Most of Saturday was solid breeze with good puffs that had people working their controls.  C Scow Champion Tim Krech visited for the day and, borrowing Scott's (2107) boat, he put up the best and most consistent results, sailing lower, faster and flatter than most.  David Moorhouse (2074), a fixture at the front of the fleet whenever the wind is blowing, was also very consistent with 3 and 3.  Current Fleet Leader Jon Pomerleau (2367) saw both ends of the fleet (again) on Saturday, being at one point in DFL in the last race, but used his superior speed in these conditions to post 2 and 4.

Light air prevailed Sunday and David Moring (2188) quickly reminded everyone why he is the champ.  Only Dave Johnson (2100) could consistently rival his speed and height (no, not that kind of height!).  Despite Moring's prowess on the course, it was his boat handling in the pre-start that saved his weekend series.  At the start of the final race, Geoff Moehl (2412) was setting up to either be over early or get buried and was going to bring Moring over too.  He "fought" back by not going one-on-one, but by hitting the brakes by turning into the wind, pushing his boom out and backing his sail until he was clear of the pending disaster.  He then quickly reset and headed off the line in a clear lane.  In what turned out to be a shortened, one-lap drifter, any lose-lose mess in the starting area would have been fatal for Moring.  Everyone should have this kind of move in their arsenal.

JON ON WHAT WORKED SATURDAY:  Not fighting the boat.  In the stronger breeze and flat water conditions, it was a flatter sail set for speed rather than power.  Depending on your weight and sail design, this probably meant a firm outhaul and using controls the majority of the time, including using them more aggressively when the puffs were about to hit.  The goal in working a puff is not simply to avoid tipping over, but to also accelerate the MC.  If you have not tugged on the controls sufficiently to keep the sail flat and avoid being overpowered, you are just as likely to stall the boat.  If you are working your mainsheet (most common technique) in these puffs, you need to apply enough vang to match the strength of the approaching puff so your sail can be eased laterally without substantially changing shape (remaining pretty flat). That allows you to accelerate on your current heading or even drive down slightly for ultimate speed, before using that speed to come back up and point.  Easing the sheet without enough vang lets the boom lift upward significantly when you ease, creating a rounded, rather than flat, sail.  This often leads to over-healing, a need to luff a portion of the sail and/or feathering the boat into the wind.  While this can work in a displacement keelboat that is "speed limited", this is slow in a scow.  It is also just as important to remember to ease your controls when exiting the puffs.  Practice with your controls in these conditions until you can *feel* the boat accelerating while maintaining consistent heel and then easing controls again to gear back up and maintain heel on the back of the puff.

DAVID ON WHAT WORKED SUNDAY:  While I always harp on pressure and direction in these conditions, I want to talk about speed; when coming out of a tack or at the start, a light mainsheet is critical.  This allows the main to set up a deeper, more "natural" draft (though don't undersheet!).  Then as speed build give that sheet a few tugs until the leech tales are just barely "licking" behind the sail - the airflow is set and should be allowed to separate at entrance and reattach once it leaves the sail.  If you are using a (Quantum) Light-Medium or a (North) Z-Max, leave your outhaul at medium and tighten it as you accelerat (experience in watching Jamie and Zack has shown that the outhauls for these sails in light air should be generally tighter than you would think!), while the AP/ZAP should not really be touched. Healing the boat more in these conditions is fast - especially when you have enough air to pinch on occasion.  Combined with real roll-tacking, you should be able to escape and accelerate many situations upwind.  Downwind a just snug vang is necessary (but NO pressure)!  This is similar to the reason Jon notes above about upwind in medium conditions - when a puff hits, you do not want it to use its energy push the sail out of shape, but rather forward.  In any kind of air, the proper amount of vang should be seen when the leach between the battens start to move just a bit fore-and-aft "gently waving like a butterfly".