I have a few thoughts that I'd like to share as a general regatta wrap up from last weekend's regatta in Jensen Beach. Let me start by saying that this past weekend was fantastic. Well done! to all the sailors and THANK YOU parents from all your help towing, launching boats, pick up waters, etc.
Great sailing to our top ten finishers Sophia Reineke and Conner Correll in RWB and Jonathan Siegel and Benjamin Harvey in Green Fleet. And CONGRATULATIONS to our 10 year old break out performers Kelly Clark and Joey Meagher for their hard work this past weekend.
Wind Conditions & Patterns :
Saturday - Wind speed: 8 - 11 knots out of the East North East. Regular oscillating breeze, some larger lefties moving down the course. Saturday's trend--pressure filling in from the left with the lulls and smaller puffs coming out of the right side.
Sunday - Wind speed: 8-14 knots from the East South East. Oscillating breeze. In the morning, the pressure filled in from the right and the lulls came from the left side. The pattern switched after race 2, flight 2 and in the afternoon the pressure was similar to Saturday, with stronger lefties and shorter immediate right puffs.
With two starting flights to use to figure out the wind pattern, we realized the oscillations were typically different for each fleet. Example: 1st flight, major left shift played a large role / 2nd flight, right shift proved more favorable.
What we learned:
Top sailors avoided the corners of the race course and held close to the center, working the oscillating shifts upwind and staying on the favored tack.
Sailors in the back of the fleet usually hit the layline too early. The result: overstanding the layline with the majority of the fleet rounding the top mark ahead and inside.
Geographic Factors:
The top of the course was drastically different than the bottom. Marks 1, 2, and 4 sitting closer to the land, you could count on the left shift to fill in. This was hard to see on the water's surface (since the more protected water appeared calmer and less affected by the wind), but still 8 times out of 10 the leaders approached the mark from the left side.
Were the conditions the same for those not in the top pack?
Yes, the wind's trend and pattern were the same across the race course, and those sailors who were not in the top pack did one of two things: (A) sailed on the hip of the fleet and hit the layline too early, which in the end pushed your position behind those sailors that (B) kept up with the back of their pack, playing the shifts and sailing toward the 3 boat length zone [not the layline]. B was the better course of action to take because it put those boats ahead of the second pack of mark rounders.
3 lessons to take away from the regatta:
1) Preparation is key. Adjusting your sails (outhaul, sprit, and preventer tension) to the existing conditions is important. We left the beach expecting more wind than we actually raced in, so shifting the sail's rigging was crucial to reaching top boat speed both up and down wind.
2) Consistency is key: Looking at most sailor's results form the event. In 5 out of 8 races most sailor's finished in the same place (give or take 3-5 boats places), but the other 3 races were bombs (add 5-10 boats to your regular finish place). Since there was only 1 throwout in the series the other 2 bomb races really affected your overall finishing position. Check your scores and think back to any moments in those bomb races that you knew you screwed up. If it was something obvious, focus on learning from those mistakes, and create a goal to right that wrong next time you go sailing.
3) Letters are bad: A lot of sailors have ZFP, OCS, DSQ, BFD somewhere on their scoresheet. Yellow flags for sculling or pumping, overstanding the starting line, black flags, etc. --- all these things are in your control and drastically affect your overall standings. Remember the race begins at the 4 minute count down (preparatory flag up), not at GO. So when you hear the 5 minute signal (class flag up) take the next minute to get into race mode, because in 60 seconds the judges are going to look for you.
