The
Mississauga SC Wayfarer/CL Regatta Race 4.1 by Gord Leachman & Alan Hallwood |
Seconds after the start: Gary (2679) tacked to
port here where he had no rights to, and forced Mark (7673) to foul Al
(3854). In less forgiving competition, Gary would have been made to do
his Turns. As it was, the ... ... |
... three of us were off on the favoured port
tack, fighting desperately not to lose clear air. ... |
An error in judgment by the RC, leaving us a
line that was uncrossable on starboard. Here, Colin (929) has a nice
puff. Meanwhile, the best that can be said for Geoff's (9483) start is
that he has clear air. ... |
Colin and Heather (929) are nicely reducing
wetted surface by heeling, which should work when the breeze is this
light. Kit (dark hull) looks like he actually can cross on starboard, but I think
he is again pinching very hard. ... |
The three leaders: Gary is in good shape here
(though it looks like his main leech is too tight due to vang tension)
but must keep his speed up if he sees that Mark (7673) and Al (3854)
are gaining by footing off. ... |
Al (3854) has won the foot race
against Mark (7673) who still has yet to tack since the forced tack at
the start - not a really square beat, you'd have to say. No offset mark
this time, so the good news is that the skewed beat will put some reach
into our upcoming very light air "run".
... |
After the hoist, Al continues to steer with his
knees as he tries to fly the chute to which Colin is adding the pole. ... |
Mark will need to help the boom to go out here,
as Paul rushes to get the chute filled. ... |
A close 3rd for Colin and Heather who have
sailed a fine first beat, somehow managing to get past Gary (l). Geoff (r) has underlaid the mark and will
need to tack twice more. He will ... ... |
... round behind Kit. A classic case here of
"when in doubt, let it out" for Geoff who is strangling his main way
too much, especially here ... ... |
... where he's well above the mark and could be
footing off to start the next leg with some speed! ... |
While he's got nothing more urgent to do, crew
George might push the pole forward, which makes the spi easier to pull
around. ... |
That's better.
Meanwhile Stuart (7660) has the inside track to the mark on Rodrick (who also looks like he's using vang tension when he shouldn't be!). ... |
You can see how skewed the
"run" is, as the leaders - (l to r) Colin,
Mark, Al - approach the closed start/finish area, which will be about
the only source of strategic manoeuvering (e.g. if Al decides to pass
to windward of it, Mark could try the leeward side, etc.) Otherwise the
options are pretty limited by this angle of sail: apart from "up in the
lulls, down with the puffs", you pretty much need to stick to the rhumb
line - great if you're defending a lead!! Not so good for the others.
... |
Panoramic view of a drifter. ... |
Rodrick nurses W3568 around the windward mark. ... |
(l to r)
Colin, Gary, Geoff, Kit ... |
Al (red spi) has gone down with some puffs and
is poised to extend his lead as he heads up towards the leeward mark
while ... |
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