the Wayfarer Ontarios
Lac Deschênes Sailing Club * July 22-23, 2006
Sunday: Race 6.4
by Kim Bergevin & Doug Netherton

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Marc (r) and Jamie (l) make their move while Teams Hansman and Gumley struggle against each other and their spinnakers.
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The Buttercup Penalty Turn(s) continue(s).
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Lori (3140) holds a narrow lead over Brian and Tim (7346) at ...
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... 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!
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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!
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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.
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Bill (yellow) cuts in front of Tim in search of clear air.
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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.
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Wow! Look at how much Lori and Jason (l) have caught up! This would be a good time for ...
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... 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.
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Too late now! And ... here come Bill and Frank, moving like gangbusters in a great puff.
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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!
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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.
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Andrew (r) solidifies his grip on 3rd place by going high, Jamie and Ben having, I believe, sailed away into 2nd.
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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.
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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.
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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 ...
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... Stuart Walker compendium published in 1960 brings back lots of treasured memories - and none of them better than ...
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... this!!!
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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).
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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 ...
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... 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 ...
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... has now gone outside the Two-Length Zone and will have to give room to Bill as well.
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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.
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While Andrew (4610) and Bill approach the mark at full speed ...
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... 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 ...      
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... too late! The boats touch and it'll be more turns for Bill.
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