I did a three-race weekend series last week. The weather was great. Two of my crew were high school exchange students, one from Italy and the other from Hong Kong. The one from Italy is a world class 420 sailor. The one from Hong Kong had never sailed.
It was interesting. The Italian gal is a serious competitor and called the starts and marks. She also taught the gal from Hong Kong how to handle the main sail; she did a decent job.
The Italian gal used the vang more than most of us would have and the mainsheet less. She also tended to sheet the main higher which left the jib a bit soft. I think that's pretty typical of a dinghy sailor.
Anyhow, Saturday was 12-15 knots of wind and flat water. It was tough to beat the samll boats in those conditions. It cranked up to 18 in the second race which slowed the smaller guys. Sunday was a different story; winds 20-25 knots and a heavy chop. That was big boat stuff and we did OK. However, I could not point high and the shoal keel was a disadvantage.
Despite a PHRF handicap that is tough to sail to, we finished third in class for the series. Before handicap adjustments, we were first in one race and second in two. We finished first in the series before handicap.
It was a great weekend even in a boat not optimized for buoy racing.
It was interesting. The Italian gal is a serious competitor and called the starts and marks. She also taught the gal from Hong Kong how to handle the main sail; she did a decent job.
The Italian gal used the vang more than most of us would have and the mainsheet less. She also tended to sheet the main higher which left the jib a bit soft. I think that's pretty typical of a dinghy sailor.
Anyhow, Saturday was 12-15 knots of wind and flat water. It was tough to beat the samll boats in those conditions. It cranked up to 18 in the second race which slowed the smaller guys. Sunday was a different story; winds 20-25 knots and a heavy chop. That was big boat stuff and we did OK. However, I could not point high and the shoal keel was a disadvantage.
Despite a PHRF handicap that is tough to sail to, we finished third in class for the series. Before handicap adjustments, we were first in one race and second in two. We finished first in the series before handicap.
It was a great weekend even in a boat not optimized for buoy racing.
