SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 GUSTY EVENING

SEPTEMBER 10, 2019

GUSTY EVENING

It looked like a south wind night from the harbor, but upon entering the ocean the northwest wind was still very apparent with gusts up to 20 knots.  We had 12 boats out for the fun.  Kicks and crew were kind enough  to set the buoy and call the course in my absence.  The course was called G2: start to gov, blacks and finish.  The 5 minute horn was blown for a 6pm start.

First off the start line was Pacific Spirit followed by Kicks as the pack all headed to Gov.  From the description I got, it must have been a wild time with the 20 knot gusts. After rounding Gov, everyone filed around Blacks and made their way to the finish line.

At the finish it was Pacific Spirit 28:20, Kicks 30:27, Dusk to Dawn 34:45, Nidaros 38:28 and Sandpiper 42:16.  The length of the course was 2.45 miles.

Thanks to Fred Molnar for providing a description of this gusty evening for me!

Race QS:

It is par for the course that we had 12 boats out, but only 5 recorded. Boats not using this app do not understand what they are missing.  It is an ultimate tool to improve your sailing.

The track for this night is at: https://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId=1072689&divisionId=61843&updatedAt=2019-09-11T01:51:58Z&dt=2019-09-10T17:55:21-07:00..2019-09-10T18:51:53-07:00&boat=Nidaros%20II&time=1568166190283&focus=Dusk%20To%20Dawn&rival=Nidaros%20II%202&tab=match&view=follow&lat=36.949992&lon=-121.996633&tilt=1&range=1798&heading=308

In order to learn the most from your race QS track, I suggest you open the tab on the left side of the screen. On the bottom of this open screen there are several tabs (Icons).  I like to select the 3rd tab from the left that has two boats and vs in the icon.  This will open a list of all boats that have recorded.  Pick your boat and the boat that is your competitor.  After picking the two boats you want to observe there are about 7 boxes on the bottom of the open window, I like to highlight the 2^nd 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th box. When the arrow window is closed again, you will notice two boats (you selected) that have a cone in front giving all data about these two boats performance.  A dot is dropped every second at the front of the cone showing where you are steering.  You want to see these dots very closely grouped, showing you are steering a straight line.  You also have noted in this cone, your angle of heel, VMG, SOG. 

If you have highlited the box with a white circle and a T inside, every time your boat tacks there will be a white dot with a T in it where you tacked.  You can click on the white circle T dot and it opens a window showing 8 characteristics of your tack and how efficient it was.

CURSES, FOILED AGAIN!

If it were not for the physics of foils, sailboats would never be able to sail to weather. Understanding and maximizing these foils is crucial to improving your sailing.  The main foils driving your boat are the 2 sails, your keel and your rudder.  The effectiveness of foils is improved when the medium (water or wind) is not disturbed and are able to attach to the outer rounded part of the foil. When a boat is sailing to weather, for every pound of pressure on the back of the sail there are 5 pounds of suction PULLING the boat forward.  To a lesser degree the same physics apply to the under water foils. In order for foils to work efficiently the wind or water must attach and stay attached to the outer curve of the foils.

To demonstrate the importance of this attachment. Take a piece of paper about 4 inches wide and drag it lightly over the corner of a table so the paper is curved.  Hold the paper to your lips and blow across the outer curve.  The paper should be pulled up by the suction of your breath. Now take the same piece of paper and crumple it lightly in your hands, draw it over the corner again so you have a crumpled curve of paper.  Blow across it again and notice how the crumpled surface is not pulled up as much. This is because the flow of the wind is not attached to the paper as well.

We do not have crinkled sails, keels or rudders on sailboats, but there are many ways we can disturb the flow around the foils on our boat. Not steering a straight line is one predominant way.  Every time you change direction, even minimally destroys the attachment to the foils. Proper trim of sails maximizes attachment of wind to the sails.   Another key element is maintaining the same angle of heel.  This is critical also and is accomplished by active trimming of the main by the mainsail trimmer. This is critical on nights such as this when the wind is gusting.  Do everything you can to keep the boat at the same angle of heel! Looking at your track on Race QS can reveal how you can improve your performance.

See you next Tuesday.

Barry Keeler

Sailing Pair a Dice