Hey everybody- Are ya'll as bruised up and sore as me? Upwind: I tried to always keep the boat flat while going upwind. Hiking hard and not pinching while going upwind I think was best. I played the mainsheet during puffs and, at times, was almost reaching/planing while going upwind. I think some people point too high as a way to counter the high winds. Downwind: During the two races I sat out, I saw a lot of fast people going downwind with their sails farther out then other/slower people. While going downwind, I just stared at my top baton's telltale and let my sail out until that telltale streamed away from the sail/parallel with the baton. Though a lot of people passed me while I went downwind and, in general, I felt slow downwind. I kept looking over my shoulder for puffs/shifts, and would purposely head up during those as to not suddenly death roll. If you keep an eye on the wind, you can sometimes avoid a sudden capsize. Roundings: Since I was one of the first boats launched, I was able to get in 2 bad mark roundings before the first race. I messed them up b/c I didn't ease the vang prior to rounding the windward mark, and then I didn't yank on the vang prior to rounding the leeward mark. So I think it's really important, in such heavy air, to adjust the vang right before a rounding. If you don't preadjust, it's so much harder to bare off towards downwind when rounding the windward mark and takes much longer to trim in while rounding the leeward mark. Strategy: Stay upright. I didn't know of any current advantages, but do know that we were losing water as the day progressed. I violently ran aground when I was only 4ish boat lengths away from the pin/starting line. In my opinion, the dockside of the line was fairly favored---and got increasingly more favored as the day went on. But strategically, getting caught on the left side of the course, b/c of the shoreline, kept me skeptical. I tried to just start in the middle and get clear air so that I could tack to port when a clear lane presented itself. I didn't do a lot of tacking, pretty much kept banging the corner. After that it was just a drag race and test of endurance. Speaking of endurance, I just floated b/w races and took it easy---conserving energy b/w races helps. Robert |
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