Windsor Wednesday Race

This course was 50 degree reach on course C. The pin end was again favored. Before the start we turned before Merlin on port and managed to squeeze in at the pin right at the gun and yet kept NM out on our left side. Merlin kept us a little high and we both let Jhopper squeezed out in front of us to leeward. Since we were inside boat rounded DP8 ahead of Merlin but behind Jayhawker. We all put up our code 0's. Jayhawler and us did a spinnaker peel to the downwind .6 oz chutes where Merlin did the change by putting out their headsail first. Because of this we both had to heat up a little higher until we made the change. Towards mark B Jayhawer decided to jibe just ahead of us so I beared downed a little to make it more complicated and the they twisted their chute. This in turn slowed down Merlin on starboard. At this point we jibed and managed to get in front of both of them. We jibed back on starboard and did a mexican takedown and came out fast on a close reach. At this point we managed to hold both of them off past DP7 and DP5 and finished in first.

This was an impressive performance by the crew. We did 3 good jibes and and a good take down with practically no warning within the space of 2 minutes. That won the race for us.

COURSE C - 7.6 nautical miles
Start to DP8 (243o) leaving it to port
-then to A (091o) leaving it to port
-then to B (007o) leaving it to port
-then to DP7 (247o) leaving it to starboard
-then to finish leaving DP5 to starboard.

Result: 1st out of 5 J120's
Link:http://www.wyc.info/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Fall%20Race%207.pdf

GPYC Bluenose Regatta - the day of small spinnakers

The first leg was at 75 degrees to weather in 12 knots of wind with the committee boat slightly favored. The course was marks to port. The mistake I made at this start was to to not get to the committee boat side on port before the gun because I was concerned about getting leveraged above Jayhawker. I tacked to starboard about 10 seconds before the gun so we had good speed at the start. Merlin got in trouble so they tacked on port immediately and later was leading the fleet. I stayed on starboard because I was not willing to tack behind Ihnsanity and Night Moves ot our right and it put us right into the fishing fleet. They were packed in so tight I could not find a hole to go through so we had to make a few ugly tacks. After leaving the fisherman I just tacked to port because we were getting knocked on starboard. Before the race I noticed that we were getting periodic shifts to the right at the masthead 25 degrees compared to deck level. With nothing to lose I wanted to get on the right side of the course because I felt there would eventually a total shift. We went behind all the J120's and tacked to starboard when we got another knock. Incredibly the wind filled in from the right and we got great lift. Even more incredibly Ihnsanity, NM and Jayhawker tacked behind us and overstood because we were already on the layline. We got in a little ahead of Merlin and Victrix, a large 50 footer blanketed Merlin, a little more to Mark W. We rounded it in 1st and saw about a 70 degree apparent wind with about 16 knots of wind. We were prepared to raise the code 0 and when Merlin did we did also about a quarter the way down the leg. At that point it was a case of covering Merlin. At the next mark we jibed and covered Merlin and NM. NM fell farther behind when they had spinnaker problems. With Merlin we had to first cover to leeward and then to windward. We went higher on the course than I would of liked but we could not let Merlin get too far above our lane. We finished about 20 boat lengths ahead of Merlin.

This was windy code 0 day perfect for J120's. We got to blow through the whole fleet at 9 to 10 knots and kept our lead. The crew was a little short with each other because I think that everyone was nursing their hangovers from last night's Mackinaw award party (although it was pretty entertaining watching Colleen try to tie a bowline). It still was a great finish to the DRYA season. We finished 1st in windward / leeward, point to point, and overall in the J120's for the season.

Result: 1st out of 5 J120's
Link: http://www.drya.org/race2005/Results/gpycBN.htm

Windsor Wednesday Race

This race was with a a near port tack fetch to the first mark with the pin favored. I wanted to start at the pin end. I went over on starboard and was a little late letting Merlin in to our left and Jayhawker to our right. For some reason Flyin Irish decided to take Night Moves out early by being on starboard too long which took them both out of the race. On our approach to the first mark we did all we could to keep the boat going fast. This meant constant sail adjustment along with going down in the puffs and up in the lulls. By doing so we did not get gassed by Merlin and we got enough in fron to gas Jayhawker. We rounded DP8 in second right behind Merlin and raised our code 0. We managed to round mark A still behind Merlin. Since the next leg was downwind we did a jibe peel and went to the .6 oz. still behind Merlin. I tried coming in from the left side of the course so if we were even with Merlin we would have an inside overlap but unfortunately I think I over stood it a little allowing Merlin to get ahead again. The next leg to B was close reach where it was difficult to get past Merlin. The next leg to DP7 was a fetch so we still had problems passing them. In the mouth of the river we converged on 5 smaller boats. They managed to slow us down and Merlin squirted out in front of them. This hole in a wind hole in river allowed Jayhawker to pass us in a private wind shaft to our left. Boy I hate losing to Jayhawker that way.

COURSE C - 7.6 nautical miles
Start to DP8 (243o) leaving it to port
-then to A (091o) leaving it to port
-then to B (007o) leaving it to port
-then to DP7 (247o) leaving it to starboard
-then to finish leaving DP5 to starboard.

Result: 3rd out of 5 J120's
Link:http://www.wyc.info/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Fall%20Race%206.pdf

Bayview Long Distance Race

This race started in front of Bayview between a committee boat and a pin. Wind conditions were only about 7 knots to weather with a lot of direction and intensity shifts. I wanted to get good boat speed biased to the right of the other boats because I felt there was more wind on the right side of course inspite of the faster current. Ihnsanity was still to our right at the gun while the other J120's fought for the pin with Merlin grabbing it from the outside. We stayed on the right side of the river while most of the other boats went up the left side. After a couple of tacks I tried to do as few starboard tacks as possible because the current would just push the boat down stream. We did not go back on starboard until we were out in the lake. That put us ahead of the other boats. Here is where my first mistake was made. Instead of covering the other boats I let them get in on the Michigan shore and NM managed to catch up and eventually passed us to weather. We tacked at the front range light but kept most of the boats to the left.

We continued to tack in the northeast wind when favorable. NM and the other boats except Ihnsanity went more right where we went into the bay on the shoreline. We got a wonderful lift following it. I could see that the smoke coming out of a large power plant was coming from the northwest so all we had to do is tack and get to Huron Point Buoy. Unfortunately the wind went right over the land and believe it or not gave that wind to leeward of us first. We rounded in 4th place (merlin had gone aground and withdrawn) flying a code 0. We did a jibe spinnaker change to our .6 oz chute. We managed to work by Jayhawker with boat speed and good trimming. I tried jibing left early in the channel but the current just slowed us down too much. When the wind went right again we eventually went to the headsail and then switched back to the code 0 with the wind at about 55 degrees aparrent to Thames River buoy.

We could see NM and Ihnsanity come out ahead of us at the buoy with Ihnsanity rounding 1 mile ahead of us. The first part of the trip back was with a code 0 and we switched to 3/4 AP. Mike was steering and he comment on slow the change was. We dropped to 4 knots and he did not see why the new chute did not fill faster. I think this was good instructional conversation. Firstly the new chute cannot fill until the old one is blown and starts to come down. Secondly it is important to turn the boat up to get the apparent boat speed faster to speed it back up. Of course when you are the wheel time always move slower. We managed to catch up to Large Marg at the river and almost rolled her. Crazy Horse with the much larger water line attempted to roll us at the front range light but could not. We did have spirited conversation about going to a headsail at the light because the numbers were showing 45 degrees apparent on the instrument. I could tell it was much more abeam because the kite was not strapped all the way in. I think we were just getting some windshear at the top.

Upon entering the river Ihnsanity was only a 1/4 mile ahead of us. They chose to hug the Michigan shoreline where we opted to stay out in the river. We had experienced the same thing last year with Merlin where they sailed right into a hole. This gave us enough speed differential to beat them right at the finish line by a boat length.

This race was obviously well sailed by Night Moves. They got in front and did the necessary cover moves to stay in front. They have become a very good competitor and the standings are starting to show it. They were so far ahead that they may get first overall for the race. We shall see.

Course: starting line leaving both Peche Island Range lights to starboard to buoy G1”PH” (Point Huron outer buoy (42° 33. 2’ N - 082° 44.8’ W)) which shall be left to starboard. Thence to G27 (42° 29.8’N - 082° 43.0’ W) which shall be left to port. Thence to the Thames River entrance channel outer buoy (RW “T” Mo(A)) (42° 20.7’N - 082° 28.6’W). Thence to the finishing line, leaving both Peche Island range lights to port.

Result: 2nd out of 5 J/120's
Link: http://www.drya.org/race2005/Results/bycLD.htm

Windsor Wednesday Race

This race was course 3 with a little favored on the pin side for a 7 knot weather leg. I wanted to start on starboard on the pin side and go to port as soon possible. 2 minutes before the start I ran the line on port and turned when I got close to Jayhawker on starboard. Unfortunately Merlin wanted to sneak in from the outside so I needed to duck him and then tried to jam it. Merlin was over early but it did not do us much good because I had to let the starboard boats (NM, Jhopper, and Flyin Irish) go by and then tacked to port. I felt at the time this was still favored since we were going down to DP8 to get in the current. They must of had a little more pressure on the left because NM still beat us around the pin. The following leg was a broad reach that got further back as we approached Mark A. NM stayed a little faster with their 3/4 and going a little higher. We did a Puerto Rican takedown and just got inside (after the pole was taken in) of an old IOR boat to enable us to pass them. The leg to CC was a fetch where we gained a little on NM. We continued on past CC where the wind speed dropped to 4 or 5 knots to get a little further down stream before tacking to get to DP7. There seemed to be more pressure on the island side so we tried to stay on the south side of the channel. Jhopper stayed a little more right and managed to tack in front of us where we were never able to make up the difference. Right at the end there was a little more wind on the left and Merlin almost caught up to us on starboard. Because we were a little further out in the river we continued on starboard when Merlin had to tack. That allowed us to finish before them.

This was a frustrating race because we could of done better but it did not pan out. A middle position is little like kissing your sister. The worst part is we lost to Jayhopper and I hate losing to Jay hopper.

COURSE 3 - 6.3 nautical miles
Start to DP8 (243o) leaving it to port
-then to A (091o) leaving it to port
-then to CC (291o) leaving it to port
-then to DP7 (251o) leaving it to starboard
-then to finish leaving DP5 to starboard.

Result: 3 out of 5 J120's
Link: http://www.wyc.info/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Fall%20Race%205.pdf

Detroit Yacht Club Sweepstakes Regatta - Redemption!

This was a series of 2 W/L races. Conditions started light and variable with 2 start delays. Although the start was set up for 60 degrees about 6 knots wind, the pin side was extremely favored. I noticed that that in the J105 start that Creative managed to port start ahead of everyone at the pin. In the NA40 start the pin side was also favored. I tried to start on port but let Ihnsanity get underneath me. This was a near disaster as he started to force me up and I had to jam the boat up and then just missed the pin on the port side of the boat. Because of slowing down we crossed behind Night Moves on starboard. We sailed to weather well as we were able to sail a little above and caught up a little to Ihnsanity. I believe this was because we had tuned the mast to fall off at the top to leeward a little to get us a little speed advantage. In any case we managed to get to the top mark in 2nd just behind NM. We got our spinnaker up pretty fast and blanketed NM downwind. I decided I wanted to jibe to the left of NM so that when we came across on starboard so we could cross ahead. Later in the downwind leg I felt that the wind was a little stronger on the left so we came in on the layline and then did a mexican take down ahead of NM. This put us in 1st place. At this point it was a loose cover staying on the Canadian side of the course and winning the race.

Race 2 was with the wind at about 8.5 knots with the line fairly square. We started biased towards the pin side with

Ihnsanity in the middle and NM on the right side. We managed to work up on Ihnsanity and forced her away and then tacked underneath NM. When we tacked back on port Ihnsanity tacked right in front of us in our lane. Because NM was a couple lanes up we tacked out to get a clear lane and almost up to the left layline. Although we would not able to gain we could get clearer air and reduce the damage. After rounding the windward mark in 3rd we jibed right away to get on the left side of the course. We managed to catch up to a point where Ihnsanity rounded the leeward mark ahead of us but because we came in and did another mexican take down we were able to round on the inside of NM and climb up to 2nd. On this windward leg Ihnsanity incredibly tacked away from our lane a little past the layline and rounded in first. We had the NA40 Montabi round just ahead of us and I snuck in between them and the mark. He started to come down a little and thanks to Nancy's quick thinking of gathering the spinnaker so we would not touch the mark. We then filled the spinnaker and jibed to port. Although in first I wanted to stay to the left of Ihnsanity where if we had to cross we could do it on starboard. Fortunately at the finish line we did cross in front of her and jibed back in front of her because the left side of the line was favored and finished 1st. Both Night Moves and Ihnsanity sailed very good races for the finishes were all less than 50 seconds apart. I felt we used a couple of good tricks and again had some great crew work. Rob Ramirez said he liked the mexican takedown so much he wanted to rename it the Puerto Rican takedown. In any case we had some mediocre starts and managed to climb back up...redemption. Maybe we can get another picture of the trophy again this year.

Result: 1 out of 3 J120s
Link: http://www.drya.org/race2005/Results/dycsweep.htm

Windsor Wednesday Race

This race was course D with an even line with the wind maybe 20 degrees from behind. It was a port start with a code 0 launch. Because the true wind was behind the line I wanted to be by the committee boat side and slide down the line launching the chute early which we did. Unfortunately we could not seem to get enough boat speed so most of the J120's rounded the first mark in front of us. We gibed around the mark and continued on a starboard tack with the code 0. We continued to go slow when Mike revealed to me that we had attached the sail on backwards. This explained the slowness and flogging. At this point we put up the head sail and switched to the AP spinnaker. We rounded mark B tied for last place where Jayhawker did a mexican takedown so he tacked while we continued on starboard. Merlin was on the same tack ahead of us so at the first opening I tacked to port. I tacked again at the near layline on starboard at mark A. The next leg was again a close reach with the code 0. We stayed low on Jayhawker and Merlin and managed to inch them out at mark D. The next leg was a windward one where we stayed on port and then tacked when the it was evident the boat ahead was slowing us down. We tacked on port later and went to the layline of DP7 since it was further down stream. We managed to stay on starboard a little past DP7 and tacked in front of Flyin' Irish a little to windward. We managed to hold her off the rest of the way down the river and took 2nd. The only brilliant thing I had to say about this race was they managed to pull this out of our butts after such a problematic early race.

COURSE D - 7.2 nautical miles
Start to D (309o) leaving it to starboard
-then to B (081o) leaving it to starboard
-then to A (187o) leaving it to starboard
-then to D (296o) leaving it to port
-then to DP7 (212o) leaving it to starboard
-then to finish leaving DP5 to starboard.

Result: 2nd out of 5 J120s
Link: http://www.wyc.info/regatta2005/WYC%202005%20Fall%20Race%204.pdf