Passion X

Despite the forecast for little breeze we set out today to practice our spinnaker work and to hoist our new No1 heavy genoa. To our delight the breeze kicked in at around 12 knots which was a perfect test for a perfect new genoa. We worked up to Manly with very little traffic to disturb our trip and tuned around and hoisted our fractional spinnaker.
After a second work back up the harbour we hoisted the 6o sq metres code zero and gybed that four times on the way back to Greenwich. We practiced gybing outside the forestay but settled for furling the code zero and unfurling on the opposite gybe which seemed more effective and less susceptible to problems.
It was a long but very enjoyable afternoon during which we hit our windward speed targets a few times. The new genoa is a Dimension Polyant Carbon Sports light skin with the same area as our old No 1 from Passion which had been recut to fit around the shrouds on Passion X. The new sail is longer on the foot and can be sheeted closer to the deck while still clearing the shrouds. More of the area is lower down and forming a better end plate with the deck so we are hopeful that it will be useful over a wider wind range and we are very pleased with the first sail.

Our new No 1 heavy genoa our for a test sail where we hit our speed targets several times.

The inspiration for the title comes from the Greenwich Flying Squadron facebook page where photo entries for the night refer to chaos. It was indeed chaotic both on the way out and on the way back in so full marks to Avalon for another fastest and a second on handicap. We were hard on the transom of Jackpot who was second fastest but we were forced to tack away by port tackers coming off the Onion Point shore and refusing to tack back. The two tacks we made away from our right of way tack cost us eight minutes and from the photos of the mayhem Utopia was disadvantaged even more and trailed us across the line. Both from the video from the deck of Aetos and from Jeff Lewis’ posts the setback to Utopia is very evident.
Our 5th fastest could have been better but for being on the wrong side of a shift at Goat Island and for the port tackers in Humbug but we salvaged a 5th on handicap for the penultimate race of the season.
We made a clear start at the club end of the line and only Avalon was quicker into Humbug but there we were both overrun by yachts squeezing between the moored yachts and the right of way yachts ahead. Avalon conceded we could not give them their right because of the yachts overrunning us from behind and we both went low and away from the new breeze.
From memory Jackpot, Meridian and Utopia managed to get their noses in front while Avalon below went the long way around but sailed into stronger winds quite promptly. We were just nosing ahead of Joli and holding our own but we both had some catching to do. The big Ausreo had drifted through Humbug well and was ahead of both of us while Much Ado V was just to leeward.
For most of the work to Goat Island we sailed well picking off first Ausreo and later Joli but on the approach to Goat Island Much Ado V tacked on top of us and while we were pinned down on the northern shore the Goat Island shore paid off well for Ausreo and Joli. Our phasing with the wind was not ideal and we ended up pinching slowly to clear the eastern end of Goat Island.
Around Goat Island we picked a middle line and sailed around Much Ado V who were caught in wind shadow and sailed over Ausreo.
The final throw of the dice was in Humbug. Much Ado V had caught us on the run to Humbug but went in too close and died in the doldrums. We went wide and lined up Jackpot, sailed up to Meridian and had Joli down to leeward.

Utopia had already tacked away from the chaos along the Onion Point shore and was becalmed mid stream. Some how Jackpot just passed ahead of the port tackers while we were forced to tack away leaving Meridian and Joli to sneak past the port tackers sterns. That gave Jackpot a big break and a first on handicap while Avalon hung on for second on handicap.

We had been fortunate to catch up to the fleet but could not make the four boat lengths we need to clear the impenetrable row of port tackers.

Utopia tried to make up ground from the nine minutes she had lost to Avalon but we were both caught in a very light phase and had the fleet coming up from behind with breeze so Lisdillon took third and Fireball fourth on handicap. That left Passion X on fifth with one more throw of the dice next week.

Jackpot sneaking around in front of the port tackers who forced us about

Joli below and Utopia becalmed out mid stream

Passion X just holding out Utopi on the finish line

A photo for the Utopia “we were robbed” gallery

Closing in on Joli, Dump Truck and Irukandji at Goat Island

Tonight we had several glimpses of hope and we did manage a 4th fastest and second on handicap but there were three occasions when it looked even more promising.
We missed our scheduled clean on the hull this week but our visit to Pittwater on Monday and Tuesday was most likely equivalent to a half clean as we motored through an ocean of jelly fish up near Newport. We could feel the thump thump as we hit jellyfish after jellyfish and I imagine that the abrasion along the hull was enough to remove some of the marine growth.
The purpose of the visit to Pittwater was to have our new spray dodger fitted and that happened just in time for the first shower of Monday afternoon. After a quiet night in Refuge Bay we returned to Sydney on Tuesday and were treated to a display of around 100 dolphins just north of the heads. The dolphins provided an entertaining display of aerobatics and it is a shame we could not capture the aerial display on camera.
With our semi clean bottom and the biggest set of sails deployed we made a clean start at the pin end on starboard and held Dump Truck out on the line. Joli started to leeward and in clearer air so they pulled away well. Avalon started in even clearer air but could not cross us on port tack so tacked underneath us onto starboard. Now things got really interesting as we all lifted above Joli and has starboard rights as Joli tried to tack on port to go up Humbug. Somehow Avalon managed to shoot above Joli, probably with momentum but we were left on starboard pinned down by Dump Truck on our stern quarter. When Dump Truck finally tacked so we could go through Humbug we had to take a lot of transoms of the starboard tackers coming off Onions Point and that left us too low for the work out. One of the sterns we took was Utopia but that worked out well as when we all lined up for the work to Goat Island we were ahead of Utopia and had Much Ado V to leeward. Irukandji had escaped unnoticed through Humbug and was well ahead.
On the journey to Goat Island we managed to pinch up from under Utopia and work out from above Much Ado V. We will put that down to very careful trimming of the sails and attention to the fastest course to the Island so that at Goat we were very close to Joli and Dump Truck. Here the wheels fell off as we tacked away from a lift and by the time we reached the Goat Island navigation mark the knock we were on which was a massive lift for Joli on the opposite tack, had disappeared. Here we paid the price of trying to over optimize every wind shift and saw Avalon, Joli, Dump Truck and Irukandji draw further ahead.
On the run back to Long Nose we set out big genoa on our enormous whisker pole and started to make up ground. tactically we felt the fleet ahead had turned for Cockatoo Island too soon and were becalmed in the lee of the point so we went very deep and on rounding up had a bit of a struggle to get up to the corner of Cockatoo Island. We did make up some ground and on rounding the west end of Cockatoo Island we tried it again by going hard and deep to the Hunters Hill shore. This paid dividends as we sailed through the lee of Irukandji but failed to catch Joli and Dump Truck. Utopia had made up good ground on the leg to Cockatoo Island but went in very close to the Island and failed to capitalize on the move.
Once around Clarke Point it was a race to see who could go the lowest to the Onions Point shore and try as we might we could not catch Joli or Dump Truck. At Onion Point we were caught in the wind shadow of an equally large Blue fleet yacht and watched as both Irukandji and Utopia crept closer. As the breeze swung so that we were running by the lee we effectively had clear air and pulled through to the finish line relieved to have held our position.

Well done to Avalon who lead almost from start to finish and did finish six and a half minutes clear of Joli with Dump Truck another half a minute behind. Avalon took first and fastest while our handicap allowed us to take second place. The dying breeze did make the finishing times stretch out and after Much Ado V the times really stretched out just due to the dying breeze.

Closing in again at Clarke Point

Watching Dump Truck finish in the dark

Shane Beashel fitting the new spray dodger at Newport

The run out tide and no wind resulted in us being carried well over the start line with minutes still to go. Unfortunately there was not enough wind to get us back over the line in time so we were forced to go around the end and start three and a half minutes later than the fleet. All was not lost as a following breeze sprang up and assisted by the tide we drifted down on the Blank and Green and White fleet yachts still becalmed in Humbug. The Commodore very kindly let us go along the Onion Point shore on starboard tack. This allowed us to make up some ground but we had to be on the other side of the fleet on port tack. We waited for an opportunity to gybe very sharply and take the stern of about twenty yachts who were going the other way and being very wide we skirted the fleet.
In the light air beam reaching we held Utopia all the way to Goat Island. It was only in the lee of Goat that Utopia crept away. Meantime Dump Truck who had been becalmed at Greenwich arrived at Goat Island to add to the fleet. Avalon was around Goat Island but becalmed. Jackpot was parked just behind and Joli just behind Jackpot. Utopia found some different breeze and went closer to Goat Island than we thought was wise but Dump Truck did the same and made it through.
Apart from Dump Truck the fleet more or less came out of the Goat Island rounding as they went in which left us chasing on the reach and run to Cockatoo Island. With a bit of following breeze Ausreo came up to our stern but fortunately we trimmed the sails a accelerated away.
We were relieved that Ausreo called it a night and went home as that let us to concentrate on poling out the big genoa and chasing the leaders.
Along the run we drew up to Joli who promptly passed us on the work back to Humbug.
In the fading light it was impossible to see the tell tales on the black genoa so I was sailing part by instruments and part by the call of the crew. I was now dark in Humbug and impossible to see the shifts. What I can see from the tracks is that we did a pretty terrible job on the way through Humbug but even a miracle run would not have been enough to finish on time. Today I assigned all the bulkhead instruments to a group display so that by adjusting one knob I will be able to dim all the instruments. That might make seeing the sails in the dark a little easier.
Avalon, Jackpot and Dump Truck all made the cut off. Dump Truck was the last to finish at 20:12:03 with 2:57 to spare. At the 20:15:00.0000 cut off we were just at Onion Point bearing away for the line. Somewhere in between Utopia and Joli were caught by the unforgiving guillotine of the absolute deadline.

Just one of the three finishers turned up for the post race presentation which left two places to be drawn by lucky dip and Joli and Passion X each won one of those prizes.

The other prize for the evening was some very good photos taken of Passion X by one of the crew on Grandparent duty the previous Wednesday. I have taken a photograph of some of these but will get the digital versions in due course.

Passion X from the previous week.

Another good photo taken by absent crew.

A less than ideal path through Humbug on the futile work home.

The fleet coming together in the lee of Goat Island

Had the forecast 25 knots turned up as planned we could have been famous and come home with a roaring southerly but it was not to be. Our cautious selection of a heavy air No 3 jib looked ok as we picked the start well and the breeze held well over 5 knots. We won the race into Humbug and kept the lead to the corner of Cockatoo Island. At that point the breeze and our luck ran out. In turn Avalon, Utopia and Jackpot ran past and lead around the corner of the island to start the work to Goat Island. We made a tactical mistake at this stage of staying too close to the leeward side of Cockatoo Island and waiting for the breeze while Joli and Fireball went lower and faster. Full marks to Fireball for going the lowest along the Hunters Hill shore and then along the Greenwich shore completely skirting the windward yachts. Our small heavy weather jib was not helping but we would have gone a lot better if we had lead Fireball along the norther shore lines where the outgoing tide was the strongest. By the time we arrived at Goat Island the breeze had died even further and as we rounded the eastern end we could see Avalon coming out of the western end on the way back to the club. The rest of the race was a lonely event as our small sail area and dying breeze did not give us much hope of making up any ground. Lisdillon was coming up from behind and our last challenge for the evening was to stay in front until the finishing line. This we did by a small margin and that left Sweet Chariot out on the course with not much help from the wind to come home.
Thanks to the good start and a bit of breeze for the first quarter of the race we managed to hold on for 6th fastest and 6th on handicap with 35 minutes to spare to cut off time. The Blue fleet who started 5 minutes later and did a similar length course were still out on the water well after our finish and three yachts from different fleets failed to complete at the 8:15 cut off time. It was sad seeing them just metres from the line at the cut off time.
Now the forecast wind decided to arrive about 10 minutes after the 8:15 deadline and was already building as I motored to the mooring.
Fireball with good tactics won the handicap by a couple of minutes from Avalon with Utopia a further four minutes on handicap back. We were 9 minutes away from first on handicap and unlikely to have beaten Fireball with any head sail we chose. We might however have got onto the podium as we were less that four minutes behind Utopia.
It was an interesting experiment but our jib is just too small for these light winds.

Breeze is up the vang needs to come on.

Vang on boom down- good work

Breeze has died. Need more twist. Vang should be off and halyard eased more. Joli looks to have it right.

leech still too tight. Need more twist to have some part of the sail working with the swirling wind

Last week I aimed the GoPro higher up into the mainsail to get a full picture of the leech twist and the footage is instructive. As the breeze freshens the mainsail shape responds well to extra vang tension but, and it is an important but, the vang needs to be released very promptly as the breeze lightens. In the really light patches the main halyard also needs to be eased so that the battens are not compressed hooking the leech to windward.
There are some good photos on the leg back from Cockatoo Island back into Humbug and as we approach Onions Point the photos show we have the straightest leech while our competitors have already eased their gear and perhaps excessively so. If we can all find the right twist there might be less shout. Apologies to Chubby Checker and to the young who never heard of the song Twist and Shout.

Now for something completely different! Over the weekend we had a Laser Masters regatta at South Lake Macquarie Yacht Club with the crew of Passion X both organizing and participating in the event. Over the course of two days racing we learnt both from results and local anecdote that the south side of the Wangi shore is favoured and a good line of breeze comes over the low point in the peninsular. Some of the shifts could be seen coming across the course and the yachts ahead were a reasonable indication of what was coming our way. When the line was not biased to the pin end too much I opted for the safe start behind the boat end fleet with the option to tack away for clear air. When I could tack away I went back onto starboard and worked as hard as possible to get down to the pin end starters who were knocking into a big shift ready to tack to port for big gains. In several races I was lucky enough to get enough right hand shifts to work back to the left of the course. In the second race on the Saturday I took one long board to the port tack lay line and reached in when the late lift from the left arrived. My mistake after the downwind leg was to take the port gate mark and lose four or five places immediately. In the last race I opted for a start just above the pin and went hard left. The good starters were giving me dirty air but I persevered going as far left as the lay line. I was fortunate that most of the yachts ahead tacked as soon as the breeze headed and did not go far enough into the new breeze. For the second race of the weekend I was in the top few at the first mark and with clear air to sail my race. The good younger skippers behind made life difficult and I was forced away from my route into the favored shore line but I did manage to get back in the next two shifts but not far enough. I was a little too low to get the benefit of the big lift into the top mark but did manage to hold onto fifth place for the second mark rounding and finish with a sixth and a cube for the weekend’s effort.

What was good about the weekend was to see clearly the results of decisions both good and bad. In two races I tacked early to the finish line and was run over by yachts that came in more free and faster on starboard. In both races the line was so heavily biased to the finish boat that it could not be crossed on starboard. After one such incident I should have know better than to repeat the  mistake. The other mistake was taking the left gate mark because it was less congested rather than join the queue on the right mark and work to the left of the course.  The worst result and the discard was when I was trapped mid fleet below a long line of boat end starters and could not get over to clear air. The good decisions were the ones where I kept looking up the course for the next shift and planning when to go left or right. What was particularly pleasing was when competitors tacked away too early or hung on too long. That gave me the encouragement to work harder and today I can feel the effects of that hard work.

In my age division I finished behind two super human yachtsmen, both club mates from Middle Harbour Amateurs. Our newest Great Grand Master competitor won five of the six races and our past World Champion came from behind on the last day for a convincing second place in our age group. The Middle Harbour Radial fleet had an impressive string of victories.

This week it will be back to Greenwich Flying Squadron where the wind in Humbug is unpredictable, the shifts difficult to see and unlike the weekend on the Laser, leaning harder does not have the same result.