F 16 Worlds about to get rolling in Newport

http://f16worlds2014.org/welcome

Are you going Bert?

Mike

Wish I could, but I am busy with local sailing this year so far. I hope they do enjoy a bit of "Chamber" weather. My son is using our boat in his summer sailing camp at Pensacola Yacht Club, and Michael is now the captain of his high school cheerleading team. I hope we get the J 29 in a race or two this fall.

I'm rolling out in about half an hour. Newport via Nashville, makes sense right?

The Great Circle route? ;^)

Southern version

I'm filling in as a last minute crew replacement, should be fun

Ahh...the Great-er Circle route!

When you get to Oprey Land, say Hi to Dolly for me!

NOR has several options for courses: W/L and America's Cup (even one day for distance race).

Anyone attending wish to share their preferences?

Mike

Holy smash-up, an A.C. course with a fleet of F16s!? (or F18s, etc.)? That would be awesome to watch but would probably result in a lot of carbon and fiberglass pieces floating in the water. Consider me intrigued at the thought.

I see a sailing version of one of THESE coming

Watching the AC45s fleet race on that course was awesome, with surprisingly little carnage. Reaching starts tend to be harder to perfect, allowing for some natural separation to occur.

Maybe they'll get drone footage...

Mike

Webcam of today's Red Gear Racing Practice with the Newport to Bermuda race start in the bacground.
Looks like 6 F16s out in 8-9 knots.
http://old.riyachting.com/newport-rhode-island-webcams.html

Reaching start in a high speed fleet? I don't think so. I had enough trouble with the reaching finish at Sarasota.

Reaching starts don't work well with lots of boats.. We tried it during the America's Cup World Series, kind of by accident. All the boats got to the windward mark at the same time and the leeward mark for that matter. Scary

Scary yes... but also awesome. Those races were also about ten minutes long, so not much time to separate.

Personally, I would rather a standard start, but having a trapezoid or something with a reach would be fun.

This will be my first F16 regatta...

I'm a big fan of the trapezoid course and with big fleets it is brilliant. I also liked the smoking reach to the finish at Americas. You'd think a short reach to the finish in breeze would be a parade, oh no there be passing lanes and crew work is king! Yes, grandpa got passed, still loved it though!

Same here...you couldn't relax on that reach and if you didn't make the right kite/no kite decision, it could be costly. Andy got me once there at Americas (he seems to do that to me a lot).

The OA put it in, presumably because the class wants it. I guess time will tell...

I am a huge fan of the trapezoids, especially for multiple fleets sharing a course. I sort of talked the HCA into it for the NAs in DE a few years ago, it got mixed reviews, probably because it was so new (and requires lots of good resources).

Mike

Without a doubt the trapezoid course places additional demands on the RC team and competent support is a must to make it work. The course takes a lot or realestate but WOW what a great course for the sailors and when the breeze and seastate kicks up it is an absolute hoot for the sailors! The pucker factor kicks up a notch when the boat 3 meters above or below you eats it. That double trapped spin reach to the other side can really thin the herd. In my opinion it is a must for big fleets and Worlds type of events. It gives you an opportunity to exercise every skill you have in the toolbox. GO TRAPAZOID :-)

I'd be curious to hear negatives of the the trapzaoid course.

Jeff - you are thinking clearly, and may the F 16 Force be with you. They are snappy little boats for sure.

The trapezoid works for Optis, and it works for Lasers, Finns, and 470s.

The 2009 ISAF World Youth Qualifier (Laser, 420, and Hobie 16s), out of Long Beach Yacht Club, presented them.

I have to agree with Jeff and Dave here.

Mike, what ya think?

Bad idea for a fleet of mixed singlehanded and two up boats.
Stick with windward/leeward with an even number of legs.

I answered that above, Bert. I've been running various styles of trapezoids for longer than I can remember for monohull fleets. They're perfect for cats.

As for the AC courses, time will tell how much demand we see at the regatta.

Singlehanded boats can't handle a reach or trapezoid? Really, Karl?????

Mike

You ever raced a single handed, high performance, light weight spinnaker cat on a tight reach Mike?

It's a lot of work, with no extra hands to help.

I was trying to inject humor here...

I'm thinking the reaches need to be tight enough to take spinnakers out of the equation until you turn the corner to go downwind. I seem to remember that for the AC boats.

Again, I'm looking for feedback. The OA thinks this is a good idea. One of my bigger pet peeves is when NORs or SIs say they'll do something like this, people get excited about it, then they never try. Or worse, they do try, but people can't handle their cheese being moved.

Mike

Handle it okay. But the performance difference without the jib and without another body on the wire is a bit disparaging.

One of several mysteries of the class rules...

What would you guys think of speed runs like in the ACWS?

Mike

no F16 here but I did like the trapezoid at the F18 worlds and the reach finish at Sarasota.

This can happen if not careful.
3

I feel the sloop vs. uni thing works fine so long as it is windward/leeward and there's an even number of legs. Some conditions certainly favor one setup more than the other, but for the most part it works. Get a uni boat to really haul butt is tough though, that really tiny jib makes a huge difference there as does the ballast on a reach.

I speed run would be fun.

And who's fault is that?

E-ZAY BIG GUY!

Beautiful weather for Day 1. Four practice races (S-W-F), smiles all around.

Some logistical challenges, starts moving out to noon each day. No AC course, but a hook/reach finish added at the request of the International Class President.

Should be a great week.

Mike

Four races today, perfect conditions. Average breeze was 14 knots with gusts to 18-20, sea breeze dialed right in, and nice flat water. Would have run a fifth, but one third of the fleet was ashore by the fourth race...

Results will be posted shortly (Class meeting underway).

Mike

Results are up...

http://f16worlds2014.org/assets/F16%20Worlds%20Results.pdf

Mike

What happened to these guys they ok?
25
Ben Brown/Andrew Wilkenson

Broke a daggerboard which then cracked their trunk. Should be sailing today. Bummed for them.

Looks like Ravi/Sam have recovered nicely from a breakdown in Race 1 (just assuming from the scoring line).

Broke their spin halyard in race one. Started race two late, apparently too late for the RC. They were launched in races 3 and 4, impressive sailing.

Just saw an amendment that they added a course 7 and 8 for today. Would prefer longer legs instead of 4 laps!

Edit: Spin halyard block

Hey Jeff,

I believe that is Keenan Madewell (not Maxwell), from St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club, in Panama City. Katie is from Miami Yacht Club or Ft Lauderdale Yacht Club, if my AARP memory serves me.

I hope all is going well, and the Red Gear tent is rockin', as usual:-) I wish you, David, and Ravi, well, but we gotta root for our home (GYA) boy, Keenan.

Give Mike my best if he is amongst y'all.

Updated scores are up:

http://f16worlds2014.org/assets/F16%20Worlds%20Results%202.pdf

Redress given to Robert Brunger due to damage sustained in a collision with another boat.

Four more races today, quite shifty and challenging for all. Somewhat lighter breeze, with enough puffs and shifts to keep everyone on their toes.

Regarding all of the alphabet soup, paraphrasing the very wise class leadership, the first rule about Fight Club is...

Suffice it to say, challenging conditions have caused a number of breakdowns, both physically and mentally.

Two days in, two rescue swimmers needed to help right boats (one was a local Hobie 16 sailor, friend of mine). Lots of cool wipeouts, and some separated crews. A great job by all of the RC boats keeping up with the mayhem. Several competitors who were done yesterday came out in wetsuits to help on RC boats today.

There are two great coaches who are also invaluable this week: Jill Nickerson and her team from Red Gear Racing, and Jim Zellmer who is currently coaching in Sarasota, but has been a longtime racer in New England.

For the past two days, a rather large (moored) tanker has taken some options away regarding course length (and affecting number of laps). Jeff thinks sailing around this thing is fun, no one followed... It's scheduled to depart in about an hour from now, shouldn't be a problem on Thursday.

Forecast is a bit dicey (rain/lightning), we'll see how it shapes up in the morning. We've had one sailor in the group actually ask/beg us to go to five races per day yesterday and today to get ahead of schedule for the pending weather. She was the only competitor who felt that way...

Eight races completed. Seven more races in the schedule. They get another discard after one more race.

Apologies for not posting live updates from the water. We've had our hands full, and are fully committed to the quality of the races.

Mike

Any bio on the leading pair?

let google do the walking

Looks like it is shaping to be a three way race for 1st - IF they get one more race in. Points after another throw out (based on my questionable math):

Adrian/Jessie 12 points
Robbie/Catherine 12 points
Ravi/Sam 13 points

There are enough good sailors that there is some potential for one of the top teams to get other boats between them and the other two top boats creating some separation. Should be an interesting final day.

Glad to see Matt/Gina back in it.

Currently under postponement until 2pm. The Etchels are out and the PRO is talking to theirs. Sounds like they are under postponement until 4pm. Well see what happens.

I can make all the excuses in the world, but I'm sailing very poorly. The forecast for yesterday was heavier than Tuesday so I didn't go out solo and jumped on a boat with a kid who's skipper want feeling well.

I blame the typos on my phone.

No racing today. Three separate votes to postpone at 1030, 1200 and 1400 (per RRS 90.1, the RC is running races per the OA, who chose to conduct votes). The last postponement is until tomorrow (rather than sail until sunset with a dicey forecast).

Light, squirrely, not fun. For most of the day, the only good breeze was south of the race course area. The forecasts were conflicting, and we sought the opinion of the Etchells RC, as well as other local weather gurus.

Hindsight being 20/20, we may have squeaked in a couple of light and shifty ones, and maybe one good one, but we only had so much ESP available...

The forecast for the late shift was about right, but came with the danger of thunderstorms, which are just about upon us now...

Also, the red boat never moved, will hopefully be gone tomorrow (I'll believe it when I see it at this point).

So, L is up with AP over A, flying on the Hobie Wave mast (official flagpole).

The L is for an earlier start, and later finish tomorrow. We're shooting for 5 more races.

Weather forecast currently says NE 5-10 knots. That is 180 degrees from prevailing here, so should be quite interesting...

Mike

FYI...

The first vote at 1030 was unanimous to postpone (there had been fog and very little breeze).

At noon, they were split on whether to call it for the day at that point (still very light with foul current). I advised them to try again at 1400 since it's a Worlds, and they agreed.

At 1400, they voted to postpone until the morning, start at 1030, and run 5 races.

Mike

what happened to Matt and Gina on day 1?

The Etchells stayed offshore and are racing. The weather here inshore has been awful for the past hour (torrential rain and lightning within sight).

Listening to their chatter, between the rain, shifting wind and limited visibility, it can't be an easy day for anyone on that circle.

Wind has gone from south to west to north to east to southeast now moving back to the east.

We had a few F16s go out to sail. They had some double trapping at times. The last boat to come in told me they were racing the lightning back to the harbor. Everyone's telling us that the class made the right call...

Mike

Mike

Piecing together info from the F16 Worlds Facebook page:

After 10 races:
Ravi/Sam (2-1 today) are 1 point ahead of Adrian/Jessie (1-4 today). Robbie/Catherine (?-1 today) are a few points behind.

3 more races today, if they get them all in.

Disclaimer: completely unofficial and my assumptions on points may be off. Either way, it is pretty dang close!

Look at the sail trim on this picture.... it looks great to me.

Flock of Falcon's headed to the windward mark....



What are the two boats with the sail logos that look like a lower case "a"? 3rd mast from the left and 9th mast from the left? Is that the F16 logo instead of a brand logo?

Looks like the Goodall Designs logo to me.

Thank you. Seems obvious now.

Per Facebook: Fawcett wins race 11, Daniel 2nd. Two more races to go.

that red boat in the back isn't making any money sitting empty like that. They should move...

I'm thinking that's the new Goodall Design logo

per FB: Fawcett stays in front of of Parent in Race 12

Race 12: McDonald, Fawcett, Parent

Race 13 is last one, if they get their 5 in today.

R13: Schultz, McDonald, Fawcett, Glaser

Fun regatta. Did 5 races yesterday to finish things off. Ado/Jess 1st, Ravi and Sam 2nd, Robbie/Catharine 3rd. Great job by Mike Levesque and his RC crew to get off 13 good races. First regatta on the F16, really enjoyed the experience, look forward to sailing them again.

The main halyard hook at the top of their mast broke. The way they were sailing they would have been in contention. Adrian and Jesse were sailing incredibly well. They were relaxed and consistent. Morning beers might have helped. No shrimp on the Barbie however. This was my first time sailing in an F16 fleet and I did miserably as I expected. It looks like I'll need a new spin pole. Everyone was extremely nice and helpful with me trying to get my old Blade up to Falcon standards. Great group of people and very competent sailors as expected. It's amazing but not surprising how the smallest mistake in boat handling or minor equipment failure can cause you to lose so much distance on the pack. Jill Nickerson, Gina McDonald, Pease and Jay Glaser were so informative and welcoming that it truly enhanced the experience. The talent of the youth sailors bodes well for our class. Amazing venue. You sail out of the beach past Marstrom 32's, foiling moths and serious racing monoslugs. There's also the fun of tacking upwind crossing the bow of a auto carrier that doesn't have disc brakes like we do. I'd like to give credit to the guys who came out solo. The winds we had must have made them wonder why they were out there-except Karl of course. Great time, great people. I'm glad to be part of it.

Greg, thanks for the great wines and the champagne for the winners!

My bottle made it all the way home unbroken, in checked baggage! We missed you at the house for the after-party, did you guys get there before we did and leave?

Great regatta, fantastic location, thanks to all who worked to put it on, that was a lot of fun. Now I need a week off to recover from my 'vacation'!

Greg, shoot me a PM with your contact info and wine store location, I'll pass it on to my NY buds.

Congrats to Ado and Jess, excellent job!

Final results are here: http://f16worlds2014.org/results

Hard to believe it's already over...

Congrats to the winners. The results barely show how close it really was.

The Aussie pair of Adrian and Jesse were tough to beat. Gracious in victory, one of the best acceptance speeches ever.

Ravi and Sam were OCS several times, returned and still smoked most of the fleet. Had they not had gear failure earlier in the week, we may be looking at a different champion. Ravi is headed to Boston for college, can't wait to see him playing in the F18 crowd up here over the next few years.

It was great meeting so many of you who I feel I've "known" for years on here. Karl is a standup guy. I owe you rum.

Many thanks to all of the F16 class volunteers and sailors for helping pull this off. Huge thanks as well to Sail Newport for all of their support, assets and volunteers, especially to one of its founders, Dr. Robin Wallace, for use of his boat, Dolphin, as the signal boat. Thanks too, to some of my local Hobie fleet friends, as well as some great RC volunteers from elsewhere in the bay who I've met over the years. Couldn't have done this without all of you.

Hope Newport was everything you expected and more. Looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Mike

Are there any photos? I saw cameras out but haven't seen any links.

Daphna Brown took a lot of photos, not sure how to get ahold of her though. Maybe she will see this and post?

I needed another four days of racing just to remember how to sail the ding dong boat again.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out the singlehanders. There weren't many of us, but operating without the assistance of others getting on and off the water is tough if you abhor the thought of your boat touching sand as much as I do.

Great venue, Mike did a great job, and I'm glad I made the trip. Thanks to everyone who competed, (as humbling as that was), and to everyone who made this event happen.

https://www.facebook.com/dafna.brown.5/photos_all

Thomas Konig took a bunch of pictures too. There was talk about putting them on a Dropbox account so everyone could access them.

Mark Thomson took a bunch of pictures as well I believe