Hi all,
Thank you all for allowing me to race as a guest at PRSA last weekend and today. It’s great to sail with such an active and helpful group of Laser sailors.
The weather for the day was sunny, but temps just above freezing. Winds were gusty, with huge ranges in speed that changed multiple times in each race. The prevailing direction started from the West but worked North throughout the day, though it seemed like every drop in wind pressure precluded a more Westerly shift as it filled in again. I felt I was constantly changing my controls to match the conditions.
Despite all of that I want to thank those on the RC boat for doing a great job of setting courses, getting 6 races off, and helping a fellow sailor right their boat and get back to the dock safely after spending some time in the water. The 15 seconds I spent in the water last weekend was all I needed to know that safety in cold weather sailing is extremely important. There was more than one capsize today as well. I managed to have a spectacular deathroll coming into the leeward mark while leading a race. I made it onto the daggerboard without going (fully) in the water, but my mast was pointed into the wind. If I righted the boat with it like that it would have likely capsized again to leeward. I opted to wait for the puff to pass, taking the time to make sure my vang was off and the main sheet clear to prevent the same outcome. Something I also make sure to do when I first put on my drysuit is squat down and remove as much of the air from it as I can. If I do go in the water, I don’t have odd pockets of air resisting movement and water is less likely to replace what little air is left.. It helps with mobility around the boat too.
Some other observations:
Strategy: Something I often tell myself in the boat is to “sail the longer tack first”, meaning whichever one I will be on for most of the upwind leg. Or whichever one points me closer to the mark, translating to the shortest distance sailed. Especially in shifty conditions, it is better to sail the longest tack first because it will likely shift again, allowing you to take advantage of that shift later in the leg. I was able to make some passes from people tacking away when they were already pointed at the finish line or mark. The exception to this was Steen’s recognition of the puffs filling from the left side of the course, as mentioned before, and tacking early to catch them on a long upwind. I continued on port tack and got stuck in the doldrums of the mid right side of the course. Sometimes local knowledge or just good wind reading wins races.
Mark Room: I had one bit of contact coming into a leeward mark that resulted in someone doing spins for something I don’t think was their fault. I just want to reiterate Laura’s comment from last week about calling for mark room audibly and communicating if you need more. I knew I owed mark room in this situation, but if the inside boat says they need more room (with respect to the principle of a seamanlike rounding) then the outside boat is obligated to give that to them,
Starts: I always find starts interesting because the fleet becomes more like a hive mind. The group decides the actions of the individual. If the fleet sets up early, someone not already posted up on the line has the opportunity to take an open lane. If it sets up late, then anyone too early will likely get rolled by the fleet behind them. Often times the fleet won’t change its approach very much even through big shifts. I was definitely caught off guard by a lefty on the first start, putting me far below the line at the gun. On another start, the wind had shifted even further left so that anyone on starboard was only just barely crossing over the line. In this situation it may be better to forget the usual procedure of starting on starboard and either try to make an agreement with the boats around you to tack out onto port, or start in a position where you can break away from the pack at the line and accelerate.
Anyway those are some things I was thinking about throughout the day. Hopefully someone finds it useful. Sharing some of this stuff helps me refine and think about my own skills, I can see why you all have made it a tradition.
Thank you all again and I hope to see you sometime in the future.
-Tyler Egeli
