It was a great start to the season with temperatures in the high 40s and a SW breeze that started off frisky but got lighter and lighter. The tide was going out and a current shear was visible near the channel. Tyler and Eva ran RC.
Laura Windecker won the day with Farley Will and Tom Hutton tying for 2nd and 3rd.
(races 1-5)
Third place observations from Tom Hutton:
It was good to be back out with so many other lasers! The weather was cool but not cold, and the wind was up and down but overall a good day to be on the water. It was one of the rare days when the wind was from the south but also a bit shifty. It was either shifty or my steering needs work, the latter being more likely. I’d say this day had 3 major lessons for me.
- Lesson #1 Know the Course. In the first race I forgot (or didn’t find out) how many laps were required. I’d got out to the left for more wind when I heard a horn, turning to see Laura crossing the finish line. I’m not sure I lost any boats with this mistake but this kind of mistake is easy to fix.
- Lesson #2 Pointing and Locking In Up Wind. I had good speed going upwind which for me is about getting the sail into “pointing mode” as soon as possible. I sheet the sail to what I want for the wind speed, two-blocked for medium to heavy, 3 inch gap for medium to light, and 6-12 inch gap for light. Any looser than that and I won’t be pointing anymore, but reaching. After trimming the main I set the vang, then adjust my cunningham as necessary to get the big wrinkles out of the sail. After that is spending 75% of my focus on keeping the tell tales flowing and the boat flat. If I get my head too far out of the boat I start to pinch, or miss the lift and give up precious ground. So get the sail set, get the tell tales flowing, then focus on going fast.
- Lesson #3 Clear Air Down Wind. I’m almost always trying for clear wind, and I’ll get pretty far sideways to get it. Mostly I don’t want to be near anyone else, especially in a group of people. I’m not sure about this lesson as downwind I’m not as fast as quite a few others. I think Farley passed me 2 or 3 times downwind so maybe I don’t have any lessons here. Some days I do better than others downwind, Series #1 was not so great. Turning around to look for wind I think is going to be my new technique that I’ll try out.