Encinal Jack Frost #1 2012
So, I got to crew on Kelly Shawn this race past. Byte Size was not racing and I felt lucky to get a spot. The weather was looking like hell on the NOAA forecast for the Bay Area. The little picture showed a sailboat, main furled and grey rain pouring down. It did make me think twice, but I had committed and wouldn't back out. Still, it looked like it would be a day memorable only because of damp discomfort.
We left the slip, cockpit seats wet from the nights rain and morning drizzle, and my wondering if my foulie bottoms would keep me dry for even the ride out the estuary. Somewhere around the Bay Bridge the last grey wave of the front rolled through dropping a bit of rain before revealing a brightening day. By the time the races were under way, the sun was out and I was putting on my sunglasses and sunscreen. The day was made more beautiful by means of the contrast of the morning.
The first race saw Leah put us in good starting position, but we were quickly outpointed and dropped by the faster boats. This really left me scratching my head. I had thought maybe it was a weight thing, that Kelly Shawn was heavier and that may be true, but I was also looking up at the sails with a little concern.
My sail trim ability is slowly developing and I doubt myself constantly, but there is definitely something up and I don't think it is solely an issue of old sails. I noticed there is a lot of mast rake aft. Enough that I had to wonder if all the boats were like that and I just hadn't noticed. After we finished the second race, we took the time to play with the main sail trim and here are the results.
We left the slip, cockpit seats wet from the nights rain and morning drizzle, and my wondering if my foulie bottoms would keep me dry for even the ride out the estuary. Somewhere around the Bay Bridge the last grey wave of the front rolled through dropping a bit of rain before revealing a brightening day. By the time the races were under way, the sun was out and I was putting on my sunglasses and sunscreen. The day was made more beautiful by means of the contrast of the morning.
The first race saw Leah put us in good starting position, but we were quickly outpointed and dropped by the faster boats. This really left me scratching my head. I had thought maybe it was a weight thing, that Kelly Shawn was heavier and that may be true, but I was also looking up at the sails with a little concern.
My sail trim ability is slowly developing and I doubt myself constantly, but there is definitely something up and I don't think it is solely an issue of old sails. I noticed there is a lot of mast rake aft. Enough that I had to wonder if all the boats were like that and I just hadn't noticed. After we finished the second race, we took the time to play with the main sail trim and here are the results.
The gray circle represents where I believe the deepest part the sail was while racing. It looked to be in the rear third of the sail and high. The red line shows an area where there is a stretch line near the sails foot and even with the outhaul released, the foot tends to be flat ( the sail has a foot shelf ).
After releasing the backstay to a more "out" position ( meaning looser) the mast still had a lot of rake back and some bend back from the spreaders. However, between that and some adjustment of the cunningham, we were able to get the deepest part of the sail to the midway point or maybe front third with the overall foil shape of the main looking much better.
So the line is gone and the draft is more forward instead of being back on the rear third of the sail, it was lower too. The Halyard, had been adjusted previously. At this point though, we noticed that when trimming the jib , the forestay had a significant amount of sag. The telltales were still looking OK all the way up. This left me wondering if the forestay is too long. I know it will have to be measured. I am going to have to consult with more knowing folks to see what their thoughts are.
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