2010 J35 MidAtlantic Regatta Recap. November 5,6,7 2010
We finished in last place. Disheartening to say the least. But we did have our moments. Generally, we seemed to have good boatspeed. And when we didn't, we were able to fix that quickly. But the wind was generally oscillating quite a bit and we never got into the groove of the shifts. And we were mostly short on crew. So here's some of the detail:
Friday was a distance race, about 18 miles. 10-15 kts, NW. We only had 5 crew. We got a not-great start and trailed the fleet on a reach to the first mark. Then turned east and popped the kite, sailing mostly downwind. We had to jibe to make the next mark, and that was a disaster shorthanded - we forgot to trip the guy from the pole and ended up with the kite wrapped around the headstay. Jibed back, took it down and sailed without a headsail at all for about 5 minutes. So we rounded the "downwind" mark dead last by a lot. After that, we we reaching for about 10 miles under a heavy #1 and we were flying, constantly over 8 knots and often between 9-10. We caught the back of the fleet. After that, a beat to the finish. We were in bad air and tacked early, but that landed us on the lay-line from a long way out - the wind veered significantly in our favor, so we ended up in 6th. Excellent beer-bash at WRSC afterwards.
Saturday was set for 3 drop-bouy races with a simple up-down-wind course, 2 laps. 10-15 kts, NW again, but dying over the day. We had a full crew. We had an awesome start for the first one and shot off towards the right side and an expected veer. But that didn't materialize and banging that corner hurt us. We ended up 8th. Second race, bad start, more bad decisions about the wind and a 9th (last) finish. Third race, over early (which was a nice aggressive start) and recovered quickly. Still not in tune with the shifting winds until the final run, caught a reach to the finish and ended up 4th. Awesome party, live band at WRSC after.
Sunday was more wind. 15-20 with gusts higher. More northerly. 2 drop-bouy races, same layout as Saturday. We only had 5 crew, so didn't even think about the kite. We played the winds better, but lost the fleet downwind. I think would have shown more respectably Sunday if we had a full crew.
But overall, an excellent, fun (cold) time with a lot of learning. Can't wait for spring!!!
Friday was a distance race, about 18 miles. 10-15 kts, NW. We only had 5 crew. We got a not-great start and trailed the fleet on a reach to the first mark. Then turned east and popped the kite, sailing mostly downwind. We had to jibe to make the next mark, and that was a disaster shorthanded - we forgot to trip the guy from the pole and ended up with the kite wrapped around the headstay. Jibed back, took it down and sailed without a headsail at all for about 5 minutes. So we rounded the "downwind" mark dead last by a lot. After that, we we reaching for about 10 miles under a heavy #1 and we were flying, constantly over 8 knots and often between 9-10. We caught the back of the fleet. After that, a beat to the finish. We were in bad air and tacked early, but that landed us on the lay-line from a long way out - the wind veered significantly in our favor, so we ended up in 6th. Excellent beer-bash at WRSC afterwards.
Saturday was set for 3 drop-bouy races with a simple up-down-wind course, 2 laps. 10-15 kts, NW again, but dying over the day. We had a full crew. We had an awesome start for the first one and shot off towards the right side and an expected veer. But that didn't materialize and banging that corner hurt us. We ended up 8th. Second race, bad start, more bad decisions about the wind and a 9th (last) finish. Third race, over early (which was a nice aggressive start) and recovered quickly. Still not in tune with the shifting winds until the final run, caught a reach to the finish and ended up 4th. Awesome party, live band at WRSC after.
Sunday was more wind. 15-20 with gusts higher. More northerly. 2 drop-bouy races, same layout as Saturday. We only had 5 crew, so didn't even think about the kite. We played the winds better, but lost the fleet downwind. I think would have shown more respectably Sunday if we had a full crew.
But overall, an excellent, fun (cold) time with a lot of learning. Can't wait for spring!!!