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|
This is more or less what I
meant: Note how Lori is sailing low enough that the spi is blowing out
the front of the boat, which makes everything easier for crew, Jason.
Once to spi is reset, they can sail higher at their convenience and
still easily make the mark.
... |
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| Jamie, too, could help Ben (and
his boat speed) by briefly bearing away. ... |
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| Dave (282) and Brian proceed
down the second reach with Hull, Quebec in the background - or would
that be Aylmer?! ... |
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| It remains neck and neck between
Marc (8868) and Bill as they ... ... |
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|
... approach the leeward mark.
This is a good time for Marc (r)
to defend his wind: He'll want inside at the mark and on such a close
reach, he's in no danger of slowing down if he has to bear away a bit.
Besides, any puffs coming down the Ottawa River will reach Marc first!
... |
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| A lesser advantage of running
down towards the mark is that Marc will be able to
stand in the boat and keep the spi flying without the pole as Al stows
it before the takedown. ... |
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| It is ... ... |
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| ... a close one, though!! ... |
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| Note how Al gathers the foot
first, lest the leeward sheet fall under the bow. ... |
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| A quick douse and ... ... |
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|
... Al even has time to stow
the spi halyard in its hook by the shroud. This is a great time to get
everything all set for the
beat early: Bill is safely blocked off, so an early douse costs
nothing, and will let Marc and Al be sure they'll start beat #2 with
all cylinders firing as they work to protect this narrowest of leads
from an excellent challenger.
... |
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| Al makes sure the board is full
down. Note how our sails do not come in too soon!! ... |
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| As Marc begins to round, Al
brings the jib in only ... ... |
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| ... as much as is necessary. ... |
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| Note how Al has cleated the jib
in a slightly undersheeted position while helping Marc get the main in
by using both hands for one second to crank the main in. Now Al is
ready to fine tune the jib sheet, but first
... ... |
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| ... Marc will luff up very
briefly, to discourage Bill from trying to stick his bow to windward of
our transom where he could block us from tacking. ... |
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| Success!! Now we have Bill
tucked away ... ... |
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| ... exactly where we want him!
Of course, the trick is not to ... ... |
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|
... let your opponent through
so far that he can backwind you! Here, Bill has wisely gone low for a
bit to make sure Marc won't be sitting on his wind. This is good for
both boats (win-win) as they can now do some useful boat speed testing
against each other, which will help them against all the other boats in
the fleet.
... |
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| If Al can't hike the boat flat
PDQ, Marc will (a) let SHADES
round up a bit, and (b) ease the main some. So far, judging by the lack
of turbulence around the rudder, the heel is not a problem. ... |
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| Looks like SHADES (l) may be sailing into a
lifted wind slant. Then again, it may just be that Bill (937) is still
in footing mode. ... |
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| Andrew and Penny (4610) continue
to hold 3rd as they near the leeward mark. It appears that both Dave
(282) and Brian (6082) have moved past the spinnaker-less Tim and Alan. |
| next photo page return to 06 Onts index |