About the boat
The Viper 640 is a sportboat, 21 feet long plus a retractable spinnaker pole. It's 750lbs, including the 250lb bulb at the bottom of the retractable keel. It is typically raced with three people. I've never sailed this thing before, and I think that Emily had limited experience on it too, so it was going to be interesting to race.
Pre race and learning to sail this thing
Forecast called for very light airs.
Launching took about 20 minutes, and we decided to carry a motor (2.3HP) to get to the race course on time. Once reaching the race course, it was apparent that the RC wasn't going to start races any time soon, so we spent the time beating and getting familiar with each other and the boat (especially downwind). The thing was nicely rounded from the deck to the gunwale, making it much more comfortable than an Albacore, and more like a Tasar.
Upwind, Mike helmed and took the main sheet. If conditions called for Emily and I to be on opposite sides of the boat (VERY light air), we'd take turns handling the jib. Otherwise, I'd handle the jib, and Emily would call tactics. To compensate for the 50lb motor on the back, crew was typically as forward as was practical, trying to ensure that the chine was in the water.
Downwind, Emily took the tiller. The boat is set up to both launch and retrieve the spinnaker when on port tack, but apparently can be done on starboard as well (we never tried it...). The port-side favouritism allowed us to start the hoist as we were rounding the mark, rather than wait until we're past it. Mike raised the kite while I was ready to launch the pole (pull the line hard when he says "pole") and handle the spinnaker once it was up. My eyes were fixed on the leading edge while Mike took on tactics and managed the jib during gybes. Light airs made it tricky to keep the sail full, but it wasn't too bad.
Gybing the kite took a few tries to nail cleanly. Skipper would call for gybe, and crew would have to grab the opposite sheet, run across the boat and sheet in hand over hand as fast as humanly possible. Mike would uncleat and handle the jib as I had my hands full. Dousing was where I was glad I wore gloves. I'd uncleat the halyard, and Mike doused, while I guided the halyard through the block so it didn't get cleated accidentally. Burning leather smell as the line runs through my gloves! Once he calls "pole" I uncleat the pole extension line, and get on the jib.
First Race
We had a bad start, and ended up in slow, dirty air, with (what we later discovered later) were non-optimal sail controls. Particularly frustrating was the downwind -- the other boats could point a lot farther down than we could while keeping the kite full. Hmm. Based on a shortened course, we weren't sure where the finish line was, and had to pull a 360 and sail though an incoming Y-Flyer fleet to finish 4/4.
This was the one race we had on the Saturday, so back to BYC for BBQ steak and beer. Steve (Viper 211) pointed out that the spreaders looked swept too far back, and suggested using more blocks to rake the mast more.
Second Race
A bit more wind today (not much, but some...). First race we had a much better start, although the other boats still seemed to have more speed upwind. Mainsail ticklers were flowing backwards at top of sail -- some tuning definitely required (not enough twist, perhaps? Maybe less gnav and a looser leech would allow flow to attach better?) We noticed that the other boats were dropping their jib on the downwind, probably to help the kite fill better. We still were going slow on the downwind, but dropping the jib did seem to help pointing a bit. Again, confusion as to finish line location was frustrating, but didn't affect our final placement - 4/4
Third Race
Apparently we didn't sail the 3rd race. I'm 99% sure we ran 1 race Saturday and 3 Sunday, but the RC logs show 5 races total ran. I guess we missed this one? http://www.byc.ca/racing/results/NCR%202015/alpha.htm
Forth Race
After the 2nd race, Steve pointed out that we had a mainsail baton backwards on the previous downwind leg, and that our controls (especially outhaul) was way too tight. Keeping this in mind, we left the jib up (just focusing on pointing and watching the wind, and better controls). Those controls made a difference. Again, finished 4/4, but kept up with the other boats better, and at least we knew where the finish line was.
Forth Race
We started well, and we keeping up with the fleet on the first upwind. Eventually, we noticed that the other boats were footing as the wind slowed, trying to maintain boat speed. We copied this technique and it proved quite effective. On the downwind, we were now able to set the spinnaker efficiently with little communication and the timing was getting much tighter. We were now officially "in the pack" as the boat in front of us gybed to avoid our wind shadow. We were keeping up with the fleet a lot better, pointing much better and even gaining a bit now and then (before falling back). We lost some time on a sloppy douse at the leeward mark, but seemed to be doing excellent on the upwind leg (for an upwind finish on the shortened course). Placed 4/4, but it was the race of the day.
Downwind sail back to NSC was the most fun -- air picked up more and there was actually real pressure in the kite. The thing got going a real good clip. Would definitely sail again, ideally in about 10-12 knots.
Lessons learned
- BRING GLOVES!
- Watch the main sail batons, make sure they pop in light air
- Dropping the jib may help downwind a bit in light air, but proper control settings and spinnaker setting more important. Maybe practice jib lowering once the rest can be done without thinking too much. Unknown if dropping jib would help in medium or higher air.
- Controls - outhaul is huge. Especially on the downwinds. Cunninham didn't have as much an effect, and we didn't play with the gnav much. Some experimenting is definitely required, especially if the mast rake is altered as per Steve's recommendations.
- Boat seemed to accelerate better with a bit of leeward heel, but held the speed better when flat. Not knowing sportboats/keelboats, I'm under the impression that this is normal, but I may be mis-interpretting the data.
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