Saturday was weird. Bubbling water, air full of cottonwood seeds/pollen, fire boats shooting their hoses up in the air, dragon boats marching by, and my first airplane vortex. The first two races, before the sea breeze filled in, challenged my patience. I stared at my bow's wind indicator and sailed only by that measure, rather then looking at the way other people set their sails. The wind, or lack thereof, seemed localized so what the boats around you are doing is meaningless really. When I felt slow, I tacked and rolled the heck out of the boat. Rather then ease my sail's settings, I actually tightened the vang, outhaul, and cunningham fairly tight. I figured any movement or luffing the sail could do was wasted energy and so I tightened things up to transfer that energy into the mast, which obviously transfers into the boat's speed. When I was going over waves my mast would rattle around and I would put my hand up on the mast and push it forward, trying again to redirect that energy into the boat. The last 3 races, when there was thankfully some wind, were all about clear air. I of course eased the sail controls now that there was steady wind. I found myself adjusting the outhaul and cunningham a lot, they always looked too tight and too loose. I almost always sit pretty far forward, on top of the dagger board usually---sometimes I noticed some people sitting more comfortably in the cockpit. In light stuff, I think you want to be far forward. I also didn't see other people rolling their boats that hard---and while I know the rules it is still common practice and aggressive sailing to get your butt wet while tacking before crossing over to the high side, especially in this light stuff, at least in my opinion. Thanks to Niff for such a wonderful bbq, thanks to the RC for their time. |
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