I used to moan about "crapshoot" races too - until I realized that a handful of sailors consistently won them. They couldn't have been "in the right place at the right time" so often simply by luck. Sometimes, yes, the gods pick a boat and give it private wind around the course, but that is not typical. These races are usually won by sailors who play the odds for maximum return and minimum risk - much like poker.

I don't think Jake's (and others') success was due to luck, or rig tune. They did it by reading the wind, keeping their momentum, adjusting sail trim, and maintaining concentration. Go where the wind is, "present your boat for Mother Nature" (a la Buddy Melges), and you'll do well.

The first race at Catfest was started in almost no air, and light chop. A very light breeze came in across the course pretty evenly (I thought). I just concentrated on sailing with speed.

The second race brought more chop, and light flukey winds. The breeze seemed a bit better on the left side of the course, but the big factor was sail trim. The oscilliations were coming faster than I could steer, so I had to point low and adjust the sails constantly. The waves were a big consideration too, as they could stop a boat dead. This race was frustrating for me, as I got out of phase with the shifts and tacked into a bunch of headers.

The third race brought a persistent wind shift to the right. The people who recognized the shift and went right cleaned up. I misread the wind on the first weather leg, but caught up by sailing the right side thereafter. The wind was very squirrely around the weather mark, and it was tough to round.

Sunday's first race (number four) had flat water and nice, reasonably steady wind. Not enough for me to trap out, but I did hike hard a few times. The course, and start were port favored. I started on port tack at the pin, jumped out to an early lead, and spent the race extending.

The fifth race was also very port favored at the start but had little wind. I couldn't make it all the way to the pin before the gun, so I started mid-line on port tack. The wind lightened further, and then filled in from the left. Those boats who were watching tacked towards it immediately, caught the breeze, and pulled away. I stayed in the middle-left, tacked early, and rode a nice lift to the mark. I kept near that lane for the rest of the race and pulled ahead until the wind died. A catch-up wind brought the fleet closer on the last leg, but it petered out behind me and I drifted across the finish line. At one point, I was sailing on an apparent wind generated by the chop rocking my boat.

So, we had a variety of winds: moderate and steady, light with rapid oscillations, clocking, and patchy. The water ranged from flat, to light chop, to close-packed tall motorboat wake. The favored side of the course switched from race to race. The starts were port-favored, sometimes so heavily that you couldn't fetch the pin on starboard tack.

Jake read the changing conditions right and sailed his boat to 5 firsts. Nigel had one difficult race, but dominated the low-portsmouth division overall. I was frustrated during the second and third races (I had trouble with the chop), but was mollified when I saw the overall high-portsmouth standings.

The social aspect of Catfest was great. The group was laid-back and friendly. The weather (off the course) and facilities were fantastic. I'm glad that Joleen and I went. I only wish that more people could have made it.

Regards,
Eric

Wow! Eric.. thanks for the blow by blow with each race(pardon the pun).. I must have lost some brain cells Sat night and lost the details in my short term memory.

It did present a lot of different conditions and Experience, patience, and strict concentration were KEY in that type of racing..... Jake is master of these attributes.

Your comment on keeping boat momentum was key for me.. the quick and persistent oscillations were tough.. I just tried to keep my sheets lose and kept the boat driving a little deeper upwind even at times that my tale tells were telling me to lift. A few times I was suckered into pointing up, then stall out.

I'll share with you one thing I noticed that helped quite a good deal with speed and adjusting for the big shifts. I didn't think the wind was all THAT variable except for the last race on Sunday. However, there was a large difference and a lot of shifting between the wind on the water and the wind 20 feet in the air - it was a very big deal to look at your entire sail top to bottom and tune your twist accordingly. At times, there was a 15 degree difference in the direction of the wind at the top of my mainsail and what the bridle tells were saying. I was constantly adjusting mainsail twist to catch that different angle when sailing up and downwind. Only once on the first beat on the last Sunday race did I get stuck and I had some CRAZY wind at the top and the bottom - I had a slight breeze at a good close hauled heading down low but the boat was in irons for a good 60 seconds. I never did figure out what was happening up top but we did actually check under the boat to make sure we hadn't snagged something.

I've sailed quite a bit up there over the years and am used to what the land does to the breeze - which helps anticipate where the breeze will be. You balance that knowledge with visual observation to build a start / first leg strategy. That area of that lake has some very specific trends that you can count on. I'll be glad to share what I think I know if you'll share the same with me - just ask. That's one thing Trey taught me when he first started beating me regularly. He was asking questions of everyone - I had gotten too proud. Once off the line, you try to maintain leverage on your competition who may have gone on a flier to the opposite side or go after whoever is in front of you while trying to hedge your course to whatever side you think is going to get the pressure or the shift...tack on the shift first, and you'll gain every tack. Very often we would end up going up the middle because 2/3rds of the 20's went right when I really wanted to go left.

That technique works when racing in a one design fleet but it won't work out so well for portsmouth racing. Being on a boat with the lowest rating means you have to abandon most protection / leverage / fleet racing and just go where you think you need to be to get around the course the fastest and stay clean and clear.

Thats an unfair advantage - when you can actually SEE your top telltales.

I can't.

I can't see the A-mark either from the start line :P

Jake (or should I say MR PRESIDENT), Now I know why you are worthy to wear that cape. I'm going to print out your last post and read it before next year's Cat Fest. Maybe next year I'll mount a big butt vane on top of my mast.

That will teach me. Next time I bring the bottle of rum TO the meeting so I don't have to leave.

por que?

Do you have crew sitting to leeward? They can watch the upper luff telltale and tell you when its stalling.

Do you have leach tales?

yeah - I have crew (insanely talented crew at that).... but its much less intuitive to have the crew telling me how to sail to my tell tales as opposed to me just looking at them

And just to clarify... yes I can SEE them... I can see that they're there, I just can't see what direction they're going... up or down or upside down :P

Gotta get some scrip shades man....I do and love it.

There ain't no scripts that can fix the 3 laser treatments in ole righty and the vitrectomy in lefty

I talked to Jody on the water while we were drifting around and he said that theres an injection I can get in righty that might help some... but the damage hath been done

Tad,
I can fix that for you. I just need rum and a razor blade and a hammer.

Tad, Tad, Tad ...

The problem wasn't w/ your eyes ... the problem was you where in the wrong race. The NASS Race was excellent this year and you should have been there visiting your family in Oxford ... we needed someone to ride herd on the Todd-ster !!!!

Glad you had a great weekend ... but you N-20 guys need to come up here one year and kick some PRF A0 butt!!! There is nothing like it, trading tacks w/ a 70ft boat (and pissing Mr Muldune off)

Next year we need to have this two events schedule to NOT conflict.

Harry

Well, Sadly if you're looking for someone to give Todd a run for his money, I need to practice some more :P

I need to support my local fleet. The N20's had the largest OD fleet at Catfest and we've even had a regular N20 sit this one out. Could have had 8 of us on the line!

Overall it was a great weekend for the N20. Line Honors at the NASS race, biggest fleet at Catfest, and sounds like it had some good things said about it down at Juana's

Good point Tad,
I've always wanted to do Catfest and have an interest in NASS. I just can't make myself miss Juana's. Maybe we can somehow tweak the schedule. FWIW, Juana's has been the weekend after Labor day since its inception in 1985ish.

I'm guessing that the NASS Oxford race will move into the third weekend in September next year or the year after. Its been creeping up the schedule.

I think Catfest was started at a similar time, the weekend after Labor Day. Maybe Mark or someone else knows the exact year as I recall him wearing a Catfest shirt from the early-mid 90s. I always thought the history of the LNYC multihull fleet was cool, with the majority of the fleet being composed of 18 squares.

Juana's has some cool history as well, they have the artwork for each years' t-shirt framed and mounted encircling the main pagoda. Very cool.

I did a catfest in '98 ,and it seemed to be well established then. So it may go back farther than you think. There was a bunch of 18 squares there at the time. I was trying to rebuild one, so was extremely interested in all their mods. so are such cool boats if you have somewhere to leave it set up.

I'm not sure of the origin of Cat Fest, but it probably started around 91-92. In the late 80's/ early 90's the Lake Norman regatta was in April (Spring Forward Regatta) and held at a couple different sites. I think a park one year and country club(which is now a neighborhood) a couple years. I remember freezing my butt off one day in freezing rain one April Saturday. When they moved it to the Lake Norman Yacht club, they have been locked in on the weekend they can hold it. So it would be doubtful that it would ever change from the weekend after Labor Day. I've asked before to see if they could make it later in the fall, so maybe there would be more wind.. but the club has so many other events scheduled that there are not any other dates available.

My friend Ceasar Cone just sent me this. Ceasar and Lee Holman (Holman & Moody) were the Hobie dealers in Charlotte in the day.

<<Jack, would you believe I didn't even go by the Catfest this year. Also this weekend, on Lake Norman, was the Charlotte Antique Boat Show. I displayed my recently acquired 1933, 21' triple **** Chris Craft, a boat my grandmother purchased new. I put at least five hours on it over three days. It's pretty much original. You need to come see it.

Through the '70's and '80's the local Hobie fleet (92?, 97?) hosted an annual points regatta each spring at Cowans Ford Country Club. The fleet championships were held each fall. When Duke Power decided to develop a residential subdivision at Cowans Ford, the multihull fleet relocated to Outrigger Harbor (now the Penninsula Yacht Club) and The Lake Norman Multihull butt'n was formed (to include the Nacra's, 18 squares, etc.). I think their invitational regatta was a fall event that became Catfest. I could reconstruct some of these dates by digging out old t-shirts and trophies.>>