There are more Log photos from Toukley on http://www.flickr.com/photos/72192268@N00/sets/72157620664359294/
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
One Step Closer
The IC nationals at Toukley in Winter? Well it was the best time for a lot of what seem like part time canoe sailors to get together. And despite three weeks of rain and excess or little wind before hand we ended up with almost perfect weather. The Champs were held as part of the Toukley SC annual winter regatta and they did a great job.
Ten ICs attended, half were new rules boats. One did not quite get finished in time and a couple of others could have benefitted from more time for little details.
The lead up weather meant I only had the one outing with the modified rig, but fortunately all worked pretty well and the boat showed a slight improvement in upwind performance without detracting from its great downwind speed.
But not good enough. Hayden has put more effort in and has vastly superior upwind speed to everyone. He always lead by at least a minute at the first windward mark and although I could get some back downwind I never really got close enough to threaten him. Alex Kalin was sailing Steve Clark's Josie and he had upwind speed over me in several races, but in all but two I was able to get past him downwind.
So I finished second.
We had a variety of wind strengths all from the W and NW. Some tricky shifts but all manageable. The heaviest race was the last when it blew up to 20 consistantly. And as only the canoes were left racing we had a clear go. A few drop outs made the track lonely but it was rewarding to get around well, making all the gybes.
I was happy with the boat and seemed to sail it pretty well. No capsizes until the final mark in the final race when a big gust came through, some say 25kt, as I was rounding from square to upwind. Despite windward heal, on the seat early and roundings gently I was blown over with the sheet loose and sail flapping, I thought it was a soft swim but the other three canoes left out there all went down in the same squall, even Hayden who was reaching to he shore after finishing nearby. So it must have been a good puff.
I think I can get a little more with some fine tuning of battens and cunningham system, not sure if I can get the cat rig up to Hayden's speed though? Its a long while between races to find out.
Ten ICs attended, half were new rules boats. One did not quite get finished in time and a couple of others could have benefitted from more time for little details.
The lead up weather meant I only had the one outing with the modified rig, but fortunately all worked pretty well and the boat showed a slight improvement in upwind performance without detracting from its great downwind speed.
But not good enough. Hayden has put more effort in and has vastly superior upwind speed to everyone. He always lead by at least a minute at the first windward mark and although I could get some back downwind I never really got close enough to threaten him. Alex Kalin was sailing Steve Clark's Josie and he had upwind speed over me in several races, but in all but two I was able to get past him downwind.
So I finished second.
We had a variety of wind strengths all from the W and NW. Some tricky shifts but all manageable. The heaviest race was the last when it blew up to 20 consistantly. And as only the canoes were left racing we had a clear go. A few drop outs made the track lonely but it was rewarding to get around well, making all the gybes.
I was happy with the boat and seemed to sail it pretty well. No capsizes until the final mark in the final race when a big gust came through, some say 25kt, as I was rounding from square to upwind. Despite windward heal, on the seat early and roundings gently I was blown over with the sheet loose and sail flapping, I thought it was a soft swim but the other three canoes left out there all went down in the same squall, even Hayden who was reaching to he shore after finishing nearby. So it must have been a good puff.
I think I can get a little more with some fine tuning of battens and cunningham system, not sure if I can get the cat rig up to Hayden's speed though? Its a long while between races to find out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
