Sailing Blog
UP NEXT – M32 National Championships »
July 26, 2010
The next stop on the Melges 32 circuit is the US National Championships in Harbor Springs, Michigan. With one quick look at the crew list, it is clear this event will have some of the top sailing talent in the world, and combined with the backdrop of Harbor Springs and its crystal blue waters, white sand beaches and idyllic town setting, this will be a great event. The Nationals will also serve as the last event where most of the US teams can size each other up before the Pre-Worlds and Worlds in September…this event, along with the worlds is going to be a grudge match.
The Samba team is fresh off returning from the final Audi event in Lake Garda and we are looking forward to getting back after it with only a week and half after our last race. Normally we have at least a month or so in between events, so it will be good to be on the boat with the lessons learned from the last event still fresh in our minds. We have the same team for the most part, but with a few small changes due to schedule conflicts:
Helm – John Kilroy Jr, Tactics – Stu Bannatyne, Main Trim – Morgan Reeser, Jib/Spinn Trim – Sam Rogers, Pit – Justin Smart, Mast – Eric Dorman, Float – Kim Arntson, Bow – Alan “Buddha” Nakanishi
Stay tuned to 42marine.com for updates and results from the US Nationals. Below is a video from the last day in Lake Garda with 20-25 kt winds. We are hoping for more breeze like this! The video is a bit shaky at the start, but the ride near the end, and the commentary by Fuzz Foster is worth the view…turn up the volume.
Samba Wrap-Up from Garda »
July 20, 2010
Federico Michetti, Melges Europe Pres and trimmer on eventual event winner B-Lin Sailing, told our team on arrival in Malcesine that Lake Garda is an amazing place for sailing, but a terrible place for racing. While I do not agree that Garda is a terrible place for racing, it certainly has its challenges, headaches and you can go from hero to zero in an instant. But it also has some features that you cannot find anywhere else in the world, like short-tacking up the eastern shore underneath a castle built in the 12th century to take advantage of a left shift while hundreds of German, Swiss and Italian beachgoers watch with interest.
Other than the dramatic landscape and mountains that drop steeply into the lake, what was most impressive about Lake Garda, Fraglia Vela Malcesine and the surrounding area is it felt like you had traveled to a place purpose built for going fast in sailboats, and whoever you talked to was there to do the same thing. Our hotel was the Sailing Center Hotel with a staff that asked how we did every day. Our favorite restaurant a few miles down the road, Da Umberto was owned by a former 49er sailor, Luca Modena, with of course a sailing themed restaurant. Whether it was having breakfast at the hotel at 730 am and seeing hundreds of kite boarders and windsurfers taking advantage of the fresh Northerly, or watching Robert Scheidt head out for a Star boat tuning session on a casual Sunday afternoon, Lake Garda is a sailors paradise…with really good food and wine.
Our goals for the week in Lake Garda were 2-fold since the first 4 days were spent speed and sail testing with our tuning partners from the UK, Red, and the second part of the week was the actual event. The testing period would be our final look at which sails we want for the upcoming worlds in San Francisco, while also looking at our tune in varying conditions. As for the racing, we obviously wanted to do well, but after hearing about what a tricky place Lake Garda can be, we knew it would be tough to steal a victory from a handful of Italian boats who had local tacticians that knew when to peg the right side and for how long, than a short time later, would know to hit the left side as hard as possible. By the last race, we identified some things we had done very well throughout the week, but also found some weaknesses that will need attention if we are hoping to hang in the front once the Worlds start in a few months.
For anyone who has sailed or raced on Lake Garda, a typical day would involve an early morning wake up and dock-off time around 8am to take advantage of the Northerly which usually lasts until 11ish. From there, you have a lunch and an early afternoon espresso while you wait for the Southerly to fill around 1pm when you had back out for a 3 hour afternoon session where you can count on 12-18 kts for both sessions. While this timing of the breeze was pretty much spot on, the velocity was below average as the high pressure system that hovered over Northern Italy for a week proved to be too strong for the local breeze to reach its normal peaks. We never did get shut out, and it was a rare occasion if the boat did not get up on a plane at least once each day.
The first 2 days of racing were on the light/medium side as the heat stayed in the mid-90s and humidity tightened its grip on the sailors. This would provide for highly tricky conditions as the breeze seemed like it wanted to fill consistently, but just could not which resulted in sharp puffs to 12-13 followed by lulls in the 6-7 range. We managed to hang on the after the first day of racing and stealing a win on the final race, putting us in 3rd after 3 races (full day 1 report here). Day 2 would be a different day for our squad as we felt good about our speed and starting ability, but were left with our heads shaking as we could only muster a 8, 9, 11 on what seemed to be a day where we were destined to mid-fleeters. Our confusion was only compounded when we watched regatta leaders Calvi Network have 3 of the most horrendous starts, even going backwards when the gun went, and then recover by pegging the correct side and finishing the day with a 3, 3, 8.
Battling in the light air behind our tuning partners Red during Day 1 - Photo Credit, Max Ranchi
I am not sure if I awoke early Sunday morning to the thunder which sounded like the storm was actually in our room, or to Buddha scrambling to the window in his tighty-whities to get a look at what was happening outside, but after 8 days of oppressive heat, the weather finally broke with a massive storm that left behind cooler temps and stiff Northerly breeze in the 20-25 range. Wanting to make the most of the Northerly, the RC made a good call by having an 830 am warning for the final 2 races. With good Samba conditions on tap, we felt good about our chances to move up in the standings, and potentially sneak in a win with only 14 pts between us in 7th place and the regatta leaders.
Race 1 on the last day showed that we had great legs in the breeze as we were able to recover from an average start and find our way to the front of the fleet by the top mark. With solid boathandling and conservative tactics, we were able to hold off a charge from the B-Lin team who moved up in the standings with a solid 2nd place. For us to have any chance at a regatta win, we would need to win the next race and have a few boats finish out of the top ten which would be entirely possible with the breeze backing off and getting shiftier.
A nice photo by Max Ranchi of Samba racing downwind on the last day of racing.
After another average start, we were able to claw our way into the top 3 at the top mark, ahead of the teams we needed to beat in the standings. We continued to show great speed, but could not get around Red and Torpyone and on the final downwind, we stubbed our toes and watched B-Lin bring down a wave of solid pressure, gybe early and beat us by a boat length at the finish. This secured the win for B-Lin, and left us miffed to say the least, but the real pain would come when we looked at the results and saw we were 1 pt out of 3rd and would have won tiebreakers with 2 race wins. It is moments like these when you look back on the course of the regatta and think about every potential point lost or gained and it makes you want to work that much harder.
Overall, a good event, but not great as we left a few opportunities hanging that easily could have moved us up in the standings. The good news is that we will have a chance to rectify our mistakes in a week and half when the US Nationals begins in Harbor Springs. This will be a great litmus test for the worlds as the best talent in the US will be on hand.
I would like to give a big thank you to John and Catherine Kilroy for making this all possible and for providing such a great atmosphere when traveling to and racing at regattas.
Results here.
Photos
Big Breeze on Final Day in Malcesine »
July 18, 2010
The week long heat wave final gave way in the early hours of the morning with a huge thunderstorm and big cold front being left behind. With an 830 am warning, the Samba team gathered at breakfast and piled some extra protein while we looked out at the lake showing a 20-25 kt Northerly.
Using great speed in the first race and solid boathandling, we were able to carve out a nice race win. By the time the second race started the breeze had backed to the 13-15 range, but we were still able fight it out in the front group and hang on to a 4th place. We made a small charge to move from 7th to 5th overall, but being 1 point out of 3rd leaves a bad taste in the mouth when you look back at all the areas where you could have gained it back. Congrats to Luca Lalli on B Lin for a great regatta victory.
There Final results can be found here. Stay tuned for a final wrap up from Fraglia Vela Malcelsine.
Road to Nowhere on Day 2… »
July 17, 2010
With another 1230 start scheduled on Day 2, we found our selves searching for shade once again as the Southerly took longer than expected to kick in. As we huddled under an umbrella at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, the good news for the day is that the forecast high was down to 91. The bad news was at 11:30, it was already 94.
Day 2 would be a very average day for the Samba team. Just as yesterday when the breeze filled it looked like it would be very fresh. Once we got to the starting area, the breeze had clearly backed and we decided to go with our light air settings. We did a good job of getting off the starting line and picking our lanes on the first up wind legs, but as we would find out, we did not do nearly a good enough job of committing to a side and making it work, regardless of the angle it took to get there. A few boats with just plain bad starts, even luffing and going backwards, would clear out on port tack, hit the right corner and find themselves winning at the top mark. We had often talked about the right being favored, but playing the shifts on the right side did not get the job done, we needed to be more aggressive about being the first boat to a side.
As it stands now, the Samba is tied for 7th place and 14 pts out of first. Seeing what happened today with boats rounding the top mark in last and finishing the race in 3rd, anything is possible. Our goal for tomorrow is to make a game plan and stick to it regardless of what it takes to get it done. 2 more races are scheduled tomorrow with an 830 am warning for the first race to take advantage of the remaining northerly.
Results here.
Samba in 3rd after 3 Races in Malcesine »
July 16, 2010
For those who want don’t want a report and just the good stuff, go to the Fraglia Vela site for results…report below from Day 1.
The biggest objective during the morning hours was not to check final settings on the boats, look at forecasts, or to do team meetings, it was to find a cool place in the shade and keep energy levels high with temperatures reaching 95 degrees before 11 am. With the Northerly sticking around longer than normal, it did take the Southerly a bit longer to fill which caused a brief postponement at 1130. Just when shady spots were getting snatched up at Fraglia Vela Malcesine, the Southerly quickly filled at 1145 and the RC headed out to set a course.
The first race saw 2 battling breezes at 7-10 kts, one on the far right and the far left of the lake, with the right eventually winning out as the boats on the left could not make it across the middle of the course in the very light pressure. It was a gybe set for every boat and those who could stick it out to the port layline made the most gains. The samba managed to hang tough throughout most of the race and we did our best to sail fast and keep tabs on where the local boats were headed. We managed a 10th in the first race which was just fine as it was very easy to get hung out to dry.
Race 2 had similar conditions with a more favored starting line to the port end. The Samba did a great job of just focusing on starting clean and letting our speed do the work. We managed carve a nice lane up the first whether beat, only to realize that we again needed to make hay to the right side of the course to get into the best pressure. After a rounding mid fleet at the top mark, Stu and Mark did a great job finding the breeze downwind and we were able to make some nice gains and finish in a respectable 4th place.
By the end of the 2nd race, the breeze had picked up to the 10-11 range and it was very apparent there would be huge pressure and angle gains coming off the left shore…time to lace up the hightops and get ready to play some streetball. Guessing that the pin would be a popular place, John did an a grat job of making sure we hit the line with speed in the middle of the line. When we reached the eastern shore, we were able to keep all the boats to our left behind us and cross all of the boats on our hip with the exception of Red. As we extended away on port, it was a nice site to see 10-12 boats forcing each other to tack off the shore while we were sailing away cleanly. We were able to use a bit of our boatspeed to get around Red and the boats behind us continued to dip and duck eachother, us, Red and B Lin were able to carve out a nice lead. Up the last beat, getting to the left was a premium and we managed to keep a nice 5-6 boatlength lead over Red headed into the finish.
As we made our way downwind however, Red brought fresh pressure down the course and engaged us in a bit of a gybing duel which they were able to make nice gains with. When we gybed back on to starboard with 1/4 mile left to the finish, Red pulled off a better gybe, rolled us and forced us back right. We came back them twice and when we made our final approach to the pin end of the line, it looked like it was going to be close, and from our view, Red was able to come in with pace and take the gun. Needless to say, this left us a bit dejected after sailing a great race only to get outmatched by our tuning partners. It was a nice relief however to see us the the bullet when the results posted and it must have been inches that secured the victory for us.
The big high pressure that has been parked over us for the last few days will most likely move on and we should see some fresh breeze the next few days. Stay tuned to fragliavela.org for up to date results and 42marine.com for the in depth scoop.
Switching in to Race Mode »
July 15, 2010
With teams filing into Fraglia Vela Malcesine and putting the final preparations on their boats, the Samba Team is now switching modes from speed testing and tuning over the previous three days, to getting into race mode. This involves focusing more on our boathandling, communication and practicing surviving in tight situations and tough spots on the race course. Wednesday was our first day mixing it up with 10-12 other teams and the pace of the day was a drastic change from when we were simply sailing in a straight line and tacking every 5 minutes. It was very apparent that getting close to shore is a huge advantage as the breeze seems to funnel and shear when it does reach shore making the velocity stronger with a favorable direction. A lot of time on Wednesday was spent short tacking an gybing up the eastern shore of Lake Garda to ensure you were the left most boat and taking advantage of the shore effect. This also meant the middle of the boat was very busy pulling off all the maneuvers while trying to preserve every inch of boatspeed.
Throw in 25 Melges 32s in 20 kts of breeze, as well as the hundreds of beachgoers, swimmers, international moths, A Cats, Hobies, kiteboarders, windsurfers, and other recreational sailboats and there is going to be plenty of action come race day. If racing on an ocean course with long, steady upwind beats it like the NBA, than sailing on Lake Garda during a busy weekend is like a game of Streetball in the hood (Note – I have never actually been to the “hood”, but I felt that the movies I have seen were a good depiction…minus the shootings, drugs and pretty much everything else with the exception of a hard game of basketball with no rules or structure). It is very fun racing however as we are getting close enough to the shoreline that we could take an easy step off the boat if needed. The Sailing Center Hotel has the best view as the deck just off the pool area hovers over the lake. Shortly after a spinn set yesterday, we got a good look at what the families of the Samba Team were doing at the pool when we sailed within a boatlength ripping on full plane, doing our best not to wipe out German and Swiss tourists floating on their inflatable lounge chairs.
Samba sails downwind with the town of Malcesine and Castello Scaligero, built in the 13th Century in the backround. Even though the temp is 93 degrees, spray tops were in order to help shed weight for the weigh in.
With the weigh in taken care of on Tuesday afternoon, we are having plenty of good food, wine and laughs at the local restaurants. Today is our final day of practice before we start racing tomorrow. We will be trying out a few new, experimental boathandling methods that we hope to make a decision on be the end of the event, so hopefully we do not have any major hang ups there, but there is a higher chance that something might get balled up while racing. We are looking forward to the racing getting started, but know very well that the next few days are going to a be a battle with every inch making a big difference in this very tough, experienced fleet. Stay posted to 42marine.com for daily reports and results for the the 5th Audi Melges 32 European event.
Garda Lives up to the Myth »
July 12, 2010
From all that I had heard about Lake Garda and its big breeze and awesome scenery, seeing it in person did not do any of the descriptions justice; it is the best combination of breeze and surroundings that I have ever experienced. After 3o hours of planes, buses and taxis, I arrived at the Sailing Center Hotel in Malcelsine, had 20 mins to grab an espresso and change into my sailing gear for a 4 hour training session with our tuning partners Red from the UK. Once we were out on the water, we were treated to a recently filled southerly at 15-18 kts and with the backdrop of the mountains that drop directly into the lake, it was difficult to concentrate on trimming without getting distracted by the scenery.
Our first training/tuning session was very productive as we were able to figure out a few tweaks to our sail plan and also got a taste of what sailing in Lake Garda is like in preparation for the 5th Event in the Melges 32 Audi European Series. While sailing with Red downwind in 15kts, we both were reaching to the western shore which is basically a shear rock face a couple thousand feet high. Not being sure what the bottom was like and hoping to preserve our keel for the week ahead, we gybed out before Red and headed back to the middle of the lake. As we extended away from Red as they continued, a few minutes later we found ourselves with nice pressure and angle, but once we looked over at our tuning partners, we were all in a bit of awe as they were in about 5 kts more breeze ripping downwind and were sailing the same angle as us…on the opposite gybe. We continued for a few more minutes and when we gybed back and crossed behind Red, they had put about a mile of distance between us within 3-4 minutes…I guess it pays to sail to the rocks and wait for the shift.
Samba Sail Manager and native Hawaiin, Fuzz Foster gives an enthusiastic "hang ten" as he gets ready for his third cappuccino before 11am.
We have 1 more day of tuning with Red with the goal of trying some new tuning and continuing to look at new settings on our upwind and downwind sails. It is great to have a team like Red to work with as they have been very consistent over the past few seasons and recently just won the Europeans, and they are a great group of sailors who have similar training goals with us. It is always tricky with tuning partners with how much information to share or not share, after all, it is certainly good to have training partners, but this same team could be contending for a regatta with us in future. So far we have a good working relationship with one boat staying as the “base” boat while the other team changes up their settings for an hour or so, than we switch. Both teams have done a good job so far of being open and cooperative, but we are both working on our own individual tasks as well.
View from Fraglia Vela Malcesine (YC) while waiting for the Northerly to fill
The plan tomorrow is to dock off at 8am to catch what is left of the Northely breeze, than grab lunch and relax for a few hours while the Northerly dies and the Southerly breeze fills in around 1pm. If the sun is shining, this routine for the breeze is pretty much like clockwork. Come Thursday, we will put all of our focus on to working on crew work and prepping for the regatta.
We did have a minor hiccup with our Pitman, Justin Smart who had to attend to his father in the UK. Justin will be missed on and off the water as he is very experienced being the youngest person to ever complete a Whitbread and spending most of his life on racing boats. He is also a lot of fun off the water and has been known to launch oranges off of balconies at passing cars in other regions of Italy. We are hoping everything goes well with his family over the next week and that he can rejoin us in Harbor Spring next week for the US Nationals. Thankfully, our float girl, Shana brought her husband Peter along and he will be filling in for Justin. Peter is a very good sailor and will do a great job, just as he did for Buddha when took over the bow position in Cagliari during the Europeans.
Roster –
Helm – John Kilroy, Tactics – Stu Bannatyne, Mainsheet – Mark Mendalblatt, Jib/Spinn Trim – 42, Pit – Peter Phalen, Mast/AV/Instruments – Eric Dorman, Float – Shana Rosenfeld, Bow – Alan “Buddha” Nakanishi
Other than catching on sleep, we are all looking forward to the weigh in on Wednesday when we can pound down some tasty looking food. For right now, it is look not touch as we have each have a few pounds to loose…hopefully no one finds the half eaten salami and cheese sandwich in the bushes outside of my room tomorrow morning!
2 Races Completed on Day 1 of E Invitational »
July 9, 2010
Very brief race report due to a long day on the water and with packing still to do for departure for Lake Garda tomorrow…bed is beckoning:
Race 1 got underway after a 2 hour delay due to lack of breeze and a sunny, clear day on Minnetonka. When the breeze filled in around 1pm, the fleet of 51 boats started after a few general recalls. Halfway up the first windward beat, it was very evident that the breeze had not settled as there were 30-40 shifts with velocity ranging from 4-11 mph. Rob Evans jumped out a nice lead for the first lap with M-11, M-42, V-37, M-3 and T0-101 on his tail. Rob would eventually give way to Erik Bowers on the M-11 with V-37 edging out M-42.
Race 2 was similar conditions to race 1, but it seemed that the velocity would be a bit more steady. The only difference however was that the range of velocity had just gotten bigger. There were now bigger puffs, and the lulls were just as big which made the position changes huge. Chris Jewett jumped out to a big lead and held onto it the whole race with Augie Barkow one boat behind. Most impressive was the performance of Peter Slocum who is racing in his vintage wooden E Scow, symmetrical spinnaker and plated rudders and took a 3rd place in race 2…very impressive.
The M42 had a tough race 2 and it is always a good reminder that when you are coming back from a tough start, first beat, or whatever has gotten you into the bottom of the fleet, you have to be perfect from then on to have a good result. After a decent start and in the front group on the left side, we took one bite left and found ourselves parked near the top mark on port tack while a train of starboard tack boats poured in from the right side. After a windward mark leading only 10 or so boats, Chrisy and Tony did a great job of hanging tough and battling with me to get back to into the same area code as the front group on the last beat. Once we got there however, our luck ran out and just like the first beat, we took on hitch left too many and once again found ourselves parked at the finish line with 20 boats fully hiked flying in on startboard tack. Very painful.
Tomorrow should be better with solid breeze forecast for what should be 3 good races.
I am hoping John Dennis can get some solid results for the M-42 while I am en route to Lake Garda on some cramped airline seat for 12 hours. Stay posted…
Recipe for a Well Attended Regatta »
July 8, 2010
Friday morning at 11 am, the E Scow ILYA Invitational Regatta will kick off on Lake Minnetonka, MN with over 50 E Scows on the starting line. It is great to see so many teams traveling to Minnetonka for this event, and the talent level will be off the charts with defending 2009 ILYA and NCESA Champ Tom Burton, 2009 ILYA Invite Champ Augie Barkow, 2009 Blue Chip Champ Vincent Porter, multiple NCESA Champ Brian Porter with all star crew Charlie Harrett, as well as a host of other boats that could contend for the title in this years event. The forecasts look good, the social schedule is dialed…this will be a great weekend of racing on Minnetonka.
All the way from Grand Lake, Colorado, Mark Unicome arrives in Minnetonka with his enclosed, triple deck E Scow Trailer towed with his International Truck...this rig is highly bad-ass.
The most impressive aspect of this weekend however, is that the number of boats in attendance is a direct result of regatta co-chairs Pat Hughes and Chris Jewett. Both of these guys had a mission to get 50 boats to attend this regatta when they started planning a year ago and they reached their goal through good ‘ol fashion, blue collar work. In the age of Facebook, Twitter, micro-sites and various other forms of interactive marketing which are great mediums to convey a message, Chris and Pat decided to go “old school” to get boats to attend the E Invite; they picked up the phone, and called E Scow sailors and let them know they should attend this regatta. If they got a positive answer, great, that is a boat coming. If they got a non-committal answer, or if the person said no, well now they were in trouble because either Pat or Chris would be calling them until they got a “yes” out of them. With books being written on why sailing is declining, and with the current recession being an excuse for why event numbers are down for most classes, Pat and Chris along with the E Scow class have shown that if you pick up the phone and get on people, they will come.
This will be the largest E Scow Invite since the legendary 130+ event a few years ago in Madison that Lon Schoor organized a few years ago with the same sort of tactics. For all of those people who are whining an throwing their hands up in the air as to why they cannot get boats to attend their events, I would say that while all of the online techniques are good, there is no substitute for direct communication and some pressure to get people to attend. Again, huge cudos to Pat (with wife Chrisy as always) and Cupman for getting an awesome event organized for what otherwise would have been the Minnetonka fleet plus 5.
Stay tuned to 42marine.com for daily reports and be sure to attend your fleets’ next regatta, it will be worth it.
Know Your Mode »
July 5, 2010
Saturday afternoon on Lake Minnetonka served up some great conditions for E Scow club racing; SW, 20-25, 85-90 degree temps…It doesn’t get much better. We had 17 boats on the line for the start of the first race, and the finishing tally at the end of race 2 was 7. Broken boats and masts and bruised egos for sure. But on top of the close racing and awesome downwind rides, there were some great lessons to be learned, one of which is to always know your “mode” and be able to adjust it. This is kind of opening a can or worms, but I will give it a go…
By “mode”, I mean your relative angle and speed compared to the immediate boats around you on the race course. I say immediate because the boats on the other side of the course may have much different breeze and their height and speed may be much different. Upwind, you can talk about your mode being “lower height, same speed”, “Higher, slower”, “lower, faster” etc. Of course when you hear or observe that you are “higher and faster”, that is music to your ears. You can also use the same adjectives downwind to describe your mode, but how you adjust your mode upwind or downwind will be much different. And mode adjustments will be different for each boat that you sail on. Scows for example rely heavily on the vang and traveler to depower, and they are often the things that are adjusted first when you find yourself in a “lower, faster” mode. But to adjust your mode with confidence, you have to be comfortable with your base tune which can be found in almost any one-design tuning guide (I would recommend checking out the North Sails OD page for your specific boat as they have very good base tuning guides for almost any OD boat). Adjusting your mode is kind of like hitting a fade or draw in golf…once you can hit it straight, than you can start expanding your arsenal.
Normal mode for an E Scow in breeze - main trav down to the rudder post, jib trav down a few inches, vang smoked, leeward shrouds just dancing, and main trimmed to the angle of heel.
The biggest factor in knowing your relative mode and being able to adjust it, is to have a designated person looking around and making observations with the boats nearest to you. The area where this is most important is off the starting line and leeward marks where maintaining your lane is critical. On Saturday, we rounded close behind current E Scow National and ILYA Champ Tom Burton and wanted to stay on that tack since it was lifted 10-15 degrees. We decided to go traveler up, softer vang and a little tighter trim on both the main and jib. After a minute, we were able to gain a boat length to whether while maintaining our fore and aft position…all good. As we made our way up the course however, we were much to slow to convert back into our normal mode once we had a safe lane and we found ourselves now sailing higher and slower which allowed the M-9 to gain a few boatlengths overall.
Looking back on the situation, our mode changes were not the problem as the boat was tuned very well for the conditions and we could do with it what we needed. The problem was our communication and not making things happen fast enough. We needed to be more observant when we went from “higher, same speed” to “higher, slower”. We did not do a good job of continuing to identify our mode and therefore we could not make the adjustments quick enough. Knowing your mode is the first part of the battle, and knowing how to adjust it is the next challenge. Here is a cliff notes version on what to do in what mode assuming you have a good base tune:
Keep in mind the below suggestions can be used independently or together depending on the conditions and the type of boat you are sailing.
Bad Modes – Alarms should be sounding…
Lower, Same Speed – Most likely need to power up and try trimming harder. Could be ok in a tactical situation if you are finding yourself getting rolled.
Lower, Slower – Consult your tuning guide
Average Modes
Higher, Slower – Most likely need to depower and convert some of your height into speed. More controls like vang, cunningham and backstay and easing the traveler. Easing the sheets slightly and putting the bow down as well. Could be good tactically if you are trying to maintain a lane with the boat to leeward.
Lower, Faster – Need to convert some of your speed into height and power up – Less vang, backstay, cunningham. Trav up, slightly tighter trim. Could be ok tactically if you are struggling with the boat to whether.
Same height, Same speed – Some days this is a challenge, so take it when you get it.
Good Modes – Take note of your settings, write them down and repeat –
Higher, Faster
Higher, Same speed.
Again, recognizing your mode and adjusting it accordingly can be huge for the little battles you find yourself in during the course of a race. If sailing a slightly higher and slower mode allows you to live in a lane for another 30 seconds and get to a new lane of breeze, than you have pulled off a very difficult manuver.