Rob's Boat:

Bow Lake Ed Hinds Regatta

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:49:47 -0400

Saturday was a beautiful day, but quite windy. By 11am, Wayne's weather station was recording 20+ mph gusts, and foam from whitecaps was lining his frontage. Due to prior obligations, I was only able to stay out on the racecourse until 1:30, and when the first race didn't roll around until 1, and with the wind threatening, I decided to bail for the day (along with two visiting boats and Three Men in a Tub, who was rumored to have backstay anchoring issues). Fortunately my ambitious crew Nathaniel, who would have been eager to take over the Sloop once I left for the day, got a ride on Ned Hinds' boat. Spinnakers were prohibited in the high winds, but it looks like things went well.

As it was, I was able to catch most of the first race from Dad's powerboat. Here's the end of the first race. The line extends from the committee boat to the right. That's Bob and two Geshunys just missing first place. The video makes it seem less windy than it was-- check out how the lead boat planes while reaching away from the line.

Apologies to Nathaniel and Luke for the last-minute cancellation, and thanks to Wayne for the dutiful support.

Massabesic YC Regatta, Day 2

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:14:29 -0400

I couldn't attend day 1, so obviously we didn't expect to be competitive. I'd managed to snag Captain Rob P from C'est Bon as well as rookie C'est Bon crew Joe Letterman for the day.

They couldn't have picked a better day to go Lightning racing. It was a perfect late-summer day: 75 and sunny, and not humid. After barely getting out to the starting line, breeze generally improved to 5-6, with quick gusts and periods of stillness.

Lightning training from Bob and Ned has now extended to traveling with a Lightning, and they pointed out a few good setup and teardown tips for us. We are now calling the covering technique where you sit on the trailer and lift the bow with your legs the "Shapiro Move".

After avoiding touching the water when launching, we got underway. It was Joe's first time on a Lightning, but he acclimated quickly, and Rob P was already familiar with bow duties.

For race 1, we were pretty conservative at the start, so we started back in the pack and stayed there. All four races today were "olympic" courses: windward, broad reach, broad reach, windward, leeward, windward. It really exercised our crew work, which with our inexperience was our downfall. There were no real mistakes made; it just took more time to execute tricky maneuvers like windward launches and tight jibes around a mark.

Race 2 shook things up more for us by doing a clockwise rotation around the marks, keeping them to starboard. We got more aggressive with starts, deciding to pick a lead boat and "stalk" them until near the gun. For race 2, we picked Bob. Following him worked pretty well and kept us in the mix. We started mid-pack, but the starboard roundings meant our spinnaker was set up on the wrong side. Being a bit uncomfortable with windward sets, we jibed around and set on the wrong side, then jibed back, costing us time. Another last place, but we were learning.

The third race we stalked Ken Deyette, series leader. He tacked over to starboard just ahead of us, but Eagle Eyes Petersen spotted a nice hole at the favored end. We stayed on port and tacked above the whole fleet. We won the start and had a layline right from the line, while the rest of the fleet had to tack up to us. A weak rounding put us in the top 3, but our need to jibe around the mark for a leeward set separated us from the pack. When we rejoined the pack at the jibe mark, Ned became a sandwich between ourselves and a third boat. Being inside and overlapped, we called for room, though Ned himself was also calling for room. Walter in the outside boat eventually bumped Ned and did his circles. Meanwhile, I'd made the wrong call to stick with the spinnaker rather than put up the jib, and we came out fouled and powerless. Despite quick responses from Rob and Joe, we lost significant ground. It only takes one mistake for these guys to pass you by.

The fourth race was lost from the start. Well, our first start was great: we seemed to be the only boat that wasn't over early. Unfortunately, RC called a general recall. We missed a horn, and when RC didn't fly a Lightning flag for the restart, we lost track of the sequence entirely. In fact, we were on course for the actual restart, and had to make a large loop just to start properly. The difference would have been tough for any of the teams to make up. We had a few nibbles at the last boats, but we finished in last.

Despite the losses, it was a good time and certainly a great learning experience, which is all I'd hoped for. Many thanks to Rob and Joe, for performing crew work above their experience level. As always, many thanks to Bob and Ned for their tutelage. And thanks to Randy and crew at MYC.

Link to official MYC results:
http://www.mycsailing.com/racing/sailwave/2009/MYCRegatta2009.html

Bob Shapiro at the Int'l Masters

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:46:56 -0400

After 4 races (2 days) at the Lightning World Championship Masters Series, Bob's in 22nd place just after Sterling Bush and Mark Gardner. He looks to be doing even better in the first race today.

Live updates, photos, and results here:
http://www.mbbc-vt.org/Events/LightningWorlds09/default.asp

Nice going, Bob!

Photos from Saturday

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 23:59:59 -0400

Finally was able to post Amy's photos from Saturday:

http://amyrootdonle.smugmug.com/Sailing/Bow-Lake-September-5-2009/

Lessons

Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:32:55 -0400

This weekend I managed to get lessons from two Bow Lake rock stars. Not only did Bob Shapiro spend the day with Ben and I on the Infinite Sloop on Saturday, but Ned Hinds graciously took Wayne (Dad) and I out for a great little instructional sail yesterday.

Needless to say, in both cases it was a drinking-from-the-firehose experience. I haven't talked to Ben or Dad about it yet, but I wanted to highlight things from both rock stars that I picked up:
• If the crew counts down for the start, I can keep my eyes on the road.
• I consistently don't point high enough upwind. Bob frequently had me point higher, sometimes just beyond where both telltales were flying straight.
• Lesson one from Ned: Use twings. "Guy hooks are for storage," he says. It made things easier for us on Saturday too: you don't have to reach for the (new) sheet after a jibe.
• Related: help the bow crew jibe the pole by holding the new guy down for him, all the while keeping the chute flying. This is easier if you've done it for 45 years.
• In heavy weather, depower in this order: backstay, drop traveller, and finally ease the main sheet. Backstay tightens the whole rig and pulls the draft forward on both sails. Easing the traveller maintains sail shape but depowers. This way we can keep our pointing ability while still staying upright. Bob played the backstay constantly on Saturday.
• Related: keep the mainsheet tight (block to boom) to keep the main's leech straight in heavier air.
• Play the centerboard downwind. Add more board for tighter reaches, but take it almost all the way up when dead downwind.
• Don't be afraid to stand up in the boat for a better view. You can even steer with your legs and have a sheet in each hand. (Extra points if you can guess which skipper told me this.)
• People can't pass you if you stay between them and the mark (or line).
• Infinite Sloop's jib wire cam cleat is worn and wasn't holding in the heavy weather, and the trick tapered spinnaker sheets that I invested in would slip through the guy cam cleat simply because they're too skinny. The latter can be solved by switching back to the heavy weather sheets when necessary; the former can be solved by West Marine.
• When he was younger, Bob slept in the stern of a Lightning. Not sure if doing this will help my skippering, but it might be worth a shot.

It's a little disappointing-- but not surprising-- that there's no one go-fast trick that we're missing. Instead, it's a bunch of small tweaks and tactical ideas. I think you call this "experience". Experience allows you to make these little things second nature, so they happen automatically.

I'm excited to be in a fleet with helpful guys like this. Many thanks to Bob and Ned.