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| Weekend Recap for January 30th & 31st by Scott Tillema (2107) - Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Welcome to warm and sunny Florida where you do not have to worry about shoveling your driveway to get out of the house. So we asked this weekend, where is the sun and warm weather? Saturday's weather forecast was calling for high winds (15 mph w/ gust of 20mph) and good chance of rain showers. As I changed my good sail (saving it for next weekend's big regatta) and put on the worn out sail, I keep asking myself when will the wind pick up that the weather-person calls for?
Going out 40 minutes before the start to practice, the wind was blowing about 10 mph from the South (compass reading 190 degrees) and a few light rain drops were falling. Beating upwind at this time, the waves from the wind was going to be a repeat factor, reminding oneself of last club racing weekend where you have to concentrate on driving thru the waves with out losing your speed. Well, the forecast turned out to be WRONG! At the starting time, the wind had died down to max of 4 mph and the lake became flat.
First race we had 15 boats on the starting line. Only 11 boats were in correct position behind the line at the gun. The skippers knew that the start was the key to the race as clean air was going to be the speed factor to get in front with the dying wind. Don Fancher who started at the committee boat, waited five seconds behind got a clean lane onto the right side of the course to get first honors at the windward mark. Andy Fox who started at the middle of the line, worked his boat with speed not pinching, two tacked the upwind beat to follow Don Fancher in second place. Down wind was slow sailing as you had to keep VMG to the east side of the course with the wind trying to fill in from the west. The leeward mark rounding became the critical and deciding factor of the sailing race. The top two boats, Don and Andy immediately tacked onto starboard as being the correct lift to sail. The next boats Dave Moorhouse and Mike Baldacchino both stayed/ sailed on port tack, sailing away from the mark. But for Dave and Mike, the wind filled in from the west and gave them both a bigger lift on starboard to sail into the lead at the windward mark. From that point on, Dave Moorhouse would stay in the lead as he cruised downwind for the finish with Mike following. What happed to Andy and Don? They were stuck on the left side of the course with the west wind shift and fell back to the middle of the fleet and never recovered.
When you thought the winds couldn't be any lighter for the day, for the second race the top wind speed was 2 ½ mph at the start and we would not see any wind increase. At the finish the wind speed was about 1 (yes, one) mph. You ask, How can you sail in such a light, light wind? That is one of the great advantages to be sailing at Lake Eustis. During the entire sail time, only one power boat was seen on the lake. There was absolutely no boat waves to slow you down so once you got the MC moving in the 2pmh breeze, keep the boat moving and don't tack unless required.
At the second start, I was thinking with a few other skippers, since the right side was favored big time for the last race, then I should go to the right side. WRONG, as Dave Moring was to say afterworlds, “the sea has no memories”. As I was stuck bobbing along on the right side of the course, Andy Fox was speeding away to the left side and would use that tack to lead the race and finish the drifting race in first place. The race was a drifter but at least the boats were moving (slowly) the entire time and proved to be the last race for the weekend.
Sunday's morning weather start out with the high of 59 degrees and would drop to 49 degrees at 11 am. The sailing fleet headed out to the race course but the winds continued to build and at starting time a gusts of 23 mph was recored. Dave Williams, PRO, didn't have any hesitation in abanding the race day and sending everyone home. That was a good call with these factors in mind- wind continue to increase in strenght, every three minutes the wind would shifted 20 degree and air temperature was dropping.
Next weekend is the MC Train Wreck regatta at Eustis Sailing Club. The regatta currently has 41 MC boats signed up and hoping to have over 50 on the line. This regatta is a great tune-up regatta for the upcoming MC mid-winter's in March which 80 boats attended last year.
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| Weekend Recap for 1/16 & 11/17: By Scott Tillema - Sunday, January 17, 2010 You thought you were in shape? This weekend was an example of how quickly you forget your out of shape and the Holidays didn't help. It is time to get the training program back into full swing, again.
This was a weekend were a crew was needed. The top three boats on Saturday took crews. Andy Fox (1345) with a 1 & 2 had a combined weight of 280. Dave Moring (2510), placing 2 & 3, had a combined weight of 310. Robert “two bullet Bobby” Newland (1977), strong showing of 3 & 1, had combined with of 290. And Dave Johnson (2100), 6th and 5th, combined weight of 300. Did a crew really make that much difference? Yes, it did. The wind was blowing 12 mph from the South East (straight from downtown Eustis). There wasn't much wave/ chop action on Saturday but for the singlehand sailors they were hiking the full time sailing. With the additional crew weight, the MC boat pushed out ahead one foot on each puff making the difference of two boat lengths in front at the windward mark. The crews didn't slow the boat downwind at all. The downwind run was were Robert “Bullet Bobby” Newland passed Andy Fox by sailing lower on the course. Both races had the entire fleet close together were the first place boat only finishing approximately one minute ahead of the last place boat! Saturday's temperature was high of 74 degrees with sunny skies.
Sunday racing saw only 9 boats from the previous 17 from Saturday. Nobody took a crew but all were thinking that would have loved to had on on board. The winds had shifted to the South-West and started at 14 mph and continued to build. The main factor with Sunday's racing was the large waves. The waves were about 2 feet tall with power. The waves had traveled the length of the lake (approximately 4miles) before they got to the race course area. First race was manageable with the winds and waves but the second race became a handful as the winds were in the 19mph range with gusts of 21.5mph. I believe every MC nose dived going downwind at one time. It was hard to steer the boat and not get the nose caught into a wave. Craig Eaton (2331) took home the honors wining both races. Two seconds went to Scott Tillema (2107), Don Fancher (2440) finishing 3rd & 5th and Mike Baldachino (2220) 5th and 3rd. Overall Sunday's racing was good for us to experience those difficult conditions of wind & waves in which all of us defiantly improved our sailing skills.
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| Weekend Recap by Scott Tillema (2107) - Monday, January 04, 2010
What a way to start the New Year, 2010! First club racing weekend at Eustis Sailing Club brought out the fun sailing for all participants. We had 12 MC's on the line saturday and that number was low because Monty Stamper and Ray Walker were pressed into crew positions onto the Flying Scot Boats.
The weather didn't stop the MC's from sailing but it shure made you want to dresss properly, Saturday's low was 39 degress at 7:42 am with a high of 58 degress at 3:11pm and the winds average of 10.8 mph with max gust reading of 25mph from the NW. Sundays temperature were overall lower with a high of 47 degrees at 12:34pm with the low of 36 degrees at 6:47am and wind average of 8.1mph, max high gust of 15 from the NW. Overall we had 19 different boats out racing this past weekend.
The first race of the year was won by guest skipper, current M-17 National Champs, Sean Fidler (with wife Tiffany as crew). He came off of the starting line fast and worked/ laddered his way to the left side of the course finding the westerly puffs. Scott Tillema 2107 was a close second who came from the far right corner (sailing closest to the club) were he had to sail further but was in stronger breeze to be in close behind Sean. A funny thing happened on the way down wind. Scott had his vang on hard and was healing the boat up to windward downwind were all of a sudden a rouge easterly puff automatically gybed catching Scott off guard and trapping him underneath the boat as it was now beginning to capsize. Everybody saw the boat tipping over as the boat mast was inches away from hitting the water and were all ready to help rescue him out of the cold water. Somehow by a miracle, a big puff of wind switched backed to the west righted the boat and he continued on. Fast sailing on the second upwind (and rest of the day) was done by staying out of the middle of the course. There was a stronger breeze to the right side but had to wait patiently for a wind shift to sail on starboard course were on the right side of the course was sailed on port tack with the lifts coming in form the west. The hard part about sailing the left side was that the first tack on starboard made you sail further away from the mark but you had to commit to get the latter gains on port.
Second Race was won by Scott Tillema 2107. Scott had a decent start starting at the pin end of the line next to Dave Moring. Both Dave and Scott stayed on starboard tack sailing to the port side of the course. The Fleet was split with the boats going to the left or right corners, staying out of the middle. Tim Krech, ILYA C Fleet Champion and Bull Schmitz son-in law) was the leader on the right side of the course followed by Sean and at the first windward mark the boats all met up together and were inches apart downwind. The next two upwind legs were sailed in a “ladder” progression, sailing on lifted port tack from the mark and then taking to starboard on any wind volocity change of favored shift. Scott Tillema gained the lead by sailing the longest onto port and found a lucky wind shift to be in control. Dave and Tim got into a taking duel with Dave coming in second place. Tim finished third and Sean finished fourth in which at the end he sailied back to the right side (close to the sailclub) for another lucky puff which didn't come.
Sunday's Race #1 had Dave Moring coming out of the blocks on fire, thanks to Phil Ecklund's pep talk on shore. Dave sailed to the left side of the course and tacked onto port with a beautiful west wind shift that sailed him straight to the windward mark, leaving everybody below him still taking for the mark. Tim Krech and Robert Newland sailed the best downwind and finished 2nd and 3rd.
Sunday's Race #2 at the start, everybody was trying to figure out which side of the line to start. Was it port tack favored at the pin end or clean air at the committee boat? The winds were not cooperating and were shifting every 45 seconds. The answer was just to get off the line with clean air and nobody around you. That is what Jon Pomerleau finishing 1st and Ray Walker finishing 2nd did. After the start they both got out into the lead and picked and chose there favorite wind line to sail the course on while the previous leaders were in the back trying to pick shifts and clean air. Again the winds were favored from the west (left side of course) as it turned into a huge port lift into the windward mark.
One side note on race #4, Bull Schimdt finishes ahead of his son-in-law. Next time he will be sailing with his new (Christmas present) helmit camera backwards so he can capture the moment. See you at the next club weekend, January 16th and 17th.
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Most Recent Recap from Jon Pomerleau (2367)
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What a great weekend for sailing! As predicted, pleasant temperatures
and winds 8-14 mph from the SSE prevailed Saturday. Race 1 started with
a port favored line and strong pressure up the left side of the course.
Jon Pomerleau(02367) and David Moring (2188) started near the pin and got the advantage on
the fleet. Jon sailed into the solid pressure then tacked onto the port
lift. DM continued on, digging deeper into the good breeze with Andy
Fox (1343) in pursuit. Scott Tillema (2107) started closer to the starboard end
of the line and was the first one to tack onto the lift, taking a nice
angle up the right, though a little less breeze. About two thirds of
the way up the course, Jon was sliding out of the left side pressure and
had a decision to make. He could tack back to starboard to catch the
last of the breeze from the left or continue on the lifted tack in
lighter breeze with some distant pressure coming from well beyond the
windward mark. He stayed patient on the lift, in pursuit of the new
breeze well ahead. Scott tacked in from the right and looked good
coming to the mark in moderate pressure. Jon sailed beyond the layline
to reach the big pressure coming down from the right, then tacked and
reached in to the mark on a high-speed plane with a comfortable lead.
Scott was the only other boat in the neighborhood. Scott did a great
job of sailing fast and handling his boat as he made the two-boat race
close at the finish.
Jon missed race 2 while tending to kids, but got to see an extremely
tight pack at the first mark, with DM leading and Scott hot on his
heels. Another great effort in the windy conditions earned Scott the
bullet in the end.
What Worked: The waves were small for the amount of breeze, so there
was not much resistance moving through the water. Whether you had the
weight or not, a flat sail set for speed was the ticket, rather than a
rounded, powered-up sail. If you were able to ease and accelerate in
the puffs, there were some real opportunities to take that speed up and
point a bit, which does not happen too often in the MC.
We left the dock Sunday in 15 mph from the south, though the breeze
settled down to 9-13 mph by the start of Race 3. Again, there was a big
shot of breeze coming at the pin end of the line, then a large, solid
line coming down the right side of the course farther up. DM and Jon
started near the pin, hoping to catch the early breeze and then cross
the fleet back to the line on the right. The puff on the left didn't
last long and they found themselves pinned by the windward boats. Scott
got onto port early and reached the right first, quickly pulling away
from the fleet. Geoff Moehl (2412) gave chase and Andy got back into it
with a nice downwind leg, staying in the breeze and on the headed tack
better than anyone. Scott had a nice win while Jon slipped ahead of Andy
and Geoff off a right shift near the finish.
The wind got unstable and started to die down for Race 4. DM looked
good up the middle early, then Jon up the left-middle later, then
eventually Andy came in from the left on a beautiful port lift to round
nicely ahead at the first mark. The breeze got lighter and the sailors
found themselves in the boat or under the boom at times. Scott did a
great job of getting back into the race, then lost to his inner demons
as he gambled his way out of the lead group. Andy led Jon and DM up the
final leg, hugging the left side while DM worked middle left and Jon
eventually worked out to the right toward the top of the beat. With
some new wind from the right as the boats approached the finish, it was
very tight with Andy holding on to edge Jon and DM as they all finished
within a boat length or so. Great racing in challenging conditions.
What Worked: When the breeze started to die in Race 4, some lumpy
conditions remained. You had to ease things off and power up to drive
through the slop. If you sheeted hard and tried to point, you got killed.
Staying with the competition when it looked like they were going the
right way, rather than splitting in hopes of getting lucky. Wait until
you see a credible opportunity to make a gain before you split. You
might still lose, but make sure you had a good reason to make your move.
Perhaps the most important note on the weekend was how far the leaders
were willing to look upwind as they planned their beat. They had to
have an idea where they needed to be 5-10 minutes in advance, which was
often sailing toward breeze that had not even made its way down to the
course yet. If you are simply reacting to the breeze when it hits your
sails, or looking a short distance up the course, you will find it
difficult to have consistently good results, especially if the wind is
unstable.
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Weekend Update from winner Jon Pomerleau (2367)
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Location: Blogs MC Fleet 4 Recaps |
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| Posted by: Fleet 4 Administrator |
10/28/2008 5:07 PM |
Saturday started with a nice breeze in the low teens from the WNW, bringing with it the characteristic chop that seems to sort out the fleet almost as rapidly as those 2-3 mph drifters. As the boats worked up the first beat in race #1, the breeze moved 20-30 degrees right of average. Dave Moorhouse (2074) hooked into this with style to lead nicely up
the right side. Jon Pomerleau (2367)was stuck on the other side of the course and quite fortunate to find a solid line of breeze to sneak back to the top mark in second. On the second beat, both leaders tacked to starboard soon after the leeward mark. With the breeze back to an average heading, Jon tacked out to the right to protect against the big right shift coming back, while Dave held course along with Scott Tillema (2107). This time the breeze went 15-20 degrees left with Dave and Scott nailing this perfectly. This put Dave cleanly around the mark in front and brought Scott right on top of Jon (literally). These positions held through the downwind finish.
In the second race, Dave, Jon and David Moring (2188) started close to each other near the middle of the line and sailed out toward the left corner, with Dave working out in front of the others and eventually tacking and crossing them short of the layline. Dave led most of this race with David nipping at his heals and Jon trying to catch up. As the race progressed, the breeze started moving around and developing a few mushy spots. On the final beat, Dave and David fought up the right middle with Jon going up the left, chasing some slow-moving new breeze. In a cruel fate, Dave fell to third as the big pressure from the left allowed David to move ahead and Jon to slide in behind him. Lee Sayler (2201), who was solidly in fourth on the final leg, found himself well out to the right and got hammered back to 9th.
While there were certainly shifts out there that could help or hurt you, it was more of a day where straight line, drag race speed paid off. Too much tacking in the waves hurt. Dave Moorhouse put on a clinic in these conditions with perfect angles and perfect weight. You also saw new speed from Dave Moring, Jim Hoffman (2303) and a few others as they committed themselves to footing through this kind of chop with the right blend of speed and power.
What Worked: Being physical. Hiking as hard as you could, not just sitting on the side of the boat. Regularly working your mainsheet and controls to maintain an even heel. Unless you were heavy enough to stay fully powered up, footing through the chop (bow down from the breeze), rather than sheeting hard and feathering into the wind. Don't go nuts
though, as there were a couple people with their travelers way down that were sailing too low and giving up too much ground to windward. You have to get out there and find the balance.
For anyone trying to move up in the fleet, take a good look at Lee Sayler whenever you get a chance. While many successful sailors have their idiosyncrasies, Lee is the perfect example of the fundamentals that make you fast and consistently good. If you get a chance to sail with him, you will notice that he is smooth and solid in everything he
does, regardless of the conditions. Watch his angle to the wind, as he never pinches. Hear the frequent clicking of his mainsheet block as he works his sail to maintain an even angle of heel. No jumping around, just smooth and fast.
Sunday was cool and sunny with breeze from the north. Race #1 opened with winds up to 15 mph and a few sailors heading back to the dock. With a nice square line, James Ferrell (2361/2132) got the hole shot off the pin
end. David Moring and John Houck (2097) looked strong off the middle of the line while Geoff Moehl led a large pack out to the right. Geoff Moehl (2412) led at the first mark, but David and Jon Pomerleau were able sneak by him near the bottom of the run. John and Scott Tillema did a masterful job of tacking on some puffs up the right side on the next beat and moved into the 2-3 spots. Jon was able to get close again at the end of the next downwind by working the left side (looking upwind) of the course while the leaders stayed to the right. David slipped away from the group on the short beat to the finish as the dying breeze dropped near zero. John crept over the pin end of the line in second followed by Jon, who just made the boat end. Scott got stuck in the middle and crossed just after Jon as Lee Sayler was making a strong bid to catch the lead group.
We had a few sailors head back to the dock Sunday morning when it looked like it might be a bit breezy. They missed a great day of sailing. If you are uncomfortable in the wind, you have to get out there and get comfortable. Since few people go out practicing in heavier air, race day is a great time to work on your skills, not to mention you have plenty of people around to help if you have any problems.
Race #2 was even tougher. After a range of shifts and velocity changes prior to the start, a huge left came in at the gun with 5-7 mph up the first beat. Lee was the first boat from the left end to tack on top of the fleet. David had a clean start and decided to sail further into the shift, sensing that it would persist to the left. Jon was already committed to the boat end (wrong end). Thanks to a little space from Jim Hoffman, he was able to tack right at the starting line and get away cleanly, looking upwind to see only Lee on top of him. As the breeze started veering slowly back to the right again, some boats tacked back to the left as if it was a header. Jon stayed patient as his bow slowly fell lower and lower while he waited for a small wave of pressure from the right. As the breeze hit hard from the right, Jon tacked on top of
the fleet in a total reversal of fortune. Jon led at the first mark with Lee in pursuit. By the time the leaders got to the leeward mark, David's theory of a permanent left shift was in place. With shiny water on the right side of the course, the leaders tacked well out to the left at a horrible angle from the mark to get into solid breeze before heading up the course. Bob Cole (2350) hit the left really hard and caught Jon and Lee at the top with David just behind. The downwind leg was actually a close reach on starboard. Bob did an awesome job of working up into the oncoming breeze and eventually getting past Jon as the two of them walked away from the fleet. The final beat was largely a tight reach with boats staying just left enough to remain in solid pressure. Bob had a great win with Jon following. Lee led the next group over the line with David edging Dennis Oldham for 4th by a good inch or so.
What Worked: Shifting gears. On a day with breeze from nothing to 15 mph, you had to adjust your boat, your body and your mindset for the evolving conditions. Making a smooth transition from power sailing with controls on to finesse sailing with everything off, and then back again, allowed you to keep pace with the fleet leaders. This was a day to
forget about the compass. You had to have your head out of the boat and looking well up the lake at what was developing. There were times that the leaders were willing to sail 90 degrees or more from the mark to be sure they were in solid breeze when they went up the course. Patience was a big factor as well. When conditions are this crazy, some unfortunate things are going to happen to you. Look up the lake. Try to see the next "real" opportunity. Don't start tacking all over the place with every little flutter of your sail. When the wind is unstable, it is more about where you need to be 5 minutes from now, not 5 seconds from now. Unless you can call every zephyr, stay patient, maintain your speed and keep moving toward the dark water you have spotted.
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