Originally I had planned a leasurely day of skiing at Wintergreen. However, as the temperatures on the mountain hovered in the 50s we made a late New Year's Eve decision to field a father/ son effort on the river. My last contact with society on Saturday had indicated 50 degrees, mist and a 5-10 knot Nor'easter. As we blasted up US 29 through Virginia early New Year's day we noticed a huge Southerly tail wind. Probably not a day for an 85 lb Opti sailor we thought. Upon arrival in Alexandria to gather our gear we found the Potomac to be dead calm. As we loaded the second boat we noticed the upper clouds already whizzed by from the Northwest-sorry Alex. Upon listening to the weather radio it appeared the Potomac's most shifty forecast was in store--a series westerly fronts for 2 days. Most of you know these are my favorite WSM conditions. Here it is what I do. First, make sure that your body and boat are capable of handling the conditions. I heard some very young sailors tell me how tired they were. Some basic training at the local gym and on the road running can do wonders for both laser sailing and job performance( if you care). I am 50 and still manage to get 3- 5 days of activity. My buddy Peter Seidenburg, of Seitech fame just crushed the top 70 radial sailors in the US at age 70---he was in shape. Assuming you are able to handle the conditions, make sure you are properly dressed. Over the last few years I have noticed most of you are now wearing dry suits, or wetsuits worthy of the conditions. The Potomac can be very treacherous given its calm , wave free demeanor.I think the prospect of snow run off and distance from the warm ocean might make it cooler than the bay. Examine your boat before you hit the water in breezy conditions. Make sure the upper mast collar rivets show no signs of corrosion. look for partially pulled vang and mainsheet block rivets as well. Especially check your traveler line, eyes, and blocks. Finally , check the mainsheet/ hiking strap attachment and the rear strap line. As Eric and Erich found out, these can be costly failures. Now, for the sailing. A deep high pressure filling over the Potomac creates extremely shifty conditions. The first rule should be to keep your boat upright. Just as you settle into a nice comfortable fully hiked position, Wham!!! A 40 degree knock and back flip into the river ! I never hike much more than 5/8-3/4 out on the river or at the Navy seawall in Annapolis when there is a stiff WNW breeze. Set your outhaul so that you can see a bit of light between sail and boom, in other words about 4 inches from clew to boom tip or a fist from full draft to boom.The boat still needs power in 20 knots. A fully sheeted outhaul provides zero shape. Aggressively play your cunningham. In puffs and modest lulls. The grommet should nearly touch the gooseneck. Under the cover of the shoreline do not forget to ease the cunningham to make an easier entry and retighten the leech. The vang must be aggessively played as well. In puffs tighten the vang so that the sheet action is lateral rather than up and down. In lulls make sure to ease the vang quickly to a postion where the mainsheet will perform the last 18 inches of leech tension. As you sail in extreme puffs dump the fully vanged main and maintain your course. The tendency is to put the puff " in the bank". Flat and fast forward is is far better than a slow pinch followed by a near weather roll when the puff subsides or shifts. Tactically one normally attempts to string together puffs on an open couse knowing that each cats paw essentially is a lift on either side and a knock in the middle. On Tuesday the real issue in races one and two was to figure out how to get around the becalmed weather mark. The wind funneled from the southwest over the coal pile to as far NW as Marina Towers on the left. The breeze on the right came from as far N as the airport tower. The key was to not get pinned in the middle. In race one I started at the boat because it looked like breeze was filling from the marina. For the most part I was able to close reach into the mark with just 2 boats slipping by on the SW shaft of breeze in front. I rounded and sailed high on port to reconnect to the Northerly puff as it strenghtened. In the second race I saw Erich set up for his port tack assault. At 30 seconds I was still thinking I might be too early to make a starboard pin start. At 20 seconds the coal pile lefty came in. Goodby Erich. I figured I would try the left this time since I was third last time at the top after a similar lefty. The problem was I did not have the guts to go hard left. I tacked when I was about 5 degrees short of the port layline. I ended up sailing into a large hole directly to leeward of the mark and eventully rounded in 7th or so. Lesson learned--assess how you will maintain breeze the longest when approaching a mark in the lee of the shore in the cove or along the park shoreline. The third race was much easier. The RC had pulled the mark into moderate breeze. I blew the start but was able to tack on headers to get around third. Downwind many sailors had problems. Here are some tips. Ease your rig. In light air you gain more power. In heavy air you keep the boom out of the water. Do not let the main out too far. In a blow, the eased vang results in the sail head being twisted far ahead of the clew. Ease your outhaul 4-6 inches, cunningham all the way. make sure you have a rig retention line tied to your deck blocks. I have a preset knot on my vang, marks on my boom and a knot on my sheet to prevent mistakes. In the puffs move back to gain the stability of the flat aft section of the hull. Do not sail down wind. Sail hard by the lee or reach. Look for puffs. Each downwind leg I was able to use these simple principles to recover to 1-2-1 at the leeward marks. I hope this helps. James Jacob |
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