| For the
final race of the 2002 DM, the winds remained the
same
- about 3 - 6 m/sec and oscillating about 20º. It's too
bad that
Christian
didn't have a chance to take any pictures of this start
where the whole
fleet started at the Committee boat except for Uncle Al
and Anders P.
who
had decided that this time they would go left
and no half
measures
about it, would start at the pin end. After the wind
oscillated about
three
minutes before the start to favour starboard tack and
the RC boat end,
most of the boats headed for that end. When one last
boat that had been
between Al and the pin end tacked back towards the boat
end with 30
seconds
to go, Al was left alone to go for the pin end where he
got a nice
start
- on time and at full speed. And sure enough, the left
side super shift
was still there. Al and Anders sailed Whistle well
into it,
tacked
and easily crossed the fleet. After this it was mainly a
matter of
protecting
the left side against Joel Bøgh who was the nearest
competitor
and
also going far left. We also kept an eye on Anders Friis
who was moving
up through the fleet by playing the shifts in the middle
left. At the
windward
mark ... |
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| ... it was Al, Anders and Whistle
rounding with about 100 m. of lead on Joel Bøgh, Søren Jonasen, Steen Madsen and Anders Friis among others... |
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| 10249 crew, Keld
Forchhammer,
keeps a
very good lookout as 10249 comes in along the port lay line just to windward of Søren Jensen. Both will easily cross Perlen..... |
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| ... but it won't be easy to
get
into
this line of starboard boats without fouling someone! (l
to r) Christian
Bovet (5128), Mogens Just (dark hull), Bo Christensen
(2042), John
Friis
(3264), Poul Ammentorp (red hull) and Per
Christoffersen... |
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| Christian prepares to bear
away
onto
the reach ahead of Mogens and John while Per
Christoffersen comes up on the inside and further back, Per Larsen (currently in series 3rd) will have some catching up to do!.. |
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| On their way
to a fine 16th -
their best
result of the series, Per Christoffersen and Joakim
Gundel round the
first
mark in the top 10. (I would however, talk to a
sailmaker about that
horrible
crease in the mainsail which looks quite new and should
set better than this!!) Meanwhile it looks like
things have gotten even
worse for
Per Larsen (just crossing Mikael Mogensen and Mr. Fogh)
as he's been
knocked
and may have to tack twice more to get around the mark!.. |
 |
| Mogens and Helle round with
everything
all set for a fast spinnaker hoist... .. |
 |
| ... while just ahead, Steen
and
Keld
have borne away as they get ready to set the spi. Steen
should probably have waited until Keld was completely ready before bearing away, or not borne away at all because ..... |
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|
... here
comes Mogens, who will
take
Steen's wind. Note Mogens steering with his foot as he
completes the
spi
hoist while Helle untangles the spinnaker - looks like
one of those
moments
where on our boat, we have to crank the jib in tight
for a second in
order
to free the windward spi sheet from under the jib.
Pushing the pole
forward
would also help!
|
 |
| Two guys with serious
catching
up in
mind: Per Larsen with Steen Ammentorp (9733) and Søren
Jensen
(10212)... |
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| Christian Bovet keeps an
eagle
eye on
the spi while crew, Lone Holm Hansen, jots down a few
notes for the W-Nyt???.. |
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| A moment for serious
concentration as
Christian is bow to bow with Bo Christensen (who will be inside at the gybe mark that is coming up soon) ..... |
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| ... and just barely ahead of
Poul and
Irene Ammentorp who in turn have to defend their wind
from ..... |
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| ... Gunnar Petersen with
Jørgen
Svane (another FAS volunteer who worked endlessly and
very hard to make
the 2002 DM the great success that it was!!) who are on
their way to an
excellent 13th which will be their best result of the
DM!.. |
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| So, Mogens! Has someone lost
a
contact
lens?.. |
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| Gunnar and Jørgen have caught Poul and Irene. .. |
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| Stephan Nandrup-Bus and David Magnussen begin a come-back that will see them get back up to 8th by the finish. |
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| After being passed by
Gunnar,
Poul ... .. |
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| ... seems to have hit a
"dead
spot" and
looks understandably nervous as boats bring wind from
astern! Note how Irene is a model of concentration as she gets the most out of her spinnaker!.. |
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|
Gunnar and
Jørgen are
"on a roll"
and look like they may pass Bo (2042) before the gybe
mark! Note how
well
and easily their spi is flying in the light winds
because the pole is
not
too high and their boat is heeled just a touch to
windward. Very nice form!! To make sure that the
boom
doesn't swing in because of windward heel on our own
boat, the crew
sits
out on the windward deck while Uncle Al holds the boom
out while
standing
as far to leeward as is desirable to get the right
angle of windward
heel
- a system which works very well.
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