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The Wayfarer
Midwinters of 2005 |
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Sunday is another lovely
sailing day - almost warm enough for shorts - as we
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... check out the starting
area in winds from the same northerly direction as
yesterday. |
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As the 29 Scots line up with
their gun about to go, the well set line is again
reflected by boats being ... |
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... well distributed up and
down the line. |
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Oops! Someone got
caught barging! |
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Oscillating shifts, like
yesterday, and now there's been a starboard lift, |
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Oops! Uncle Al (3854,
standing) looks justifiably nervous, having gotten
too close to the line |
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A
lesson here in Uncle Al's (3854) risky start: Don't
get to close to the line that you can't luff up to
slow down or stop. Once you're moving down the line
like this, it becomes a self-perpetuating problem.
Here, Al has to keep going down the line at full
speed so that Nick (864) and Richard (10139) won't
come in to leeward and push him up over the line.
What with the Around-the-Ends Rule being permanently
in effect at the 2005 Midwinters, this was a real
concern. Al is at Peter's (93) mercy here, but with
only about 5 seconds to go, Al appears to have
gotten away with one. ... |
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One second to go. |
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They're off! Gale Shoemaker
(4106) has the windward end almost all to himself.
He certainly won't |
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Note
how much higher we are all pointing now that the gun
has gone. Al (3854) shudders at the thought of how
easily Peter (93) could have pushed him over the
line early. It is currently a nice square line with
neither end favoured, but you have to like Gale's
(4106) position: if there is a lift, he's an great
shape and if there's a knock, he's the only one who
will be able to tack on it at will! ... |
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Aha!
It's a bit of a lift and Gale (4106) is footing off
for speed - like the books advise because the next
shift should be a knock, by which time Gale will
want to be to leeward and ahead rather than where he
is now. Al (3854) on the other hand, continues to
sail high. He has a very simple philosophy: sail as
high as you can, as often as you can, because on
small lakes, especially narrow ones, the wind is
often in streaks. Here, he might foot right off into
a header and then be unable to tack to get back into
the lift. ... |
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Things
look great for Gale (4106) here as he appears to
have better breeze and a lift. The guys off to
leeward need mental toughness here: it's easy to get
worried by all those guys being lifted up inside you
and start to pinch too much or otherwise sail badly.
The key is to hold your position and try at all
costs to keep clear air so that you won't be forced
off the lifted tack. An experienced racer will
remind himself that a knock is virtually sure to
come along sooner or later, at which time being
where Al is now (second from right), should be very
advantageous. ... |
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Of course, it's fairly easy
for Al not to get discouraged here since the number
2 and 3 boats in the series, |
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Even
though he's too far away to see clearly, Al has to
be smiling here, because the expected knock has come
through and Al is suddenly in great shape once more.
From here, he will tack onto the lifted, cross the
fleet, and get the advantage of being able to tack
whenever he wants. ... |
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The other guys are being slow
to tack here: all of them defying the maxim: sail
the lifted tack as much as possible. |
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Meanwhile, the leading Scots
have quickly set their chutes to start their first
run. |
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Wayfarer race leaders, Al (r)
and Peter (93) have played the left side of centre
and are now |
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... the large fleet of
oncoming Scots. |
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And of course, these Scots
are all on starboard and have right of way over all
the W's coming in on port! |
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2005
W
Midwinters |