The Poole GP14 Open Regatta this year was forecast to be strong winds. The forecast proved accurate, so there was a fair proportion of capsizes, including ourselves.
For myself, the objective of the day was to gain some experience of high winds and tides, in preparation for the Nationals next week. The first decision was whether or not to use the new EXE sails, which had been specially purchased for Looe. The sails were ready, so we kept them on. Why hold back?
Winds were forecast at 17 knots, gusting 21 knots. It hit us as we left the harbour, and we planned on a reach towards the racing area.
We were late to the starting area, so were behind the fleet for the first race [lesson one: try to get to the starting area on time!]. Nevertheless, I was pleased with our progress up the beat.
At the first windward mark, the two lead boats were flying spinnakers, and the rest were planning on just two sails. We decided not to fly the kite this time.
It was great to have such a huge sailing area, and the chance to get a "feel" for a GP14 at (relatively) high speed [lesson two: use the kicker to control sail shape when on a fast reach]. Gybes were exciting to start with, until we got into a rhythm and could flatten the boat in good time as the boom went acrosss.
There were boats capsizing all around us, so it was encouraging to realise that we were still sailing onward. We finished the first race with a huge sigh of relief - we had survived and were still upright!
After a quick snack on the water, we were into the second start. My assessment was that the line was fairly square (no obvious bias upwind on one side or the other) so we made a timing start to the middle of the line. We were among a gaggle of boats heading left, so we tacked into clear air onto the right hand side. We recognised a couple of good boats on that side of the course, so we weren't doing too badly. As we went up the Beat, we kept close to the centre line, and were in a mid-fleet position at the first mark.
More fast reaching - more salt spray in the face, and more thoughts of "oops, that's not a good idea", as the wind and waves combined to push us off course.
Gybing at the wing mark, we corrected, only to find that the boom had fallen out of the goose-neck, so we had to hove-to and fix it [lesson three: tie the boom to the mast in high winds, or put on sufficient kicker to hold in the boom]. Then we were off again.
Going downwind in strong waves can be great fun - it's perfectly legal to position the boat into a wave front and get a boost from the wave power. I don't often get a chance to practice this, so it was a valuable opportunity.
On the next Beat we were within a few boat lengths of the windward mark when it happened. We were tacking onto starboard, but I ignored the fact that the Jib was still cleated [lesson four: give the crew time !]. Capsize !
Lucy was over the windward side in a flash, as I tried to retrieve the rudder, which was drifting off in the direction of Poole Yacht Club [lesson five: get a special clip for the rudder before Looe next week ]. Although Lucy got the boat up quickly, the problem with the rudder meant that we drifted downwind as I struggled to re-fit it, and disentangle the mainsheet. We had lost half the Beat by the time we were stabilised. And the lead boats were a lap ahead and threatening to overtake us. It felt like time to give up. We were both tired. It was no shame to have capsized in those conditions. So we retired and headed in, still struggling with a lifted rudder that refused to behave itself.
Heading back to dry land, the wind was getting stronger, and it appeared that the last race would be called off. In the end, the third race was run, but with only six boats, as gusts of up to 30 knots were recorded at the clubhouse weather system.
Should we have done the third race? Maybe. But at the time we needed a rest. I guess my final lesson to myself is to remember that there may always be another race...
We had had a great time. Lots of lessons for the future, and a real encouragement in the lead up to the GP14 Nationals next week.
Can't wait !!!
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Saturday, 29 July 2017
Poole - round the island - only once !
One week to go before the GP14 National Championships, and I'm down in Poole for some last-minute Sea experience (waves and tides).
Poole was the first event I ever "travelled" to, and is a social event for people from the Welsh Harp Sailing Club.
This year, I had Lucy crewing for me.
Saturday Round-the-island is a team event. We were randomly allocated to teams of three. The best two scores count towards the team. There are usually two races: one clockwise, and the other anti-clockwise. This year, we were drawn alongside Roger and Szymon from the Harp, and James & Richard from PaperCourt. A great team to be part of.
The first race was started with the tide flowing in, so our logic was to start at the port side of the line, going into the main channel - the tide would give us some extra momentum. It seemed like a good idea, although we had second thoughts when we realised there was only one other boat with us, and the rest of the fleet was on the starboard side of the line ! Nevertheless, we were in the top half of the fleet by the windward mark.
The course was clockwise round Brownsea island, so we had a long spinnaker run, where I keep us inshore, to negate the tide pushing against us. Some great spinnaker work by Lucy, and we kept near the shore and overtook a couple of boats, keeping Roger and James in sight all the time. We were making good progress.
As we got near to the far end of Brownsea Island, Lucy told me the advice she had been given - stay clear of the lea of the Castle. We had a gaggle of boats behind us. I saw Roger bear away from the lea of the Castle. I stayed on. Maybe we would be OK? We slowed down, by which time it was too late - we were caught in the lea of the castle. Boats started overtaking us. And more. We tried the 'kite, but to no avail. We ended up going backwards. The Brownsea ferry told us they were moving out in five minutes. We weren't sure we could clear the area in time.
We finally go clear, with the entire fleet (apart from 3 boats) disappearing away ahead of us.
The rest of the race was a matter of trying to catch up, and fending off the boats trying to catch us.
After rounding the far end of the island, we flew the spinnaker round "Piccadilly" and on home, arriving in 16th place.
The rain was coming in hard, and the wind dropping as we got back to PYC.
The afternoon did not look promising with the rain and no wind. At three PM the call was made - racing abandoned for the rest of the day.
They totalled up the scores from the first race; allowing for our discard, Roger & James had scored third place for the team. So Lucy & I had a third place prize to share with everyone.
I was delighted for Lucy - great bit of work was rewarded. We both had a laugh on account that we had benefited from Roger & James efforts! But we'll take it, with pleasure !
Tomorrow is the Open Event itself. Looking forward to it - the weather is forecast to be strong !!
Poole was the first event I ever "travelled" to, and is a social event for people from the Welsh Harp Sailing Club.
This year, I had Lucy crewing for me.
Saturday Round-the-island is a team event. We were randomly allocated to teams of three. The best two scores count towards the team. There are usually two races: one clockwise, and the other anti-clockwise. This year, we were drawn alongside Roger and Szymon from the Harp, and James & Richard from PaperCourt. A great team to be part of.
The first race was started with the tide flowing in, so our logic was to start at the port side of the line, going into the main channel - the tide would give us some extra momentum. It seemed like a good idea, although we had second thoughts when we realised there was only one other boat with us, and the rest of the fleet was on the starboard side of the line ! Nevertheless, we were in the top half of the fleet by the windward mark.
The course was clockwise round Brownsea island, so we had a long spinnaker run, where I keep us inshore, to negate the tide pushing against us. Some great spinnaker work by Lucy, and we kept near the shore and overtook a couple of boats, keeping Roger and James in sight all the time. We were making good progress.
As we got near to the far end of Brownsea Island, Lucy told me the advice she had been given - stay clear of the lea of the Castle. We had a gaggle of boats behind us. I saw Roger bear away from the lea of the Castle. I stayed on. Maybe we would be OK? We slowed down, by which time it was too late - we were caught in the lea of the castle. Boats started overtaking us. And more. We tried the 'kite, but to no avail. We ended up going backwards. The Brownsea ferry told us they were moving out in five minutes. We weren't sure we could clear the area in time.
We finally go clear, with the entire fleet (apart from 3 boats) disappearing away ahead of us.
The rest of the race was a matter of trying to catch up, and fending off the boats trying to catch us.
After rounding the far end of the island, we flew the spinnaker round "Piccadilly" and on home, arriving in 16th place.
The rain was coming in hard, and the wind dropping as we got back to PYC.
The afternoon did not look promising with the rain and no wind. At three PM the call was made - racing abandoned for the rest of the day.
They totalled up the scores from the first race; allowing for our discard, Roger & James had scored third place for the team. So Lucy & I had a third place prize to share with everyone.
I was delighted for Lucy - great bit of work was rewarded. We both had a laugh on account that we had benefited from Roger & James efforts! But we'll take it, with pleasure !
Tomorrow is the Open Event itself. Looking forward to it - the weather is forecast to be strong !!
Friday, 28 July 2017
Welsh Harp - Victor Trophy - New Sails!
The Victor Trophy at the Welsh Harp on 15 July was an opportunity to try ourselves against the rest of the Southern Travellers, and see how we were progressing towards our ultimate goal of doing the Nationals in August.
I must say that 13941 is as ready as she could be. We had a new split mainsheet installed recently, and the new sails from EXE are looking (and sailing) very good.
From my point of view, I don't think a change of sails should affect my sailing ability - I have far too much to learn about tacking on headers etc. for some new "cloth" to make a difference. However, I must admit that I feel, and perform, better with these new sails. Is it psychological? Probably - but I'll take it anyway.
Simon & I are also improving bit-by-bit - the spinnaker gybing is becoming second-nature, and we can fly through most conditions now. We probably need to improve our tacking a bit, and as always it is a matter of consistency. But progress is progress.
We had a reasonable start on the first race, and were mid-fleet up the first beat, but fowled Richard Lord on a port/starboard encounter. There was no contact, but I felt obliged to do 'turns', which meant that we were pushed back to the gaggle of boats who were sticking together (in some cases literally!) at the first and second marks. So we fell back and ended up with our normal 24th place out of 25.
After lunch, we again had a couple of reasonable starts (note to self - improve your starting at Poole in a couple of weeks time), and kept with the mid-fleet crowd.
The second race we were 19th and managed to be 18th in the final race, close behind George Rogers of Tollesbury in 13939.
Progress is slow, but keep working...
Next stop is Poole on 30th July - harbour sailing in a triangle-sausage course. Looking forward to it.
I'll try to send regular updates from this blog as we gear up for the Nationals in August.
I must say that 13941 is as ready as she could be. We had a new split mainsheet installed recently, and the new sails from EXE are looking (and sailing) very good.
From my point of view, I don't think a change of sails should affect my sailing ability - I have far too much to learn about tacking on headers etc. for some new "cloth" to make a difference. However, I must admit that I feel, and perform, better with these new sails. Is it psychological? Probably - but I'll take it anyway.
Simon & I are also improving bit-by-bit - the spinnaker gybing is becoming second-nature, and we can fly through most conditions now. We probably need to improve our tacking a bit, and as always it is a matter of consistency. But progress is progress.
We had a reasonable start on the first race, and were mid-fleet up the first beat, but fowled Richard Lord on a port/starboard encounter. There was no contact, but I felt obliged to do 'turns', which meant that we were pushed back to the gaggle of boats who were sticking together (in some cases literally!) at the first and second marks. So we fell back and ended up with our normal 24th place out of 25.
After lunch, we again had a couple of reasonable starts (note to self - improve your starting at Poole in a couple of weeks time), and kept with the mid-fleet crowd.
The second race we were 19th and managed to be 18th in the final race, close behind George Rogers of Tollesbury in 13939.
Progress is slow, but keep working...
Next stop is Poole on 30th July - harbour sailing in a triangle-sausage course. Looking forward to it.
I'll try to send regular updates from this blog as we gear up for the Nationals in August.
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