Poole Regatta - not bad for pond sailers!

This was the third time that 13941 had gone to Poole, and I think it was the most enjoyable yet. 

It was also the first time for Hannah, who was suitably impressed by the size of the clubhouse, the size of the sailing area ... In fact everything was so much bigger than we have at the "pond" (Welsh Harp Sailing Club). The fleet of 30 GP14 was impressive as well.  

The first day was the traditional "round the islands" race inside the harbour. The first race was anti-clockwise. We made a cautious start, and were 2/3 down the fleet by the time we arrived at "Picadilly" in a broad reach. After having navigated the shallows, it was time to throw the kite and we were soon speeding up - just a couple of "planes" at times. 

I think this was the longest spinnaker run that Hannah has ever done. 

Around the far side of the island we noticed a couple of boats going a back to pass "Brownsea" marker. Should we have done the same? Hannah had been very thorough during the pre-race briefing, so we were fairly convinced that we had got things right.  As it happened, this was the second cause of confusion for people that morning. 

Not only had some people decided to round the "Brownsea" marker, others had been logged as "OCS" (on course side = on the wrong side of the start line when the starting gun was fired) and were therefore  penalised. There had been some ambiguity in what constituted the actual start line, as well as confusion about whether we had to round the "Brownsea" marker. A cynic might say that Poole allowed the confusion in order to help their own people to win, but I will not comment on that...

On paper, our final result was 18th - not bad for pond sailers !!

The afternoon was a classic case of "you are not at the Harp now.."; we were given plenty of time to get to the starting line for the clockwise race, but were less than urgent in getting out. Unfortunately, this was a slipway at Poole, not a massively long pontoon at the Harp. So we had to queue. The net result was that we were five minutes late at the start - hopelessly out of contention. Nevertheless, we pressed on and completed the course, with one other boat (who had been even later starting) trying and failing to catch us. Pity about the result, but a great sail. 

Sunday saw the winds pick up slightly, and we were both feeling a bit cautious, but set out for three "triangle - sausage - triangle" races over the late morning and early afternoon (note to self : make sure you pack some energy bars next time!).

The first race was a reasonable start for us - we called "starboard" on a number of boats, then tacked off to the right of the course. The tactical reasoning was straightforward - there was probably little significant tide impact, and it looked like the people going right seemed to know what they were doing!

Although we had reasonably clear air, and Hannah did a great job of keeping the boat flat, we were near the back of the fleet by the windward Mark. It was looking like a problem of getting good boat speed - so that is my "learning objective" for the next few weeks. 

The same pattern emerged in the other two races, with us coming in last each time. So some improvement needed on getting speed out of the boat. 

Going downwind, the waves were just choppy enough to play with. I had read about how to "manage waves" down-wind: find a suitable wave, then steer onto the leeward side and ride the "push" as long as possible. We don't get conditions like that at the Harp. So it was another chance for this "pond sailer" to have some practice playing with the wave conditions. It takes practice, but we caught a few...

The last race we decided to play it safe, and did not fly the kite. But more wave playing followed!

So the Sunday result was nothing to write home about. But it was immensely enjoyable. I think (hope !) I've learnt a lot, and that experience will eventually pay off. 

Both of us had sunburn to deal with the next day - but a price worth paying!

Congratulations to all those winners out there - hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. 

(Photo from Mike Millard of Poole Yacht Club - check out his Flickr site for all the photos of the two days)

Another crunch lesson

Hannah & I took out a club boat for Saturday afternoon racing last weekend (30 July). It was not a day I want to remember. 

The first race I had been able to pick up the wind on the north shore, and was able to capitalise on it, and overtook a couple of boats. But my skill was random. 

At the end of the first race, convinced I was on the wrong end of the finish line, I stayed on and discovered unexpected strong winds near the "pin", which helped us overtake the boat in front of us. Well, you have to get lucky sometime!

The second race was a disaster - I crewed for Hannah and plotted a port end start. I misjudged it, and poor Hannah had her first crash. It's always painful when that happens. I felt very upset and annoyed with myself. Hannah was following instructions. It was entirely my fault. It is likely to be costly to repair. 

When we had done our turns we resumed the race, at the back of the fleet. 

The only positive aspect was that we again finished the race on the "pin" end of the finish line, and this time overtook two boats to put us three from last in Hannah's race.  

Confidence shaken, we sat out the final race from the committee boat - trying to anticipate the competitors tactics. 

Next week is Poole Regatta. Will try to put this behind us and enjoy the racing.  

Tides at Tollesbury

The Tollesbury Regatta on 23rd July was an object lesson in how to get things right - sometimes!

There were less than a dozen boats in the fleet, and we ended up last (again!), with me trying to persuade myself that I was at least learning something. 

This was the first time that Hannah & I had sailed together in tidal conditions. Since we were planning to do Poole Round the Island and Poole Regatta in August, this was going to be a "dry run". 

I usually have a "focus area" each time I sail; in this case it was tide predictions. The conditions were such that initially the tide and wind were together. For the first race, we set off along the shallows, where hopefully the tide would be weakest. Seeing "Scoobie Doo" (13316) ahead of us have me confidence that we were doing the right thing, even though our boat speed was not as good. As it happens, James and Richard in "Scoobie Doo" eventually won the regatta. I also checked out our "RaceQs" gps tracker afterwards and was delighted to see how we had tracked to the shallows just where I had wanted. 

But it's all very well knowing the right direction - it does help to be able to make the boat go fast as well ..!

The other challange is that, in sailing at least, you need to see the evidence of your eyes, and not get fixated by your prior opinions.   The final race illustrated this.  

At the start of the final race, there were a gaggle of boats at the final 20 seconds, with a number of boats over. It was a general recall. At the restart, the same thing happened. I was left puzzling about how I managed to time the start, and everyone else was over.  Hours later, talking over the evening meal, the penny dropped - the tide had turned ! My entire tide strategy had been wrong for the last race.  

One-off these days, I might be able to get a handle on this sport.