Who needs a new boat......

[roblpm]

Just perusing the results from last weekends sorc round the island race. Something I will never do. Sort of like following the formula 1!

However pleased and amazed to see that the 1st and 2nd on IRC were a Contessa 32 and a Parker 275 (my boat! well not my boat but I have one!).

http://www.offshoresolo.com/news/2016-pontos-riow-weekend-race-report

Will be interesting to hear the excuses but for the time being I will revel in the shared glory.

(Ridiculous I know. I never understood how a person can be a "ferrari fan" but maybe now I am getting it).

 

[lpdsn]

Just perusing the results from last weekends sorc round the island race. Something I will never do. Sort of like following the formula 1!

However pleased and amazed to see that the 1st and 2nd on IRC were a Contessa 32 and a Parker 275 (my boat! well not my boat but I have one!).

http://www.offshoresolo.com/news/2016-pontos-riow-weekend-race-report

Will be interesting to hear the excuses but for the time being I will revel in the shared glory.

Pretty standard for races around the IoW. What you need is a boat that when sailed very well to her handicap keeps the tides with her all or most of the way around. Anything faster goes too fast and encounters too much foul tide, so will lose out on corrected time.

 

[roblpm]

Pretty standard for races around the IoW. What you need is a boat that when sailed very well to her handicap keeps the tides with her all or most of the way around. Anything faster goes too fast and encounters too much foul tide, so will lose out on corrected time.

Aha hence all the slower boats winning.

But still looks good!!

 

[Javelin]

In 2002 and 2003 we won class and came 4th & 5th overall in the rti in a little jeanneau 26.
The main contributing factor was a huge slice of luck both years.
We sold the boat a couple of months after the 2003 race, for silly money, to a guy who was desperate to do better in class and didn't want to opt for a Contessa 26!

 

[lw395]

Concerto is a well-sailed boat.
Note that the other Co32 didn't finish.
For a 32ft boat, IRC says they are dog slow.
We used to hate giving them time in an Impala 4ft shorter.
(The impala would have needed some fat on the rail upwind, which you wouldn't get in a solo race of course).

Racing around the IoW is always fun, but I don't think it pays to read much into the results on handicap.
A straight line race to Alderney or Plymouth will probably make the TCF's of the slower boats look a lot fairer.

 

[savageseadog]

We have the same issue with the round Anglesey race. All boats benefit from the ebb tide down the Menai Strait, this helps slower boats, the quicker boats are severely hampered by the ebb at the Stacks Races, Carmel head and North Coast wheras slower boats can carry favourable tide most of the way round.

 

[Racecruiser]

Well whatever the boat just getting round is pretty good and doing well is damn good!

 

[Birdseye]

Its the same in all tidal waters. IRC type handicaps simply dont work if the difference in boat performance is too great. Courses can easily become either fast boat or slow boat courses.

An amusing illustration - not quite the same thing but near enough.. We once won an open race by cocking up the start big time. Caught on the wrong side in a downtide start with very light wind we had no option but to anchor and it took all of 15 mins before we managed to creep back across the line. However winds remained very light and it was spring tides so by the time we got to the downtide mark 2 hours later all the rest of the fleet had been swept well past. Yes you guessed it, we hit the turning mark just as the tide was changing and the wind too. We were first across the finish line by some margin and in a cruising bilge keeler at that. There was a near riot in the club house.

 

[Georgio]

Concerto is a well-sailed boat.
Note that the other Co32 didn't finish.
For a 32ft boat, IRC says they are dog slow.

Thanks, that is kind of you to say so, I am enjoying the trophy at home

I will happily admit that the tides and wind did suit the smaller boats on this occasion, but that is not always the case.
Sadly the other co32 did not finish due to collision on the start line, but has an experienced racing skipper so I expect would have been up there.

The co32 is pretty slow when compared to most of the other boats In the SORC fleet but I have raced them for very many years and so perhaps able to sail it to its handicap. Who knows.... Having competed in the race a few times I gave everything on Saturday and it worked out for me.

 

[Racecruiser]

Thanks, that is kind of you to say so, I am enjoying the trophy at home

I will happily admit that the tides and wind did suit the smaller boats on this occasion, but that is not always the case.
Sadly the other co32 did not finish due to collision on the start line, but has an experienced racing skipper so I expect would have been up there.

The co32 is pretty slow when compared to most of the other boats In the SORC fleet but I have raced them for very many years and so perhaps able to sail it to its handicap. Who knows.... Having competed in the race a few times I gave everything on Saturday and it worked out for me.

A big well done I reckon - I've done a bit of 2-handed racing but never single handed. Like I said earlier doing well is damn good and I would now say winning is even better!

 

[Georgio]

A big well done I reckon - I've done a bit of 2-handed racing but never single handed. Like I said earlier doing well is damn good and I would now say winning is even better!

Thanks again. We got a 1st in class and 1st overall the previous Sunday on a double handed race back from Weymouth after a disappointing outward leg where the slowest boats missed a tidal gate. Hope this is a sign of things to come for the season.

I suggest you give it a go, the most difficult bit is parking, everything else is just having a system that works for you and practice. Helps to have a reasonable pilot and a boat that is rigged so it is easy to handle.