Sailboat Race

Tim R. · Jun 22, 2009

Nice work William.

9th is ok but I sure hope the 10th place boat didn't buy ribbons! Those guys are a bunch of losers

Also, if someone releases the jib sheet, your whisker pole support is going for a swim!

Alan · Jun 22, 2009

Just a suggestion, if you sail your jibe angles you would find that sailing higher angles would have saved you a great deal of time over DDW and probably have moved you well up in the standings.

Tim R. · Jun 22, 2009

Alan said:
Just a suggestion, if you sail your jibe angles you would find that sailing higher angles would have saved you a great deal of time over DDW and probably have moved you well up in the standings.

Good point Alan but not true with all boats and all wind conditions. You need to be able to calculate your VMG to determine this.

For instance, my boat with enough wind can get to hull speed DDW. In lighter wind I can sometimes play the angles because of my deep keel.

Currents can also come into play.

Dan Johnson · Jun 22, 2009

William...

I don't think that bottom paint is a PRHF issue, but holding out a boat hook as a whisker pole will get you protested in a formal rules race for sure.

Tim R. · Jun 23, 2009

Dan Johnson said:
I don't think that bottom paint is a PRHF issue, but holding out a boat hook as a whisker pole will get you protested in a formal rules race for sure.

Yup, rules state it must be attached to the mast.

I made the mistake of calling a guy on this last year. He was doing the boat hook thing because he was too lazy to get out the whisker pole(I did not know he had one). So he drops the boat hook and gets out the whisker pole. He beat us. We still laugh about that one.

Alan · Jun 23, 2009

Tim, of course the heavier the wind the deeper you can run with improved VMG. From the pictures posted I would say the breeze was very light. There would be no need to hold the boom out and you certainly wouldn't want to use a boat hook (even if it was legal) if the breeze was up.
In this case, a 20 degree course change would probably get you passed at least one boat.

Gail R · Jun 23, 2009

We do a fair amount of non-spin racing, and nearly always do better wing-and-wing than we do reaching. Sometimes we will reach once, to a point where we can flip the main to put us on a starboard tack wing-and-wing. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but wing-and-wing tends to work for us.

And yup, poling the genny with a boat hook is a big no-no.

Pursuits are a fun race format. We've got one up in South Freeport this Saturday. If we could only get a certain red Ericson 35 to come up and play.....

Tim R. · Jun 23, 2009

Gail R said:
I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but wing-and-wing tends to work for us.

I can vouch for Gail's success. I have yet to beat them in a race. Gail, time to buy a new boat

You have way too much experience in that pretty Pearson of yours.

Tempting but with the weather lately we would love to get out cruising. We were supposed to crew for a boat in the Wood I. race but that looks like a bust. Only 3 boats registered and my friend is thinking of not doing it which frees us up to go cruising.

We will have to see how the weekend weather shapes up. You might see us. We had a great time 2 years ago when we sailed your regatta.

Alan · Jun 23, 2009

Keeping the boat out of water while not sailing is called "dry sailing". Most smaller OD's are sailed that way.

If you are thinking about a whisker pole I would strongly suggest a line control pole. This will allow you to sail higher angles and still sail wing on wing.
Extending the pole forward will push the clew out and forward. We have a local racing skipper in his eighties who does this all the time to great success.

Tim R. · Jun 23, 2009

Oh William, never post pictures of sail trim during a race

. I can see a few things that would help speed you up a bit if you are interested.

Tim R. · Jun 23, 2009

Just from that photo of you apparently on a reach I would check your job halyard tension as the headsail luff looks pretty loose. You do not want any horizontal lines like you have. Also play with your jib sheet lead blocks. The angle on the jib sheet is such that it is probably spilling wind at the top where there is considerable twist in the sail. Moving the blocks forward will help this. A good place to start is the equalize the angle between the sheet and the foot and leech of the sail. Then move forward or back to tweak the settings. Ideally you want all your telltales to stall at the same time if you were to head into the wind. A slightly different setting may be ideal for your boat but this is a good place to start.

Go out and sail in some consistent wind conditions with your crew and play with these things until you find what makes you go the fastest.

Also, tell your crew to snap out of it. The guy on the cabin looks bored enough to jump ship.

rpwillia · Jun 23, 2009

Let's get more specific about PHRF's

OK, last week I raced in the Geico Cup in Alexandria, VA. Got spanked which I expected, but what is weird is how PHRF ratings are calculated. Theoretically I understand them, but they are also supposed to be based on real race results in your area. The Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association (CBYRA) gives me a 186 and every other boat was well over 200 (with most around 240). Now I understand that due to my 310's length that my theoretical boat speed is higher, but that also requires higher winds that we seldom see on the river or Bay. I did hit 9.3 knots in a race on a beam reach a couple of years ago, but we had a front coming through with winds of 28-32 knots all day sustained. Normally we have 5-6 knots of wind with occasional gusts or more common lulls and no waves or even chop. All of these smaller and lighter boats with huge PHRF's and down right gorgeous kevlar racing sails are spanking my tail off. But, did I mention I had a good time anyway.

bffatcat · Jun 23, 2009

phrf racing

A few years ago I had a pearson 10M and raced it phrf. My rating was 144. I didnt do that bad when It was breezy but in light air the boat wouldnt move. Another racer with a C&C 33
several thousand lbs lighter with a shorter waterline phrf about 147 walked away from me in light air. Beat me scracth easily and I had to give him time. I talked about this with the race committee and they told me ratings are not figured on how much wind there is but on the
actual waterline, beam, sail area, draft ect:

Tim R. · Jun 23, 2009

RP, don't expect to do well at your first race. It takes time to master racing and a lot of it is local knowledge of currents and wind shifts.

My rating is 141 and I race against boats that are much smaller and rate 249. I often beat them now but my first couple of years I could not touch them.

If you are in the theoretically fastest boat(scratch boat) you already have a distinct advantage over your competitors by being able to sail in clean air. Faster boats also have the advantage of finishing before the wind dies. This is common for the evening beer can races. If you beat the smaller boats, they would bitch about these factors.

Todd Smith · Jun 23, 2009

PHRF ratings

rpwillia said:
OK, last week I raced in the Geico Cup in Alexandria, VA. Got spanked which I expected, but what is weird is how PHRF ratings are calculated. Theoretically I understand them, but they are also supposed to be based on real race results in your area. ... All of these smaller and lighter boats with huge PHRF's and down right gorgeous kevlar racing sails are spanking my tail off. But, did I mention I had a good time anyway.

A PHRF rating assumes that you have good sails and a clean bottom. If you have old sails and the competition has "gorgeous kevlar racing sails", you ain't gonna win, no matter how fair the ratings are.

Todd

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