What was your over-riding strategy for the day?

Saturday we felt that clear air, boatspeed and minimizing mistakes would produce the most effective results. Before the start, we decided that the current velocity was equal across the race course and our goal was to sail in the area of the course that had the greatest amount of pressure. This meant sailing more in the middle of the course after the start and working to the favored side as more pressure filled in.

Sunday we adopted a more conservative approach as the conditions dictated taking less chances and reducing the risk of gear failures, boat damage or crew injury.

What was your interpretation of the wind and wave conditions?

Saturday’s first race we saw the breeze shifting from the far right of 145 degrees to the far left of 114 degrees. Our head-to-wind readings produced a baseline reading of 135 degrees magnetic. With breeze in the 3 – 5 knot wind range and the water very flat we recognized we would be able to point higher in the puffs and would have to foot a in the light patches to maintain top speed.

Sunday’s breeze produced wind direction readings almost identical to Saturday. Before the start we noticed that the big puffs were of a greater frequency and intensity at the top end of the course. With the breeze driven chop coming downwind and the long period ocean swell coming in from the “Golden Gate”, this combination produced a much choppier set of conditions on the bottom half of the course compared to the top. Current wise, we saw the strong effect of the ebb right up to the last two hundred yards to the weather mark. We were expecting the flood to fill down the beach and strengthen as the race progressed.

What were your primary tactical objectives regarding weather conditions?

Saturday, by watching the classes starting ahead of us, we were able to detect a progressive left shift towards the top end of the course. We planned on tactically positioning ourselves slightly to the left of our competition to take advantage of the left shift by putting ourselves on the inside of “the pinwheel” sailing a shorter distance to the layline. By coming in as close as practical to the port layline we would minimize the time we’d spend on the headed starboard tack approach. This same pattern replicated itself in the second race.

On Sunday, we saw how the ebb current swept the boats in the starts ahead of us to the right hand side of the course, forcing them to have to sail up-current on the headed starboard tack at the weather mark. We also detected strong shifts to the left every time a big puff came through. We chose to sail much further to the left than we would normally so that we’d be inside on the lifts/puffs and minimize the time spent on the headed down-current approach on starboard tack.

What was your rig setup and were you happy with it?

Saturday in the first race we initially set up our rig at the 0 – 5 knot setting and then before the start we backed it down one half a setting below 0 – 5 knots. In really light airs we look for approximately 10” of forestay sag. We lose a little pointing ability but this setting produces good boatspeed. On the second race Saturday we set-up our rig for 6 -9 knots and it performed well for us.

Sunday we set-up our rig ½ a tuning range looser than the maximum rig tuning guide setting (18+ knots). We tuned with the lowers proportionally tighter that the normal tuning guide set-up. We hoped that this would allow the top/tip of the mast to bend off to leeward, more than normal, allowing the rig to de-power itself in the 30+ knot gusts.

How was your upwind boatspeed and height?

We constantly struggle with our identity as “a footer” or as “a pincher”. We know that different boats in the Fleet fit these profiles.  The majority of the time we sail as a”footer” believing that good boatspeed cures a broad range of ills. We felt that in both of the Saturday races there were two or three boats either sailing higher and/or faster than we were. To answer the question directly, we can’t quite hold on to the fastest boats and we can’t quite point with the highest boats, so we are working very hard to live in the middle.

On Sunday we were definitely higher and slower going to windward.  We had a full leg to judge our performance, boat to boat, with “Casual Contact”. Ned consistently sailed faster and slightly lower than us on the last beat. We saw that it was “net even” over most of the leg and we used one shift near the finish to gain a couple of boatlengths.

Especially when your boatspeed and height were good, how were your sails trimmed and what were you focusing on when driving?

We normally trim 3” to 4” off the spreader to ensure maximum boatspeed. In the really flat water of Saturday morning we were able to go to 2“ to 3” off the spreader and maintain reasonable speed. In a few cases we went to “full on” point mode and trimmed to 1” off the spreader to work above the bubble/disturbed air of another boat.

On Sunday we used the trimming technique that we’ve worked on with our coach. We tried to synchronize the easing of both the main and jib as we were hit by each of the big gusts. Our goal was to keep the boat flat, helm neutral and still maintain good boatspeed. We set our boom vang as hard as we could by having a crew member sit on the boom while we were tightening the vang. This allowed me to ease and re-trim the main whilst still keeping enough leach tension and not letting the mainsail turn inside out and flog – “vang sheeting”. By trimming the jib and main out together we maintain balance and keep the boat tracking, thus, losing less distance to leeward.

How was your downwind boatspeed and depth?

On Saturday we tended to sail higher than the rest of the Fleet. We learned in Vancouver and Marblehead that to get maximum boatspeed from a J/24 in really light airs you need to sail just aft of an apparent wind beam reach. We set the spinnaker pole about one foot aft of the forestay and trimmed from there. The more the breeze comes up you can then start sailing deeper angles. We have our spinnaker trimmer tell me when the spinnaker sheet load starts to go soft and then I drive back up until the chute loads back up again. In the second race, we set our pole about halfway between the forestay and shrouds and sailed that angle except when a puff of breeze came through, then we trimmed the guy aft and sailed a lower angle with a good amount of load on the sheet.

Sunday we rounded and chose to wing the jib out on the spinnaker pole. This is a tactic that we use when the breeze blows over 30 knots. This sail plan configuration allows us to keep the boat really stable and flat while sailing a low angle to the leeward mark. On the run on Sunday, we were actually able to sail directly at the leeward mark.

What was your downwind sail trim?

We’re learning the importance of keeping the pole both level with the water and the pole tip down to set the windward leach of the spinnaker as close to vertical as possible. We’re also delaying moving from the lower spinnaker pole ring to the upper ring to help keep both the luff and center seam of the spinnaker vertical. The lower tack position allows the upper leach of the spinnaker to twist open and induce more flow across the sail, which equals more power.

How were your starts?

The first start we had a clear air hole one third of the way up from the pin. The second start we missed the big left shift and followed Rail to Rail across the line at the pin, whereas Take Five immediately slammed to port and punched out ahead of the whole Fleet.

Sunday, we were able to find a clear air hole at the pin on time.

How were your tacks and jibes?

In Saturday’s conditions we were aggressively roll tacking the boat and, as we were reach to reach gybing, we were executing much softer roll gybes. By aggressively roll gybing in really light air you can unload all the wind out of the spinnaker and it is a net loss.

Sunday we were having a little trouble in getting the jib trimmed effectively in the really big gusts. We decide to not use the Lopez blocks after the start and trimmed the same way we do before the start utilizing an in-cockpit cross sheeting model. It took the two of us working the winch handle to get the last few inches of trim.

How were your mark roundings (driving and boathandling)?

The one area we’ve focused on over the last six months of our training program is our mark roundings. At the North Americans in Vancouver and Marblehead we were being regularly slammed at mark roundings. We are much improved and it is an area where we are now holding our own. One of the most difficult things to judge is, “When is it the right time to take down the chute?” We’re developing a system where the crew makes the call on the takedown and I have the right for a “tactical override” when it is warranted. We’ve learned to take it down a little earlier when it’s blowing and you can wait a little later than you think when the breeze is light. Of the three leeward mark roundings, we passed one boat at the approach to the rounding and held one off another. At the weather mark roundings we held off three boats at three separate roundings, so all and all our execution is much improved.

Did you have any boat to boat tactical encounters that were significant?

In each race we had one, and sometimes two, tactical encounters that changed the outcome of our regatta. In the first race we were able to get close enough, a five foot overlap to leeward, to Take Five to pin them outside of the starboard gybe layline to the mark. When they finally gybed we gybed right on their bow, clear ahead, allowing us to pass them, round ahead and finish second.   In the second race on Saturday we were working up the final beat to the finish line when Running with Scissors came in from the right and tacked to put a tight cover on us. We kept hitching to the left to break Jim’s tight cover and were unsuccessful. We were worried about tacking too many times and losing boats on the right so we finally decided to try and live right on his transom going up to the finish line on port tack. We trimmed the boat to full on point mode and were able to work a boatlength to windward of Jim and clear our air. As the puffs came down from the top of the course we picked up small lifts each time and were able to work out to windward some more. We finally got one big lift, a 30 degree shift that launched us way up. When Running with Scissors tacked to starboard we were able to clear them, protect the right at the top of the beat and went into the finish at the favored end – a third place.

On Sunday we had a dueling match with Rail to Rail for the pin end where we tried to pin them over the line early. Rich was coming in from the port end on port, we went right at him he tacked in front of us, we tried to luff him and Rich did a great job of getting across our bow which left us on his transom again. We then both dialed up head to wind and hung on the line. Lou Anna told me we were over early so I dove down hard, cleared the line, and went for a spot just up from the pin. Rail to Rail ended up over early at the pin and we had the left corner to ourselves.

Going around the weather mark on Sunday Ned was slightly to windward and outside of us. The two boats were separated by less than 10 feet. Ned made it look like he was going to hoist the chute, we decided to pole out the jib. Ned’s team held there jib by hand and crossed our stern to get the inside overlap. WE trimmed our poled out jib and sailed right at the leeward mark. We were able to pull about one boatlength ahead of Ned to break the overlap and give us a clean leeward mark rounding. We then put a loose cover on Ned and worked our way up to the finish. We crossed a few times going up the beat, once as close as 20 feet. We hit a shift on the last tack and sailed into the favored end of the finish line. We were able to gain a few boatlengths right at the end of the beat. Great racing, there’s none better!