RN5: Anchor Watch

Last weekend was the annual Mirs Bay race, run by HHYC as part of the Typhoon series. It's essentially a coastal race, running from Port Shelter into Mirs Bay on the Hong Kong/Chinese border and stopping at Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung Country Park for a barbeque and prize giving. Generally people anchor overnight then race back again the next day, though after this year some people might rethink that...

The race up was quite good fun - an easterly breeze providing a fetch for most of the way. There were many holes in the wind, and places were gained and lost by being in the right place at the right time! We thought we were flying (I was back on Strewth) after using a tidal eddy out of a bay, getting a puff of breeze, and setting the code zero to romp to the last island turning mark. We were miles ahead! However, turning the corner we dropped into a hole and were almost caught by Mandrake and Jelik V.

Port Shelter to Mirs bay - Course for IRC A.

After a Michelin starred BBQ (What steak... It's handy to have a restaurant general manager in your crew) and a quiet drink or three we retired to the boat, to find a north/north-easterly breeze throwing 30 knot gusts straight into the harbour. If you look at the map above you can see that it's not particularly well sheltered from that direction! 

Normal Wind direction in Hong Kong in August - notice nothing from the north!

"It's not normally like this" - and it actually isn't! However, it required anchor watches to check whether we were dragging, and to watch out for rogue catamarans sailing around their anchor chain. It didn't turn out to be a fun night, and everyone lacked sleep.

The race back the following day again gave us all conditions from zero knots on the start line to 18 knots at times, and we used every sail in the warbrobe. As downwind trimmer for much of the race, I was absolutely shattered by the end of the day - sail changes, high loads, concentration on the 25nm course, and new sail cloth materials completely wore me out. 

Mirs Bay to Port Shelter. Course for IRC A.

Still, it was an awesome course, and we got relatively high speeds out of the boat.  I wasn't really expecting the last sausage, and was incredibly grumpy by the end of the race. A beer and a 12hr sleep restored me.

RN3: The delights of modern sail cloth

This weekend's racing was back on Strewth for the Typhoon Series. I was backup trimmer - my couple of races involved cutting sheets, grunt work on kite gybes, and ensuring the cockpit was tidy.  Unfortunately this means I have no real concept of what was happening tactically, so not a great deal to share. I did notice a couple of things though, mainly in the quiet periods on the starboard approach to the line!

The fleet is split into IRC divisions that group the fast 40ft-ers with the 52ft-ers, so it's quite a wide range of boats on the startline. With two W/L races, everyone was keen to get perfect starts and hence were grouping at the biased committee boat. Absolute carnage appeared to ensue! We avoided by being a little bit late...

I've always felt that relying on a gap to open up on a crowded start line is a slightly risky strategy, as the likely result is a slow start on the second row. However, good decisions from the back of the boat seemed to result in two starts that were actually reasonable. I think my impression of a bad start is still influenced by being able to accelerate very quickly (i.e. dinghy/small boat sailing) whereas being up to speed before the start in a big boat is very beneficial. We managed to shoot through the committee boat end gap in the first race, and found one mid-line in the second.

However, the most exciting part of the day was the "new" 3DL mainsail on the boat. It had a very large roach, but given its shape it looked like a delight to trim. It always surprises me at how versitile the new sailcloths are - the roach of this sail would twist off in a gust (gust response helps the boat maintain course and speed in large variations of wind strength) but then the sheet tension could be increased to bring the roach back in and create a flatter sail shape. All with the same initial lightweight sail shape! The other remarkable thing was that this sail could be picked up by one person on their own. Amazing stuff.

So all in all, a good day - we finished with two second place finishes and one line honours gun. I also felt a little better about last week's trimming performance when it was discovered that all the batterns in the jib had been put in the wrong way round...

RN1: Trimming lessons on Strewth

One of the other boats I sail on currently is Strewth, a first generation TP52 (formerly Trader). Having previously never raced anything over 38ft*, it is a big step up in terms of loads, complexity, and crew work. She is currently being worked up for the Hong Kong-Vietnam race, and then (maybe) the whole calendar of blue riband Pacific offshore races in 2011.

I'm very new to the boat, and so am taking whatever chances are thrown at me. This weekend included a huge (and probably un-merited) promotion to main jib trimmer, and as one of two downwind trimmers. The adrenalin was pumping as I took the kite sheet for a tight reach down to Basalt Island!

Upwind trim is where I have most to learn. Points to remember:

1. Oversheeting = slow. We only started hitting our target numbers once the jib was cracked off to the 3rd mark on the spreaders. In my defence, it's difficult to trim a jib that big and that new at first glance! However, it did mean we lost a lot of time on the first beat to the Ninepins
2. Percentage calls help tell the driver how near he is to being in the grove. 100% trim should only occur when you're at target speed, at target headings, and at a constant boat speed. Once it does, trimmer is probably best up on the high side until something changes. At which point, he'll probably be shouted at!
3. In-haulers close the slot. Sheet must be eased at the same time, or see 1.
4. Jib car forward reduces twist and adds power to the foot. Use as breeze gets lighter.
5. Jib car back flattens sail, and increases twist. Use as breeze builds.
6. The back of the boat is always right.

Downwind:

1. Face backwards to talk to grinders or they can't hear.
2. Code 0 trim is like a jib with a flexible luff - be prepared to let it roll.
3. Having a good foredeck means the back of the boat think nothing of sail changes.
4. Inside gybes and outside gybes need to be communicated, and speed of turn altered. 

Other things to note are:

1. There was a massive lift and better pressure under Table Island and the CWB Golf course.
2. Suncream needs reapplying at any quiet moment, otherwise your nose gets a layer of skin shorter.

Sorry, no pictures on this post. Maybe next time!

*Incidentally, the difference in length (14ft) is just about the length of the first boat I ever owned - a leaky Laser, purchased for all of 50 pounds sterling. It seemed like a lot of money as a student, but wasn't all that bad value given it was sold for a profit!