Hi all
Hear are a few photo's from the Cock of the Huon race down here on the weekend
We had a good start with a spinnaker run down the river but as the race went on and the wind increased we had too much sail up and at one stage a strong gust knocked us flat with water coming over the cockpit combing
Shortly after the clew ring on the genoa failed and we put a smaller head sail on that made the boat sail faster and was more controllable
I also made a couple of stuff ups on the fore deck with a head sail sheet caught around the spinnaker pole as i was getting it ready to go up causing us to hit and get caught on a mark as we couldn't go about to get around it and costing us time as we had to do a 360 turn when we finally got loose so i was a bit cranky with myself
We also did a block on the traveler adjustment but eventually made it home last across the line but managed to score third in our division
The J24 teenager boat had 2 adults and 2 teenagers on board and reduced the head sail and reefed the main as the wind increased but retired on the last leg as they were finding it difficult to get back up the river against the strong winds
The Melges 32 Crusader was first across the line with the overall winner on Handicap being a Knopp 39 Cromarty Magellan
Regards Don
Thanks very much Don,
Great write up and great pictures.
Is it just the camera, or does the water stay relatively flat water when it blows up?
Love how you guys always seem to get such a large wind range.
Thanks!
SB
Select to expand quoteshaggybaxter said..
Thanks very much Don,
Great write up and great pictures.
Is it just the camera, or does the water stay relatively flat water when it blows up?
Love how you guys always seem to get such a large wind range.
Thanks!
SB
Hi Shaggy
I think that the photos were taken from the starters box on top of the clubhouse and that might tend to flatten the water
on Saturday when it was blowing there was probably 2 feet of chop on the water
Regards Don
Good one Don, thanks for posting the pics. I was wondering how you guys were fairing down there with all the wind over the weekend. Well done for fessing up too, it makes it more interesting to read. I imagine you've learnt a lot from the mistakes and will go into the next race wiser for that.
Select to expand quotelydia said..
Seems fewer entries than normal Don
Hi Lydia
Not really sure why the entries were down as only 19 boats entered the Friday night race and only 9 of them continued on to do the Saturday and Sunday races
Regards Don
Select to expand quote2bish said..
Good one Don, thanks for posting the pics. I was wondering how you guys were fairing down there with all the wind over the weekend. Well done for fessing up too, it makes it more interesting to read. I imagine you've learnt a lot from the mistakes and will go into the next race wiser for that.
Hi 2bish
It was reported that Masterpiece (the committee boat) saw 40 knots during the race and that was probably when we got flattened
Looking back we had 3 opportunities while under spinnaker to put a smaller head sail on without loosing any time and didn't take them (not sure why) and when we broke the clew ring and had to change it while beating it cost us a bit of time and to be honest my work on the fore deck was pretty ordinary so I will shoulder the blame for our poor performance
I looked at the forecast early in the morning and it was a maximum of about 8 knots and I didn't think to check it again just before the race as we were tooling around behind the start line in bugger all wind and I assumed the forecast hadn't changed and it was only when we started that the breeze picked up but the first leg was a down wind spinnaker run and It was only when we turned the mark to head back upriver that i realized how hard it was blowing and it just got worse as the day wore on
Regards Don
Looks like about 12 to 30 knots!
With a few rockets to catch you by surprise.
Great pics of some good mixed fleet club racing!
