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| Nice breeze blowing at the
windward mark now. ... |
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| The three of us leading the race
- (l to r) Andrew, Dave, Marc
- were pretty pleased with our breeze, too, until we looked way off to
leeward, and saw ... ... |
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| ... Bill Fyfe going ... ... |
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| ... through all of us like
gangbusters! ... |
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| Jamie and Ben were a fine sight,
cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon (well, morning, actually!) ... |
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| Andrew continues to challenge
Dave. ... |
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|
Marc has pulled up his
metaphorical socks as the leaders pass the start/finish line about 3/4
down the run. What with the wind shift having made the last short leg
to the finish an expected virtual close reach, the inside position/lead
at the leeward mark is a practical guarantee of a first-place finish.
... |
 |
| Marc (3854) has indeed managed
to regain a narrow lead over ... ... |
 |
|
... Bill (937). As can be seen
from the position of the RC boat off Marc's boom, the beat to the
finish will be short. The sailing angle of 3854 on a closehauled course
confirms that we are looking at a one-tack beat to the finish. If Marc
doesn't want to "give away" all three boatlengths of his lead, he needs
to ...
... |
 |
| ... tack almost immediately.
Such a tack is discouraging to the 2nd-place boat which can no longer
tack onto the shortest course to the finish without doing so into
severe dirt. A more palatable, though still far from ideal, alternative
will be to hold port for two or three more boatlengths and then tack
into reasonably clear air. But of course, those two or three lengths
are more or less "wasted distance", since it's barely a closehauled
course to the finish from here as it is! ...
|
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| Dave and Andrew (4610) are close
behind ... ... |
 |
| ... preparing to round 3-4. Note
how Marc is sailing with eased sails but still a bit high of the
RC-boat end of the line - just to be on the safe side. The trick here
is to go ... ... |
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| ... (at least) as high as your
opponent. Note how Marc's lead has increased because Bill (937) had to
hold port tack for a bit so that he could tack into clear air. Dave
(282) will have a similar job to do to protect against ... ... |
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| ... Andrew (4610) and Jamie
(4594). Bill is by now far enough away that disturbed air should not be
a significant factor ... |
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| As Dave and Andrew prepare to
round, the wind has shifted back slightly - note how Marc is now fully
closehauled and still aiming slightly below the RC-boat end of the line. ... |
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| A bit of a sloppy rounding for
Dave (r) who is (finally!)
about to tack. If I were Andrew ... ... |
 |
|
... I would sail another three
feet here and tack inside Dave, that being my only chance at clear air.
The beauty of tacking here would be that the leeward boat would be free
to foot off for speed and suddenly have a 50-50 chance of coming out
ahead, instead of meekly following along to a 4th!!
... |
 |
| The tiny window of opportunity
has closed, and now ... ... |
 |
| ... will have to join the
parade. Andrew (4610) should probably tack right now in order to pretty
much force Jamie (4594) to cross behind him. |
| next photo page return to 06 Onts index |