Saturday, December 03, 2005
CORA Developing Offshore Education Series
Charleston Ocean Racing Association is putting the ocean back into their racing program. Up for proposal are three offshore races for the 2006 season. In preparation to sail these Category 3 events there will be a number of educational meetings some being held in conjuction with the monthly CORA meeting and other seminars that will take place indepentently. This is a great oppourtunity for any boat owner (not just the racer) to educate themselves about offshore sailing as well a gain offshore experience. For more information don't hesitate contact myself at rdraftz@charlestonyachting.com.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Sale Items on Charleston Yachting.com
I just finished changing the home page featuring several Fujinon Binoculars at really great prices. We are also featuring the Garmin Geko 301 handheld GPS for $169.95. All these low prices are due to our special purchase of inventory and are only applicable to the current stock. These items will sell out and their prices will return to normal so take advantage now. We will continue to feature more new items as we are able to enter them into our online store.
Regards,
Randy
Regards,
Randy
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Charleston Yachting Moves Into New Warehouse
Charleston Yachting moves into to new distribution center to manage newly acquired inventory. Our new warehouse is located at 4208 Pace Street North Charleston. Current plans are to set up the inventory for filling our online orders but also possible walk in customers as well. The new inventory is comprised of marine hardware, cordage, clothing, rigging fittings and wire, electronics, and pre- made canvas products. Call us or keep an eye on www.charlestonyachting.com for warehouse clearance specials
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Charleston Yachting adds Kearney and WireTeknik Swaging Capabilities
Charleston Yachting has just added hydraulic and Kearney swaging to our capabilities! Whether you need new lifelines, standing rigging, architectural or industrial rigging, Charleston Yachting can build if for you, with capabilities to swage from 3/32” to 5/8” diameter wire. Our swaging equipment, coupled with our splicing expertise, make us a one-stop shop for all your rigging and line needs. Call us today for a quote or to discuss your next rigging project at (800) 610 9065 or email us at info@charlestonyachting.com
Monday, September 26, 2005
CORA Race 4 Aboard J109 Hoodoo
CORA Inshore Race 4 Course #9
Hoodoo J109
Conditions: Winds East to Southeast six to ten knots. Tide flooding.
Pre-race the wind was up to ten knots out of 105 degrees, we sailed upwind noticing a slight right hand shift of maybe ten degrees but still not enough to keep us from fetching the first mark of the course BP. With current coming in and breeze fading right the pin end of the line was going to be the place to be. Somehow we lost sight of this and ended up down to leeward headed for the middle of line. With a minute to go we jibed instead of tacked for our approach placing us behind and to leeward of Emocean the J20. Emocean and us were both a good 30 to 40 seconds late to line while Temptress and the new Wireless were at the pin. We had no where to go but to foot off and try to reach through the boats to windward as the wind continued to shift even more right(130) . It looked good for awhile but as we got out into the Ashley the breeze shifted back left lifting Temptress and Wireless back up to BP and leaving us on the outside. We could no longer adhere to our pre-race strategy of going up the James Island side so we tacked left hoping to find a nice lefty to come back on (first out of Phase or OOP). Emocean and Temptress both came back left with us and we appeared to consolidate against both of them laterally. We continued left just to weather of the new tower and we were now almost even with Temptress who had tacked back to the right for a slight loss. The breeze was now down to about seven knots and was not only oscillating in direction but also in velocity making the shifts very difficult decipher. Now for the greedy part, as we continued left we noticed a significant drop in our speed over ground but our heading was lifted(wind going right Hoodoo hard left OOP) so we didn’t tack. Meanwhile Temptress the M24 and the J33 where off to the right which we thought was a desperation move to catch up. Unfortunately for us, it much more calculated that it seemed and all three came off the right with a right hand shift and less current to round R2 three to four minutes ahead. Emocean had seen the writing on the wall and gotten over the right (better late than never) and gained on the Hoodoo to put about a two minute gap between us. We were not exactly thinking about the current flooding in over the shallower water or we would not of stayed in it so long going upwind, so we jibe set around R2 to avoid the positive effects downwind as well (Out Of Position).Take a look a the harbor chart and you will see what I mean plot out your downwind angles using wind direction of 115 and see how starboard tack sets you up for staying in greater current.
We continued on port jibe heading over to Fort Johnson eventually jibing back to starboard to stay in the channel and get some added help from the current. We got a bit of a lift and jibed backed making a nice gain on the leaders coming into the second rounding of BP. Then the wind swings back left just before BP making us jibe two more times in the last 100 yards to BP while the leaders are already headed back up wind.
Having not understood all our mistakes the first leg to R2 we continued the search for the left hander or right hander that was going to get us back into the race. We got to the starboard tack layline just in time for the wind to start going left (OOP). It was just enough to slow Emocean almost to stop as she squeezed around mark, while Hoodoo closed in the wind continue swing left forcing us to through two short tacks in get around a mark, that just minutes earlier we were on the online for. STAY AWAY FROM LAYLINES. We jibe set once again because the current issue is hindsight on my part sailed a similar run as the last leg but are now headed to round R4 to starboard. We really weren’t sailing the boat very well and downwind we needed to use our polar data to keep us honest. In light downwind you really have to work the boat up and down getting the apparent up enough to drive you down than back up again as the boat slows. This sounds easy but the wind continued to go up and down in velocity and direction making this extremely difficult. We jibed too early for R4 (again we should have been watching our jibing angles) got past R4 and broad reached into the finish on a slightly dieing breeze that was now at 135 degrees. It was one of those races, you have once in awhile (hopefully) and good reminder how easy it is to get out of phase and out of position. As much as the wind seemed to oscillate what did it do? It went right all day long.
Wireless was first to finish and the winner (first to BP) Temptress second and the J33 Ice Pac third, Emocean fourth and Hoodoo fifth. The boats that stayed hard right all won easily. While Emocean and Hoodoo battled out for cellar on the left. Lesson to be learned with a east to southeast breeze in flood tide stay right RIGHT and review charts for positioning the current.
Henry McCray has a similar review of the race from the leaders its amazing how close the two reviews were except for ours being hindsight and them getting it right from get go.
Hoodoo J109
Conditions: Winds East to Southeast six to ten knots. Tide flooding.
Pre-race the wind was up to ten knots out of 105 degrees, we sailed upwind noticing a slight right hand shift of maybe ten degrees but still not enough to keep us from fetching the first mark of the course BP. With current coming in and breeze fading right the pin end of the line was going to be the place to be. Somehow we lost sight of this and ended up down to leeward headed for the middle of line. With a minute to go we jibed instead of tacked for our approach placing us behind and to leeward of Emocean the J20. Emocean and us were both a good 30 to 40 seconds late to line while Temptress and the new Wireless were at the pin. We had no where to go but to foot off and try to reach through the boats to windward as the wind continued to shift even more right(130) . It looked good for awhile but as we got out into the Ashley the breeze shifted back left lifting Temptress and Wireless back up to BP and leaving us on the outside. We could no longer adhere to our pre-race strategy of going up the James Island side so we tacked left hoping to find a nice lefty to come back on (first out of Phase or OOP). Emocean and Temptress both came back left with us and we appeared to consolidate against both of them laterally. We continued left just to weather of the new tower and we were now almost even with Temptress who had tacked back to the right for a slight loss. The breeze was now down to about seven knots and was not only oscillating in direction but also in velocity making the shifts very difficult decipher. Now for the greedy part, as we continued left we noticed a significant drop in our speed over ground but our heading was lifted(wind going right Hoodoo hard left OOP) so we didn’t tack. Meanwhile Temptress the M24 and the J33 where off to the right which we thought was a desperation move to catch up. Unfortunately for us, it much more calculated that it seemed and all three came off the right with a right hand shift and less current to round R2 three to four minutes ahead. Emocean had seen the writing on the wall and gotten over the right (better late than never) and gained on the Hoodoo to put about a two minute gap between us. We were not exactly thinking about the current flooding in over the shallower water or we would not of stayed in it so long going upwind, so we jibe set around R2 to avoid the positive effects downwind as well (Out Of Position).Take a look a the harbor chart and you will see what I mean plot out your downwind angles using wind direction of 115 and see how starboard tack sets you up for staying in greater current.
We continued on port jibe heading over to Fort Johnson eventually jibing back to starboard to stay in the channel and get some added help from the current. We got a bit of a lift and jibed backed making a nice gain on the leaders coming into the second rounding of BP. Then the wind swings back left just before BP making us jibe two more times in the last 100 yards to BP while the leaders are already headed back up wind.
Having not understood all our mistakes the first leg to R2 we continued the search for the left hander or right hander that was going to get us back into the race. We got to the starboard tack layline just in time for the wind to start going left (OOP). It was just enough to slow Emocean almost to stop as she squeezed around mark, while Hoodoo closed in the wind continue swing left forcing us to through two short tacks in get around a mark, that just minutes earlier we were on the online for. STAY AWAY FROM LAYLINES. We jibe set once again because the current issue is hindsight on my part sailed a similar run as the last leg but are now headed to round R4 to starboard. We really weren’t sailing the boat very well and downwind we needed to use our polar data to keep us honest. In light downwind you really have to work the boat up and down getting the apparent up enough to drive you down than back up again as the boat slows. This sounds easy but the wind continued to go up and down in velocity and direction making this extremely difficult. We jibed too early for R4 (again we should have been watching our jibing angles) got past R4 and broad reached into the finish on a slightly dieing breeze that was now at 135 degrees. It was one of those races, you have once in awhile (hopefully) and good reminder how easy it is to get out of phase and out of position. As much as the wind seemed to oscillate what did it do? It went right all day long.
Wireless was first to finish and the winner (first to BP) Temptress second and the J33 Ice Pac third, Emocean fourth and Hoodoo fifth. The boats that stayed hard right all won easily. While Emocean and Hoodoo battled out for cellar on the left. Lesson to be learned with a east to southeast breeze in flood tide stay right RIGHT and review charts for positioning the current.
Henry McCray has a similar review of the race from the leaders its amazing how close the two reviews were except for ours being hindsight and them getting it right from get go.
I have been contacted by a friend of mine that is looking for help to move his Swan 40 from Charleston to Miami about the first week of November. The plan is to go ICW for couple of days than go outside to Miami. I bet he might be talked into outside the whole way if the weather cooperates. If you know of anyone or are interested yourself contact me at rdraftz@charlestonyachting.com.
CORA Inshore Race 4
Randy,
Below is my recap from gameday.
Sunday’s Fall Race #4 began for Temptress with a malfunctioning compass. True wind functions, VMG’s, and corrected GPS functions were right out, so we had to go at it the old fashioned way. With the breeze forecast for east-north-east at 7-9 knots and an incoming current the strategy seemed pretty straightforward from the get-go. We planned our pre-start to be able to start near the pin with speed and not let Hoodoo or Emocean above us for the fetch to BP. Both are larger, heavier boats with longer waterlines and we felt being in the drivers seat at BP was at a premium in the flat water. But then there was that Melges. Brand new and fresh out of the shrink wrap Reggie Fairchilds latest “Wireless” looked sharp with her carbon mast, and even sharper nailing the start. We spent the whole first leg trying to chase her down, but Melges sail right through their hull speeds in flat water. Oh well. We also noted during the pre start that the wind was going right. What we planned as a fetch to BP turned into a beat, and a look out to Ft. Sumter saw the flags showing sea breeze.
The weather forecast had commented that localized inversion could result in a sea breeze amalgamating with the gradient to produce onshore flow. Funny, that’s what we saw on the first beat. As the morning moisture burned off and the plumes grew we saw pressure and right shift all the way to ESE by the middle of the first beat. We chose to stay close to the JI shore, even though the incoming current is strong in the south channel. Wireless went with us even after we were able to cross and begin to extend on him shortly after BP. I noticed Hoodoo and Emocean choose the left- presumably to get out of the south channel. We chose to let them split knowing the current rushes around the flats in a myriad of directions and strengths. We have had some good luck when the whole fleet is forced on to the flats, but seldom have we had the flats pay on a flood tide. As we worked up the beat picking shifts and trying to force the Melges to the left of us (yeah, right- outmaneuver an anklebiter) we noticed Icepac going strong with us and holding her own. I thought back to the first Ocean Race when Icepac played inside the south channel brilliantly and made huge gains. Must be something going here. As we approached Ft. Johnson a quick look back across the harbor told the whole story. The breeze on the right was much more right and seemed to have very good pressure. Hoodoo and Emocean looked helplessly stuck in a convergence zone over the flats. While they would both occasionally catch an eddie and look oh-my-god great for short periods of time the right paid big.
We have learned that even when gybe setting seems like a great idea at R2 it pays to hold starboard gybe and run the boat back up on the flats. Unfortunately for us Reggie obviously knows this too, and held out on starboard longer before gibing. He was in obviously favorable current and as the righty died off and the lefty filled back in Wireless slipped by and put a hurting on us- and the fleet. The second beat was our big chance for redemption. Wireless rounded BP with almost a 4 minute lead, but a solid beat playing middle right slashed into their lead.
Emocean seemed to make a big gain at the beginning of the second beat. They went WAY inshore towards JI, and came out with a ridiculous angle and pressure. Here they come… But as the opp (own personal puff) died they came back to earth. They did make a gain, but not one big enough to get back into phase with the leaders. Icepac continued to roll, and was right with Emo at BP. The beat was much like the first. Play the right and stay out of the heaviest currents in the south channel.
We both chose long laylines in R2, but Wireless went further right and brought right pressure into the mark with speed and gained a little back. Off they went with their kite on starboard. We rounded and followed, but with the pressure were able to sail lower and faster for a few minutes. Then, our chance came. Wireless had wandered to the north side of the flats and was having to stay very high to keep pressure while the North channel began sucking them in. We gybed and realized an immediate gain. But as we sailed back through the convergence zone they were able to reach in flat water at a tighter angle and got through our shadow and back into the lead for good.
We did close near the finish, capitalizing on a late shift and pressure catching a well sailed melges is a tall order. As soon as the breeze reached them they were able to squirt out from under our shadow and take the race across the line. Good job guys!
At the end of the day Emo and Hoodoo had reinforced a tactics lesson that I have stressed over and over. You don’t have to hit every shift, but you can’t miss the first one. Albeit there was no way to “tell” that the wind would go to slop over the flats right as they were approaching, but having watched Icepac successfully play the inside of the south channel the last time we were headed that way we thought we had a strong basis for letting the fleet go. With the wind showing right trends pre-start (even without our demonist HAL-2000 supercomputer) we saw no reason to go any further left than we had to.
Other notes--
· It seems as though that CORA is mobilizing for an all out attack on Key West Race Week. Temptress will be there, and so will Emocean. I believe Hoodoo is planning on attending, and Teddy&co. will be racing the SantaCruz 70! There may even be more, but I don’t remember CORA ever sending such a strong group south to compete in the big pond!
· I have to wonder when measurers are looking at the “date” and the “deltas” if they take into account races like yesterday. We got most of our lead on the first beat on one shift. All of a sudden we correct to nearly a 12 minute margin over a bigger faster J/120. Great race for us, but does it mean we should be rated 9 instead of 69? In a race where 60 seconds a mile wouldn’t have changed the outcome I wonder what difference changing a rating by 3 or 6 seconds a mile would do. Having raced very successful J’s like Love that Chicken (J-109) and Eurotrash Girl (J-120) on the Chesapeake with a competitive SR-33 (Outrageous) I know just how hard it is to compete against them with the current rating delta’s. Every second counts. LTC won the regatta with Outrageous 2nd and Eurotrash 3rd. The SR rated 66 up there and the 109 69. They scored two firsts by correcting out over us after we beat them across the line by a half a boatlength or so after 12 miles racing- twice. Eurotrash was 51 up there, and if the delta had shrunk from 15 seconds per mile to 12 they would have beaten us. Conversely if the SR and 109 were even we would have won. After four days of being separated by less than 3 boatlengths we observed that the SR was a little faster downwind, and the 109 consistently quicker upwind. Same pace, but better point. How much of that is sails? Helm? Bottom? Rig? I don’t know. I don’t think most handicappers know either, no matter how much “data” they have. It’s a good thing we have David down here- his verbal policy for years has been to not fix what isn’t broke. As we all wait for the KWRW “PHRF lottery” I wonder what will be in store. SR’s have been rated from 81 to 66 at KW and continued to win and place. Is it really that hard to rate a boat? Funnier still is that Outrageous received a 75 rating for Block Island (they did not attend due to schedule conflicts with the crew.) But can anyone say lay-up? That’s a 9 second spread between two of the biggest handicap regattas in the country. I wonder if anyone’s watching. At 75 here we would have won virtually every race we sailed for the last two years. At 63 we may never win another one. I know IRC is on the way and we experiment with Americap, but won’t it be a wonderful day in paradise when at the very least ratings are consistent?
· There is a new J-100 in town. She is owned by the owner of the local SeaRay dealership who purchased the boat as a spicy day-sailer to enjoy with his children. I have spoken to him and encouraged him to join CORA (he has a long background in racing) and hopefully he will.
· Where’s Arrow? · Does anyone know who bought Crosswave?
Henry R. McCray
Below is my recap from gameday.
Sunday’s Fall Race #4 began for Temptress with a malfunctioning compass. True wind functions, VMG’s, and corrected GPS functions were right out, so we had to go at it the old fashioned way. With the breeze forecast for east-north-east at 7-9 knots and an incoming current the strategy seemed pretty straightforward from the get-go. We planned our pre-start to be able to start near the pin with speed and not let Hoodoo or Emocean above us for the fetch to BP. Both are larger, heavier boats with longer waterlines and we felt being in the drivers seat at BP was at a premium in the flat water. But then there was that Melges. Brand new and fresh out of the shrink wrap Reggie Fairchilds latest “Wireless” looked sharp with her carbon mast, and even sharper nailing the start. We spent the whole first leg trying to chase her down, but Melges sail right through their hull speeds in flat water. Oh well. We also noted during the pre start that the wind was going right. What we planned as a fetch to BP turned into a beat, and a look out to Ft. Sumter saw the flags showing sea breeze.
The weather forecast had commented that localized inversion could result in a sea breeze amalgamating with the gradient to produce onshore flow. Funny, that’s what we saw on the first beat. As the morning moisture burned off and the plumes grew we saw pressure and right shift all the way to ESE by the middle of the first beat. We chose to stay close to the JI shore, even though the incoming current is strong in the south channel. Wireless went with us even after we were able to cross and begin to extend on him shortly after BP. I noticed Hoodoo and Emocean choose the left- presumably to get out of the south channel. We chose to let them split knowing the current rushes around the flats in a myriad of directions and strengths. We have had some good luck when the whole fleet is forced on to the flats, but seldom have we had the flats pay on a flood tide. As we worked up the beat picking shifts and trying to force the Melges to the left of us (yeah, right- outmaneuver an anklebiter) we noticed Icepac going strong with us and holding her own. I thought back to the first Ocean Race when Icepac played inside the south channel brilliantly and made huge gains. Must be something going here. As we approached Ft. Johnson a quick look back across the harbor told the whole story. The breeze on the right was much more right and seemed to have very good pressure. Hoodoo and Emocean looked helplessly stuck in a convergence zone over the flats. While they would both occasionally catch an eddie and look oh-my-god great for short periods of time the right paid big.
We have learned that even when gybe setting seems like a great idea at R2 it pays to hold starboard gybe and run the boat back up on the flats. Unfortunately for us Reggie obviously knows this too, and held out on starboard longer before gibing. He was in obviously favorable current and as the righty died off and the lefty filled back in Wireless slipped by and put a hurting on us- and the fleet. The second beat was our big chance for redemption. Wireless rounded BP with almost a 4 minute lead, but a solid beat playing middle right slashed into their lead.
Emocean seemed to make a big gain at the beginning of the second beat. They went WAY inshore towards JI, and came out with a ridiculous angle and pressure. Here they come… But as the opp (own personal puff) died they came back to earth. They did make a gain, but not one big enough to get back into phase with the leaders. Icepac continued to roll, and was right with Emo at BP. The beat was much like the first. Play the right and stay out of the heaviest currents in the south channel.
We both chose long laylines in R2, but Wireless went further right and brought right pressure into the mark with speed and gained a little back. Off they went with their kite on starboard. We rounded and followed, but with the pressure were able to sail lower and faster for a few minutes. Then, our chance came. Wireless had wandered to the north side of the flats and was having to stay very high to keep pressure while the North channel began sucking them in. We gybed and realized an immediate gain. But as we sailed back through the convergence zone they were able to reach in flat water at a tighter angle and got through our shadow and back into the lead for good.
We did close near the finish, capitalizing on a late shift and pressure catching a well sailed melges is a tall order. As soon as the breeze reached them they were able to squirt out from under our shadow and take the race across the line. Good job guys!
At the end of the day Emo and Hoodoo had reinforced a tactics lesson that I have stressed over and over. You don’t have to hit every shift, but you can’t miss the first one. Albeit there was no way to “tell” that the wind would go to slop over the flats right as they were approaching, but having watched Icepac successfully play the inside of the south channel the last time we were headed that way we thought we had a strong basis for letting the fleet go. With the wind showing right trends pre-start (even without our demonist HAL-2000 supercomputer) we saw no reason to go any further left than we had to.
Other notes--
· It seems as though that CORA is mobilizing for an all out attack on Key West Race Week. Temptress will be there, and so will Emocean. I believe Hoodoo is planning on attending, and Teddy&co. will be racing the SantaCruz 70! There may even be more, but I don’t remember CORA ever sending such a strong group south to compete in the big pond!
· I have to wonder when measurers are looking at the “date” and the “deltas” if they take into account races like yesterday. We got most of our lead on the first beat on one shift. All of a sudden we correct to nearly a 12 minute margin over a bigger faster J/120. Great race for us, but does it mean we should be rated 9 instead of 69? In a race where 60 seconds a mile wouldn’t have changed the outcome I wonder what difference changing a rating by 3 or 6 seconds a mile would do. Having raced very successful J’s like Love that Chicken (J-109) and Eurotrash Girl (J-120) on the Chesapeake with a competitive SR-33 (Outrageous) I know just how hard it is to compete against them with the current rating delta’s. Every second counts. LTC won the regatta with Outrageous 2nd and Eurotrash 3rd. The SR rated 66 up there and the 109 69. They scored two firsts by correcting out over us after we beat them across the line by a half a boatlength or so after 12 miles racing- twice. Eurotrash was 51 up there, and if the delta had shrunk from 15 seconds per mile to 12 they would have beaten us. Conversely if the SR and 109 were even we would have won. After four days of being separated by less than 3 boatlengths we observed that the SR was a little faster downwind, and the 109 consistently quicker upwind. Same pace, but better point. How much of that is sails? Helm? Bottom? Rig? I don’t know. I don’t think most handicappers know either, no matter how much “data” they have. It’s a good thing we have David down here- his verbal policy for years has been to not fix what isn’t broke. As we all wait for the KWRW “PHRF lottery” I wonder what will be in store. SR’s have been rated from 81 to 66 at KW and continued to win and place. Is it really that hard to rate a boat? Funnier still is that Outrageous received a 75 rating for Block Island (they did not attend due to schedule conflicts with the crew.) But can anyone say lay-up? That’s a 9 second spread between two of the biggest handicap regattas in the country. I wonder if anyone’s watching. At 75 here we would have won virtually every race we sailed for the last two years. At 63 we may never win another one. I know IRC is on the way and we experiment with Americap, but won’t it be a wonderful day in paradise when at the very least ratings are consistent?
· There is a new J-100 in town. She is owned by the owner of the local SeaRay dealership who purchased the boat as a spicy day-sailer to enjoy with his children. I have spoken to him and encouraged him to join CORA (he has a long background in racing) and hopefully he will.
· Where’s Arrow? · Does anyone know who bought Crosswave?
Henry R. McCray
Sunday, September 18, 2005
CORA Ocean Race #3 (Hoodoo)
Fall Ocean Race #3 September 17th
Hoodoo J109
Crew:
Rando, Jay Bowen Dan Perrin, Katy Durant, Jim Kempert, Randy Draftz, Ric Campeau
Conditions:
Started in light conditions of 4-6 knots out of the east south east building to 11 knots and shifting south southeast. Tide was full ebb at the start.
Rig settings were left at base; we could have eased rig two turns for the light conditions. I also think that a softer rig for these longer ocean racing courses is beneficial making us faster in the fetching and reaching conditions you often encounter.
The start:
With the light air and strong down course current we opted to hang close to the line staying headed into the current on broad starboard tack reach, with about 45 seconds to go we spun and jibed leading Temptress (to leeward ) back to line. We both were about ten seconds early and had to kill our speed as the current flushed us toward the line. The pin was the place to be at the start and both of us ended up several boat lengths down from pin allowing Emocean to take pin. Temptress accelerated quickly off the line created a leebow effect on Hoodoo. We pinched slightly at the start and were now behind Temptress and Emocean, we had no choice but to foot off to leeward to clear and get the boat rolling. We were all going to fetch BP due to the current and Temptress reached BP first the Emocean and Hoodoo a boat length later. Everyone went hard on the wind on port after rounding BP and being third to round we were dead behind Emocean and had to tack away to clear our air. Temptress and Emocean continued in towards James Island. We seemed to have a little better pressure and gained slightly on Emocean while Temptress had tacked back left to cover. We had a small header and tacked back to port to get back right while Emocean had now tacked onto to starboard we had a couple of sections D boats to sail through and Emocean just crossed on starboard. Our strategy was to the favor the right hand side with expectation that the wind would shift more out of south as well as more favorable current. The breeze still was slightly lighter to right and we tacked back on port as did Temptress. Temptress was now in a comfortable lead to weather of us and we were now to weather of Emocean due to a nice right hander. It did not take long for things to change as we headed across the channel. We appeared to sail out of the current while Emocean ahead and to leeward reached the north channel and started sailing twenty degrees higher due to the current, sailed right up in front of us. Once we got Hoodoo into the new current we were again sailing equal to slightly higher than Emocean but now the breeze was building to eight knots and the breeze and gone far enough south that we were all fetching the turning mark just outside the jetties. Temptress rounded the buoy first 2 ½ minutes ahead of us with Emocean rounding second about minute in front of Hoodoo. With the new wind direction our strategy coming back into the harbor was to hug the south jetties as close as we dared hoping to have some relief from the current. We jibed around the buoy and set our large asymmetrical spinnaker and started reaching back sliding along the jetties. Temptress was doing the same while Emocean was sailing lower towards the north side of the channel. It didn’t appear we were getting much relief, as our boatspeed through the water was about 8 knots while our speed over ground was averaging about 5.5 knots. Dauntless, the Beneteau 47.7 had rounded behind us and was starting to catch us due to her waterline length but as we got closer to the jetties, Dauntless stayed about 50 yards further out into the channel and we quickly pulled away again so we did indeed have some relief staying along the jetties. We were gradually reeling in Temptress with our slightly longer waterline and our masthead A-sail and our rig pulled forward for reaching against their smaller fractional rigged spinnaker. Meanwhile Emocean was going faster than both Temptress and us but were still down on the north side of the channel and would have to cross the current. As we approached Fort Sumter Emocean came reaching up from the north channel like gangbusters, while Temptress and Hoodoo were having to sail down slightly to keep from running out of water. Emocean now had put about 5 minutes on both us and they were now tight reaching with their big A-Sail towards R4. We saw Emocean radically change her course once which we expected was due to shallow water and then reach back up to her original heading. Emocean then ran aground not far from where a Fearless a 1d35 had run hard aground a year ago. Emocean kept her spinnaker up and unfurled their genoa to get as much heal as possible and appeared to be getting free at one point but the sails were rotating the boat the wrong way. Emocean was never able to sail free and had to withdraw. Now the race was between Hoodoo and Temptress and we were now only a couple of boat lengths apart. The wind backed as we sailed back in from Fort Sumter to R4 and continued our gains on Temptress. It appeared Temptress had flatter reaching spinnaker up which slowed Temptress as they had to pull their pole off the headstay. It was now going to be a run from R4 to the finish and with the current still flowing out Temptress and Hoodoo continued on port jibe heading for the current relief off the Battery. There was a large high school regatta going on that we needed to avoid making both of us jibe simultaneously to starboard with Temptress ahead and to leeward. This is where it gets crazy, the pin end of finish line was not down yet, we were now less than a boat length behind but could not figure out the finish line. First it appeared there was boat and pin but that was the high school course. We then saw the pin end of our finish line and Temptress jibed and as did we but now we were to leeward. We stayed to leeward thinking we could break through to the pin but the other end of line was on the yacht club dock and was the favored end. We were now committed and had to follow Temptress across line 11 seconds behind. What a good close race after sailing 15.5 miles. Our missed opportunity to win was a couple of things the confusion of not knowing what the finish line was and in lighter air you are not going to blast through to leeward. On that final jibe we needed to take Temptress’s transom, and attack by reaching over the top, and leveraging the reaching ability of our A-sail. Temptress would have responded by taking us up, which might have kept us from the finish line but also might have given us the speed to pass. Once again the boat first to BP wins, Emocean would have certainly won if they hadn’t run aground.
Emocean’s tactics coming back in through the jetties were race winning but not having enough water to sail in was costly.
Randy Draftz
www.charlestonyachting.com
Hoodoo J109
Crew:
Rando, Jay Bowen Dan Perrin, Katy Durant, Jim Kempert, Randy Draftz, Ric Campeau
Conditions:
Started in light conditions of 4-6 knots out of the east south east building to 11 knots and shifting south southeast. Tide was full ebb at the start.
Rig settings were left at base; we could have eased rig two turns for the light conditions. I also think that a softer rig for these longer ocean racing courses is beneficial making us faster in the fetching and reaching conditions you often encounter.
The start:
With the light air and strong down course current we opted to hang close to the line staying headed into the current on broad starboard tack reach, with about 45 seconds to go we spun and jibed leading Temptress (to leeward ) back to line. We both were about ten seconds early and had to kill our speed as the current flushed us toward the line. The pin was the place to be at the start and both of us ended up several boat lengths down from pin allowing Emocean to take pin. Temptress accelerated quickly off the line created a leebow effect on Hoodoo. We pinched slightly at the start and were now behind Temptress and Emocean, we had no choice but to foot off to leeward to clear and get the boat rolling. We were all going to fetch BP due to the current and Temptress reached BP first the Emocean and Hoodoo a boat length later. Everyone went hard on the wind on port after rounding BP and being third to round we were dead behind Emocean and had to tack away to clear our air. Temptress and Emocean continued in towards James Island. We seemed to have a little better pressure and gained slightly on Emocean while Temptress had tacked back left to cover. We had a small header and tacked back to port to get back right while Emocean had now tacked onto to starboard we had a couple of sections D boats to sail through and Emocean just crossed on starboard. Our strategy was to the favor the right hand side with expectation that the wind would shift more out of south as well as more favorable current. The breeze still was slightly lighter to right and we tacked back on port as did Temptress. Temptress was now in a comfortable lead to weather of us and we were now to weather of Emocean due to a nice right hander. It did not take long for things to change as we headed across the channel. We appeared to sail out of the current while Emocean ahead and to leeward reached the north channel and started sailing twenty degrees higher due to the current, sailed right up in front of us. Once we got Hoodoo into the new current we were again sailing equal to slightly higher than Emocean but now the breeze was building to eight knots and the breeze and gone far enough south that we were all fetching the turning mark just outside the jetties. Temptress rounded the buoy first 2 ½ minutes ahead of us with Emocean rounding second about minute in front of Hoodoo. With the new wind direction our strategy coming back into the harbor was to hug the south jetties as close as we dared hoping to have some relief from the current. We jibed around the buoy and set our large asymmetrical spinnaker and started reaching back sliding along the jetties. Temptress was doing the same while Emocean was sailing lower towards the north side of the channel. It didn’t appear we were getting much relief, as our boatspeed through the water was about 8 knots while our speed over ground was averaging about 5.5 knots. Dauntless, the Beneteau 47.7 had rounded behind us and was starting to catch us due to her waterline length but as we got closer to the jetties, Dauntless stayed about 50 yards further out into the channel and we quickly pulled away again so we did indeed have some relief staying along the jetties. We were gradually reeling in Temptress with our slightly longer waterline and our masthead A-sail and our rig pulled forward for reaching against their smaller fractional rigged spinnaker. Meanwhile Emocean was going faster than both Temptress and us but were still down on the north side of the channel and would have to cross the current. As we approached Fort Sumter Emocean came reaching up from the north channel like gangbusters, while Temptress and Hoodoo were having to sail down slightly to keep from running out of water. Emocean now had put about 5 minutes on both us and they were now tight reaching with their big A-Sail towards R4. We saw Emocean radically change her course once which we expected was due to shallow water and then reach back up to her original heading. Emocean then ran aground not far from where a Fearless a 1d35 had run hard aground a year ago. Emocean kept her spinnaker up and unfurled their genoa to get as much heal as possible and appeared to be getting free at one point but the sails were rotating the boat the wrong way. Emocean was never able to sail free and had to withdraw. Now the race was between Hoodoo and Temptress and we were now only a couple of boat lengths apart. The wind backed as we sailed back in from Fort Sumter to R4 and continued our gains on Temptress. It appeared Temptress had flatter reaching spinnaker up which slowed Temptress as they had to pull their pole off the headstay. It was now going to be a run from R4 to the finish and with the current still flowing out Temptress and Hoodoo continued on port jibe heading for the current relief off the Battery. There was a large high school regatta going on that we needed to avoid making both of us jibe simultaneously to starboard with Temptress ahead and to leeward. This is where it gets crazy, the pin end of finish line was not down yet, we were now less than a boat length behind but could not figure out the finish line. First it appeared there was boat and pin but that was the high school course. We then saw the pin end of our finish line and Temptress jibed and as did we but now we were to leeward. We stayed to leeward thinking we could break through to the pin but the other end of line was on the yacht club dock and was the favored end. We were now committed and had to follow Temptress across line 11 seconds behind. What a good close race after sailing 15.5 miles. Our missed opportunity to win was a couple of things the confusion of not knowing what the finish line was and in lighter air you are not going to blast through to leeward. On that final jibe we needed to take Temptress’s transom, and attack by reaching over the top, and leveraging the reaching ability of our A-sail. Temptress would have responded by taking us up, which might have kept us from the finish line but also might have given us the speed to pass. Once again the boat first to BP wins, Emocean would have certainly won if they hadn’t run aground.
Emocean’s tactics coming back in through the jetties were race winning but not having enough water to sail in was costly.
Randy Draftz
www.charlestonyachting.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Temptress Perspective of Race 4 Series 2
I am writing because I saw your writeup of Race 4 series 2, and love Tactical discussion and banter. While I agree with a lot of what you were looking at I thought I would let you know how we pulled our Houdini.
Thanks to a non-yeilding windward boat (at the start, again…) we were forced into a bad position straight away. With Wrinkles hell bent to bury us (wonder why?) The best we could do was waterline out with them to BP and watch you and Emo take the early lead. You guys did a great job protecting the right and sure enough we had to tack away from what I thought to be the favored side of the course. The wind had been trending right all afternoon, but we had noticed before the start that the velocity positive shifts were back to the left, closer to the forecast direction and strength. We believed we were experiencing a thermal mixing, and that one breeze or the other would win out before a true dying trend ensued.
With the tide ebbing we were comfortable with an initial tack out left. The ebb flow off of Castle Pinkney is extremely strong during that stage of ebb, and the direction vs our course provided a lee bow effect showing big left. The problem for Emo was that what shows on the water does not necessarily tell the story. We were watching breeze right of median and holding on to a nice open lane assisted mainly by the current. At the first cross, despite the chunk we were able to take out of Emo and Hdoo’s lead it was Emo who took a close cover and forced back out left. We still were looking at a right trend and didn’t mind spending time on starboard! But right about then we saw puff showing on the left upper and part of the course, so out towards pressure we go.
I have seen boat after boat try to master the eddies and swirls East of NOAA and play the beach route. Willy does it like it is his job to do it, current going in or out. Sometimes I see the thermal puffs come rollin’ on, and when he shoots the moon with his layline it is sometimes brilliant. I however have favored the stronger rips between the anchorage bouy and our perennial mark. Tremendous water comes rushing off the mid harbor flat during late Ebb, causing SOG’s and COG’s to dance the night away. However, going back the KISS tactics model I choose to stay “close in the cone,” or limit the number of lanes outside of your projected laylines by tacking more often near the mark and not steaking one side or the other. Get the LAST shift will win at the WM as long as you are “in the time zone” of the corner bangers.
So we choose a stbd approach about ten lanes short of layline and put the blinders on David and made him steer to SOG/COG instead of watch the tell tales (drives helmsmen nuts, there is no feel and visual feedback is bad.) We crossed the near current line to the ebb rip near the top of the flats and saw SOG spike to 8.2. With boatspeed fighting to stay at 6.0 we felt pretty good. A nice big lefty to tack on helped heaps, coupled with the drop in velocity to the right- direction or not.
The first run is really where we got all our time. The beat was nice because we were able to play some games with Emo, acting pissed about being forced back to the left and watching current help increase for us as well as pressure. The lefty hit in earnest at T-now on the port tack line as we rounded the mark and with the right kite (we carry 3 VMG’s) and used the puff to get up on the flats. We had to do so crossing the most adverse of currents, but as we learned at CRW in the last race that area is one of extremes. 70 Seconds later we were across the next line and watched SOG jump from 4.2 to 5.7. There was another ridge of current less than ten boatlengths away, but every time we bumped it we would drop .5 or so OTB. The COG was also a big help. A couple of times we would see our course deviate by 20 degrees W, probably casued by the forementioned runoffs from the harbor flats. We would just reach right through them and in 60 seconds or so we would see the COG come back into line, and keep the SOG up as well. But by Hdoo and Emo staying (not necessarily in better or worse current- just different) in the channel and sailing more rhumbline they failed to hold onto the lefty as it tends to die towards the JI shore. As our AWA/AWS delta would shrink we would head up and power through the lulls. Emo and Hdoo had a good opportunity for a tight cover in the last downwind exchange after middle ground when we came back shy of the rhumbline. But looking back at the current now ripping off the lee shore of CP we gybed back out for the leebow current (upwind and down, as it turned out.) We were able to stay in the AWA range of the med. VMG and use the COG offset to make bearing on the mark. Hdoo and Emo played back to the JI shore side of rhumbline, we got velocity and current help (call it a shift to the crew, they feel better when I do that rather than explaining all the spaghetti soup) and added 60-80 seconds on the last exchange alone.
The second beat was a bit different than the first. We used simple corralling to keep Emo (and in effect you guys) herding right towards the lulls (and lifts) near the shore. Once we had you committed we loose covered EMo up the beat and repeated our DW technique. It was a little different, and a different angle (more right) so we changed to the light VMG. Good thing we did--- we did overstand the last DW layline and needed a very flat sail indeed to get there. But while doing so we held on to the proverbial “last puff” and were able to ride a strong puff to finish, rich get richer.
I find it fascinating looking at the thought processes of other boats, and in examining what we did right or wrong tactically. I have learned a couple of key tactical lessons in Charleston’s predominantly cat 2 (Walker) conditions. First is usually what you said- get a good start and be first to BP. That helps. But it is not the be all! Identifying while on that leg the first, second, and likely third shift will help anyone to link-em together. Simply choosing a side doesn’t work consistently enough here due to the changes in current speed and direction in the same places at the same stage in ebb or flood! I also learned through competing with the Melges boat to boat that downwind you have to, have to, have to VMG your way around the course. There are too many gains for being “over here or over there” to sail the VMG rhumblines. We fight the trends daily to not pinch near the WM and not foot into the LM.
Thanks to a non-yeilding windward boat (at the start, again…) we were forced into a bad position straight away. With Wrinkles hell bent to bury us (wonder why?) The best we could do was waterline out with them to BP and watch you and Emo take the early lead. You guys did a great job protecting the right and sure enough we had to tack away from what I thought to be the favored side of the course. The wind had been trending right all afternoon, but we had noticed before the start that the velocity positive shifts were back to the left, closer to the forecast direction and strength. We believed we were experiencing a thermal mixing, and that one breeze or the other would win out before a true dying trend ensued.
With the tide ebbing we were comfortable with an initial tack out left. The ebb flow off of Castle Pinkney is extremely strong during that stage of ebb, and the direction vs our course provided a lee bow effect showing big left. The problem for Emo was that what shows on the water does not necessarily tell the story. We were watching breeze right of median and holding on to a nice open lane assisted mainly by the current. At the first cross, despite the chunk we were able to take out of Emo and Hdoo’s lead it was Emo who took a close cover and forced back out left. We still were looking at a right trend and didn’t mind spending time on starboard! But right about then we saw puff showing on the left upper and part of the course, so out towards pressure we go.
I have seen boat after boat try to master the eddies and swirls East of NOAA and play the beach route. Willy does it like it is his job to do it, current going in or out. Sometimes I see the thermal puffs come rollin’ on, and when he shoots the moon with his layline it is sometimes brilliant. I however have favored the stronger rips between the anchorage bouy and our perennial mark. Tremendous water comes rushing off the mid harbor flat during late Ebb, causing SOG’s and COG’s to dance the night away. However, going back the KISS tactics model I choose to stay “close in the cone,” or limit the number of lanes outside of your projected laylines by tacking more often near the mark and not steaking one side or the other. Get the LAST shift will win at the WM as long as you are “in the time zone” of the corner bangers.
So we choose a stbd approach about ten lanes short of layline and put the blinders on David and made him steer to SOG/COG instead of watch the tell tales (drives helmsmen nuts, there is no feel and visual feedback is bad.) We crossed the near current line to the ebb rip near the top of the flats and saw SOG spike to 8.2. With boatspeed fighting to stay at 6.0 we felt pretty good. A nice big lefty to tack on helped heaps, coupled with the drop in velocity to the right- direction or not.
The first run is really where we got all our time. The beat was nice because we were able to play some games with Emo, acting pissed about being forced back to the left and watching current help increase for us as well as pressure. The lefty hit in earnest at T-now on the port tack line as we rounded the mark and with the right kite (we carry 3 VMG’s) and used the puff to get up on the flats. We had to do so crossing the most adverse of currents, but as we learned at CRW in the last race that area is one of extremes. 70 Seconds later we were across the next line and watched SOG jump from 4.2 to 5.7. There was another ridge of current less than ten boatlengths away, but every time we bumped it we would drop .5 or so OTB. The COG was also a big help. A couple of times we would see our course deviate by 20 degrees W, probably casued by the forementioned runoffs from the harbor flats. We would just reach right through them and in 60 seconds or so we would see the COG come back into line, and keep the SOG up as well. But by Hdoo and Emo staying (not necessarily in better or worse current- just different) in the channel and sailing more rhumbline they failed to hold onto the lefty as it tends to die towards the JI shore. As our AWA/AWS delta would shrink we would head up and power through the lulls. Emo and Hdoo had a good opportunity for a tight cover in the last downwind exchange after middle ground when we came back shy of the rhumbline. But looking back at the current now ripping off the lee shore of CP we gybed back out for the leebow current (upwind and down, as it turned out.) We were able to stay in the AWA range of the med. VMG and use the COG offset to make bearing on the mark. Hdoo and Emo played back to the JI shore side of rhumbline, we got velocity and current help (call it a shift to the crew, they feel better when I do that rather than explaining all the spaghetti soup) and added 60-80 seconds on the last exchange alone.
The second beat was a bit different than the first. We used simple corralling to keep Emo (and in effect you guys) herding right towards the lulls (and lifts) near the shore. Once we had you committed we loose covered EMo up the beat and repeated our DW technique. It was a little different, and a different angle (more right) so we changed to the light VMG. Good thing we did--- we did overstand the last DW layline and needed a very flat sail indeed to get there. But while doing so we held on to the proverbial “last puff” and were able to ride a strong puff to finish, rich get richer.
I find it fascinating looking at the thought processes of other boats, and in examining what we did right or wrong tactically. I have learned a couple of key tactical lessons in Charleston’s predominantly cat 2 (Walker) conditions. First is usually what you said- get a good start and be first to BP. That helps. But it is not the be all! Identifying while on that leg the first, second, and likely third shift will help anyone to link-em together. Simply choosing a side doesn’t work consistently enough here due to the changes in current speed and direction in the same places at the same stage in ebb or flood! I also learned through competing with the Melges boat to boat that downwind you have to, have to, have to VMG your way around the course. There are too many gains for being “over here or over there” to sail the VMG rhumblines. We fight the trends daily to not pinch near the WM and not foot into the LM.
September 13th Newsletter and Specials Text
Rigging, rigging, rigging, is the latest news at Charleston Yachting! We are now your quality source for professional swaging and have the know-how to evaluate your current lifelines and standing rigging for replacement. So, if it is time to get that lifeline gate replaced or a even a complete set of standing rigging replaced, count on us to do the job right. Our equipment can Kearney and hydraulically swage fittings onto cable all the way up to 5/8” diameter cable. Charleston Yachting is now a Navman dealer! If you are looking for a basic instrument package, an autopilot, GPS Chartplotter or fish finder we can get it for you. Looking for the ultimate GPS Chartplotter? Northstar has always been the leader in the field and with new integrated software you get the performance of a computer with the durability of ruggedly housed chartplotter. Also, we are also now handling Extrasport lifejackets forthose of you getting reading for the fall dingy season. More added to the website everyday—check it out!
You can sign up to have a complete version of this newletter on the right rail of our website at www.charlestonyachting.com
Thanks
Randy Draftz
rdraftz@charlestonyachting.com
You can sign up to have a complete version of this newletter on the right rail of our website at www.charlestonyachting.com
Thanks
Randy Draftz
rdraftz@charlestonyachting.com
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Charleston Yachting
Charleston Yachting
Wednesday Night Race 4 Series 2:
Hoodoo Crew: Ric, Deb, Rando, Dan, Katy, Ben, Jim, Randy
Wind 7-11 knots ESE; Current Flooding
Course #9 8.5 NM BP, R2, BP, R2, R4 Finish
The first leg to BP was a fetch with our TWA at about 60 degrees. The dock end of the line was slightly favored so goal was to start down to leeward in clear air and make sure we were on the line with speed. The rest of the class tended to favor the windward pin end of the line allowing us and Emocean (J120, to leeward) to get off the line with good speed. Emocean quickly worked out and away while we consolidated and sailed up in front the class. Emocean rounded BP first while we followed in second about four boat lengths behind. We rounded BP and went very hard on the wind (almost pinching) to make sure we were to windward of the boats rounding BP behind us. We felt the right side was going to have better current relief and the wind direction was expected to shift right as well. If we could maintain our height the boats rounding after us would have to tack off to the left to clear their air. We succeeded and Emocean and Hoodoo continued up the right as long as we had enough water. Meanwhile Temptress (SR33OB) continued off to the left. Emocean was first to tack back left (I don’t think they have working depth sounder) while we had some more room we continued right towards the James Island shore. We tacked well inside of Emocean and started sailing back out on starboard tack, unfortunately the wind was now swinging left giving Temptress some significant leverage and we forced to continue on starboard while looking for more space to tack back to right. We were holding our own against Emocean but Temptress was now leading on the left. We dug back to right and tacked backed left short of the starboard tack layline. With the incoming current it was too difficult to call the layline at a distance so we worked back and got the left of Temptress and Emocean setting up about 50 yards to leeward of the layline. We had to duck the starboard tack Emocean and rounded R2 in third with Temptress clear ahead in first. Emocean jibe set at R2 while we bored away and set. We gained on Emocean and they proceeded to jibe back to leeward of us onto starboard. We continued down the run to close to Middle Ground and jibe over to port to back into the more favorable current. We jibed two more times staying the middle of course while Temptress worked the right and Emocean went to starboard tack layline. Temptress extended her lead to about 2 minutes while Emocean kept her one boat length lead over us. In our second rounding of BP the jib halyard was accidentally released causing Hoodoo to sail low while we sorted things out giving several boat lengths back to Emocean. We continued to work the right sided of the course and the wind was now lighting up to about 8 knots. We used our backstay tension to adjust the entry of genoa easing in the light stuff and tensioning in the puffs, it was obvious the velocity of the wind was trending down. Hoodoo excels upwind in winds under 10 and we closed in on Emocean. Three quarters up the second beat Emocean crossed Hoodoo and tacked to cover but tacked too late allowing Hoodoo to sail through. We felt we wanted the left and we tucked up under Emocean sending them back to right. Unfortunately there was more breeze back to the right and Emocean was able to cross us easily as we came back towards the starboard tack layline. We tacked onto starboard a little too quickly and the combination of bad air from Emocean and incoming current we had to shoot the mark to avoid tacking again. We rounded and had a nice bare away set with Emocean a good five to seven boat lengths ahead. We seemed to sail a little deeper and closed on Emocean I did not feel we would be able sail around her to weather so we just stayed close knowing that they give us a couple minutes on corrected time. I think as the wind lightened both Hoodoo and Emocean where both guilty of sailing too deep. We eventually jibed onto port in search of more favorable current and Emocean followed a minute later. We gained initially than Emocean appeared to have slightly been breeze to the right. Meanwhile Temptress sailed all the way to the port tack layline maybe even over standing a bit but still managing to put another minute on us. We approached R4 from the starboard tack layline several boat lengths behind Emocean. The leg from R4 to the finish was a beam reach that had enough velocity to allow Emocean to leg out slightly and beat us across the finish line by 25 seconds. With the wind velocity on a downward trend the leads boat only got richer as the night progressed and we easily saved our time over the third place boat Wrinkles (Olsen 30).
The keys to the race as with most, was the start and first leg to BP. If you can get to BP in clear air ahead of the traffic you have much better control strategically and tactically. Keep you eye on the wind pressure sailing out of pressure against an adverse current is a killer. A pretty famous sailor once said racing sailboats is easy “get out in front and extend your lead”. Nice job Temptress.
Randy Draftz
www.charlestonyacting.com
Wednesday Night Race 4 Series 2:
Hoodoo Crew: Ric, Deb, Rando, Dan, Katy, Ben, Jim, Randy
Wind 7-11 knots ESE; Current Flooding
Course #9 8.5 NM BP, R2, BP, R2, R4 Finish
The first leg to BP was a fetch with our TWA at about 60 degrees. The dock end of the line was slightly favored so goal was to start down to leeward in clear air and make sure we were on the line with speed. The rest of the class tended to favor the windward pin end of the line allowing us and Emocean (J120, to leeward) to get off the line with good speed. Emocean quickly worked out and away while we consolidated and sailed up in front the class. Emocean rounded BP first while we followed in second about four boat lengths behind. We rounded BP and went very hard on the wind (almost pinching) to make sure we were to windward of the boats rounding BP behind us. We felt the right side was going to have better current relief and the wind direction was expected to shift right as well. If we could maintain our height the boats rounding after us would have to tack off to the left to clear their air. We succeeded and Emocean and Hoodoo continued up the right as long as we had enough water. Meanwhile Temptress (SR33OB) continued off to the left. Emocean was first to tack back left (I don’t think they have working depth sounder) while we had some more room we continued right towards the James Island shore. We tacked well inside of Emocean and started sailing back out on starboard tack, unfortunately the wind was now swinging left giving Temptress some significant leverage and we forced to continue on starboard while looking for more space to tack back to right. We were holding our own against Emocean but Temptress was now leading on the left. We dug back to right and tacked backed left short of the starboard tack layline. With the incoming current it was too difficult to call the layline at a distance so we worked back and got the left of Temptress and Emocean setting up about 50 yards to leeward of the layline. We had to duck the starboard tack Emocean and rounded R2 in third with Temptress clear ahead in first. Emocean jibe set at R2 while we bored away and set. We gained on Emocean and they proceeded to jibe back to leeward of us onto starboard. We continued down the run to close to Middle Ground and jibe over to port to back into the more favorable current. We jibed two more times staying the middle of course while Temptress worked the right and Emocean went to starboard tack layline. Temptress extended her lead to about 2 minutes while Emocean kept her one boat length lead over us. In our second rounding of BP the jib halyard was accidentally released causing Hoodoo to sail low while we sorted things out giving several boat lengths back to Emocean. We continued to work the right sided of the course and the wind was now lighting up to about 8 knots. We used our backstay tension to adjust the entry of genoa easing in the light stuff and tensioning in the puffs, it was obvious the velocity of the wind was trending down. Hoodoo excels upwind in winds under 10 and we closed in on Emocean. Three quarters up the second beat Emocean crossed Hoodoo and tacked to cover but tacked too late allowing Hoodoo to sail through. We felt we wanted the left and we tucked up under Emocean sending them back to right. Unfortunately there was more breeze back to the right and Emocean was able to cross us easily as we came back towards the starboard tack layline. We tacked onto starboard a little too quickly and the combination of bad air from Emocean and incoming current we had to shoot the mark to avoid tacking again. We rounded and had a nice bare away set with Emocean a good five to seven boat lengths ahead. We seemed to sail a little deeper and closed on Emocean I did not feel we would be able sail around her to weather so we just stayed close knowing that they give us a couple minutes on corrected time. I think as the wind lightened both Hoodoo and Emocean where both guilty of sailing too deep. We eventually jibed onto port in search of more favorable current and Emocean followed a minute later. We gained initially than Emocean appeared to have slightly been breeze to the right. Meanwhile Temptress sailed all the way to the port tack layline maybe even over standing a bit but still managing to put another minute on us. We approached R4 from the starboard tack layline several boat lengths behind Emocean. The leg from R4 to the finish was a beam reach that had enough velocity to allow Emocean to leg out slightly and beat us across the finish line by 25 seconds. With the wind velocity on a downward trend the leads boat only got richer as the night progressed and we easily saved our time over the third place boat Wrinkles (Olsen 30).
The keys to the race as with most, was the start and first leg to BP. If you can get to BP in clear air ahead of the traffic you have much better control strategically and tactically. Keep you eye on the wind pressure sailing out of pressure against an adverse current is a killer. A pretty famous sailor once said racing sailboats is easy “get out in front and extend your lead”. Nice job Temptress.
Randy Draftz
www.charlestonyacting.com
Charleston Yachting
Charleston Yachting
TOUGH COMPETITION ON FRONT ROW OF ROLEX FASTNET GRID
August 4, 2005
There is more than one way to win the Rolex Fastnet Race. One is to be fastest around the 608-mile course, to be first past the post in Plymouth. This Sunday the battle for line honours is likely to come down to a high-speed duel between two Antipodean Maxis, Skandia Wild Thing and ICAP Maximus. Another way to win the Rolex Fastnet is under the IRC handicap system, and this is a possibility open to almost all of the 286 boats competing in the fleet this year - which, by the way, is the largest fleet to compete since 1979.
While the theoretical possibility exists for any boat to win, many of those 286 crews have not come to Cowes with thoughts of victory, but simply to take part in one of the great ocean racing classics. One team with its eye very much on handicap success, however, is the newly launched Irish TP52 Patches, owned by Eamon Conneely. With a crack crew headed up by two double Olympic medallists, skipper Ian Walker and helmswoman Shirley Robertson, this lightweight 52-footer has been tearing up the Solent over the past week at Skandia Cowes Week.
The measure of her dominance these past few days has taken the racing world by storm. After all, the TP52 is not designed specifically to the IRC rule and yet its handicap performance is proving staggeringly competitive. Robertson, enjoying a break from Olympic campaigning in small keelboats, is loving her job at the wheel of Patches. "She is probably the most responsive yacht I've ever sailed," she says. "As soon as you crack her off the breeze, she lights up and takes off. If we get reaching conditions in the race, then I think we can do well."
That too, is the assessment of Patches by Jeremy Robinson, helmsman of one of the TP52's chief rivals for IRC honours, Nick Lykiardopulo's 55-footer Aera. "In downwind conditions, Patches will be off, we won't even see her," admits Robinson. "But if we get a lot of upwind work then we could do well." Aera certainly proved her ability to tough it through the rough stuff in a wild and windy Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the end of last year, when Lykiardopulo's team beat a fleet of 116 boats on IRC handicap.
The Rolex Fastnet Race brings back the winning team from downunder, with 11 of the 15 Hobart crew reunited under former Volvo Ocean Race skipper Jez Fanstone for an assault on the Fastnet. "We've got a very strong team, four very good drivers which is vital in a race like this," says Robinson. "But you also need the luck of the weather in a race like this. All you can do is put the bits in place and see if it works for you."
While the two big swing-keeled Maxis are primarily gunning for line honours, Robinson has not ruled them out of the handicap race. "Looking at the weather, it could suit the big boats. If they get around the [Fastnet] Rock and there is a shutdown in the wind, then you could quite easily see one of the Maxis win line honours and handicap."
Then again, there are a number of interesting machines that could upset the predicted dominance of the 100-foot Maxis, not least the Volvo Open 70 Telefonica Movistar. Skipper Bouwe Bekking and his crew set the 24-hour monohull record of 535 miles earlier this year, so what she yields in length to the Maxis, she may well make up for in her awesome power-to-weight ratio. A fleet of 14 Open 60s will also enjoy a high-speed ride to the Fastnet Rock and back, with a number of round-the-world specialists such as Mike Golding, Nick Moloney, Marc Thiercelin and Bernard Stamm among the line-up.
Aside from the desire to win, the reasons for competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race are many and varied. Some sailors think of it in terms of their 'personal Everest'. For Simon Le Bon, lead singer with pop group Duran Duran, it is a matter of unfinished business. Twenty years ago he and his crew were rescued by the RNLI after his Maxi yacht Drum capsized in stormy weather off the coast of Falmouth. Now reunited with the same boat, renamed Arnold Clark Drum after her current owner, and with much of his old crew, Le Bon is back to complete the course. One of his reasons for competing is to bring more awareness to the volunteer body that saves hundreds of lives around Britain's coastline every year.
The first signal for the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race sounds at 1050 on Sunday 7th August. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's Rolex Fastnet Race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Further information about the RORC and the Rolex Fastnet Race can be found at: www.rorc.org
Copyright free high resolution photography, for editorial usage only, may be found at: www.regattanews.com
TOUGH COMPETITION ON FRONT ROW OF ROLEX FASTNET GRID
August 4, 2005
There is more than one way to win the Rolex Fastnet Race. One is to be fastest around the 608-mile course, to be first past the post in Plymouth. This Sunday the battle for line honours is likely to come down to a high-speed duel between two Antipodean Maxis, Skandia Wild Thing and ICAP Maximus. Another way to win the Rolex Fastnet is under the IRC handicap system, and this is a possibility open to almost all of the 286 boats competing in the fleet this year - which, by the way, is the largest fleet to compete since 1979.
While the theoretical possibility exists for any boat to win, many of those 286 crews have not come to Cowes with thoughts of victory, but simply to take part in one of the great ocean racing classics. One team with its eye very much on handicap success, however, is the newly launched Irish TP52 Patches, owned by Eamon Conneely. With a crack crew headed up by two double Olympic medallists, skipper Ian Walker and helmswoman Shirley Robertson, this lightweight 52-footer has been tearing up the Solent over the past week at Skandia Cowes Week.
The measure of her dominance these past few days has taken the racing world by storm. After all, the TP52 is not designed specifically to the IRC rule and yet its handicap performance is proving staggeringly competitive. Robertson, enjoying a break from Olympic campaigning in small keelboats, is loving her job at the wheel of Patches. "She is probably the most responsive yacht I've ever sailed," she says. "As soon as you crack her off the breeze, she lights up and takes off. If we get reaching conditions in the race, then I think we can do well."
That too, is the assessment of Patches by Jeremy Robinson, helmsman of one of the TP52's chief rivals for IRC honours, Nick Lykiardopulo's 55-footer Aera. "In downwind conditions, Patches will be off, we won't even see her," admits Robinson. "But if we get a lot of upwind work then we could do well." Aera certainly proved her ability to tough it through the rough stuff in a wild and windy Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race at the end of last year, when Lykiardopulo's team beat a fleet of 116 boats on IRC handicap.
The Rolex Fastnet Race brings back the winning team from downunder, with 11 of the 15 Hobart crew reunited under former Volvo Ocean Race skipper Jez Fanstone for an assault on the Fastnet. "We've got a very strong team, four very good drivers which is vital in a race like this," says Robinson. "But you also need the luck of the weather in a race like this. All you can do is put the bits in place and see if it works for you."
While the two big swing-keeled Maxis are primarily gunning for line honours, Robinson has not ruled them out of the handicap race. "Looking at the weather, it could suit the big boats. If they get around the [Fastnet] Rock and there is a shutdown in the wind, then you could quite easily see one of the Maxis win line honours and handicap."
Then again, there are a number of interesting machines that could upset the predicted dominance of the 100-foot Maxis, not least the Volvo Open 70 Telefonica Movistar. Skipper Bouwe Bekking and his crew set the 24-hour monohull record of 535 miles earlier this year, so what she yields in length to the Maxis, she may well make up for in her awesome power-to-weight ratio. A fleet of 14 Open 60s will also enjoy a high-speed ride to the Fastnet Rock and back, with a number of round-the-world specialists such as Mike Golding, Nick Moloney, Marc Thiercelin and Bernard Stamm among the line-up.
Aside from the desire to win, the reasons for competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race are many and varied. Some sailors think of it in terms of their 'personal Everest'. For Simon Le Bon, lead singer with pop group Duran Duran, it is a matter of unfinished business. Twenty years ago he and his crew were rescued by the RNLI after his Maxi yacht Drum capsized in stormy weather off the coast of Falmouth. Now reunited with the same boat, renamed Arnold Clark Drum after her current owner, and with much of his old crew, Le Bon is back to complete the course. One of his reasons for competing is to bring more awareness to the volunteer body that saves hundreds of lives around Britain's coastline every year.
The first signal for the start of the Rolex Fastnet Race sounds at 1050 on Sunday 7th August. In addition to the two main prizes - the Fastnet Challenge Cup and the Fastnet Rock Trophy, there are more than 30 trophies to be awarded at the conclusion of this year's Rolex Fastnet Race. The prizegiving will take place at the Royal Citadel, home of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, in Plymouth on Friday 12th August.
Further information about the RORC and the Rolex Fastnet Race can be found at: www.rorc.org
Copyright free high resolution photography, for editorial usage only, may be found at: www.regattanews.com
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Charleston Yachting
SailJazz the new website offered by Cheryl Bolye has Charleston Yachting listed under retailers. Please post your review for Charleston Yachting at http://www.sailjazz.com/docktalk/browse/retailer
Thanks
Randy
Thanks
Randy
Monday, July 25, 2005
J109 H1000 Installation
J109 H1000 Installation
As any boat installation of any kind it takes twice as long the first time. Picking the route for the network cables took longer than anticipated, we wanted to stay out of the bilge and also did not want remove the molded on connectors, creating unnecessary splices.
Boatspeed/ Depth Interface:
In the J109 forepeak there is a light weight dividing bulkhead separating the sail locker. We mounted the boatspeed/depth interface on the forward side of this bulkhead. (The photo is looking aft) The two transducer cables cable clamped to the underside of the center support through holes drilled through the bulkhead again keeping the cables protected. We always leave a little extra cable to make any repairs or changes easier. Unlike the old depth transducers this cable can be cut to length.
We ran the network cable forward and up the starboard side behind the vertical teak trim up into starboard side cabin liner and aft through the bulkhead again up inside the cabin liner in the main salon and back into the electrical panel. The two cables you see in this picture are masthead interface cable and the boatspeed. We ran the masthead interface forward to the boatspeed interface to avoid the use of another junction box.
Masthead Interface:
We wanted to mount the masthead interface up forward to avoid using a junction box and adding additional connections. We mounted the interface on the forward side of the starboard bulkhead running the mast cable along side the existing radio antennae cable making for an easy disconnect for rig removal. We could of have either run the network cable aft along side the boatspeed network cable but chose to go forward backtracking the boatspeed network cable and attaching to the network cable on the second connector of the boatspeed depth interface. Another solution would have been to use a junction box at the bulkhead and plug the boatspeed network cable the masthead network cable and run the third network cable back to the navstation. We also had the network cable for the two mast mounted displays. To keep the hole in the mast to the minimum we cut the cable and instead of soldering we used a B&G mastcable junction box that you see mounted on to left of the interface on the trim.
Companionway Hood Displays:
It was very easy removing the hood and cutting the holes for the two H1000 displays and the H1000 Autopilot control head. The hood is pre-wired but only with a generic 7 core wire, not a B&G network cable. So I had no choice but to cut a network cable and splice it to the generic cable by soldering and covering with heat shrink tubing. When splicing the two most important things are a good solid connection and a waterproof connection. The pre-run cable is nicely coiled up behind the electrical panel where we soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing the splice to the other network cable pigtail.
Mastmounted Displays:
We elected to mount two displays onto the mast with the B&G dual display mastmount and decided we were better off cutting the network cable to allow for a smaller hole in the mast. We drilled a small hole in the sailtrack and fished the network cable back out of the mast along side the masthead cable, antennae cable, and mastlight cable. We used a B&G mastcable junction box to attach the other connector to allow for quick disconnect for mast removal.
Be careful on the mast bracket mount, make sure the bracket is mounted far enough aft to allow room for the reef line and cunningham to run through the bracket. We missed by about a ½” because we using hole from a previous instrument bracket.
Compass Sensor:
The best place for a compass is always down low and middle of the boat to minimize the effect of heel and pitching, but try finding a place that is safe and out of the way of interfering items. The aft stateroom’s hanging locker appears to be good clear space but since we had the autopilot processor getting mounted in starboard cockpit locker we opted for mounting the sensor in the cabinet in the head. This a easy cable run to electrical panel and another easy run to autopilot CPU. We will see how sensor calibrates and if there an issue we will move it to the other side of the boat. Here you can see cable heading up into the back trim of the cabinet and forward to the navstation. The empty connector will be used for the autopilot.
Universal Interface:
We mounted the Universal Interface behind the electrical panel along with a four way junction box. We always used Velcro pads to mount the interfaces and junction boxes, this makes it very easy access to and avoids drilling holes. We have used all six connections our compass sensor, companionway hood displays, power cable, Universal Interface, and our network cable coming from the bow.
The cable you see coming from the bottom of Universal Interface was split to take the two NMEA leads into the to the interface box and the two power leads that power the GPS sensor over to the circuit breaker.
With everything connected flip the instrument breaker and away you will go. Don’t forget to calibrate boatspeed, swing your compass, and then your masthead unit for the greatest accuracy.
Randy Draftz
J109 Hoodoo
Rdraftz@comcast.net
As any boat installation of any kind it takes twice as long the first time. Picking the route for the network cables took longer than anticipated, we wanted to stay out of the bilge and also did not want remove the molded on connectors, creating unnecessary splices.
Boatspeed/ Depth Interface:
In the J109 forepeak there is a light weight dividing bulkhead separating the sail locker. We mounted the boatspeed/depth interface on the forward side of this bulkhead. (The photo is looking aft) The two transducer cables cable clamped to the underside of the center support through holes drilled through the bulkhead again keeping the cables protected. We always leave a little extra cable to make any repairs or changes easier. Unlike the old depth transducers this cable can be cut to length.
We ran the network cable forward and up the starboard side behind the vertical teak trim up into starboard side cabin liner and aft through the bulkhead again up inside the cabin liner in the main salon and back into the electrical panel. The two cables you see in this picture are masthead interface cable and the boatspeed. We ran the masthead interface forward to the boatspeed interface to avoid the use of another junction box.
Masthead Interface:
We wanted to mount the masthead interface up forward to avoid using a junction box and adding additional connections. We mounted the interface on the forward side of the starboard bulkhead running the mast cable along side the existing radio antennae cable making for an easy disconnect for rig removal. We could of have either run the network cable aft along side the boatspeed network cable but chose to go forward backtracking the boatspeed network cable and attaching to the network cable on the second connector of the boatspeed depth interface. Another solution would have been to use a junction box at the bulkhead and plug the boatspeed network cable the masthead network cable and run the third network cable back to the navstation. We also had the network cable for the two mast mounted displays. To keep the hole in the mast to the minimum we cut the cable and instead of soldering we used a B&G mastcable junction box that you see mounted on to left of the interface on the trim.
Companionway Hood Displays:
It was very easy removing the hood and cutting the holes for the two H1000 displays and the H1000 Autopilot control head. The hood is pre-wired but only with a generic 7 core wire, not a B&G network cable. So I had no choice but to cut a network cable and splice it to the generic cable by soldering and covering with heat shrink tubing. When splicing the two most important things are a good solid connection and a waterproof connection. The pre-run cable is nicely coiled up behind the electrical panel where we soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing the splice to the other network cable pigtail.
Mastmounted Displays:
We elected to mount two displays onto the mast with the B&G dual display mastmount and decided we were better off cutting the network cable to allow for a smaller hole in the mast. We drilled a small hole in the sailtrack and fished the network cable back out of the mast along side the masthead cable, antennae cable, and mastlight cable. We used a B&G mastcable junction box to attach the other connector to allow for quick disconnect for mast removal.
Be careful on the mast bracket mount, make sure the bracket is mounted far enough aft to allow room for the reef line and cunningham to run through the bracket. We missed by about a ½” because we using hole from a previous instrument bracket.
Compass Sensor:
The best place for a compass is always down low and middle of the boat to minimize the effect of heel and pitching, but try finding a place that is safe and out of the way of interfering items. The aft stateroom’s hanging locker appears to be good clear space but since we had the autopilot processor getting mounted in starboard cockpit locker we opted for mounting the sensor in the cabinet in the head. This a easy cable run to electrical panel and another easy run to autopilot CPU. We will see how sensor calibrates and if there an issue we will move it to the other side of the boat. Here you can see cable heading up into the back trim of the cabinet and forward to the navstation. The empty connector will be used for the autopilot.
Universal Interface:
We mounted the Universal Interface behind the electrical panel along with a four way junction box. We always used Velcro pads to mount the interfaces and junction boxes, this makes it very easy access to and avoids drilling holes. We have used all six connections our compass sensor, companionway hood displays, power cable, Universal Interface, and our network cable coming from the bow.
The cable you see coming from the bottom of Universal Interface was split to take the two NMEA leads into the to the interface box and the two power leads that power the GPS sensor over to the circuit breaker.
With everything connected flip the instrument breaker and away you will go. Don’t forget to calibrate boatspeed, swing your compass, and then your masthead unit for the greatest accuracy.
Randy Draftz
J109 Hoodoo
Rdraftz@comcast.net
Chicago to Mackinac Race 2005
20005 Mac Race
This year’s race was aboard Charleston Yachting’s customer David Gustman’s new J109 Northstar. Our crew was David Gustman, David’s son Hunter, Lee Hutchinson and his daughter Alex, Robert Mathews, Joe Hummel, Brian Hickey and I.
Northstar is a new J109 that was delivered just before this year’s Memorial Day weekend. She has North Sails, comprised of a 3DL class mainsail, class jib, # 3 blade, 108 square meter class spinnaker, and a 121 square meter spinnaker for sailing PHRF. The instruments are by Charleston Yachting who selected Ockam Instruments with a Furuno GPS and Icom VHF with Command Mic.
To prepare for this years race it was important to change the set up of the stock configuration of the J109 to make it more efficient for changing sails. The J109 when raced around the buoys utilizes a Harken Unit 1 furling system allowing the crew the ability to simply furl the sail when changing from a jib to spinnaker making handling the boat much easier. Having sailed the J109 in other port to port type races I had found it beneficial to be able to change headsails with the conditions but by not using the furling system but utilizing the double grooved extrusion to hoist one sail up inside the other and avoiding making bare headed sail changes. To do this we added a second jib halyard, lowered the furling system halyard swivel down to the top of the torque tube, added a loose prefeeder, and a snapshackle to the Harken tack swivel. To allow faster spinnaker changes we added a second spinnaker halyard a third spinnaker sheet and a quick release tack changing line. We also added four Wichard foldable pad eyes for attaching barber haulers that would greatly improve our sheeting angles of our headsails for headsail reaching. In a long port to port race like the Mac the range of conditions can be huge so the ability to adapt the boat to these conditions becomes very important to maintaining the boat’s performance.
The Rig:
The mast’s rigging was adjusted to provide more power and gain some performance in the expected reaching and running conditions. The first thing we did was measure the existing rig tension using the RT-10 Loos tension gauge and recorded the measurements of the cap shroud, and the upper and lower diagonals with the backstay eased. We then eased the tension on the cap shrouds and the lower diagonal stays leaving the upper diagonal and the headstay at their original lengths. Originally I considered shortening the headstay by taking some turns on the headstay turnbuckle that’s an integral part of the Harken furling system but concerned that it would not get back to the original setting for course racing we set up the ability to pull the rig forward by using our extra jib halyard. We attached a 5/16” D-shackle to the stemhead fitting for a good strong attachment point for our rig pulling halyard. We would use the rig puller in light headsail reaching conditions and all spinnaker reaching and running conditions. To use the rig puller we eased off the backstay and ground the rig puller on using one of the halyard winches.
Electronics:
Northstar has a basic compass level Ockam system that provides accurate and consistent information. We took sometime to make sure we had our compass and boatspeed sensor were well calibrated so we would have good wind direction information. We had a total of six functions displayed at all times to help with our performance and race tactics. On the mast display we kept boatspeed and heading displayed and on the companionway hood we kept true wind speed, magnetic wind direction, true wind angle and we would alternate the final display with course over ground with VMC that would should us our ultimate progress to our waypoint. We like to use true wind angle and true wind speed instead of apparent it helps in sail changes, and especially our downwind jibing angles that can be fairly wide in light air with the asymmetrical spinnakers. For our performance indicators we used the J109 velocity prediction spreadsheet and kept a laminated chart in the cockpit that showed our target speed and optimum sailing angles from six to twenty knots of true wind in two knot increments. With this chart we could quickly see if we were sailing our proper angles downwind and achieving the appropriate boatspeed.
The Weather Forecast:
We had Commander’s Weather put together a forecast that provides the weather information that we use for our pre-race strategy. This year with the tail end of Hurricane Dennis extending into the region and an already unusually warm lake made the forecast extremely difficult. We reviewed the six page single spaced forecast several times it basically said very light winds or thermal lake breezes would overtake the weaker gradient winds. At night without the heat of the son breezes could be next to nothing. Everything was pointing to a very slow race but also conditions that the J109 performs very well.
The Race:
The J109 was placed in section four among twenty one other Americap rated boats that ranged from on old IOR Kaufman 44 down to the thirty six foot J109. The section consisted of IOR one tonners, a Sabre 402, Beneteau 42.5 in other words a melting pot of older and newer designs. The boats are all welled sailed and going into the race it was hard to select who might be the boat to watch. For us it was very simple there were five J109s in the section and that’s who we would be focused on. Three of the J109s were sailed by very good one design sailors that included an Olympic medalist, a Star World champion etc.
The winds as predicted were light and from the northeast. Our first waypoint was set for three miles off Point Betsy approximately one hundred and eighty miles away at a bearing of twenty degrees. With the wind expected to shift more east we thought it was important to start at the east end of the line. We weren’t the only the only ones and in the six knot breeze everyone was slightly early. We held our position well but came off the line slowly and fell in behind the Sabre 402 (Wooton). Lesson one long distance race start set for clear air and forget about trying to win the start. We were now hard on the wind sailing in about four to six knots of breeze with heading swinging from as far left as 340 degrees to as far right as 10 degrees. Within the first two hours several of our class boats tacked onto port and headed out into the lake. Later I found out they had gone out to avoid the chop that we were experiencing. I am from the ladder rung school that keeps us always on the tack that is getting us closer to mark. This method kept us on our starboard tacking working are way right as the wind direction and velocity would allow it. The majority of our class was to our West and footing in the light air up the coast line. We continued to battle with the Wooton finally losing out when she got a nice puff and took off to about ½ mile lead. Lesson number 2 in light air sailing huge gains can be maintained by keeping staying focused on surrounding conditions looking up the course keeping a keen eye out for changes in velocities. After several hours into the race we were starting to sail through some of the slower boats that had started prior to our class. With the wind still being so light it was very important that we anticipate our passing of these boats to avoid getting in there bad air or getting us in the position of having one of these boats on our leebow. We had such a situation when a bigger boat was attempting to pass us close to windward. We simply trimmed in headed up slightly and tucked ourselves up under their bow stopping them dead in their tracks. We kept going but it took the larger boat a long time regain its pace and by then we were long gone. Our third lesson is as you sail through a fleet keep a close eye up ahead and also from behind to avoid getting tangled up with other competitors that might hinder your progress up the course. In these light conditions we were sailing with no backstay tension lots of twist in the main and the genoa approximately three inches off the top spreader. The J109 is this condition was very fast and we were using our speed to keep us as far east as possible without tacking. As the day progressed as predicted the wind started to swing into the southeast allowing us to sail up to course. Several of our competitors chose to sail low keeping themselves closer to the coastline we held our course first by genoa reaching then eventually hoisting our 121 square meter asymmetric spinnaker. The wind was still low at 6 knots so we were able to use this sail effectively set it at 105 degrees true and used up to 95 degrees true to keep us rolling. Ideally we would liked to have a used a sail designed for reaching as boats around us were using code zeros but that’s whole other issue. We were rolling along now and boat was in its element hanging with much larger boats that had come up from behind. We knew we had made huge gains on the boats to the west but worried about the boats that tacked out earlier with them being on the inside of the shift. Just before dark we got our answer as one of the J109s that tacked earlier reached down across in front us. We continued to separate to windward while the other J109 was sailing lower and maybe touch faster. We continued this tight reaching through night only stopping once for about ½ hour. You always hate it when you stop because you know someone else is moving but I felt we had good night by only stopping once when our forecast had predicted wind speeds of nil. The first morning is always an anxious time and we were relieved to find us with mostly larger boats. During the night we had lost track of the other J109 but later in the morning we found the other J109 that tacked earlier coming back out from the east. The wind had continued to shift more to south and we were now running downwind sailing our target angles and speed and now having to sail above our current bearing. Remember in distance racing the only guarantee is change. The wind velocity had increased up to ten knots, we now sailing about 144 degrees true keeping speed through the water at 7 knots a better. The water was starting to build slight chop and found it fast to sail up slightly building speed and sailing down on the new apparent wind angle and the occasional wave. We had the rig puller on hard and focused on keeping our speed up heading toward the Michigan shore’s Big Sable Point. We now had the other J109 down to leeward to the west and we were keeping tabs on our progress relative to their position. As we got closer to the Michigan shore we found the other J109 coming out on port jibe from the shore. We thought the wind might be getting lighter inshore and took the opportunity to jibe back to west covering the J109 to the west and keeping ourselves with the other J109 as well. We now three of the J109s all close by with about ¼ mile of each other. Even though our port tack took us slightly away from our mark it proved to be a good move the breeze did lighten up near shore and we passed several much larger boats that were inshore of us. The wind continued to oscillate between south and southeast and after about forty five minutes we needed to jibe back to starboard heading towards our waypoint off Point Betsy. The predicted southwesterly that had been forecasted had not shown itself yet and preceded on starboard jibe just squeaking by Point Betsy and then Sleeping Bear Dunes. With one J109 just behind us and the other J109 along side it was going to be a very important night on the water. We went to pass to pass the J109 along side but with night and asymmetric spinnaker making them hard to see after a couple of attempts we decided to separate to leeward and pass them to the west. We were now downwind enough that our optimum sailing took to a heading of fifty five to sixty degrees when our destination was thirty four degrees. We continued through Sunday night with al three J109s staying roughly the same positions Realt Na Mara ahead but to windward of us Northstar and Lucky Dubie about a ½ mile directly behind. It was becoming obvious that we were going to eventually have to jibe to reach Grays Reef but we were unwilling to do so until the very last portion of the fifty five mile leg. Realt Na Mara became impatient and jibed over to port onto a possible heading of due north. We continued on in northeast heading and within hour received a header out of Grand Traverse Bay that brought both Lucky Dubie and ourselves down to our direct heading to Gray’s Reef. With Realt Na Mara hung out to dry in the west it now became race between Lucky Dubie and us. The breeze was now up into the high teens with puffs in the twenties and we were starting to take off. Our little header went away as we pressed north of the Grand Traverse Bays but the sailing was exceptional as we are now surfing at speeds consistently in the low teens. With the wind shifting to south Realt Na Mara was back in play and Lucky Dubie was first to jibe and we followed both boats successfully jibing in winds that were now consistently in the low twenties. Unfortunately both of our laylines had us going directly over Ille Aux Gullets a small pile of rocks that sit in the middle of lake eleven miles south of Gray’s Reef we both had to jibe back to starboard for fifteen minutes to clear the reef. With the wind now in the mid twenties we were have a great surfing contest between us Lucky Dubie with both side by side hitting sixteen knots on the surfs. Gray’s Reef is narrow ½ mile channel that is the entrance to the Straights of Mackinaw and makes for great consolidation point and fleet funnels into the channel. We still couldn’t see anyone in our class other than the three J109s and with our little detour around Ill Aux Gullets and the shift back left Realt Na Mara was now back into picture as well but maybe ¼ mile behind us and the Dubie. We covered the five miles of channel very quickly with the wind now finally clocking into the southwest. We now had to round one of few marks of the course and turn to a heading of ninety five degrees, Lucky Dubie rounded first about a minute ahead of us by hoisting their class jib, dropping their asymmetrical and jibing onto the new course, we followed suit and started our final twenty five miles to the finish. We were comfortably beam reaching with our number 3 up at 7.5 knots until Realt Na Mara rounds behind a couple of minutes later but to our surprise they jibed their asymmetrical instead of dropping and changing to the jib. The breeze was still in the twenties but now at about 110 degrees true. Lucky Dubie was quick to respond and hoisted their 108 sq. meter we followed suit but the damage had been down Realt Na Mara was just ten boat lengths behind and Lucky Dubie was now fifteen boat lengths ahead of us. The 108 sq. meter spinnaker was the perfect size and we proceeded to blast down the straights at 10 to 13 knots. Realt Na Mara meanwhile was hanging with us with her 121 sq. meter spinnaker they did a text book job of sailing low in the puffs while working up when the could in the lulls. They gradually pulled ahead and to leeward of us and as we approached the Mackinac Bridge the breeze subsided down to ten knots allowing Realt Na Mara to pass us and close in on Lucky Dubie. Lucky Dubie did a bear-headed change to their 121 sq. meter spinnaker while used a tack line and extra halyard to pull off a very fast peel change to our 121 sq. meter. With four miles to go we were all once again together with anyone one us capable of crossing the finish line first. We jibe first over to port and headed towards the Mackinac Island, Lucky Dubie follow us while Realt Na Mara continued out on starboard. This new breeze was now almost due west making the finish line dead downwind. We found a little more breeze on the left and with Lucky Dubie in the lead we went to jibe onto starboard towards the finish line. A famous quote is that it’s never over till it’s over well what a statement! After jibing successfully this morning in the big breeze we blow the easiest jibe of the day and wrap our spinnaker so badly that we have to completely lower the sail and in re-hoisting the sail the foot gets in the water and we are now shrimping!! (at least that’s our term for it Charleston). Lucky Dubie finishes first boat for boat with Realt Na Mara second and Northstar third. The J109s all rated slightly different due to sails used etc. which allowed us to correct ahead of Lucky Dubie and we ended up losing to Realt Na Mara by fourteen seconds.
It was one of more enjoyable Mac races I can remember. Warm nights, no thunderstorms and the versatility of the J109 made sailing fast look easy. Good competition allowed us a group to excel with the three lead J109s all in the top of the fleet standings. Remember take you time when jibing and if you have any questions regarding Northstar’s set up don’t hesitate to contact me.
Randy Draftz
Hoodoo J109
Northstar J109
rdraftz@charlestonyachting.com
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