Our Opti Teams competed this past weekend on the always challenging venue that is the wide Intercostal Waterway inside of Jensen Beach. Saturday brought conditions more reminiscent of the English countryside with gusts to 25kts and intermittent rain. Sunday was lighter and we ran 4 races before the 2:30pm cutoff time. Congrats to LYC's top finshers: Justin Callahan 1st, Mitchell Callahan 6th, Bella Casaretto 7th, Garret Dixon 17th, Jonathan Siegel 21st, and Giulio Zunino 29th out of 120 boats.
Strategy:
The wind was out of the ENE all weekend - coming over the narrow spit of beach that protects the venue from the ocean, and ocellated back and forth pretty regularly all weekend. When it got light midday Sunday picking out the pressure was very important, but for most of the regatta sailing the best angle - staying on the lifted tack to the next mark - was paramount. With 1.5 - 3 "shifts per beat" (a measure I like to use for how rapidly the wind is oscillating) playing towards the middle after gaining the initial advantage was the best strategy.
Not all of our sailors initially took this route. There were 2 common mistakes - giving up on a lift, and banging a corner through several shifts. As previously mentioned, the shifts were coming pretty slowly on a really long beat (the first day it looked like 2 miles through the haze). When you tacked while still lifted, especially on the outside of a lift, you sailed away from the next shift, and consolidated a loss on the fleet. Jack did exactly this on the first beat of the last race - he was bow out on the expansive fleet going to the right and holding his leverage and position in a long lasting left lift. had he waited for the wind to shift back, he could have crossed half the fleet. But instead, by tacking, he ducked the entire fleet! He would boatspeed past 10 boats on the last beat, but the point remains - if you consolidate in a bad position, you loose any opportunity to better that position. Its like selling your stock after it drops to 10 cents a share - if you know the market is fluctuating - hold on and be patient for your next shift!
Banging a corner is similarly ill-fated in oscilating winds. You may look great when you first tack to come back, but the wind will shift several more times before you reach the mark and you will end up loosing out. What seemed to be a geographic lull on the right made this trip to the extreme right even more costly for Sophia!
In Oscilating conditions seek to position yourself bow out on the lifts, tacking only as the wind shifts.
Tuning:
Pretty standard big breeze setup for most sailors: tight sail ties all the way up the mast so you flatten the sail as the mast bends. Tight luff (fewer/no turns on the cunningham). Garret sailed at his furthest rake forward to date on Sunday and felt pretty fast! We tune rake to the weight and wind conditions, but also to the skill of the sailor -rakeing forwards powers you up but also makes mainsheet trim critical (the angle of the mainsheet to the boom means its easier to stall the leech) and deprives the boat of windward helm (helpful to steering). On the J Sail, the leech is soo adjustable and can open up soo nicely - Garret just need to be meticulous about adjusting the sprit and trimming his mainsheet, and he can be really fast!
Some really light sailors experimented with pulling the daggerboard up a few inches upwind. This de-powers the boat, and helps reduce weather helm and allows you to get out of "the no go zone." Some did this when it wasn't windy enough - they should have gone for more power and pointing off the start line (Jonathan)! Coach Pili stressed to sailors a great point - that they should initiate the turn down around the windward and reach marks by raising their daggerboard.
How hard you are hiking is a great wind strength indicator for how you should tune the boat. Here's some rules:
*Until you are full out hiking, the goal of Opti tuning is to have as much power as possible.
*Once you are overpowered, de-power only as much as necessary to keep the boat flat (while still at full hike).
*If you are inside the boat (really searching for power) you need to achieve it by developing flow - loose vang, loose sprit, medium outhaul.
Starts:
You needed to get off the line in the front row to be successful. The leaders were always able to get in phase with the first wind shifts, either by crossing the fleet in a lefty, or holding a lane in a righty.
The start line was crowded. On Sunday, the current was flowing from pin to boat, and the pin was usually favored, making starting at the pin the move! Even with a throw out, being OCS will always hurt your regatta, and Garret and Mitchell each picked up the BFD's cousin, the UFD (automatic DSQ for being over inside of 1 minute to the start). Practice the last 30 seconds of the start you want early in the sequence when the line is clear, and you will have a much better feel for the timing.
Many other sailors never got to the first line of the start. This is also a boatahandeling and practice issue - you need to power up, hike and sail the boat up underneath someone to get into the first row. In breeze, sculling does't work as well, and Jonathan's starts improved when he started steering with weight more than rudder. He and Garret both moved up significantly on Sunday.
Mentality:
Sailing in the rain and heavy air always proves to be the most challenging mental conditions (at least for me, some get freaked out in light air but I love it). Know that your competitors are experiencing the same challenges you are, and see it as an opportunity to deal with it better than them. Your love of Competition has to overrule you want for Comfort.
Arthur Blodgett
