the 2008 North Bay Wayfarer Weekend
Canadian Nats: race 6.2
photos by Julia Schonborn, Harry Budden & Cathy Jessup
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It's still anybody's race, but ...
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... Dwight and Uncle Al (l) are looking pretty healthy here on the left side.
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Mark (l) has had trouble staying in phase with the shifts,
and looks like he'll cross well behind the currently beautifully lifted Frank (r) and Dave (H).
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Dave and Kim go left.
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As do John and Dolores (7351). Rob and Samantha would do the same but Burfort Point is getting in their way.
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Looks like Dwight (4606) has gained considerably on Alastair after going left.
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Closer to the south shore, Al and Michele (3854) have gained even more, and may now be leading.
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After a race 5 capsize, Ross (l) and John are back out and ready for race 7 that was scheduled for before lunch.
In the end, a bunch of us headed in after this race, and the lunch break was moved up. A wasted trip back out for Ross and John!
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It's the left corner for John as well, while Dave Richardson digs in towards the rhumb line.
Note how John's vang is letting him spill wind (boom end off transom corner) yet keep pointing with a nice tight main leech.
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Rob looks good but could point better with a tighter vang > main leech.
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The W3125 main shows the effects of insufficient vang tension: More vang would not just tighten the main leech
but would also bend the mast which would in turn depower the main somewhat while getting rid of that backwind bulge.
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The lads are working very hard and look spectacular. But they would do better not to fight their helm this hard (note the extreme turbulence from the angled rudder). If they were to luff up to some degree, the boat would heel less and helm could/should be kept to a minimum. This would bring a number of tangible benefits: 1. the boat would point far better but still move quite well enough (especially with the water being this flat)   2. boat speed would be improved through the reduced rudder drag  3. the rudder (and the helm's arm) would not be subjected to harmful, needless strain.  And again, increased vang tension would allow them to ease the main yet keep leech tension (better pointing) and let the main luff an equal amount all up and down the sail.
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Note how much happier the rudder looks (not frothing at the mouth!) when the boat is kept flatter. Here (and below) we can see the harmful excess twist in the main: That leech should be more or less vertical here, something easily achieved with more vang tension. The jib is well eased which will give Taylor and Ryan a large safety cushion against sudden major shifts blowing into the wrong side of the jib. This precaution is understandable for guys who are racing the W for the first time and already have one capsize under their belts. Once they gain more experience, they will find that this jib is way too eased for effective racing work upwind. Having the foot of the jib more or less touching the V-shaped coaming is a good position to start from, one that permits the necessary amount of pointing if one wishes to compete with any success.
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Note how much tighter Lori (3140) and Samantha (7372) have their jibs sheeted while still retaining ample sail curve
that translates into a safety cushion against all but the rarest and nastiest of major knocks.
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Note the fine jib and main trim here as Frank (648) and Dave H. come in along or near the port lay line.
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The left side has indeed paid: Here all three port boat will cross Alastair whose vang is nicely keeping main twist to a minimum.
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More textbook sail trim: (l to r) Frank, Dave, Al
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After Dave's nice tack, we get a stern view of fine heavy air trim. Note that Carol has enough curve in her jib to let Dave easily luff just a small section of the sail by luffing up slightly from this course. That, of course, would reduce heel and helm.
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Not everyone went left: Good form here for Sue and Steph. With a lot of ground to make up, Team Mystic have taken a calculated risk (high risk, high potential reward) by going right when most other boats went left. There was no doubt they'd get great wind out here, but only time will tell if they got as many advantageous shift opportunities as the left-side/inshore boats. This is a chance you only want to take if you are feeling desperate and have little to lose.
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The left-side shore was a popular place to be on this beat: Dave Richardson (4782) rides a nice starboard slant even further in,
while John should be prepared for a big knock once he reaches Dave's wind in a second or two.
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Alastair and Andrew
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Note how tight John tends to have Dolores sheet his new Hansa Sails jib from Heider Funck. John always was one to sheet the jib tighter than many, and this jib lets him do that even more. It never ceases to amaze me how many different sail trim and rig nuances can be used to make a Wayfarer sail to top performance. Note the difference in jib trim between 7351 and 282 here, yet both were doing equally well in pointing and speed.
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Andrew and Lori could likely benefit from a bit more vang??
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Interesting action near the windward mark: (l to r) Frank, Sue (who has done OK on the far right!), John, Uncle Al, Rob
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Note the lovely lift that is carrying race leaders, Uncle Al and Michele, closer to the windward mark on port tack.
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Also coming in from the left, Dave Richardson is crossing Andrew and Rob (7372).
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Still woefully undervanged, Taylor and Ryan come in from the right side.
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The top three have rounded onto the run: (l to r) Uncle Al, Dave H, Dwight
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Uncle Al and Michele (4th from right) have decided to forego the chute in pretty gusty conditions. Here, they are sailing the rhumb line to the leeward mark (shortest course) while defending their left for possible buoy room at the next mark. Mark and Alastair (2nd from right) are doing well under spinnaker, and on the left, we can see Dave H. and Frank coming back towards the rhumb line after sailing high early on this leg.
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Here's how we looked to Cathy Jessup on shore. Dwight and Pat have hoisted their red, blue and white chute.
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View from the RC boat as the leaders bear down on it.
- for full-size pic, click here
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Uncle Al had hoped for hull speed but no planing to be the great leveller, but no dice:
Spinnakering to advantage, Dwight and Pat have caught or even passed them.
- for full-size pic, click here
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