Attention Scott Davis

[Darrel Richards]

I read that you are racing a h23 on Norman Lake. I race my h23 out of Hillsboro Inlet here in South Florida. I realize that conditions maybe different on a lake vs the Atlantic but it would be great to compare notes. Wind Dancer is set up with a one year old open foot main with top full batten. We also have a 2 year old 135% jib. We race in Jib and Main only class and have won races (Won the spring series last year) We race against a Morgan 34, Tartan 37, S2 9.1, a Hunter 25.5, Catalina 27, an Islander 28, a Canadian Sailcraft 36 and new this year a Tayana 42. So you can see it is really a mixture of boats. In light air we do well as expected, in heavy air we can't make any mistakes or its last place. Some times I think about buying a light air 155% to use in lighter conditions.We have a challenge in currents, some times we just don't have the drive you need to power through the waves and thus we really struggle. In slack currents the boat is very quick. How do you adjust your main in various conditions? I think sometimes we overtrim and do not get the drive from the main and think that moving the draft back in the sail would be the way to go.Any how, hope you are having fun and kicking butt up on Lake Norman and will share some of your thoughts about things you have learned about racing the h23.Darrel RichardsS/V Wind DancerVice Commodore-Hillsboro Inlet Sailing Clube-mail: srichards1@aol.com

 

[Scott Davis]

Darrel

Darrel, Thanks for the info on your boat. Sounds like you are better rigged for racing than I am. My sails are pretty old. I race on Lake Wylie, next lake down from Norman. We have all weather conditions here. Most of our racing is in light air, 0 to 10 kts, with a few "gear busting" days of 20+. We never have a current to fight with, but we do have lots of motorboat waves. Racing on the lake is difficult as the wind can shift 180 deg (and usually does) in just minutes. You must be very sharp to take advantage of any wind you can find, and every lift. We have J-22's, Ensigns, Macgreagers, Cat-22's, Pierce 23, and a few ?? that race with us each weekend. Our PHRF fleet is great competition and wins/loss's are by feet/sec.We took the Fall Series, but lost the winter. Now Spring is starting and its our turn again. For sail trim, I try to keep the boat as free as possible. Don't pinch to much as she will just crab. Try to slack sheets and run. On the mainsail, I do use the topping lift to help shape the main (top batten parallel with boom), and cunningham/vang loose (draft aft) until the wind picks up. In the windy stuff I really have a time, mainsail overpowers the boat, so I haul in the back stay, cunningham down hard/halyard up tight (draft forward), and play with the main sheet track. I also luff the main when needed to keep the boat on its feet. I use a 150% jib in all but the heavy wind, and have a 110% for that. Spinnaker is the fun part and the 23 will really fly with the kite up.Hope this helps you some, please keep in touch. Scott Davis"wsdavis@fmtc.net"H23-- "No Alibi"