In the first race I was second to the top mark close behind a very skillful and accomplished teenage girl who always sails superbly. Downwind she really showed her skills by planing away in a shower of spray and gybing skillfully back onto what was a flat run to the bottom mark. My attempts to follow suit had me capsizing twice in a row. On both occasions the centerboard came out of the centerboard case and started to float away. I spent a lot of time trying to get it back in its slot so that I could heave on it and right the boat again.
BUT - as I sailed back to the club house to the beer and barbecued sausages I hardly felt hard done by. The water was very pleasant to capsize into as it is warmed while flowing into Whangarei Harbour over several large sand banks that have been baking in the sun all day. Also, in this big wind memories came flooding back from my early sailing years as I felt again the joy of small boat sailing: Thrashing to windward, then planning off downwind in a flurry of spray and wind - very, very, very good for this old buggers soul I can tell you.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1 - "Always wear a life jacket". Wise words. I would have drowned without one.
2 - I am showing my age. Hiking out for long periods of time at 64 years of age is very taxing. I need not just the set of compression pads to protect the underneath of my thighs, I also require a set for my calf muscles.
3 - The boat requires another self bailer. In these choppy conditions I had water coming green over the bow and filling the cockpit.
4 - I need a piece of shock cord (something that all Starlings have - something I had overlooked) to hold the center board in place when capsized.
5 - I need to make sure that I do a thorough boat inspection before launching. I failed to see that I hadn't re-tied the hiking straps back up with shock cord which made getting my feet under the straps harder after each tack.
6 - "She'll be right" is not good enough - I thought the two loose sail battens in the mains'l that I knew required new elastic in the sail pocket (to hold suitable tension on them) would be ok. But in this full sail breeze one of them popped out when the sail was flogging in the wind. I took the sail into 'Calibre Sails' today to get fixed.
7 - My little Starling looks beautiful in all her varnished glory - BUT - she is also very slippery to work in. I slide like hell all over my beautiful varnished cockpit floor slats LOL and the deck isn't much different. Many racing yachts have non skid tape or painted out patches in high use areas - But I know all of this - My keeler Mariners' deck and cockpit are all painted out in non skid paint. I think I will have to do something about that if I continue to race.
8 - "Practise makes perfect" so the saying goes. I would settle... not for perfection, but for just staying upright throughout the racing. So a bit of practise is required in a less frenetic context where I can get used to a few of the old moves. You can't teach an old sea dog new tricks - that's because he needs to teach the new tricks to himself - with a bit of practise.
10 comments:
Wise words one and all.... :-)
Steve, there is most certainly wisdom in always wearing a life jacket!
Well done! And well said.
There must be some muscle-memory involved in racing sailboats. Isn't it great how sailing a little centerboarder in heavy air can make you feel 40 years younger? It kind of takes you back in a way similar to the way an old song you haven't heard since high school takes you back.
Get that shock cord on your centerboard, and you'll finish better.
Yes you are right Dan - it's a bit like riding a bike, something you don't ever forget how to do, although I am a bit slower riding my bike as well these days! I like your comparison to an old song - memories, nostalgia and an intimate connection to things from our younger days.
Alden: For non-skid in dinghy cockpits I like a self-stick foam called "SeaDek"; see here: http://www.clcboats.com/shop/products/boat-building-supplies-epoxy-fiberglass-plywood/nonskid-flooring-for-smallcraft.html
SeaDek can be cut with good scissors to fit nooks and crannies in the cockpit sole. The adhesive is quite strong and if you need to refinish bright work surrounding installed SeaDek you can mask it off. I have found SeaDek to be kinder to the knees than either rock salt or sand or other granular non-skid materials stirred into paint or varnish. I like it better than non-skid tapes as well. Hopefully you can find this material down your way. I'd mail you a small piece for experimental purposes if I knew your snail mail address.
Good advice George. Thank you for the offer of posting a snail mail sample - but SeaDek and similar products are available here in NZ. On my big yacht Mariner I have used a non skid paint product that contains granulated rubber mixed in with the paint. It's used a lot around swimming pools. This product has been on Mariner for a few years now and provides a good 'non harsh' no skid surface.
Hey Dad who took the photos and why is there not one of you falling into the water!? :D Hehehe!
Your Uncle Tony took the photographs. He was very disappointed about not getting one of me capsized in the water, I think he wanted to post it all over the internet - but I was too far away and he didn't have a telephoto lens on his camera.
Hmmmm.... How much did you pay him to delete the photos Dad!?
Shhhhhhhh...... Heaps, Charlotte, heaps... and I had to buy him beer and agree that he is better looking and more intelligent than me for a whole week! That was a toughie I can tell you.
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