<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18813"></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hello everybody, we
just finished a wild day's racing on the SF Bay Knox course, and came up with
two bullets for the first time in years, so I wanted to pass on some
observations.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Meliki, Tackful and
Tchoupi were probably as surprised as I was that we managed to pass them on the
long downwind leg of today's windy second race. Here's how (I think) we
did it.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>First, everyone on
the listserve should already know that if you are going wing on wing, the
backstay should be out a "long way", where long means as far as you dare, pretty
much. I think Meliki actually holds the current fleet record for most
backstay adjustment, but Carlos increased ours before Nationals so it might be
comparable now. Just be sure to pull it back in before going through big
wakes (unless you are a lot braver than I am), maybe jybing (depending on the
dexterity of your foredeck hand), and oh yes, reaching the leeward
mark.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Along with this you
release the jib halyard until there are small scallops - remember to pull this
back in before the mark, too. I think all four boats in our little school
were already doing both of these.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>So what did we do
different? First, I think I sail with the whisker pole further aft than
most people (i.e. jib pulled in more). This gives a tiny bit more area, but
mostly it keps a nice smooth curve as the wind gets to the forestay, instead of
a sudden curve at the end (i.e. the draft of the sail is less and is further aft
when it's pulled tighter).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>But the biggest
difference may have to do with getting onto waves, thus the subject line.
I grew up sailing small boats, and after some experimentation I basically sail
my Tuna downwind as if I weighed 250 lbs but had no arm strength and was sailing
a Laser (OK, so I don't heel to windward as much). In other words, I play
the waves a lot and try to catch a good many of them, but because Tunas are not
ultralights I only get about every second one, assuming it's windy enough to
surf at all. The quip about no arm strength means I do not pump either
main or jib downwind (rules say only one pump per wave), because I find pumping
distracts me from timing when I dive down to catch the trough, which may be
earlier than you think.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I remember Mikey
Murison used to pump all the time (legally), and I certainly can't claim to be
any faster than he was, but it doesn't work for me.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Needless to say we
had a great time out there today, though I kinda wish I had brought the old flat
jib, it was really honkin' in the slot! There were quite a few calls to
the Coasties, but none from Tunas that I know of, I hope everybody else had a
blast too.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Jan Grygier, <SPAN
class=521595201-31082009>"Carlos"</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="mailto:hydrophilos@earthlink.net">hydrophilos@earthlink.net</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://home.earthlink.net/~hydrophilos/spigot.html">http://home.earthlink.net/~hydrophilos/spigot.html</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><SPAN class=521595201-31082009><FONT size=2 face=Arial>P.S. I
have the "Season closer" listed as our next set of races Sept 26-27, but I
forget which day(s) we are sailing, or whether they count for the season, spinny
vs white sails... good thing I'm no longer fleet captain! Does somebody
who knows what we are planning want to put out the word, I suspect some others
may be as confused as I am about that weekend.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>