Hello all;


Well, looks like we have a week off before the PHRF Maine’s. We could use the rest and some time to put the boat back together! (Not really, just the spin pole which I actually fixed last night). The Harraseeket race had some good winds and a long downwind run, just the way RC likes it. We had a down wind start, but didn’t go as planned; we tried too hard to stay out of the way of the boat starting in front of us so we were sort of jibing, snake-waking just before the gun. Also, Reta reported that the spin halyard was wrapped with the jib halyard. All worked out though pretty quickly. The breeze was in the mid teens and some higher gusts, letting RC show her stuff with bursts of speed in the low to mid teens! We had a couple of roundups that could have been prevented though. I think next time we’ll have to discuss communication before we race in heavy air. RC is pretty tender and I need to let the spin trimmer know a little earlier when I feel too much pressure on the helm. It is definitely a team effort keeping RC upright. We didn’t do badly though, some boats didn’t fly the spin or couldn’t. Reta made a good call to get some weight in the back of the boat to keep the bow from burying into the water and it did make a difference. I also loved hearing Pam call the puffs and start giggling when a big one was coming, we all knew what that meant…surfing! At the leeward mark we had somewhat of a kite flying, next time we can do a couple things to prevent that. One, I could have helped by going a bit higher above the mark and then going low to the mark so we could blanket the spin behind the main, then we have to bring in on the spin sheet hard, while the guy is let go and someone to tend it to assure the guy runs free. Then the third action, once the spin is behind the main and the foot gathered, we release the halyard and it goes down the hatch. It worked out well though compared to what could have been. Our upwind leg was pretty good considering being overpowered. I’ll get the 85% sail out and have it on board to try out when we have a chance, not sure if it would have helped or not. Don’t worry Pete, I have it on my list to bring some of the older sails Thursday night as well. One other thing we can do in the future is to trim to the puffs when on a reach. Monica pointed this out and it has huge benefits. Rather than sailing the way the wind wants you too, you sail in the direction you need to go, just have to constantly adjust for it (sorry Pete, your going to work hard on those days!). I also want to let you all know something Gregg told me after the race. When we went in between the rocks at the end of Little Birch Island, remember Gregg said it was ok to keep our weight in? Well, he said that there was 3 feet at low tide, add the 1.6 foot tide (meaning at low tide we actually had 4.6 feet on this date) and the fact that the water was flooding for 45 minutes, and that RC was at about 10-15 degrees heeling angle, we should have plenty of room with our normal 5.2 foot draft! Oh ya, he also was being diligent by assuring we didn’t go in further than the lobster pots, as there was most assuredly no water there! I definitely admire his calculations and forethought, but did ask that we play it a little more conservative next time…….nice work Gregg!



Nice work to all!



Thursday Nights;



We’re still on!



PHRF Maine Championships July 7-8;





Who; (Crew)



Rich, Pete, Gregg, Rita, Monica;

Room for two more on Saturday, and three on Sunday depending on Pete’s ball game schedule.



Julia, are you in? You are invited.





What: (race preparation)



Gregg (I’ll get you the charged up GPS and cord on Thursday night prior to the race)

Gregg (skipper’s meeting?)

Rich (Lunch duty)



When;





Saturday; 10:00 at our new usual spot



Sunday; 10:30 at our new usual spot



Why;



Because we can!