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<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>I wanted to put in a
bit of commentary on last week's short but sweet race, because it was kinda
classic conditions and perhaps people (especially not in Fleet 1!) can learn
from it (with the usual caveats). It was sailed on the Knox course
(windward of Angel Island, downwind from Sausalito), which is pretty much the
course we will be using for Nationals the last weekend in
July.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>It was a beautiful
day with plenty of sun and eventually just enough wind to sail up and back to
the temporary mark at Yellow Bluff (the RC delayed the start by about 2 hrs, but
most of us hung in there until and through the race). A smallish flood,
which was just as well given the wind strength. But it did show off what I
believe are classic Knox strategies.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>The line turned out
to be pretty leeward end favored, so the only boat who started at the port end
on port got across cleanly - don't try this at Nationals, though! So Rich
Korman in Rubber Biscuit led for much of the first leg, electing to flip to
Starbord and follow most of the fleet out after crossing us all. I was
trying out my new starting mantra: speed on the line, don't worry so much about
where, and it seemed to pay off as we had good clear air. We kept going
for a few minutes toward what looked like more breeze outside, then flipped to
port and headed for shore. Clyde in Chopped Liver waited a bit longer to go,
Rubber Bicky (sorry, that's me British roots...) tacked as well to cover us from
ahead and leeward, and we all went on the famous long port tack. Somehow
we seemed to have better boatspeed, maybe we had a bit more wind, or maybe my
light crew (it was just me and the boyz, Tino and Valencio) helped.
Valencio was napping after lasting through the long pre-start doldrums, good
thing the wind wasn't too shifty!</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>When we got within
quarter to half a mile of the windward mark, Rich flipped to starboard, and we
just crossed them and another boat that was coming downwind from the
mark. I saw Leah on Kelly Shawn (ex Elaine, for you out-of-towners) off in
the right corner, we were busy hoping their wind would die but it held pretty
well. We kept on until we crossed the eddy tide line and started getting
swept to windward, then tacked when I was sure we'd make the mark but hadn't
overstood too much, and we rounded first by a dozen boatlengths or so.
>From there it was just stay between the competition and the finish. I
think Rich went well to starboard downwind and may have lost some time with
greater distance, but his big mistake was tacking to starboard
upwind before reaching the tide line. Chopped Liver got past him, and
so did Kelly Shawn, but he held off Frank and Cathy - that's how we finished
(top 5 out of 9 boats all finished within 2 minutes, biggest fleet in the
race).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>So to recap, in
Monterey the mantra is go left until you hit the kelp; in Santa Cruz it's go
right until you hit the kelp; on the Knox course in a flood (and sometimes in an
ebb too, that one I'm a tad confused by) it's go left a bit to get
air, then go right until you run out of wind or get a huge knock or hit the tide
line or can lay the mark. Usually it gets nice and shifty as you approach
the Sausalito shore, last week the winds were blessedly
consistent.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=446120406-09022009><FONT face=Arial size=2>If anyone else wants
to chime in and correct me on my observations, please feel free - and I hope to
see a whole lot of you out there in July (and many of you well before then, of
course!)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Jan Grygier, <SPAN
class=446120406-09022009>"Carlos"</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=446120406-09022009></SPAN><FONT color=#000000><A
href="mailto:hydrophilos@earthlink.net">hydrophilos@earthlink.net</A></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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