Archive for February 2020
While Passion X was up at Woolwich Dock for the annual antifoul plus wrapping the keel in epoxy glass I was following the weather forecasts wondering if the fleet would get a race.
The forecast strong southerly did come in just as the fleet finished a rather quick zip around the islands and the results were a surprise.
Fastest time went to Lisdillon and Andrew clearly has some explaining to do. I was not surprised at the result because before the results were posted on the internet Mark Palmer had posted a nice photo of Lisdillon and daylight on the club facebook page.
The other surprise was the third fastest for Fireball and Bill also has some explaining to do.
These two suspects scored first and second on handicap and in the case of Fireball this is getting boring. What have you done Bill?
The other non surprise in the results was the third place to Sweet Chariot as another of Mark Palmers facebook photos shows her in front of the fleet chasing Lisdillon and in front of Much Ado V and Utopia.
Somewhere out on the course Jackpot managed to catch Meridian which was a shame as we do like the little brother J boats to stick it to big brother.
I trust all the topsy turvey results were accepted in good humour and we will rejoin the fleet next week.
Lisdillon leading the fleet
Sweet Chariot leading the chasers
The results for Andrew to frame
The finished epoxy glass encapsulation of the keel on Passion X
Yes after the very busy week changing the spreaders on Passion X we were rigged and ready for the twilight race. Despite the light conditions pre race we went with the No1 heavy genoa and were so pleased with our decision. The breeze sprung up to a healthy 15 to 20 knots and from a direction that meant we had a long first work up the narrow Humbug.
After lots of ducking sterns and calling for room to tack on lee shores we arrived at Cockatoo Island. To our dismay our port tack at the Island left us ducking lots of sterns as the starboard tackers had a big lift in their favour.
We now had a run and reach to Goat Island and in the fresh conditions we kept up with the fleet. Dump Truck had pointed up under us at the start so we were slow off the line while they disappeared in the distance along with Agrovation. The rest were in close proximity and we were enjoying the contest.
Around Goat Island we had an inside lift on Meridian and Fireball but they both made up for that with their own inside lifts at the approach th Cockatoo Island for the last rounding.
Meridian got through and we were unable to catch her on the run and reach home. It was all we could do to stay in front of Fireball who was carrying wind up from behind.
We were closer to the front of the fleet than usual in the conditions and for once were enjoying the heavy air tacking. But was it the more favourable course or was it the hard work changing the spreaders.
Only time will tell.
Action shot adjusting the genoa halyard on the way to Cockatoo Island
Some observant sailors have noticed that the mast is out of Passion X at the moment. The reason is not some unexpected calamity but a well planned tuning of the rig. Since launch back three years ago we have struggled to perform to expectations once the breeze gets up over twelve knots. Part of the problem is the narrow beam and light displacement for which there is little remedy but part of the problem is that we have not been able to flatten the main in a breeze. As a result we are reefing the main earlier than most and suffering in the light patches. I had suspected we could improve the mast bend and responsiveness if we had longer spreaders and after Joe Walsh came out for a sail he confirmed that suspicion. Indeed his first comment on stepping on board was “These spreaders are too short.” Allyacht Spars promptly confirmed our diagnosis and manufactured new longer spreaders to fit the existing bases. Once the spreaders were delivered Joe arranged for the mast to come out last Friday and by that evening the spreaders were changed over and the mast is ready to go back in Tuesday in time for the next twiight race. I am sure it will take a while to fine tune the rig with the new spreaders but I am confident it is the right decision. In the meantime we have been fortunate with the weather and I hope that good fortune continues through Wednesday night.
The mast is back in and some photos show that we now have some prebend in the mast
Passion X back on the mooring with new longer spreaders inducing some prebend in the mast
On one hand we were lucky with the weather as the showers held off for the twilight race but on the other hand the promised 12 knots of breeze was pretty much an illusion.
Last week we were pleased with the No1 heavy genoa and full main in twelve knots of breeze so with a similar breeze forecast we went with that selection again. We made a good start and were third into Humbug but while Meridian and Joli disappeared into the distance we sat in the wind shadow of Utopia waiting for the tail of the fleet to pass us. The yachts that went to windward of Utopia passed us, (thank you Fireball, Much Ado V and Dump Truck) and the yachts that went to leeward of Passion X also got through (Thank you Ausreo and others) leaving us chasing the fleet once again. Once around Cockatoo Island for the first time we set out after Ausreo, Utopia and Fireball who we could see. Somewhere a long way up the course was Joli, Meridian, Much Ado V and Dump Truck but they were in a race of their own and will have to write their own story.
To our surprise we made little progress on catching Fireball but pulled away from Utopia and Ausreo and that was the way it was all around the course. At the last approach to Cockatoo before the work up Humbug we pulled alongside Fireball and could see Dump Truck not far ahead rounding the end of the island.
A minor glitch with a genoa sheet wrapped around the cheek block may have let Fireball back in or perhaps being just a few metres to leeward they had better wind but they did work up to give us dirty air for another week. That small lead going into Humbug translated to several minutes as we were becalmed off Onion Point. The trailing fleet caught us by the same several minutes. Among them was Lisdillon and Sweet Chariot who both beat us on handicap and Ausreo who we just managed to beat over the finish line.
Utopia was not having a good day either as she was also slow through Humbug and finished at the opposite end of the fleet to normal.
Apart from the two passages of Humbug we had a good evening on the water. We were pleased with our windward working in the nine knots conditions and while we did not see the seven knots speeds through the water we saw last week we did hold out Utopia which is a pretty good benchmark.
Our mid fleet fifth on handicap was a good indication of our sailing for the evening and we look forward to a night when our luck through Humbug returns.
Before the start we were seeing up to 20 knots across the deck so we opted for a reefed main and the N1 heavy genoa. That was fine for the fresh start and we arrived at Humbug mid fleet but from there thing deteriorated. The breeze disappeared as it does in Humbug but did not reappear on the other side. We hung on with the reef in the main and trailed the fleet down the back of Cockatoo Island where matters got worse in the windshadow. Expecting breeze for the work to Goat Island we perservered with the reefed main holding our position near the rear of the fleet. The late starting Dump Truck charged up and for a brief period where we lifted on our side of the course we seemed competitive crossing tacks with them and Lisdillon. Off Long Nose we were forced to tack away from a clear line to Goat Island by a green fleet yacht. Then we were held on port tack sailing away from the course for a frustrating few minutes just losing ground to the fleet. By the time we were allowed to tack Lisdillon had slipped through to leeward and Dump Truck was all that extra distance up the course.
The breeze had now faded so we took out the reef but the horse had bolted and most of the fleet was nowhere to be seen. Shaking out the reef kept us competitive with Lisdillon and Sweet Chariot and we made up a little ground on Fireball but it was a quiet run around Cockatoo island and back home. We could already see the fleet leaders, Jackpot, Agrovation, Meridian and Joli emerging from behind the island to start the work home up Humbug and were a little encouraged to see that they had good breeze.
Around the end of the island we went wide and pulled away from Lisdillon and Sweet Chariot. Now we were in clear air and chasing Fireball. Out in the open past Cockatoo Island a good but short lived breeze of around tweve to fourteen knots sprang up and we settled down on a beat where we were doing over 7 knots speed through the water and up to 5.7 knots VMG. These were pleasing numbers due to the water being flat and the breeze steady and with this speed we closed in on Fireball. Unfortunately we were a few boat lengths short of catching them on starboard. In a desperate attempt to pass them we hugged the Onion Point shore but they were not going to give us any leeway and dropped down on our line to blanket us to the finish.
It was high tide and so my estimate of the room under the keel was OK on the night.
In reality the fleet was gone off and around Goat Island before we took out the reef so we had a pretty dismal handicap result managing to beat only Dump Truck who did self inflicted injury with a late start. Jackpot took the daily double and their excuse that it was their breeze seems pretty lame. They have been sailing very well of late and the J122 looks a picture out on the course.