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Season Opener. April 12-13
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The season opener at RVYC was a great way to start the season. The winds were great (everyone on the rail most of the time), and the sun was shining. That, of course, meant it was a westerly.
Team Recidivist was dressed as Sail Naked for the weekend as my Victoria team came over for the race.
Driver: Mike Bond
Trimmer: Mike Bassett
Mid-deck: Fletcher Hallihan
5th man: Aileen O'Brien
Foredeck: Jaime Tiampo
We aimed at having decent starts rather than amazing ones. When we had to make a clearing tack off the line we kept it as short as we could. This helped by not giving up to much leverage to the guys heading to the beach.
Despite the fact it was a beach weekend there were definitely a some shifts that needed to be tacked on. Jaime and Fletcher were constantly feeding info back and Mike and I were always talking about how the boat felt and never let up on sail trim.
We usually found ourselves tacking around the top mark but we always had our kite pre-guyed before the tack. Our goal is to always have our kite up and drawing before our transom leaves the mark.
Roll tack/gybes can't be understated, especially in close quarters (you really see the difference then).
But our real speed secrets were:
- beer
- a tape with good tunes on continuous loop all weekend
- make sure your team hasn't been on the water since last August
- Luck
See you on the water - Mike
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RVYC One Design, May 4-5
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The second regatta this year was at RVYC and saw more great weather. The fleet was a little light, with three boats coming from West Van, and Lorne the being the lone Royal Van representative.
For this race Recidivist finally sailed together for the first time as a crew rather than needing to use our extras list.
Driver: Mike Bond
Trimmer: Mike Bassett
Mid-deck: Fletcher Hallihan
Mid-deck: Rich Lindquist
Foredeck: Jaime Tiampo
We were on Sail Naked again this weekend with a mixtue of sails, a 10 year old North Main (with a reduced luff curve), a 7 year old Sobstad genoa, and a 2 season old Quantum kite.
Starts were pretty straight forward, we always made sure to have a hole to leeward so we weren't having to pinch off the line. The uphills weren't anything special. Hit the beach, tack to the mark, and tack around the mark. This of course meant that boat speed was really important. Changing gears for every puff/lull and set of waves can't be stressed enough (and is easy to do as long as you're anticipating and not reacting). Jaime, Fletcher, and Rich did a great job telling us what was coming down, making it easy for Mike and I.
Downhills this weekend were about boat speed and tactics (boat on boat) rather than strategy. When we were going downhill we always kept an eye on how we wanted to set up with the other boats at the bottom mark, not just passing them before that..
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J24 Canadian Championships, RVYC June 20-22
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The View - J 24 Canadians
So the stars aligned and we found ourselves on top. Nobody was more
thrilled and surprised than me. Paul Elvstromsaid that a regatta is won
on the beach, before you set out on the first day. So being a bit of a
student of the game (read obsessive) the following was key to our
success:
1. Team- I had the good fortune of being joined by some great
friends, who each could have helmed, called tactics, or crewed better
than myself. We are each former or active dinghy sailors. The multiple
one design big fleet experiences brought a comfort about the chaos. At
least, we had been there and knew what we were trying to achieve! So get
to know some dinghy sailors, cultivate some juniors, or buy a Laser.
2. Sails- I have been a long customer of Brett Willett's Sobstad
loft. I have coddled a suit he built for the 2002 Worlds and added a new
genoa this year. Flyer has NEVER had such jets. We were higher and
faster than some exceptional sailors flying some much newer sails. Brett
is local, priced right, knows the boat, has the experience in the
classand the sails are finished superbly. Flyer is setup verbatim from
his website and advice. Seems like a no brainer to me.
3. Boat- After 15 years of upgrading, rebuilding, rearranging, and
fairing, Flyer is now optimized. Clint Currie's artistry and guidance
over the years has been invaluable. I spent some time over the winter
tweaking and this spring re-sanded and polished the hull and foils.
4. Rig-The spar is tuned to the Sobstad data. The entire weekend we
had our rig set at our base setting. We got caught on Friday when it got
up to 12 knots with 4 people but were able to tough it out upwind with
back stay on. I am happy to share the numbers.
5. Starts & Tactics- We all participated in gathering of data
before each race. Although the tide was ripping and the beach was
favoured at times, (really?) we went out of our way to start with no one
on our leeward bow and avoided the high-risk ends. I am more comfortable
in speed mode and some skippers are pinchers. We got great speed quickly
and were able to leg out (see 1,2 & 3). Funny- speed equals point! We
were able to get to the clear air and rolling. We aggressively changed
gears for every wave set, puff, lull or rounding.
6. Shut up & Drive- Knowing that everyone on board was a great
sailor and they all were doing their job better than I could, (have you
seen my foredeck work?), it was pretty easy to bear down on the wooden
stick. I was able to relax and get in the groove.
So, there is no rocket science from me. I am happy to have any one ask
about the gear, settings or our routine. Thanks to all for the well
wishes after the event. It means a lot to me to compete at a high level
against some excellent competitors. To win was just a bonus.
Bruce
Crew - Reto Corfu, Rob Cullen, Sean Staniforth, Ed Tchoi, Brett Willetts
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