Crystal Bowl Regatta
- Saturday, May 25th, 2002
- West River SC
- Galesville, MD
West River Sailing Club hosted the Crystal Bowl this past Saturday. It sounds like they had good wind in the morning, but less in afternoon. 13 Lasers participated over the course of 4 races. Annapolis resident and Quantum Sails rep Scott Nixon (AYC) took first, followed by Navy dinghy coach Mike Hefferman, and Mike Schmidt (MRSA) in third.
Mike Hefferman put together a nice regatta summary:
I'll break it down into 3 phases
1 Medium wind racing (6-10kts) Race 1
2 Light wind sloppy seas racing strong current setting down course( 4-5 kts) Race 2-3
3 Light to no wind flatter seas racing medium current setting down course (2kts) Race 4
The first race was nice sailing conditions, with some chop building but not great surfing conditions. Boat was rigged with my outhaul fairly loose - 8-10", or the max distance between my thumb and pinky finger when fully extended. Vang slack was taken out when the mainsheets blocks were 6" apart - no more than that. Cunningham was variable, on a bit when I saw the puffs rolling down, but fairly loose (enough to remove all overbend wrinkles) when it was steady. Traveler as tight as I could get it. Main sheet trimmed to 3" between blocks, rarely more. Maybe trimmed block to block in the puffs to point a bit better. If I ever felt a bit stalled, I loosened the vang a touch, and If I saw some waves coming, and the wind was strong enough (>7 kts) I loosened the outhaul for max power.
As far as what I saw tactically, Maybe I was the only one, but I started at the boat and saw a heavy boat favor, while Mike Schmidt and Scott Nixon started near the pin. Here's how I figure it out. I see someone on the line doing a test run and I line up next to them. Then I look down at the pin. If I see our boats come off the line perpendicular, or with our beams next to each other, I aim for a boat end start. That's what I saw - the wind was a bit right at the start of that race. If I see the opposite, then we should go off the line bow to stern, or almost in a parallel line. Then I shoot for a pin start. Never this weekend.
I saw the channel out to the left side of the course, and of course more waves in the channel. So I stayed to the right side. I saw the boats to the right, who I knew I was faster than, were keeping up with me. I also saw the boats to the left, who were faster than me, were behind. I stayed right and decided to wait for the first shift to tack left toward the mark. Too many people overstood the right and took the long layline (stbd) to the mark - the cross-current was adverse to this approach, so it made sense to me to take a shorter port layline approach, also receiving a 6 degree lift for every knot of current on the nose. I also looked for motor boat wake to tack into and catch a surf whenever I could, though I was very wary never to BEGIN a tack in the waves.
Downwind, little to no vang, by the lee the entire time. What I really try to do is have reverse flow over the main, meaning the telltales are streaming forward toward the mast on both sides. Some people sailed with their booms out way too far, I tried to never let it out 10 degrees past perpendicular, or 10 degrees forward of the beam max. Very deep outhaul for power, cunn all the way off, board ½ - 2/3 up, weight far forward, and heeled to weather, just short of putting the gunwale in the water. I would stay as low as I could in the puffs, sailing very deep to maintain the
inside position (boat end finish), and only sail high when there way less pressure and I need a burst of speed. Place 1st.
Races 2-3 are basically the same, but the wind started pooping out and the chop got steeper. The way I changed the boat was to tighten up the outhaul a bit, I think a flatter sail in the light wind was more important than a deep footed sail for the chop, but I could be wrong. It's a trade off. When I say flatter I don't mean board flat, more like 5-6 inches between the foot and the boom, vice 8-10". The cunningham was almost all the way off, vang loose, and traveler remained very tight. Weight forward, in the really light stuff with a slight heel to leeward. Minimal rudder movements, steer with weight and heeling.
The right remained favored, as a faster boat than me ended up behind me by going left. Winning the boat and getting right was very important again in my mind. Waited for the 1st shift to get back left, but didn't stay very long. There was a pretty dependable lefty at the top mark, making a port tack approach a safe choice, especially with a spread out fleet. I wouldn't suggest it in a tight fleet, unless you are a master of pinching or ducking. Mainsheet was barely bending the mast, but only once or twice did I let it out past 12" between blocks for max power through waves, footing when necessary to maintain speed.
Downwind, no vang, deep outhaul, no cunno. Steering with weight, steady windward heel, rocking was slow. By the lee at all cost. Boat handling was crucial - minimize weight movements, stop breathing (kidding), and try to
get a good angle on the waves to work the bow down one if you can. Place 2nd & 3rd.
Race 4 - No wind - No comment - unraceable, more luck than skill in my book. Just be patient, don't overwork the boat, minimize tacking, don't sail cross current too long, keep bow into current as long as you can. Legs in front of daggerboard with a windward heel, main out , just bending the mast. Never let the bow slap in the waves, it will stop you dead. Move your weight forward and back to allow the bow to coast up and down. Don't get caught below the layline and try to pinch it up in the light stuff, if anything overstand and let the current take you down onto the mark.
Downwind - ALL controls off. I sailed angles trying to catch the 2 boats in front of me, who were DDW. Made up some distance by staying high, but not enough. Worked the boat as much as I could, but could keep no pressure in
the sail, holding it out with my foot at times. Painful. Place 3rd
Hope these tips help - it might be a bit more than you wanted but I think it's important to recall to yourself the good and bad things you did in a race, and not just write it off as a bad weekend (or good). Thanks for the race. See you this summer. Share this with whoever you want, I'm sure there are different opinions out there and I'm open to suggestions/comments myself.
Respectfully,
Mike Hefferman
Navy Sailing
Added: 5/25/2002 13:41:20 by Jon Deutsch
Updated: 7/02/2005 13:42:38 by Jon Deutsch