2019-2020 Laser Frostbite Series #10

Sunday was once again some great sailing on the Potomac. Wind from the west resulted in some shifty wind with strong gusts. The current was really running down the river which made the starts interesting. I tried to start near the boat since it was upcurrent and I felt like there was a larger margin of error if you were to mess up the start (you can always tack away). The line was sometimes favored towards the pin but I was usually able to get off the line pretty well when starting at the boat and was able to round top 5 even in the shifty conditions. The wind was building throughout the day but the most challenging aspect for me was the heavy airplane traffic causing a bunch of sudden shifts and downwash right at the windward mark. The current at the windward mark was also strong causing a lot of people including myself to misjudge the laylines. The race committee set a long triangle leg which turned into some screaming reaches in races 4 and 5. The fastest speed recorded for me was 8.8 knots. Tom and I were both tracking our boats using RaceQs. You can check out the replay here at this link.
raceQs

raceQs

 Its nice to walkthrough your races and rethink your tactical decisions. For instance I saw two situations where people were coerced to tack at the finishline by a starboard tacker not fetching the finish. When viewed from above and in hindsight it is easier to see that the right move is to take the starboard tackers stern and lead them towards the finish line on port while they still have to make an extra tack. I’d love see more people use this app in our fleet. Stop by before sailing if you are interested and I can walk you through how it works and might even have an extra phone available.