I plan on racing in the Staue of Liberty Race (39 mile race)this weekend. Winds are predicted to be 5-10 mph.

Here's my question. I have wings on a Nacra 6.0 w/spin. Do I remove them for the weight savings...or do I keep them on, and tell my 200lb son to trap out on them on the leward side and lift the windward hull for reduced wetted surface?

I'm inclined to keep them on, but given my lack of racing experience, I thought I'd post the question to the experts!!

Thoughts?

Bill Nieuwkerk

We have found trapping out on the leeward side to lift windward hull not to be especially fast. Getting weight forward to lift the transoms are more important, especially in drifters..

(which also, interesting enough, rakes the sailplan forward)

Good point, perhaps thats why

When I had agile and athletic crew we used to trap very far forward and to leeward and it made a significant difference.
To do so we had to rig a chicken line from the bow to hold the crew forward. Otherwise, it was almost impossible to stay forward on the trap.
Also, you had to have adjustable traps so you could raise yourself high enough to stay well clear of the water.

It can work, but probably wouldn't, so I wouldn't even try it.., unless your dead last -- then it won't make any difference.

Great Race, Good luck,
Rick

Take the wings off. The're dead weight. Although it sure is a nice place to sit while you drink a beer and eat a snack. I don't know it's a tough call.

The real question is... how much beer is enough on a 39 mile distance race in wind predicted to be 5-10 knots, assuming 1 beer consumed per person per hour. Also what amount of ice is required to keep said beer cold until all beer is consumed? Keep in mind you don't want to run out of beer before you finish and you don't want more ice than is necessary, why carry all that weight for nothing. Your constants are; rate of melt, and beer consumed per hour.

.....or murphy's law regarding wind predictions will rear it's ugly head and you'll wind up with 20 to 30.

Given the feedback, I'll leave the wings behind. But how far forward should we be? Sitting on the crossbar with our feet hanging over the front? Forward of the crossbar out on the hulls? Standing on the front foils?


Dave - You got to the heart of my real question - If I lose the wings, how many beers can I now carry on board?
Bill

It's a long boat, so you should go forward of the mainbeam if possible. On our T, crew lies down in front of the mainbeam, skipper sits just in front of the mainbeam (thats how we run it in drifters, moving back quite quickly when we get a gust as we feel a bit vulnerable there). Listen to the sound of water running at your transoms, when it goes quiet, you are far enough forward (this is in light wind conditions of course).

As mentioned, Murphy will strike and you will miss those wings to trapeze off. Bringing beer will garantee that it will be howling and no time to drink it
(Besides, I dont think sailing and alcohol mix up very well)

(Besides, I dont think sailing and alcohol mix up very well) ..

Rolf, in the US they do things differently, it seems.
I`ve heard that in Arizona you can take a shotgun into a bar, but you can`t order a drink if you do. Sounds perfectly sensible where I`m from .

Oh yes, and my advice for light wind racing ...
Don`t do it, man !! Any less than 5knots breeze, you`re better off not leaving the beach for the following reasons :
- You can`t run out of beer if you stay close to the bar.
- No matter how many beers you`ve had the platform remains relatively stable (up to a point.)
- You can fall face down in the sand and are unlikely to drown.

Steve

Steve, while it's more fun to race in a breeze, racing in light winds can be even more tense and more than a little bit frustrating. I think racing in light winds might just as valuable and educating, but the agony when your competitor find his own private wind..

Shotguns in bars.. Brrrr, sounds like a good excuse to stay at the beach, but then there probably aren't many beaches in Arizona

There are plenty of beaches in Arizona! There's just no water.

Isn't lack of water the difference between a nice beach and a desert? Ergo, there can not a beach without water?

Arizona has a great beach -- it's just that it happens to be in Mexico.

Actually, Arizona has three big and active beach-cat fleets. They have at least three reservoirs where they do their local events, but their major events are down on the Sea of Cortez.