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Second Place Write Up - 01/06/2008 Lars Rathjen   I was completely surprised to be asked to do the write-up this week. There was a great turnout, and I think everyone who showed up watched David Teale sail away from the fleet in almost every single race. He dominated every aspect: starting, boatspeed, tactics… His point average was a full four places better than the second place boat – me. Unfortunately for you, he’s already done a write up this year, so you’re stuck with my ramblings for this week. Anyone who really wants to know the key to doing well should corner David… This was the first frostbite Sunday I was out since last January. Races got started a few minutes late, so I was able to use the time to “relearn” how to sail. I practiced a few tacks, gybes, and mark roundings. I find that it’s much easier to improve boathandling when I’m not racing. It allows me to put my entire focus on performing and analyzing the maneuver, without the distraction of the race itself. I was also able to use the time to look around the course area at the current and wind. The water level was very low, but before the races there wasn’t much current. That lead me to think that the current would start coming in (opposite of the typical river flow) sometime in the afternoon. The breeze looked pretty consistent across the river. The velocity was somewhere in the 7-9 range when we started, but the forecast I saw was for 5. So I was expecting a decrease in velocity throughout the afternoon. Both of those things ended up happening. Before starts and after each mark rounding, I’d run through a mental “checklist” of adjustments – vang, outhaul, cunningham, and weight placement. Not too much was going on with the vang. Since the wind was light, I would typically adjust the mainsheet and pull the slack out of the vang. I eased it downwind so that the boom was about perpendicular to the mast. I adjusted the outhaul so that the deepest part of the sail was about 6-8 inches from the boom upwind. I made a point to notice where the forward block in the outhaul cascade was so that I could easily duplicate that setting before getting to the leeward mark. Downwind, the outhaul was all the way off. I have a bungee cord that pulls the clew of the sail forward and a knot in the outhaul line at my “max loose” setting, so there’s no thought involved in loosening the outhaul for the downwind leg. Upwind, I tightened the cunningham just enough to remove wrinkles in the luff of the sail. Downwind, it was all the way off. I would also reach forward and pull the tack of the sail up the mast a few inches to ensure all the luff tension was off for the runs. Fore and aft weight placement was almost always around the front edge of the cockpit. I sometimes see people trying to get way forward on the runs. I don’t think that’s beneficial. The idea is just to get the corner of the transom clear of the water. You can usually accomplish that by sitting slightly forward of the cockpit edge. If in doubt, take a look at boats around you. As for side-to-side weight placement, upwind I tried to keep the boat perfectly flat at the beginning of the day, but allowed a very slight leeward heel as the wind dropped off. Downwind, I heeled the boat to windward just enough to neutralize the helm. Since the water was unusually low, there were some spots where you’d touch bottom on the left side of the course, and near the windward mark. I never had to pull my board up more than about 3 inches in order to keep it off the bottom. I think some people avoided the left side because of the shallow water, but making the small adjustment to the board allowed you to use the entire course. As the afternoon went on, I found the left side to pay off more and more on the upwinds. Thanks to Barney and Kevin for running the races.

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