 |
| Marc (r) and Jamie (l) make their move while Teams
Hansman and Gumley struggle against each other and their spinnakers. ... |
 |
| The Buttercup Penalty Turn(s)
continue(s). ... |
 |
| Lori (3140) holds a narrow lead
over Brian and Tim (7346) at ... ... |
 |
| ... the gybe mark. That
tourniquet won't come out of Brian's spinnaker until his halyard is
eased. Team Green Side Up
will have to hurry and pull that chute around before it fills and blows
through between mast and forestay! ... |
 |
| Meanwhile, Bill and Frank have
completed their turn(s?) and now have a whole new set of boats right
around them to keep them on their toes! ... |
 |
| The roller coaster ride
continues for Team Abbott who are about to ride a small gift from the
wind gods past Dave and Andrew into second spot. ... |
 |
| Bill (yellow) cuts in front of Tim in
search of clear air. ... |
 |
| Meanwhile, not too much further
ahead, Jamie has moved into 2nd place in a wind that has veered
significantly and made this second reach a close one - for the time
being. ... |
 |
| Wow! Look at how much Lori and
Jason (l) have caught up!
This would be a good time for ... ... |
 |
| ... Dave (black) to go up
decisively in defense of his wind, while he can still do so without
having to worry about rule 16 which will severely restrict his luffing
options if Lori should get a windward overlap. ... |
 |
| Too late now! And ... here come
Bill and Frank, moving like gangbusters in a great puff. ... |
 |
| Now Bill has sailed into the
lesser breeze, but, being well further upwind, Bill is nicely
positioned to be the first to get the next gust cell that comes down
the river. At which time he can run down with that gust to get back
closer to the rhumbline! ... |
 |
| Looks like Tim and Alan have
their pole a bit low which is stretching their spinnaker vertically.
Further to windward, Robin is - like Bill - well positioned to get
first benefits from the next gust in which he will be able to run down
to stay in it longer. ... |
 |
| Andrew (r) solidifies his grip on 3rd
place by going high, Jamie and Ben having, I believe, sailed away into
2nd. ... |
 |
|
Dave (l) is taking as long as I
sometimes do to have it impressed on his skull that on this leg and in
this wind, it is paying to go high and get the gusts first.
Theoretically, the leeward boat gets the same wind, only a bit later,
but in reality, that is often not the case. Well, we'll see if those
who
moved up by going high, will pay when it's time to run down to the mark
and go slow.
... |
 |
|
Actually, I may have been
unkind to Dave. It may well be that he and Lori (2nd and 3rd from left) simply
couldn't spinnaker any higher when the wind went forward. For this kind
of close spi reach, the first Stuart Walker book I read, a series of
articles by International 14 sailors who each spoke about their
strengths, recommends putting the board full down as if for a beat.
That is something that has worked for me for decades.
... |
 |
| Meanwhile, Marc and Al (3854)
have doused the chute early and look forward to a very relaxed rounding
of the mark (far right). Actually,
I'll take the liberty to digress here, while we're waiting for Al to
trim his jib. The thought of that lovely ... ... |
 |
| ... Stuart Walker compendium
published in 1960 brings back lots of treasured memories - and none of
them better than ... ... |
 |
| ... this!!! ... |
 |
| As Marc prepares to start beat
#2 in a dying breeze, note the jib luff sag and lots of speed wrinkles
in the luffs of the sails. Looks like Jamie (under the 3854 boom) will
be in a very close fight at the mark with Bill (yellow spi) and Andrew (r). ... |
 |
| This was a time where Jamie (3rd from left) really needed top
speed from his boat, if he was to avoid having to give room. Alas, his
main is seriously oversheeted which won't help. It appears that ... ... |
 |
| ... Andrew (4610) has gained an
overlap. Jamie is giving him far more room than he needs to: rule 18
says that here, Andrew as the windward boat is only entitled to enough
room to make a seamanlike rounding. By steering this far clear of
Andrew, Jamie ... ... |
 |
| ... has now gone outside the
Two-Length Zone and will have to give room to Bill as well. ... |
 |
| It's little things like this
that add up. Instead of having his choice of where to go to start his
beat and making Andrew and Bill take leftovers, Jamie will have to make
do with what the other two give him. ... |
 |
| While Andrew (4610) and Bill
approach the mark at full speed ... ... |
 |
|
... Jamie demonstrates the
horrors of oversheeting: if you can't exactly match your sheeting to
your turn, then it's always better to let the "sheeting in" lag behind
a
bit. It looks worse to let your sails luff, but is, fact, far less
damaging!! Bill (937)
meanwhile will have to watch out because Andrew always luffs up past
closehauled as he passes the mark going onto a beat. Bill likes to do
likewise but is going too fast to do that here without hitting the
mark.
I think Bill and Frank
have just realized this, but ...
... |
 |
| ... too late! The boats touch
and it'll be more turns for Bill. |
| next photo page return to 06 Onts index |