| the
2004
Midwinters Friday: race 1 photos by Kim Bergevin |
 |
| Race 1 gets
underway in glorious, mid-70's F sunshine and a good
hiking breeze with Uncle Al (l) to leeward but ahead of Hank VanTwyver (1395) and Richard Johnson (yellow, Chick'n-type hull!) ... |
 |
| Nick Seraphinoff
and Joe Blackmore show how it's done... ... |
 |
| ... and not
done.
Here, Nick wants to let the boat luff up and ease some
main at the same time until W864 flattens out and he can bear away and crank the main in once more. ... |
 |
| A close duel
between Hank and Stan (1395) and Richard and Michele
(10139), both of whom ... ... |
 |
| ... are giving
Nick and Joe (864) a good run for their money until the
Chick'n loses its mainsheet! Slow, that!! ... |
 |
|
Uncle Al
nervously contemplates the spinnaker as he and Marc
lead around the windward mark and start a short reach
to the offset mark. Note how Al and Marc ease their
main until we heel slightly to windward to encourage SHADES
to bear away without much rudder strain.
... |
 |
| Nick (864), Hank
and Geoff Edwards (r) will round 2-3-4. ... |
 |
| Again: main
eased, windward heel and Allies bears herself
away around the mark. ... |
 |
| Hank and Stan
(1395) are doing the sail easing a bit early and giving Geoff Edwards and Pat Reardon (9483) some free distance. ... |
 |
|
There they
go! Still 2-3-4 around the offset mark. It's good to
ease the vang some for the run so that the boom won't
dip into the water to easily. However, care must be
taken not to ease the vang too much, which allows the
top of the main to really twist off. The latter does
two bad things in a blow: It promotes rocking in the
boat which often leads to a rapid death roll (dump to
windward), and when it comes time to gybe, you have to
bear away far far dead downwind to make the upper main
finally want to gybe. By that time you've turned onto
a reach on the other gybe and that too, can lead to a
capsize (and a swim with the crocodiles?). We like to
ease enough vang on SHADES such that the boom
is about at right angles to the mast.
... |
 |
| A nice rounding
for Richard and Michele who have retrieved their
mainsheet. Keeping the jib pulling (above) also helps the boat to bear away. ... |
 |
| As Nick talks Joe
through the spi down procedure and heads to the
right-side gate, Hank has succumbed to a gust. So, Hank! Getting any nibbles? The number one priority for Hank is now to get on that centreboard before W1395 turtles. ... |
 |
| Perfect! ... |
 |
| The rescue boat
with Darlene Poosch stands by as ... ... |
 |
|
... a nice
re-righting is completed. Is that Stan in the water?
If so, he could have stayed inside the boat when Hank
climbed onto the board, and the boat would have come
up with Stan sitting/lying inside it. I've seen this
done. Beats having to climb back in and lets person in
the boat totally
raise the board to prevent the boat from trying to
sail away and re-capsize and then make sure the sails are free to
luff. Then it's bailing time with no need to steer or
trim sails. With the boat just sitting dead in the
water with the board fully up and sails luffing, the
boat can safely be heeled until the gunwale hits the
water, making it easier for the other sailor to be
brought back aboard.
... |
 |
| The second run
begins with another nervous spi hoist for Uncle Al who
should be helping Marc be trimming the leeward sheet to help forestall any hour-glass in the spi. Now would be a good time!! ... |
 |
| And there it is!
The lovely, virtually new Doyle chute, kindly loaned to
SHADES by Nick. Note the boom at about right angles to the mast. ... |
 |
|
This will
not help the boat bear away onto the run. Once the
crew gets up to do the pole, etc., it is the helm's
job to balance the boat by playing the mainsheet and
sitting out if required. Once the crew is ready and
the boat is on its desired course, the crew takes over
balance duties while the helm stands and hoists the
chute.
... |
 |
| Looks peaceful,
doesn't it? Which shows that everything is being done
right. The gusts had the potential to make things quite exciting!! ... |
 |
|
Quick! Who
has rights here? The re-righted and underway again
Hank is leeward boat, and Richard must keep clear. As
can be seen by the relative apparent mast lengths,
Hank will cross well in front of Richard's bow. Looks
like Geoff Edwards (9483) is headed for the left end
of the gate.
... |
 |
| Hubert Dauch
relaxes against the aft bulkhead while keeping the bow
well up, thus making Black Magic easier to steer. Frank Goulay meanwhile, does the virtuoso act on the spinnaker. ... |
 |
|
We had a
separate finish line just past the windward mark in
race 1, and Uncle Al and Marc are about to get the
"gun". Note how a puff has hit and Al has just begun
to ease his main while letting SHADES luff up
a bit as well (note the jib beginning to luff!). It
was shortly after this that Marc reached into the
starboard spi bag for a pair of beers as we ran back
to the club for the lunch break. "Houston, we have a
problem!" said Marc looking up. "Dude!" replied Uncle
Al, "Don't tell me we forgot the beer!!??" (Actually,
Al did not call Marc "dude", but someone at the pub
did the other night. Marc was royally pissed [in two
ways, I might add!] at being called that, so how can I
resist?) In actual fact, the problem Marc had
discovered was that
the starboard half of SHADES' mast step was
separating at keel level and that the laminated front
extension of the centreboard box and hence the
centreboard trunk was therefore splitting apart.
... |
 |
| A quick run into
the Ace Hardware in Eustis while others ate lunch
produced two large C-clamps, which Marc duly attached in the relevant locations (one visible above, if you look closely). |