Video of last weekend's race

[Blue_Pearl]

This is the final part of the video for the Winter Series race 3, Portishead Cruising Club last weekend.
Early cold start but had a hell of a sail. Too much genoa and main, but we're still learning this racing lark !

Camera is a small sports camera mounted on the rail, about 45 quid off ebay - I'll try different locations for mounting it over the coming weeks to see the effect. Might even try hoisting it up the mast for a laugh.

 

[sarabande]

nice fun stuff. Your are right about being overcanvassed I think.

But , doesn't that main need flattening a bit for a start to give less heeling moment ?

 

[Blue_Pearl]

nice fun stuff. Your are right about being overcanvassed I think.

But , doesn't that main need flattening a bit for a start to give less heeling moment ?

You're probably correct, but how do you do that? Would it have been better to reef the main? Mind you, as you can see from the videos the main is almost backing most of the time !

 

[dt4134]

Probably not too much canvas, just a trimming crewing issue.

Few points (which you may take on board or ignore as it suits)

1) Why were there so many crew in the cockpit? If any crew member hasn't got a (essential) job to do they should be hiking. It really does make a difference.

2) Couldn't see mainsail well, but it appeared to be back-winded.

The person most likely to blame for a back-winded main is the genny trimer. I couldn't see but next time check the genny is flatter. When the wind gets up you can twist it off a bit, which also means a flatter foot. Forestay tension looked OK, but couldn't tell what the genny halyard tension was like.

3) Main should be much flatter. Halyard on, outhaul on. Kicker should be on a lot harder too. If you're still over-pressed in the conditions after having sorted out the rest then the obvious thing is more twist in the main (so up traveller a bit & ease the sheet slightly). Do you have a fine-tuner for the trimmer? Cunningham?

4) Couldn't see the mast so can't comment on backstay tension. I'm guessing it was on reasonably hard. In those conditions it should generally be on as hard as poss.

5) What on earth was going on in the last sequence? Genny & main trim didn't match, one of them must be wrong. What course were you on?

Having a lot of belly in the headsail is really going to hurt you in those conditions. Excess belly in main not good too. I'd worry about that more than reefing.

Anyway, glad to see you were all having fun. If you want to include a few more shots of the sails next time I could throw in another tup'peny worth of opinions.

 

[Blue_Pearl]

Probably not too much canvas, just a trimming crewing issue.

Few points (which you may take on board or ignore as it suits)

1) Why were there so many crew in the cockpit? If any crew member hasn't got a (essential) job to do they should be hiking. It really does make a difference.

2) Couldn't see mainsail well, but it appeared to be back-winded.

The person most likely to blame for a back-winded main is the genny trimer. I couldn't see but next time check the genny is flatter. When the wind gets up you can twist it off a bit, which also means a flatter foot. Forestay tension looked OK, but couldn't tell what the genny halyard tension was like.

3) Main should be much flatter. Halyard on, outhaul on. Kicker should be on a lot harder too. If you're still over-pressed in the conditions after having sorted out the rest then the obvious thing is more twist in the main (so up traveller a bit & ease the sheet slightly). Do you have a fine-tuner for the trimmer? Cunningham?

4) Couldn't see the mast so can't comment on backstay tension. I'm guessing it was on reasonably hard. In those conditions it should generally be on as hard as poss.

5) What on earth was going on in the last sequence? Genny & main trim didn't match, one of them must be wrong. What course were you on?

Having a lot of belly in the headsail is really going to hurt you in those conditions. Excess belly in main not good too. I'd worry about that more than reefing.

Anyway, glad to see you were all having fun. If you want to include a few more shots of the sails next time I could throw in another tup'peny worth of opinions.

All taken on board with thanks. To be honest we are still very much in the learning curve and could really do with some tuition ..... (do you fancy coming out?). We were close hauled most of the time and forgot to use the running backstays as well. The main reason the crew weren't out on the rail is because it was freezing cold, blowing 30+ knots at times and it's only a club race - nothing serious, just an excuse to get out.
We do have a fine tuning trimmer on the main and also a cunningham, trouble is I've never been told what they are for, or more to the point how they can help.

The main was backing a lot because I kept asking for it to be let out to depower us - again, not sure if this is correct, but letting out the genny would just cause it to flap about more - it was already very twisted in the top third I think. I also need to replace the main and genoa halyard as I think they are either streching a little or slipping in the clutches (you can see the main needed a few more turns to take the luff slack out). I've two new dyneema 12mm halyards ready .......... just need to find the time !
I'll move the camera around a bit next time and get shots of the sails and all the bits of string etc.

All comments welcome good or bad.

 

[dt4134]

I'm afraid I'm quite a long way away from Bristol otherwise I might be tempted.

It's a natural tendency to let the main out when over-pressed, but it is worth checking the headsail because if that is not sheeted in tight enough it causes too much heel and directs flow into the back of the main. Your genny trimmer might need an extra weetabix the morning before the race.

Also a headsail change is the way to deal with being genuinely over-pressed, however they're usually a nuisance during a round the cans race, so it is important to select the right one before the start (that why you'll often see racers with no headsail before the race as they're keeping their options open). A smaller headsail will be easier on your trimmers too. I remember racing on one biggish boat with undersized winches where I used to hope for enough wind to justify the No.3, otherwise when it was borderline I knew I was in for a hard time with the heavy #1.

It's up to you and your crew how seriously you take it, but hiking really realy really works. If they won't hike at least get them sitting on the rail, but going from just sitting to hiking will allow you to sheet on by a noticeable amount and point higher. It also stops unnecessary personnel clogging up the cockpit, which can be a hurdle to efficient sailing.

Keep the halyards on the coachroof winches until you just before you need those winches for the spinnaker sheet/guy. If you practice the final approach to a windward mark a few times you'll be amazed at how quick your crew can get at unloading the winches and loading up the spinny lines.

Another trick when you've got the halyards set up is to open and close the clutch (with the halyard still secure on the winch) which can often help to prevent slippage. Beware of not getting the genny halyard on tight enough for the second beat.

12mm dyneema is pretty strong stuff. Generally, less friction is better and thinner line means less friction. 12mm is a lot thicker than I'm used to, but if you've already taken out the IMF loan for the dyneema you may as well use it. I'm amazed at the thick line sizes some forumites seem to use on quite small boats, but I presume they don't care too much about friction.

The cunningham attaches just above the tack of the mainsail and is used to tension the main luff from below. It's often used to make short-term adjustments in preference to adjusting the main halyard. A sailmaker will tell you that they don't do the same job as the halyard affects both luff & leech tension whereas the cunningham only affects the luff. So pulling on the cunningham opens the leech, so you do need to keep a bit of an eye on the mainsail shape (however in the conditions in the video a reasonably open leech would be good).

The fine tuner on the main sheet allows the main trimmer to be more active at making fine adjustments. In heavy weather it's easy for a bit of an ease of the mainsheet to become a jerky semi-dump of the main, whereas with the fine-tuner it is a smoother process. Smooth changes to sail trim without jerks are always good. The fine-tuner is also handy if the trimmer is struggling with the load on the mainsheet.

You get a penalty in IRC for runners so you may as well use them. Not sure if you're racing IRC, but if not the runners would likely be reflected in your handicap one way or another.

Best of luck next week. Look forward to seeing the video.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Probably not too much canvas, just a trimming crewing issue.

Few points (which you may take on board or ignore as it suits)

1) Why were there so many crew in the cockpit? If any crew member hasn't got a (essential) job to do they should be hiking. It really does make a difference.

2) Couldn't see mainsail well, but it appeared to be back-winded.

The person most likely to blame for a back-winded main is the genny trimer. I couldn't see but next time check the genny is flatter. When the wind gets up you can twist it off a bit, which also means a flatter foot. Forestay tension looked OK, but couldn't tell what the genny halyard tension was like.

3) Main should be much flatter. Halyard on, outhaul on. Kicker should be on a lot harder too. If you're still over-pressed in the conditions after having sorted out the rest then the obvious thing is more twist in the main (so up traveller a bit & ease the sheet slightly). Do you have a fine-tuner for the trimmer? Cunningham?

4) Couldn't see the mast so can't comment on backstay tension. I'm guessing it was on reasonably hard. In those conditions it should generally be on as hard as poss.

5) What on earth was going on in the last sequence? Genny & main trim didn't match, one of them must be wrong. What course were you on?

Having a lot of belly in the headsail is really going to hurt you in those conditions. Excess belly in main not good too. I'd worry about that more than reefing.

Anyway, glad to see you were all having fun. If you want to include a few more shots of the sails next time I could throw in another tup'peny worth of opinions.

I'd agree with much of this, particularly about the main sail. But then if I remember the credits right you have a tactician but not a mainsail trimmer. Maybe it should be the other way round?

 

[activesail]

I just enjoyed the video, the music is a bit random though..

Looks like loads of fun..

 

[Blue_Pearl]

I'd agree with much of this, particularly about the main sail. But then if I remember the credits right you have a tactician but not a mainsail trimmer. Maybe it should be the other way round?

He was listed as tactician only because he wasn't doing much else

 

[RobF]

What the video doesn't say was that it was about -2 degrees and hiking out would have been exceptionally uncomfortable! I think I'd also want jackstays (IIRC, Blue Pearl doesn't have these).

In retrospect, I think a reef in the main would have been a good plan as this would have resolved the overpowering. It's also worth noting that this was the first time we'd been out together. Lots to improve for next time!

 

[dt4134]

What the video doesn't say was that it was about -2 degrees and hiking out would have been exceptionally uncomfortable! I think I'd also want jackstays (IIRC, Blue Pearl doesn't have these).

In retrospect, I think a reef in the main would have been a good plan as this would have resolved the overpowering. It's also worth noting that this was the first time we'd been out together. Lots to improve for next time!

It's what suits you best. Racing allows you to compete at the level you want to.

On the boat I race on refusing to hike would be like playing football and refusing to kick a ball, but thats the way they want to do it and I race on that boat because it suits the way I want to race. Doesn't mean you have to do it.

When I starting racing I thought sitting on the rail was ineffective and just a way of getting the unimportant crew out of the way. One experience of getting us to hike hard and magically climbing up on a boat above us and making them tack off convinced me otherwise. Since then I've seen it make a difference numerous times - well every race really. It can be the difference between laying a windward mark and having to throw in a double tack.

It's the same with mainsail trim. It's amazing what you can do to de-power a main. To the extent that I believe a first reef on a well-set up cruiser-racer used for cruising is redundant. By the time you can't de-power enough it's time to put in the second reef. We don't even have the reefing lines on board for round the cans racing.

Anyway, best of luck for the rest of the races in the series.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

He was listed as tactician only because he wasn't doing much else

I've got one of those too! Spends all his time looking at how the other boats are doing.

 

[dt4134]

Tactician is the hardest, most stressful job in the crew. You can't even pace backwards and forwards whilst waiting to see if your latest cunning plan will gain you places or send you to the back of the fleet. There are times when I just want to grab a sheet and start trimming to burn off all that nervous energy.

I sometimes trim and do tactics but it is very difficult to keep your head out of the boat (as the cliché says) when trimming so it is better to do one or the other.

The most important thing with tactics though is to have a plan. Even if it is the worst plan in the world, if you follow it you'll be able to work out what went right and what went wrong and come up with a slightly better plan the following week.

Too many boats play follow the leader and tack whenever they see a starboard tacker, or even just semi-randomly, and never find out whether their plan was good or not.

One way the skipper can help the tactician is to get out a bit earlier so that you can work out the course close hauled on each tack before the start, then you have reference data for judging windshifts.

Another way is to de-brief afterwards and calmly discuss where you can improve.

And of course practice boat handling. It's amazing how a good spinny hoist will improve tactics (and non-ironically, it may give you the room to implement your plan rather than being taken the wrong way).

 

[yrobert]

Hi Blue Pearl,

I used to race quite a lot back home (I am from Brittany) but stopped when I moved across the channel. I don't do it anymore as I have a young family and did not realise that there was some racing close to Bristol.

I miss the sea so if you are really interested to have somebody on board that could show you a few tricks, I may be able to convince SWMBO to let me go a few times. I have raced at various levels but before anything love sailing so don't mind spending the day chasing the fleet!

 

[dt4134]

Hi Blue_Pearl

The last post reminded me that I meant to say I'd later looked at one of your other YouTube videos.

This one: http://www.youtube.com/user/OysterBluePearl#p/a/u/1/F60tK65hvE8

I can see what you mean about being overpressed. To my mind your headsail is too big for those conditions.

I'm not sure how many headsails you've got (I presume that is your new one and I saw it on the furler so I'm not sure you have another). Certainly it would be better to have a smaller headsail with a much flatter cut.

I realise sails budgets can rapidly approach the level of cold war arms race budgets, but your headsail will have been taking some punishment in the race on the video. Even a flat cut dacron #3 sail will help you protect it.

Part furling your genny would be a poor compromise because it doesn't give you the flat cut headsail for stronger winds. Cut is important. For example, like many IRC round the cans boats we'd change up from a light #1 to a heavy #1 (heavier and flatter cut but pretty much the same sail area) then to a #3.

Anyway, I hope the conditions are good for your next race and best of luck in it.

 

[Blue_Pearl]

Hi Blue_Pearl

The last post reminded me that I meant to say I'd later looked at one of your other YouTube videos.

This one: http://www.youtube.com/user/OysterBluePearl#p/a/u/1/F60tK65hvE8

I can see what you mean about being overpressed. To my mind your headsail is too big for those conditions.

I'm not sure how many headsails you've got (I presume that is your new one and I saw it on the furler so I'm not sure you have another). Certainly it would be better to have a smaller headsail with a much flatter cut.

I realise sails budgets can rapidly approach the level of cold war arms race budgets, but your headsail will have been taking some punishment in the race on the video. Even a flat cut dacron #3 sail will help you protect it.

Part furling your genny would be a poor compromise because it doesn't give you the flat cut headsail for stronger winds. Cut is important. For example, like many IRC round the cans boats we'd change up from a light #1 to a heavy #1 (heavier and flatter cut but pretty much the same sail area) then to a #3.

Anyway, I hope the conditions are good for your next race and best of luck in it.

I've got a brand new #3 as well, in Carbon / Kevlar (DIAX2), but didn't take it to the boat that day as the wind didn't look to be over 12 knots when I left home and the forecast wasn't showing big winds. The trouble is, there is nowhere to store the sails at the marina so every time we go I have to take a few sails ! I'll go and look at a roof rack for the car and see if I can rig up some sort of long support for the sail bag - there are all in full length sail bags so might stick out a bit over the roof.

Next race is Sunday morning - very light winds forecast so far ............ but I'll still take the #3 just in case.