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| As the lake breeze begins to
settle in, the first start sequence is underway. ... |
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|
About
10 seconds before the start: the fleet is well distributed along the
line, which reflects a fairly unbiased line courtesy of Mr. Weakley.
The two boats nearest the pin are Paul Laderoute (beige hull) and Uncle
Al who have detected a slight pin end bias due to a late shift.
... |
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| About
one minute after the start. ... |
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|
Both
Uncle Al (3854) and Heider (6) tacked very shortly after the gun with
Uncle Al holding a good 50 yards of windward advantage but, as can be
seen above, Heider is outpointing Al (is Al's jib sheeted too loose?)
and soon Al will be forced to ...
... |
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| ...
tack away to avoid hitting Heider. Depressing for Uncle Al! ... |
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| As
the fleet nears the windward mark ... ... |
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| ...
Paul Laderoute (l) who got the best start and Heider (2nd
from right) converge. ... |
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| And
it's Paul who arrives with a healthy edge over Heider (6) and Al (3854). ... |
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| As
Paul rounds onto the first run of a double windward-leeward ahead of
Heider, Hans Gottschling comes in along the port layline. ... |
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|
The
two leaders are around but must now watch that they obey Rule 16 which
forbids them to alter course in a way that would forced Hans (port) to
immediately alter course to keep clear. Telephoto lenses are deceiving
as it appears that Hans will easily round ahead of Al (3854, right) ...
... |
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| ...
but Al (red spi) in fact rounds right with Hans and sets off in pursuit
of Heider and Paul (to windward of the keel boat). ... |
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| It's
a pretty fleet that sets off toward the gate at the leeward end of the
leg. ... |
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|
Probably
it their 470's experience that makes the leaders sail well high of the
rhumb line. Both Heider (6) and Al (red spi) are sailing lower,
although Al is going higher than usual due to continued pressure from
crew, Frank, to get more pressure into the spi. This does give
us the chance to try to take Heider's wind, however.
... |
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| Heider
and Tom displaying fine light air form as they pass the RC boat. ... |
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| In
a moment, Frank will be asking Al to heel SHADES to windward to
help the spi to fly. ... |
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| Both
Paul (7380) and Heider (6) will shortly commit to the left-hand gate
(not visible), while Al and Frank (3854) have already decided to ... ... |
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| ...
do a late gybe and try the right-hand gate which will give then clear
air during and after the rounding. ... |
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| Doug
and Françoise have Toodle-oo looking good as they pass
the RC boat. |