SQUEAKING AHEAD OF
COMPETITORS
Tuesday June 10, 2014
Once again, another beautiful Santa Cruz evening with a
steady 10 knot wind from the northwest with no hint of it lessening through the
evening. We chose course 4:
Start-Wharf,Gov,Finish with a 6:10 start time.
We had 12 boats out for the evening.
On Pair a Dice, we knew a port tack start was preferred, but with this
many boats we opted for a starboard Tack start.
It’s better to have the right of way at the line.
We were a little early to the start and had to stall, but
were able to speed up for the finals seconds to the start. After the start, we all tacked toward wharf
trying to take advantage of all headers and lifts. Pair a Dice was moving
rather sluggishly: we could not get the boat up to speed and could not achieve
the weather helm we like to sail with when we go to weather. Homer told us over
dinner that we probably had kelp on the keel which we had checked but could not
see. Ultimately Homer in Blue Ribbon was the first to round Wharf with Diver Down
and Pacific Spirit right behind them with Pair A Dice trailing further behind.
As we rounded Wharf, we had our work cut out for us, with
three stiff competitors enjoying a substantial lead over us. Fortunately, Diver Down and Pacific Spirit
were involved with each other and both boats headed toward the end of the wharf. On Pair A Dice, we set the pole and headed
directly toward Gov. This angle of sail kept us in the wind, while
both Diver Down and Pacific Spirit seemed to sail into a hole at the end of the
wharf. By the time we rounded Gov, we
were just ahead of Pacific Spirit and heading toward start, still trying to
reel Blue Ribbon in. While Diver Down and Pacific Spirit were
entangled, we kept our lead and were able to round Start behind Blue Ribbon. Diver Down and Pacific Spirit rounded right
behind us. It was great looking over the course and
seeing many other boats battling it out in their respective races. This is the essence of our Tuesday nights:
whether fighting for first, third, fifth or seventh, we are all attempting to
get enough boat speed to squeak ahead of our competitors.
Secrets to squeaking ahead of competitors:
So you are attempting to keep ahead of a competitor or
overtake a competitor. What are the
little secrets to getting that little more speed to squeak ahead of a competitor? Some of it is preparation ahead of time:
bottom clean? boat as light as possible? Folding prop? Boat properly equipped
with proper sail inventory for current conditions? Has your keel and rudder been faired? If you have
prepared ahead of time, you can possibly out sail your competition by using
some other tricks: is your sail trim perfect? Is weight displaced appropriately
on your boat? (get crew out of the cockpit!), Is there a way to divorce
yourself from a pesky competitor to get clear air by sailing dramatically
higher or lower? (this is best attempted if you can catch your competitor off
guard). Are you using waves to your
advantage? (this can be a huge advantage in Santa Cruz: using waves to your
advantage!). Can you get to more advantageous
wind than your competitor? The tricks go on and on only waiting for your
observation and discovery.
A book could be written on each of the items mentioned in the
last paragraph and I will attempt to delve into these topics in the future. For
now, I will only say that a clean bottom is essential to speed. This does not require a diver to clean your
boat each week. You can keep your boat
bottom clean by using various devices that are inexpensive and easy to
make. Often crewmembers arrive at
different times. Earlier arrivers can
work to get the boat ready which means cleaning the bottom. At least you can use a deck brush to clean
the waterline and rudder which is better than nothing!
See you next Tuesday,
Barry L. Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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