Racing Day 4

Four more races completed today with only the A-heat of the fifth race to sail tomorrow morning (we then have 17 completed races all together). Results after 16 races here.

0900 lots more wind today, looks like it's going to increase, but #1 would still be the choice at 0900. It's coming from the opposite direction compared to the first three days, and so we start at the bottom of the course between the leeward mark and a starboard starting mark. This makes for a much longer first beat up to the windward mark, which does reduce the number of incidents. However the leeward mark was quite far away, so judging the starboard lay-line right is not easy.

0953 13E finishes. Four boats use no1 rigs, the others are in #2

1000 13D finishes. Lighter now with just one #2 rig on the course

1037 13C finishes. Mostly #1 rigs now. I make a bad start, and then the wind dies completely on the second beat. I have the #1 trimmed for lots of wind, and so it doesn't work great when the wind dies. Also my counterweight on the jib is too far in (straight from the rigbox), so the jib doesn't want to goosewing in the light stuff. Must build/modify rigbox where rigs are stored in racing condition.

1052 13B finishes

1108 13A finishes

1201 14D finishes. Now stronger #2 rig weather. Boat is very hard to tack (need bigger fin and bigger rudder?). I haven't yet found the optimal mast position and/or rake for the #2 rig and so the boat feels a little dead on the beat. I can steer both up and down, but the boat doesn't find that optimal groove by itself.

1218 14C finishes

1240 14B finishes. Most skippers are using #2 rigs, but now the wind is getting stronger and we see lots of diving on the runs and problems with tacking on the beats.

1254 14A starts. About 50/50 divided between #3 and #2 rigs now

Lunch

1423 15D finishes. Not a great start for me, and although the wind is strong there are big shifts and holes where there's no wind. I manage to catch the wrong shifts and holes on the long beat... Balance is not great with the #3 rig when there is too little wind. Have to steer the boat upwind to find the correct height.

1458 15B finishes. Almost everyone is using #3's now and for the rest of the day.

1506 15A starts and finishes by 1515

1535 16E starts but is recalled once

1613 16D finishes

1638 16B starts

1711 16A finishes

(not much notes from race 17)

1832 17B starts. Starting to get lighter again with some #2 rigs appearing on the course.

Tomorrow begins with 17A.