The 31st annual Hagar regatta was a great time.
There was a cold front move in Friday, which kept a lot of people from showing, which was a shame because the weather was pretty good for this time of year. Sat was a little chilly but the sun was out and wind around 10, Sun was really nice but the wind a little lighter. Great fun for those who came out.
Once again though, I got nothing but great comments on the boat, and we really enjoyed sailing it.
I got everything back together Friday night and once again was assembling the thing for the 2nd time on the beach before a race. I managed to bring all the parts this time though and it was a lot more relaxing. The new tubing for the 1 piece pelican striker did not come in in time to get it fitted, but the mods I made for the old style worked OK. I now have the perfect excuse to fit out the modifications on the prototype though, because I managed to snap the spin pole in half first thing on Sunday. Note: they are not designed to support the full weight of a person not smart enoung to jump into water over their head and try to stop by grabbing the end of the pole on the way down.
Saturday the distance race of about 24 miles. It was a North South course with the wind out of the North, so some good upwind downwind work. It was somewhat variable peaking around 10 knots. We took off and around the first turning mark, most of the fleet went inside along the shore. We jibed for clear air and caught a wind line going close to the mark, but taking us slightly across the river. Right about the time I was congratulating myself on the call, we jibed and went into a huge hole of no wind, while we watched the rest of the fleet sail down to the mark at the 520 bridge. After many nasty comment to the wind gods we worked our way back to the west shore and managed to round the mark DFL. The Hobie 16s and 18s were even significantly ahead of us at that point. With nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the nice day we headed up wind. After a 10 mile upwind leg we had managed to work ourselves back into 3rd around the next mark. I do have to thank Chuck (Taipan 4.9) for rigging his spin wrong and having to stop on the water to restring it, and Dave Ingram (The only one at the skippers meeting to write the course down, and not only that but copy it to post on tape to both side of his front cross bar) for going the wrong way and having to sail back to an offset mark. While we did not have very much close head to head with those guys, after we came out of the hole and they let us go buy, we were able to keep ahead, so I felt the boat speed was pretty good. We easily made ground up wind on the rest of the fleet, and am learning a lot about the down wind on a 16 foot with spin. It kept feeling better as the day progressed. I need a few more to really get in groove with both the boat and how Gina and I are working together.
About a 1/2 mile from the finish, just after we had finally passed the pesky 5.5, the wind abruptly switched to the east. As we had the spin up, we tried to make it the 528 bridge. We almost did, but about 500 yard from it the angle was just too high to keep the spin full, and we had to snuff. The 5.5 squirted out on the reach ahead of us and we lost a little more ground snuffing. We did manage to get the jump on the maximally modified 5.2 sailed by Frank in that little wind change, as he had been dogging us all the way downwind. Each time it lulled a little, he would pull ahead. Each time we could sit on the same side of the boat, we would move buy him. After the 528 bridge it was a short run to the beach. We put the spin back up and almost manage to catch the 5.5, but ended up 3rd to the beach behind the I20 and the 5.5.
After many revisions to the scoring, I believe we correct out to 2nd.
My compliments again ti Phills hull design, as we really like this boat. Until I can get some more time to work out my loose nut behind the tiller issues and some more head to head competition, I am just guessing on my rigging settings. It feels fast, but I am sure there is a lot more there to be found.
