Normally a good turn out, good weather and fun time... It's pretty warm down here folks! ;-)
http://www.flalmsa.org/wp-content/uploa ... e-2013.pdf
http://www.flalmsa.org/wp-content/uploa ... e-2013.pdf
LMSA Central Florida Kettle Cup, Dec. 7-8
- Thread starter stevenwp2
- Start date
Well, well, well..... I DO NOT want to miss next year!
I'll let Patrick post the results... ;-)
Steve S.
I'll let Patrick post the results... ;-)
Steve S.
Re: 2013 Kettle Cup Regatta Report
http://www.flalmsa.org/wp-content/uploa ... esults.pdf
Needing a get away, the wife and I chose to trailer our Capri down to Florida as a result of Steve posting this regatta announcement. We had a blast, got some good 1:1 time, learned some lessons, and enjoyed Florida sunshine for 2.5 days. The trip was 1150 miles each way but we love a good challenge. The weather down was very rough and we made it through, slowing down to 25 mph at times due to the snow. We left at 6pm on Thursday night finally arriving at the lake Friday at 4:30pm. We had to get the mast up and splash quickly as we were sleeping on the boat and the sun was going down quickly. We got in and rigged just in time. Dinner was at a local pub and we got to meet some of the very nice members of the LMSA. Exhausted, tipsy, and feeling warm we crashed on the boat.
Saturday morning came very early and we were thankful for the noon racing start time. The winds were light and thermal so the RC postponed on shore. We got things all cleaned and rigged for racing and decided to go sail regardless. After a lengthy delay, RC started all four fleets with the Open Division being the last. I got a good view of the course from the other fleets so we fought and won the pin end with speed and headed left towards the pressure. I was shocked that we could not keep up our height with the Catalina 22's but I've since learned they polished, dry sailed, and completely stripped. Perhaps a rating change should be in order? Regardless, we couldn't keep height but had good speed extended into the new pressure. The boat we wanted to watch and stay in touch with, an S2 6.7 who owed us time and was the fastest, tacked off but we couldn't do anything about it as we were well left. We made it to the layline and were ahead of all but the Catalina 22's. Tacking back on port I had my wife move back to the bow and it made a big difference. The wind had dropped to a few mph by this point and we crept by both Catalina 22's with height and speed. Was the weight distribution the secret? About three boat lengths from the windward mark, the RC blew the finish guns and the race was over. Ugh, we were about to round and pop the chute, opening up a big lead on the JAM only Catalina's. The wind didn't cooperate the rest of the day and we went in happy about being in the wonderful weather, on the boat, but without a race. I jokingly considered the May regatta I attended this year where we didn't get in a single race all weekend. Was this to be the same?
The Saturday night festivities were great as we enjoyed food and libations with the great sailors of Florida. Food was a little late getting there and the beer was a bit foamy, but we still had a great time socializing. There was a silent auction and drawing for gifts as this is a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Much of the drawings were for things we couldn't use. However someone donated a bunch of star-wars, Transformers, and other toys; perfect for my 5 year old. We spent $20 bucks on tickets and walked away with $100 of collectables. Even better end to the great day.
Sunday we didn't want to get up after having so much fun the night before. The wind was light as well but there was expectation of good breeze so we packed up and headed out to the course. After drifting for an hour or so the gradient came in strong and we got off three races in 5-10 knots.
Race 1: The breeze was up and we were again focused on the S2 6.7. We had a clean start and worked up the left of the course. I got the marks confused for a bit and worked right to hit the short course mark realizing at the last second we were not at the right mark. I thought all was lost but with 6 tacks in the shifty breeze at the top, we rounded in second some 10+ BL behind the S2. Working the pressure downwind we were able to get within 4 boats of the S2 and had a better mark rounding. With a short tack back on Starboard as I couldn't hold the lane, we were able to lead them back to the left corner. We took a great shift back to the mark and enjoyed a clean minute advantage at the finish on the second boat and 5+ minutes on the rest of the fleet. This was what we came here for, good fast clean racing and awesome sun!
Here is us rounding the first windward mark of the race, a bit behind the S2 6.7.
Race 2: We were more aggressively starting towards the boat with the confidence of the last race and got fouled hard by the S2. We didn't protest (I hate the room) and still had a clean start between the S2 and a Hunter 23. We were able to keep our lane above the S2 and lee bow the H23 off on a header. We took the first big shift to the right and then led the rest of the way around the course but with the S2 much closer this time. We ran into some traffic downwind with the other fleets for the first time which added to our overall time a little bit. We got the gun again but the H23 and Cat 22's were too close, (17 seconds for the Cat22) so we got 4th corrected. I thought we sailed well enough to win but the pressure let up just as we hit the last winward then filling in again right before the finish. This made us sail slower for the last leg and not able to extend the lead as the boats behind sailed DW in more pressure the whole leg. The regatta was "lost" in this race.
Race 3: I didn't know if they were going to get a third in but they did with 10 minutes to spare on the clock. Same course but we started behind a Cat22 as I was again getting more aggressive as I became more comfortable with the fleet. So 2nd row start for me but the rest of the fleet was behind as well so I only lost out to one boat. For some reason, the Cat22's were keeping up very well with us up wind and sailing smarter as well. They both beat us to the winward and I wasn't able to get past them and far enough ahead so we got a 3 for the last race. They deserved that win but I began again to doubt the accuracy of their rating as they should not have been so competitive against the Capri up wind. Side by side in the same pressure, theses boats were the same as the better rated Capri making them a good boat choice. I'm surprised they don't fly chutes as they would clean up in that fleet if they could keep the speed up downhill.
We finished the regatta in 2nd from 9 boats splitting the two Catalina 22's with a score of 1-4-3=8. The lead boat had a 3-2-2 for 7. On points there were three points separating the top 4 boats which meant very good close racing. We had a ton of fun and really the racing was just a reason to stay hours out on the water having fun. The wife and I learned a lot about racing the two of us. While fun it took a lot out of the wife. Even an in experienced set of hands would have helped but sometimes three is just too many
Thanks to Steve for posting the race out here. While I cannot commit to any future races, if we need a break, and you have warm weather, we just may show up at your regatta!! We love to sail both racing and cruising so lets post some more regatta's.
The wife and I collecting our 2nd place trophy.
Here is the link to the results if you don't want to read the report.stevenwp2 said:
http://www.flalmsa.org/wp-content/uploa ... esults.pdfNeeding a get away, the wife and I chose to trailer our Capri down to Florida as a result of Steve posting this regatta announcement. We had a blast, got some good 1:1 time, learned some lessons, and enjoyed Florida sunshine for 2.5 days. The trip was 1150 miles each way but we love a good challenge. The weather down was very rough and we made it through, slowing down to 25 mph at times due to the snow. We left at 6pm on Thursday night finally arriving at the lake Friday at 4:30pm. We had to get the mast up and splash quickly as we were sleeping on the boat and the sun was going down quickly. We got in and rigged just in time. Dinner was at a local pub and we got to meet some of the very nice members of the LMSA. Exhausted, tipsy, and feeling warm we crashed on the boat.
Saturday morning came very early and we were thankful for the noon racing start time. The winds were light and thermal so the RC postponed on shore. We got things all cleaned and rigged for racing and decided to go sail regardless. After a lengthy delay, RC started all four fleets with the Open Division being the last. I got a good view of the course from the other fleets so we fought and won the pin end with speed and headed left towards the pressure. I was shocked that we could not keep up our height with the Catalina 22's but I've since learned they polished, dry sailed, and completely stripped. Perhaps a rating change should be in order? Regardless, we couldn't keep height but had good speed extended into the new pressure. The boat we wanted to watch and stay in touch with, an S2 6.7 who owed us time and was the fastest, tacked off but we couldn't do anything about it as we were well left. We made it to the layline and were ahead of all but the Catalina 22's. Tacking back on port I had my wife move back to the bow and it made a big difference. The wind had dropped to a few mph by this point and we crept by both Catalina 22's with height and speed. Was the weight distribution the secret? About three boat lengths from the windward mark, the RC blew the finish guns and the race was over. Ugh, we were about to round and pop the chute, opening up a big lead on the JAM only Catalina's. The wind didn't cooperate the rest of the day and we went in happy about being in the wonderful weather, on the boat, but without a race. I jokingly considered the May regatta I attended this year where we didn't get in a single race all weekend. Was this to be the same?
The Saturday night festivities were great as we enjoyed food and libations with the great sailors of Florida. Food was a little late getting there and the beer was a bit foamy, but we still had a great time socializing. There was a silent auction and drawing for gifts as this is a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. Much of the drawings were for things we couldn't use. However someone donated a bunch of star-wars, Transformers, and other toys; perfect for my 5 year old. We spent $20 bucks on tickets and walked away with $100 of collectables. Even better end to the great day.
Sunday we didn't want to get up after having so much fun the night before. The wind was light as well but there was expectation of good breeze so we packed up and headed out to the course. After drifting for an hour or so the gradient came in strong and we got off three races in 5-10 knots.
Race 1: The breeze was up and we were again focused on the S2 6.7. We had a clean start and worked up the left of the course. I got the marks confused for a bit and worked right to hit the short course mark realizing at the last second we were not at the right mark. I thought all was lost but with 6 tacks in the shifty breeze at the top, we rounded in second some 10+ BL behind the S2. Working the pressure downwind we were able to get within 4 boats of the S2 and had a better mark rounding. With a short tack back on Starboard as I couldn't hold the lane, we were able to lead them back to the left corner. We took a great shift back to the mark and enjoyed a clean minute advantage at the finish on the second boat and 5+ minutes on the rest of the fleet. This was what we came here for, good fast clean racing and awesome sun!
Here is us rounding the first windward mark of the race, a bit behind the S2 6.7.
Race 2: We were more aggressively starting towards the boat with the confidence of the last race and got fouled hard by the S2. We didn't protest (I hate the room) and still had a clean start between the S2 and a Hunter 23. We were able to keep our lane above the S2 and lee bow the H23 off on a header. We took the first big shift to the right and then led the rest of the way around the course but with the S2 much closer this time. We ran into some traffic downwind with the other fleets for the first time which added to our overall time a little bit. We got the gun again but the H23 and Cat 22's were too close, (17 seconds for the Cat22) so we got 4th corrected. I thought we sailed well enough to win but the pressure let up just as we hit the last winward then filling in again right before the finish. This made us sail slower for the last leg and not able to extend the lead as the boats behind sailed DW in more pressure the whole leg. The regatta was "lost" in this race.
Race 3: I didn't know if they were going to get a third in but they did with 10 minutes to spare on the clock. Same course but we started behind a Cat22 as I was again getting more aggressive as I became more comfortable with the fleet. So 2nd row start for me but the rest of the fleet was behind as well so I only lost out to one boat. For some reason, the Cat22's were keeping up very well with us up wind and sailing smarter as well. They both beat us to the winward and I wasn't able to get past them and far enough ahead so we got a 3 for the last race. They deserved that win but I began again to doubt the accuracy of their rating as they should not have been so competitive against the Capri up wind. Side by side in the same pressure, theses boats were the same as the better rated Capri making them a good boat choice. I'm surprised they don't fly chutes as they would clean up in that fleet if they could keep the speed up downhill.
We finished the regatta in 2nd from 9 boats splitting the two Catalina 22's with a score of 1-4-3=8. The lead boat had a 3-2-2 for 7. On points there were three points separating the top 4 boats which meant very good close racing. We had a ton of fun and really the racing was just a reason to stay hours out on the water having fun. The wife and I learned a lot about racing the two of us. While fun it took a lot out of the wife. Even an in experienced set of hands would have helped but sometimes three is just too many
Thanks to Steve for posting the race out here. While I cannot commit to any future races, if we need a break, and you have warm weather, we just may show up at your regatta!! We love to sail both racing and cruising so lets post some more regatta's.
The wife and I collecting our 2nd place trophy.
Yeah, Catalina 22 one-design has no minimum weight limit for starters. They can easily (didn't say inexpensively) be set up to smash their number. I understand the disparity is a big part of the reason a lot of folks get out of racing them. Willie needs to chime in here.... ;-)
We've had years in our club where half the fleet is racing Capri 22 and the other half Catalina 22. With PHRF of 210 and 276 respectively, the Catalina 22 usually corrects if sailed well on any course that it not just upwind/downwind and has anymore than 5 knots of breeze. And, yes, upwind they are just as fast and point just as high as the Capri 22 when set up right. It's the reaches and winds under 5 knots where the Capri 22 racer/cruiser is untouchable by the Catalina cruiser/racer.
We only have my single Capri 22 in our club anymore but almost two dozen Catalina 22 (Fleet 54 of the National C22 organization) and have held the C22 Nationals on our club lake (Scotts Flat Lake, Nevada City, CA) twice: 2006 and 2012 and are looking to host them again a in couple years.
Still, as you can tell by being the only remaining Capri racer, I prefer the Capri's speed, large cockpit and better hull shape.
We only have my single Capri 22 in our club anymore but almost two dozen Catalina 22 (Fleet 54 of the National C22 organization) and have held the C22 Nationals on our club lake (Scotts Flat Lake, Nevada City, CA) twice: 2006 and 2012 and are looking to host them again a in couple years.
Still, as you can tell by being the only remaining Capri racer, I prefer the Capri's speed, large cockpit and better hull shape.