Garmin Hamble Winter Series 2016

[roblpm]

Grumble grumble, windy all week, grumble grumble, very light forecast for Sunday, Grumble grumble, windy again on Monday, grumble grumble!

Well u should try being in the icy wastes of the Firth of Forth. Wednesday nights for the last 2 months seem to have either been 0 or 40 plus knots. We cancelled on Wednesday just gone due to 40+ knot gusts in the forecast. I would tell you how windy it was but the wind indicator at the marina broke sometime in the night....!

 

[MissFitz]

Grumble grumble, windy all week, grumble grumble, very light forecast for Sunday, Grumble grumble, windy again on Monday, grumble grumble!

Indeed. I'm trying to tell myself that it'll be good to have it light for the first time on a new boat. But it's not really working!

 

[drakes drum]

Indeed. The 109s are a bit of a special circumstance though, as their IRC configuration and OD configuration are so different (in most cases). This means you cannot simply dual score them.

I understand that there was a class meeting recently that discussed changing the OD configuration, but no agreement was reached on the basis that there was no single IRC configuration to change to. I do wonder if they are routinely put in this situation - i.e. not getting enough entries for a class and having to race IRC - often enough that they will revisit that.

Would be interested i knowing broadly what the differences are ie what do they do to a class boat to maximise it for IRC

 

[olly_love]

Would be interested i knowing broadly what the differences are ie what do they do to a class boat to maximise it for IRC

they ditch the NO1 and 2 and go for a code 1( non overlapping)
add inhaulers,
add code 0s
add bobstays to their poles,
smaller kites?

 

[MissFitz]

Would be interested i knowing broadly what the differences are ie what do they do to a class boat to maximise it for IRC

Change the forestay to non-furling, swap the hydraulic backstay for a cascade system.

 

[flaming]

they ditch the NO1 and 2 and go for a code 1( non overlapping)
add inhaulers,
add code 0s
add bobstays to their poles,
smaller kites?

In general the only reason in the recent past to IRC a J109 in the Solent is to race offshore, so code Zero's etc will be very important, and it is generally considered to be a large penalty to carry a big genoa when the conditions it is faster than a code zero or a jib are so minimal offshore. I don't think they generally use smaller kites. Kite area being generally considered cheap under IRC.

Of course, what we saw yesterday was the exact conditions (ww/lw racing in less than 8 knots of breeze) where a Genoa is worth the rating hit! And sure enough the 2 genoa rated boats finished 1st and second.... (Though the second of which was absurdly lucky to get through us at the finish to pip us by 6 seconds!) Those boats will be hoping for enough weeks where they can use their big Genoas advantageously to offset any weeks where they're on their number 3 jibs but still carrying the about 10 point penalty...

 

[flaming]

Change the forestay to non-furling, swap the hydraulic backstay for a cascade system.

However doing that level of change is only valid if you never intend to race the boat OD. For most 109 owners I suspect they want to keep the boat in as near OD trim as possible.

 

[MissFitz]

However doing that level of change is only valid if you never intend to race the boat OD. For most 109 owners I suspect they want to keep the boat in as near OD trim as possible.

We do it six or seven times a year!

(Actually, to be fair, not always the backstay - but the forestay certainly. Only takes an hour or two when the boat gets back from the Solent.)

 

[flaming]

We do it six or seven times a year!

(Actually, to be fair, not always the backstay - but the forestay certainly. Only takes an hour or two when the boat gets back from the Solent.)

The backstay one is interesting. How much benefit do you think you actually get from swapping the backstay?

 

[MissFitz]

The backstay one is interesting. How much benefit do you think you actually get from swapping the backstay?

Interesting question, not one I've actually asked - will do so when I next get the chance. But I do know the view is that the hydraulic system is both heavy & cumbersome.

 

[flaming]

Interesting question, not one I've actually asked - will do so when I next get the chance. But I do know the view is that the hydraulic system is both heavy & cumbersome.

That was certainly my opinion, and I think the cascade system we have on the Elan is far superior.

I guess the obvious follow up question then would be "if the cascade system is adopted regularly by those who have free choice, and is (I assume...) cheaper and easier to maintain, why isn't the class association changing the rules to make it class legal?"

 

[Judders]

I thought it was a decent day yesterday. A shame they didnt shorten a bit earlier as the race went on a bit too long. We felt off the pace a bit as we were one short and had one crew new to yacht racing who needed bringing on a bit but sometimes you have to take a bit of a hit to develop people. That we in seventh were only about four and a half minutes from winning in a two hour race shows just how close the racing was.

I'm not sure about this starting IRC4 first though. Having much bigger boats coming through does add an element of lottery but then in the Winter Series you always end up merging at some point. How did it feel on the boats coming through?

 

[flaming]

I'm not sure about this starting IRC4 first though. Having much bigger boats coming through does add an element of lottery but then in the Winter Series you always end up merging at some point. How did it feel on the boats coming through?

For us it wasn't a problem, though we definitely got lucky at the leeward mark, 20s earlier or 20s later and we'd have been in a massive pack of smaller boats. As it was we just dropped into a little gap.

I actually think starting IRC 4 1st was a great idea just from a spectator point of view. Your starts were much more exciting to watch than IRC1 have been lately.

And I disagreed with the "start of the day" award. Not least because we started a boat length to leeward of the winners and 30s after the start tacked to cross them... I'd have given that award to Upstart, that was the neatest tack in start to win the pin end I can remember seeing.

 

[MissFitz]

And I disagreed with the "start of the day" award. Not least because we started a boat length to leeward of the winners and 30s after the start tacked to cross them... I'd have given that award to Upstart, that was the neatest tack in start to win the pin end I can remember seeing.

Great, wasn't it? Don't think the skipper is going to need much help from my end of the boat after all

 

[flaming]

Great, wasn't it? Don't think the skipper is going to need much help from my end of the boat after all

I did wonder if that was you.

Early forecast is for a little bit more wind this week, which would be nice!

 

[MissFitz]

I did wonder if that was you.

Early forecast is for a little bit more wind this week, which would be nice!

Yes, that was me - very thrilled to be on such a good boat, already learned a huge amount. Sadly we're in Warsash though so won't be in the bar after racing - or at least, not that bar!

Fingers crossed for more wind this week.......

 

[Judders]

I realised this weekend that Garmin are not sponsoring the winter series this year.

 

[flaming]

I realised this weekend that Garmin are not sponsoring the winter series this year.

Yes, I just noticed that too!

Fun, if a little odd, racing this week. First race was better for us, as the lowest rated boat we lead most of the way round and only got passed on the last beat when the wind started doing it's crazy dance around the compass, but won on handicap even if we were denied the "perfect" result of taking line honours too.
Second race was just odd. 40 degree shifts without a lot of pattern to them, and big puffs and lulls meant a lot of changing gear was necessary. Recovered from a somewhat mediocre first leg to take second, but felt relieved to get out of that one with a good result with all the crew having to work very hard to keep the boat going.

And good to meet you Miss Fitz!

 

[MissFitz]

And good to meet you Miss Fitz!

Great to meet you too & congrats on yesterday - I'm guessing you enjoyed the brisker conditions! We had a less good day but can't blame the weather, one bad call on the start & a couple of expensive cock ups. Still in a good position though for the moment, hopefully we can do a bit better next week. Looking at the moment like it could be another lively one......

 

[flaming]

Thanks! We had one of those days where we didn't seem able to put a foot wrong. We are the slowest rated boat in the class but we lead round every mark bar 1 over both races, and seemed blessed with near faultless crew-work, the highlights of which were being the only boat to make a kite work on the first shy reach, and a seamless gybe under pressure from a J109.

And memories of that final glorious broad reach to the finish at Coronation will sustain me at work all week I think!