for the first time I did some tuning against somebody who is close to the pace and I realised that the boat is currently set up for ease of sailing rather than speed. After some chats from Rohan, I have been sorting a few new bits and settings and cannot wait to try the boat again.
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