| The Mississauga SC Wayfarer/CL Regatta Race 1.2 by Gord Leachman & Alan Hallwood |
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| It's neck and neck between
Stuart Wilkinson with Ben Wierdsma (7660) and Gary McIlroy with ... ... |
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| ... John Wilkinson (l) at the windward mark while
Colin Junkin and Heather Wood (r)
work to overcome a bad start. ... |
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| Gary (2679) wisely dips
down to leeward where ... ... |
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| ... Stuart can't luff him during the upcoming spinnaker
hoist. ... |
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| In this light breeze,
Stuart (or his crew) will need to encourage the main to go all the way
out on the run, and to hold it there. ... |
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| Wow! Look at the length of
that spinnaker pole. Perhaps CL's aren't limited to a 6' 6" max. pole??? ... |
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Now that
the spi is hoisted, Colin (929) needs to shove the boom out and Heather
needs to bring the pole aft and angle it up a bit more. Ditto for Gary
and John (2679). Both of
these spinnakers will be easier to encourage to fill in this minimal
wind, if the boats are heeled to windward and the booms held out to
leeward.
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Reverse
angle view of Al who has gybed to port. Note the patchy-looking wind on
the water, and that the spinnaker is being helped to fly by no leeward
heel and the pole end angled lower than in a normal breeze. This was a
good time to not only go up in the lulls and down with the puffs, but
also to use the Bud Melges technique of sailing a bit high to build up
pressure, speed and apparent wind, and then once your speed is up, bear
away. Repeat as necessary.
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| Kit enjoys a nice little
puff that keeps his spinnaker nicely filled despite the leeward heel. ... |
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| As seen from the other
side, Al holds the boom out and moves his weight to give a slight heel
to windward. ... |
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Meanwhile,
Colin is holding the spinnaker "short",
i.e. holding the leeward sheet from just aft of the leeward shroud so
that the weak wind doesn't have to lift a whole long length of sheet as
well as the spi cloth. To keep the sheet from getting wedged between
boom and shroud, we put on a bit of barberhauler on the leeward side.
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| A study in concentration.
In these conditions especially, those who work the hardest tend to get
the breaks. ... |
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|
Paul (l) and Mark enjoy a nice puff.
This picture lets me better explain what I mean by holding the
spinnaker
"short": the crew would grab the leeward sheet just where it comes out
from behind the boom at the shroud, and would play it from there -
something that only works on a run or broad reach, and is only
necessary in light winds. This picture also shows how easy it would be
for such a sheet to get wedged between boom and shroud. To prevent this
we would tighten the leeward barberhauler (coming down from Mark's
right elbow) a few inches.
... |
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| A beautifully balanced
Wayfarer! ... |
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| Geoff's pole could likely
be lowered to good effect: on a run, you want the foot parallel to the
surface of the water. ... |
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| Colin (929) makes his move
on the spinnaker-less Stuart. ... |
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| Especially with a new crew,
it can pay big time to have the helm fly the chute and let the crew
take ample time to stow the pole as the end of the run approaches. ... |
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| Notice how nicely our
spinnaker is still flying, even without the pole, as I ... ... |
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| ... invite Colin to get the
board full down and his feet in front of the windward jib sheet, so
that when he takes the spi down to windward, it will be clear of the
jib sheet when the latter needs to function the first time we tack to
starboard. |
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