[Public-List] Last Wednesday night race of 2013

[Gordon Laco]

Hello friends,

Last night SURPRISE sailed her last Wednesday night race of the 2013 season.
This year was for us the worst on record for free time and cruising, but
conversely, it was the best we¹ve ever had with regard to mid-week racing.
With our old boat, and sails in their mid-life, we managed to take first
place in our fleet in each of the three summer series.   We race in a mixed
fleet under PHRF and I¹m pleased to say that at least two of the dozen or so
boats we faced regularly are very good competitors with whom we had many
terrific battles.  We¹re the only Alberg 30 that races where we sail... Some
day I really hope I can bring my crew to an A30 event and see what we can do
in a one-design fleet.

We¹re the only full keeled yacht that races in our club (with the exception
of a sliver of a 5.5 Mtr class yacht but she¹s in A Fleet so we never really
cross swords with her)    We race against a couple of C&C30¹s, a C&C27, a
27¹ Aloha built Cuthbertson designed boat (he was the first ŒC¹ of C&C), a
CS27, a Schock 23, some Tanzer¹s Catalina¹s and a Pearson 28.  There is a
squabbling mob of Shark class yachts in our fleet, but they compete with
each other so we try not to cross them and they generally try not to cross
us.

In general performance, we find we cannot point like even the flabbiest of
our competitors;  but we¹ve got boat speed on them so long as the wind is
over 5kts and under 20.  Outside those parameters we are markedly slower.
We¹ve found that we¹re very competitive in lighter air in flat water; once
we get SURPRISE moving she tends not to want to stop so long as I don¹t ask
her to do too many wiggles or tacks.  At starts, I try to give her a good
run up to the line because I can¹t count on her accelerating like our foes
can; and I try to never start with a competitor close under my lee because I
know that they can lift us past where we can sail full and by if they¹re
inclined to be aggressive.    We try to start well, then defend our position
by covering boats we see are threatening us... Or splitting tacks if they
get by in hopes rolling the dice,  taking advantage of a shift.

We find when beating, SURPRISE is very sensitive to the state of her outhaul
tension.  We generally sail with a bit of lee on the boom, not amidships
like I know we¹re supposed to, and we play the outhaul to flatten the sail
and minimize lee helm (our main is in very good shape, still in the blush of
youth).  We find that in light air, hard on the wind, we make excessive
leeway if the speed goes below 2knots, so I¹ve steeled myself to have the
discipline not to try to jam her up as high as she¹ll go, rather to lay off
a few degrees to foot along and keep speed up.  It¹s dismaying to see
competitors climb to weather, but in the long run keeping up boat speed and
minimizing leeway pays off.   (in complete contrast, my old Folkboat used to
outpoint anything on the water but a Soling, and didn¹t seem to suffer from
what SURPRISE deals with with regard to leeway...)

Once around the windward mark, our good crew work really pays off.  I
haven¹t had to Œnarrate¹ everybody¹s jobs for them for a long time so all I
say as we¹re coming to the mark is ŒOK guys, think about the hoist¹  and
they give me sour looks which mean Œya, we know¹.   As we round, the pole is
going up and the spinnaker¹s gear is being hooked up.  Peter at the mast
glances at me with his hands on the halyard and I just nod.  Up goes the
spinnaker, in comes the sheet and away goes the genoa about that fast.
Outhaul cast off, main eased, spinnaker pulling, we¹re fast in all
conditions reaching or off the wind.  We¹ve gotten good at gybing the chute
so there¹s no inhibition to doing it when Œtacking¹ downwind makes sense to
keep speed up or for tactical reasons.

Our douses are generally slick ­ again not much is said.  I start things by
saying Œok start thinking about the douse¹ as we approach the leeward mark.
When everything is ready (generally without discussion) I start things by
saying Œbombs away!¹ and not much else.  The guy shackle at the end of the
pole is popped and the spinnaker streams away behind the newly reset genoa
held by it¹s sheet and halyard.  It¹s recovered into the companionway,
sliding in under the boom.  The mast man and foredeck crewmember clear up
gear, put the sheets and halyard back up forward then pack the chute.  Fast,
light footed and efficient.

I guess this long piece is a tribute to my crew.  They¹re good sailors,
great company and it¹s a pleasure to sail with them.  I think we¹ve all got
a fair deal of affection for SURPRISE and we enjoy sailing her well.  Most
satisfying of all, we all enjoy the good sportsmanship practiced by the
boats we do battle with, an which we do our best to practice ourselves.

It was a very good year for racing, I¹m sorry it¹s over, but very much
looking forward to next year.   We¹ve only got The Misery Trip(s) between us
and haul-out at the end of October.

Gord #426 Surprise