The first race of the New Year was our chance to see if the extra rake in the mast had made any difference. It started in a good fresh breeze and in those conditions the No 3 jib and full main were doing a good job of keeping in front of Flashback and Dump Truck. Stephen was in his element in the new Meridian and with a crack skipper on board he lead the fleet all the way around the course. Meridian’s race was outstanding considering her rating and if that form is continued the J 112 yachts will be winning a lot of ORCi and IRC races.
As the breeze died we found ourselves very much under powered. Our No 3 is a heavy air flat sail and does not develop the power of a light air non overlapping jib so we suffer from more than the 10 m2 of sail reduction.
I am tempted to try the No 1 in heavier conditions with the reefed main even thought this is not the optimum sailing configuration. In this mode we can take out the reef if the breeze dies but only if we have the leeward backstay right off and behind the head before we start.
We did score third place on handicap for the night so perhaps we are a bit hard on ourselves. We knew what gear we had up and there were no grumbles from the crew as we enjoyed a very pleasant evening.
Christian Beck fresh from the Hobart race in Infotrack had a slow start on Dump Truck but once in the groove made a good recovery and sailed quickly through the fleet. For the record Dump Truck had 10 m2 more sail area up and weighs 500kg less so I have to be circumspect about our performance as the breeze failed us.
Thursday was a great day for a light air trial of our new Code 0 which has been sitting in the hull for weeks waiting for the bowsprit rigging to be finished and for a suitable day. In around 7 knots we had a very pleasant reach out to the heads and back down the harbour. The 60 m2 sail area will serve us well in light air tight reaching and might be an interesting sail for short leg work in the west harbour.
Sunday was the hottest day since we launched Passion X and the heat on the perspex sliding hatch was so much that it expanded until it would not slide. A quick remove, trim and replace was effected in 35 degree heat but the job is done and will suffice until the next temperature record in say 80 years time.
Tight reaching to the heads with the Code 0
A tricky attempt at flying the code 0 to windward.