The "get out on the water" day was organized by Ontario Sailing and we partnered with the Canoe Club next door to offer sessions of sailing and paddling. Many thanks to Giulio for organizing our part of it!
Quite a few KSC sailors were out helping, but I was one of the few (along with Ken S and Frank) who were taking the cats out. I grabbed a Hobie 16 (with Mike R's old sails) in light conditions.
Despite a bit of sunburn, the day was tons of fun -- I forgot how cool it is to sail one of those Hobies. After the Kingston Masters', I'll probably be taking one of these suckers out more. I've never single-handed one for a significant amount of time, so maybe that's a goal for this year.
Lessons learned: teenage girls talk shit about their parents
Tuesday 23 June 2015
Log - Race night, Jun 22, 2015
Forecast: winds of 7 from S (increasing through evening to 8 or so) with gusts of up to 11
Observed: fairly light winds (4-8 knts) from W (over the ridge), shifting to coming from S (upriver) as the night went on. A few patches of better wind (8-12 knt). Wind was very shifty early on, but eventually stabilized direction. Flat water.
Game plan: Initial plan was to play the gusts. On the water, playing the shifts proved very effective at first, but once the wind stabilized focused on boat speed.
Results: first race I started 1 minute early, and had to circle back and started 4/4 place. By paying attention to the shifts (and not losing speed on my tacks) I was able to tack to take advantage of about 6-8 shifts and made up positions to round the first mark 2nd behind Ken E and Corrine C in their Albacore (we were about the same boat speed upwind, but they could point a heck of a lot better in the light air). Held position for rest of race.
Second race I had a better start and rounded upwind, gybe mark, downwind mark and upwind (again) in 1st place. Rudder downhaul broke though, and the mainsheet got tangled around boom on second downwind leg (fairlead was broken). Ken was able to get inside me at 2nd downwind mark. I should have slowed down and got inside him, but...
Anyway, Ken able to get to finish line before me for the upwind finish.
So two 2nd places. Considering the conditions, not bad, but this was a small fleet.
Lessons learned: don't sail with a broken boat. Pay attention to the shifts. Start of race sequence starts 1 minute after AP goes down, not when AP goes down.
Observed: fairly light winds (4-8 knts) from W (over the ridge), shifting to coming from S (upriver) as the night went on. A few patches of better wind (8-12 knt). Wind was very shifty early on, but eventually stabilized direction. Flat water.
Game plan: Initial plan was to play the gusts. On the water, playing the shifts proved very effective at first, but once the wind stabilized focused on boat speed.
Results: first race I started 1 minute early, and had to circle back and started 4/4 place. By paying attention to the shifts (and not losing speed on my tacks) I was able to tack to take advantage of about 6-8 shifts and made up positions to round the first mark 2nd behind Ken E and Corrine C in their Albacore (we were about the same boat speed upwind, but they could point a heck of a lot better in the light air). Held position for rest of race.
Second race I had a better start and rounded upwind, gybe mark, downwind mark and upwind (again) in 1st place. Rudder downhaul broke though, and the mainsheet got tangled around boom on second downwind leg (fairlead was broken). Ken was able to get inside me at 2nd downwind mark. I should have slowed down and got inside him, but...
Anyway, Ken able to get to finish line before me for the upwind finish.
So two 2nd places. Considering the conditions, not bad, but this was a small fleet.
Lessons learned: don't sail with a broken boat. Pay attention to the shifts. Start of race sequence starts 1 minute after AP goes down, not when AP goes down.
Wednesday 10 June 2015
Masters' Clinic with Thomas Fogh
A group of sailors in the area are heading to the Masters' Worlds' and had arranged for a prep clinic with Thomas Fogh at Britannia Yacht Club. Somehow they heard that this rookie from Kanata was going as well, and extended an invite.
The first thing I learned is that my goal of "second last or better" is probably a stretch -- holy shit, these guys are good. Their boat speed on any point, in any conditions must've been 135% mine, and that's not even including the fact that they don't lose any speed during their tacks, whereas I, well, do.
Speaking with the other sailors, as well as coach Fogh, I learned gobs about everything from setup, to boat handling, to proper technique, even a few tactical tips. The only downside is that (given that the other folks were so much faster than I was) I didn't get a chance to practice the tactical aspects too much.
Traveller - My traveller was too loose to begin with. In addition, the line was old and stretchy, and I had it tied in a simple "slip loop". I should replace the line, and tie it in a bowline before getting it down tight. For the clinic, I wasn't able to replace my line, but I did sail with it tighter than I normally do -- I was able to point better, depower more easily, and go faster. Note that I WAS catching the sheet on the transom more (as the block needed some coaxing to move across the rudder, and got stuck a couple of times) but practice should take care of that.
Vang - as the control comes out of the cleat block, I have a loop with a rubberized handle. My loop was set too far back from the cleat, allowing, in downwind conditions, the boom to rise up. Also, after the loop, there is a trailing length of line. I should be tying that extra line to the centreboard -- this allows the handle to "fall" to one side, but still be within reach.
Clew tie down - I didn't have it tied down tight enough
Centreboard brake - replace the rubber "M" brake, it's not holding the board in place
Outhaul - The outhaul ties off at the fairlead, and goes through a block with a hook which attaches to the clew grommet before going back through the fairlead to the control line. The "turning point" that the fairlead makes should be "above" the tie off point, rather than "below" it. I never really paid attention to it before, but apparently, the line can get caught under the fairlead where the rivet is. I erroneously drew the line passing through the grommet, but you get the idea from the picture. Also, I should add a (class legal) "inhaul", drawn in blue.
Vang - I didn't use nearly enough vang. As a result, when I tried to sheet out to depower in gusts, the boom was just moving "up" and was actually increasing power, forcing me to pinch.
Also, my position was wrong in light air. I typically crouched on the windward side of the boat near the centreboard. While my "place" in the boat was correct, I wasn't "locked in". It was recommended that I put one leg under the hiking strap to ensure I could throw the boat around, if need be.
The first thing I learned is that my goal of "second last or better" is probably a stretch -- holy shit, these guys are good. Their boat speed on any point, in any conditions must've been 135% mine, and that's not even including the fact that they don't lose any speed during their tacks, whereas I, well, do.
Speaking with the other sailors, as well as coach Fogh, I learned gobs about everything from setup, to boat handling, to proper technique, even a few tactical tips. The only downside is that (given that the other folks were so much faster than I was) I didn't get a chance to practice the tactical aspects too much.
Setup - Before launch
Right away, I was pointed to some things I was doing wrong in terms of boat setup. Some of this was functional, some was just to save wear-and-tear on the boat.Traveller - My traveller was too loose to begin with. In addition, the line was old and stretchy, and I had it tied in a simple "slip loop". I should replace the line, and tie it in a bowline before getting it down tight. For the clinic, I wasn't able to replace my line, but I did sail with it tighter than I normally do -- I was able to point better, depower more easily, and go faster. Note that I WAS catching the sheet on the transom more (as the block needed some coaxing to move across the rudder, and got stuck a couple of times) but practice should take care of that.
Vang - as the control comes out of the cleat block, I have a loop with a rubberized handle. My loop was set too far back from the cleat, allowing, in downwind conditions, the boom to rise up. Also, after the loop, there is a trailing length of line. I should be tying that extra line to the centreboard -- this allows the handle to "fall" to one side, but still be within reach.
Clew tie down - I didn't have it tied down tight enough
Centreboard brake - replace the rubber "M" brake, it's not holding the board in place
Outhaul - The outhaul ties off at the fairlead, and goes through a block with a hook which attaches to the clew grommet before going back through the fairlead to the control line. The "turning point" that the fairlead makes should be "above" the tie off point, rather than "below" it. I never really paid attention to it before, but apparently, the line can get caught under the fairlead where the rivet is. I erroneously drew the line passing through the grommet, but you get the idea from the picture. Also, I should add a (class legal) "inhaul", drawn in blue.
Setup - On the water
Cunningham - I tended to put way to much cunningham on. The low purchase on the cunninham on the Laser, combinded with a stiff upper mast (in comparison to a skiff, a Byte, a cat, etc) means that the cunningham isn't really useful for bending the mast and depowering. The cut of the Laser standard sail, also means that the cunningham is pulling along the bias of the sail cloth, which "stretches" the sail more than depowers. Use a bit of cunningham to move draft in and out, but that's about it.Vang - I didn't use nearly enough vang. As a result, when I tried to sheet out to depower in gusts, the boom was just moving "up" and was actually increasing power, forcing me to pinch.
Boat handling - Tacks
My tacks the first day were quite awful. Improve:- Tack smoother, slower. Don't jam the rudder ever, instead use body weight more, and urge the boat using the rudder
- Move my ass farther back in the boat when tacking. This helps head the boat up, and allows me to duck lower when crossing
- "kiss the rachet" when crossing
- come out of the turn with the rudder strait
- hike HARD when I come out
- head down a bit, momentarily, to regain lost speed, and get back on close hauled
Boat handling - Gybes/downwind
I was doing too much of an "s-turn" when gybing. Sheet in so boom is about 45 and then use body weight to turn the boat slightly to initiate gybe. Going downwind, in fear of the death roll, I had my vang on too tight, and my boom in too much. Get better at generating/handling more power. Centreboard down "a bit", the thinking at the top level has changed from the "board all the way up" days.Also, my position was wrong in light air. I typically crouched on the windward side of the boat near the centreboard. While my "place" in the boat was correct, I wasn't "locked in". It was recommended that I put one leg under the hiking strap to ensure I could throw the boat around, if need be.
Starts
Wow, this is a post on its own..Thursday 4 June 2015
Honestly, dear, this has never happened to me before!
I was fortunate that I heeded Steve and Rune's advice.
Tie down your tiller!
I've been sailing for 5 years, and not once has the tiller come out of the rudder head. Until this week.
The Laser's rudder head is on the boat pretty securely. The clip does a good job of keeping it in place, and some have additional pins or split rings to back the clip up. The tiller, however slides into the rudder head, and there are a few, unreliable, ways to keep it in place:
This week, I inserted the pin incorrectly, and didn't notice. On the water, in heavy winds, I all-of-a-sudden felt the tiller come out of the rudder head, in the middle of a tack. I was still holding the tiller, but almost capsized. If I had gone into the drink, there's a good chance I would have lost the tiller to the bottom of the Ottawa had I not tied the downhaul post-cleat.
So yeah, tie down your tiller!
Tie down your tiller!
I've been sailing for 5 years, and not once has the tiller come out of the rudder head. Until this week.
The Laser's rudder head is on the boat pretty securely. The clip does a good job of keeping it in place, and some have additional pins or split rings to back the clip up. The tiller, however slides into the rudder head, and there are a few, unreliable, ways to keep it in place:
- friction - jam it in there, and hope it stays
- the pin -- there is a single pin to hold the tiller in the rudder head, but it can fall out
- the rudder downhaul -- the rudder can pivot up and down. Except when you're coming into shallow water, you want the rudder down, and that's what pulling on the downhaul does. The line can then be cleated onto the tiller (which also holds the tiller in place), but is pretty easy to release.
This week, I inserted the pin incorrectly, and didn't notice. On the water, in heavy winds, I all-of-a-sudden felt the tiller come out of the rudder head, in the middle of a tack. I was still holding the tiller, but almost capsized. If I had gone into the drink, there's a good chance I would have lost the tiller to the bottom of the Ottawa had I not tied the downhaul post-cleat.
So yeah, tie down your tiller!
Wednesday 3 June 2015
Sailing beginner's tips
I was out a couple of days ago, and I noticed a few folks on the water making "rookie mistakes". Not that there's a problem with that -- we were all rookies once, and even the folks who have been going out for 30 years make them. I'm sure there are many things I do that some would consider rookie moves.
Most of the sailing blogs I read focus on the high-performance sailor. There's little on them for the person just starting their adventure. So I figured I'd address some of common things I see beginners do.
Tiller grip: The "frying pan" vs "microphone" grip (I've also seen this called "dagger" grip). When holding the tiller (or tiller extension), hold it like a a microphone. Don't bend your wrist and hold it like a frying pan. It feels awkward for about 5 minutes, and then feels much more comfortable.
Holding the sheet: do NOT wrap it around your hand to improve grip. Especially in high winds. it will squeeze your hand and leave you with bruises, or worse. If you're having trouble gripping the sheet, you can
Behind-the-back passing: When you tack (or gybe), you ultimately end up switching which hand holds the tiller extension, and which holds the sheet. I find it most effective to (as I'm switching sides), face forward, place both hands behind my back, move the tiller to the new hand (it's now holding both sheet and tiller), sit down on the new side of the boat. Only once I'm settled do I grab the sheet with the new control hand (and I'm already in my hand-over-hand sheeting position).
Keep it flat! Do you have too much weather helm? You're not keeping the boat flat enough. Are you slower than everyone else on the course? Flatten that boat. Unable to point? Flatten, to solve your problems! A dinghy is meant to be sailed flat. Keelboats, are a bit more complicated, especially approaching hull speed, but you can't go wrong keeping it flat.
Most of the sailing blogs I read focus on the high-performance sailor. There's little on them for the person just starting their adventure. So I figured I'd address some of common things I see beginners do.
Tiller grip: The "frying pan" vs "microphone" grip (I've also seen this called "dagger" grip). When holding the tiller (or tiller extension), hold it like a a microphone. Don't bend your wrist and hold it like a frying pan. It feels awkward for about 5 minutes, and then feels much more comfortable.
Holding the sheet: do NOT wrap it around your hand to improve grip. Especially in high winds. it will squeeze your hand and leave you with bruises, or worse. If you're having trouble gripping the sheet, you can
- replace the sheet with a thicker line
- wear gloves that make the effective size of the line thicker
- do exercises to improve grip strength
Behind-the-back passing: When you tack (or gybe), you ultimately end up switching which hand holds the tiller extension, and which holds the sheet. I find it most effective to (as I'm switching sides), face forward, place both hands behind my back, move the tiller to the new hand (it's now holding both sheet and tiller), sit down on the new side of the boat. Only once I'm settled do I grab the sheet with the new control hand (and I'm already in my hand-over-hand sheeting position).
Keep it flat! Do you have too much weather helm? You're not keeping the boat flat enough. Are you slower than everyone else on the course? Flatten that boat. Unable to point? Flatten, to solve your problems! A dinghy is meant to be sailed flat. Keelboats, are a bit more complicated, especially approaching hull speed, but you can't go wrong keeping it flat.
Tuesday 2 June 2015
Sailing between the holes
The Ottawa River isn't particularly wavy. Most days, the wind blows from the west, and generally follows the river. This means the waves are not as big as you'd expect for a given wind speed, since the difference between wind and water is (wind_speed - current_speed). When it blows from the south or east, however, the waves are bigger since the different between the wind speed and the water speed is (wind_speed + current_speed).
I had the opportunity to get some wave-practice in last night. The wind was coming up river, and the waves were a good 3 feet high with whitecaps. Since I don't have a lot of experience in waves, this was a good chance to try different things, and see what works for me.
The wind and waves were going slightly different directions, meaning that on port tack, on a close hauled course, I was just about perpendicular to the oncoming waves.
Attempt 1: baseline attempt - sail close hauled as if there no waves
Nope. I'd go up a wave (slow down significantly), past the crest, and the bow would come crashing down into the trough [splash!]. The next wave would then hit my bow full on, crashing over the top of the deck, and stopping me (or pushing me backwards!). Apparently, the Laser does not have a wave-piercing hull. :)
Attempt 2: use body weight/position
Here I tried to shift my body weight to allow for smoothing wave crossings. At the top of the wave I'd be low down, and hiked out far. In the troughs, I'd be sitting higher. My thought was that if my centre of mass was relatively stable (from a vertical perspective), then the wave would only be moving the boat up and down. This would mean the wave would have an easier time lifting the boat.
This had a bit of an effect, but not as much as I was hoping. I then tried moving my body back-and-forth (fore-and-aft) to try to force the boat into/through/up/down/the waves in various ways. Again, this seemed to have an effect, but I had trouble getting the timing of what to do, when, correct. The is something I should practice, and try to get a better handle on, as between the up/down and fore/aft movement, the waves could probably be much more manageable.
Attempt 3: steering to avoid the holes
I noticed that the biggest trouble stop was not the big-wave-coming-towards-me, it was that I'm-stuck-in-this-deep-trough-when-the-wave-hits. I tried something new -- when I saw particularly deep trough coming towards me, I bore off slightly to avoid it. I tried to point between the peaks of the next wave, as the bigger the crest, the bigger the trough behind it.
This was REALLY effective. Not only was avoiding the brakes of "pitch-poling", be the few seconds of bearing off also increased boat speed as I was on a bit more of a close reach (rather than close hauled) and I could pinch a little bit immediately after to make up for lost pointing. Practising this, along with better body movement should definitely improve upwind/big-wave performance.
In the diagram, you can see something like my original close-hauled course in red. At each "break" in the line, is when I'd crest a wave, crash down, and almost stop.
The green course shows me bearing away when I see a "pit" coming. While it's not as close to the wind as the red course, I found it much faster.
The takeaway:
- Steer to avoid the deep pits and troughs
- Bear off to increase speed
- Avoid digging the bow into oncoming waves
- Try to figure out how to use body weight/position/movement
I had the opportunity to get some wave-practice in last night. The wind was coming up river, and the waves were a good 3 feet high with whitecaps. Since I don't have a lot of experience in waves, this was a good chance to try different things, and see what works for me.
The wind and waves were going slightly different directions, meaning that on port tack, on a close hauled course, I was just about perpendicular to the oncoming waves.
Attempt 1: baseline attempt - sail close hauled as if there no waves
Nope. I'd go up a wave (slow down significantly), past the crest, and the bow would come crashing down into the trough [splash!]. The next wave would then hit my bow full on, crashing over the top of the deck, and stopping me (or pushing me backwards!). Apparently, the Laser does not have a wave-piercing hull. :)
Attempt 2: use body weight/position
Here I tried to shift my body weight to allow for smoothing wave crossings. At the top of the wave I'd be low down, and hiked out far. In the troughs, I'd be sitting higher. My thought was that if my centre of mass was relatively stable (from a vertical perspective), then the wave would only be moving the boat up and down. This would mean the wave would have an easier time lifting the boat.
This had a bit of an effect, but not as much as I was hoping. I then tried moving my body back-and-forth (fore-and-aft) to try to force the boat into/through/up/down/the waves in various ways. Again, this seemed to have an effect, but I had trouble getting the timing of what to do, when, correct. The is something I should practice, and try to get a better handle on, as between the up/down and fore/aft movement, the waves could probably be much more manageable.
Attempt 3: steering to avoid the holes
This was REALLY effective. Not only was avoiding the brakes of "pitch-poling", be the few seconds of bearing off also increased boat speed as I was on a bit more of a close reach (rather than close hauled) and I could pinch a little bit immediately after to make up for lost pointing. Practising this, along with better body movement should definitely improve upwind/big-wave performance.
In the diagram, you can see something like my original close-hauled course in red. At each "break" in the line, is when I'd crest a wave, crash down, and almost stop.
The green course shows me bearing away when I see a "pit" coming. While it's not as close to the wind as the red course, I found it much faster.
The takeaway:
- Steer to avoid the deep pits and troughs
- Bear off to increase speed
- Avoid digging the bow into oncoming waves
- Try to figure out how to use body weight/position/movement
Log, Jun 1, 2015 - The Laser is not a wave-piercing hull
Forecast: Wind 17 gusting to 24 from SW
Observed conditions: Wind ~15 gusting to ~20+ from S/SE (coming up the river) but was relatively steady from a direction point of view. Waves 2-3 feet, whitecaps (eventually calming a bit). Persistent shift to E? When close hauled on port tack, was going directly into waves. When on starboard, was more parallel.
Race night cancelled due to high wind. Those more adventurous sailors (Mike R, Mike T, Emily, Liz, Heidi, a student, myself) took to the water anyway, and I made it a training day. Beating upwind was tough, as was bearing off though beam reach. Fore-aft trim and a flat boat was essential to prevent overpowering weather helm. Dry-dunked during first gybe attempt :(. Had a perfect opportunity to try a "California roll" but didn't think of it at the time.
Lessons learned:
Observed conditions: Wind ~15 gusting to ~20+ from S/SE (coming up the river) but was relatively steady from a direction point of view. Waves 2-3 feet, whitecaps (eventually calming a bit). Persistent shift to E? When close hauled on port tack, was going directly into waves. When on starboard, was more parallel.
Race night cancelled due to high wind. Those more adventurous sailors (Mike R, Mike T, Emily, Liz, Heidi, a student, myself) took to the water anyway, and I made it a training day. Beating upwind was tough, as was bearing off though beam reach. Fore-aft trim and a flat boat was essential to prevent overpowering weather helm. Dry-dunked during first gybe attempt :(. Had a perfect opportunity to try a "California roll" but didn't think of it at the time.
Lessons learned:
- The Laser is not a wave piercing hull
- "Sail between the holes" -- will write about this in an upcoming post. (Edit -- here's the post)
Monday 1 June 2015
Clinic with Thomas Fogh
Things are getting exciting in the approach to the Master's Worlds. I've signed up for a clinic next weekend given by coach-for-the-Canadian-Pan-Am-Games-Sailing-Team Thomas Fogh. First race night of the season is tonight, with big winds expected (17 knots, gusting to 24 forecast!)
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