| 22.Jan.07 | Unlike two years ago (when there was a blizzard), I made it home uneventfully on Saturday and sailed on Sunday. The boat was smaller (10 foot dinghy called a Sea Dog) and the temps were about 60 degrees cooler, but sun shone and the wind was the same strength albeit with more short shifts and puffs. I managed all single digit finishes (okay, there were only 12 boats) and a fourth overall, which is better than my usual finish. I think that most of the owners and crew thought that KWRW 2007 was a success. I talked to Tom Coates after the awards Friday night and he said "The racing is so close in our class. If you make one small mistake, you pay dearly. In the race we were 24th we couldn't find any lanes after a bad start and kept getting pushed back." That was the story of the regatta. You needed a good start and clean air. Failing that, you rarely could fight back. Notable was that there were no boats with 9 single digit finishes. Three of the top five had finishes in the twenties. The boat with the lowest worst finish (13th) was GUMPTION3, and she finished fifth overall. Only five boats avoided a finish in the 20s! Another highlight of this regatta was the weather. It was consistently warm. It was in the 80s every day and nearly everyone dressed in t-shirts and shorts. This year it was ten degrees higher than normal, while in the past two years it was 10 degrees lower than normal. With no fronts passing through, the wind was remarkably consistent -- out of the East +/- and always on the light side (under 12 knots). There was no major damage and the protests were few. And nobody complained about that. Which brings me to the tale of the sails. There were twenty boats sporting Ullmans and ten with Norths and three singletons. There were a few mixed inventories, but I counted by the majority of the three sails listed on the declarations. Since we had 33 boats, I divided up the results by thirds, giving the total number of boats, the boats that finished in the top third, the middle third, and the bottom third. Ullman: 20 (6, 8, 6) North: 10 (4, 2, 4) Doyle: 1 (1, 0, 0) UK: 1 (0,1,0) Quantum: 1 (0,0,1) Over the years there has been a migration from North to Ullman, but I still believe that the better sailors do better, and the crews have much more to do with the finishes than the sails. Ullman was quicker to refine their sails for the fleet and picked up some good sailors early, but now the playing field is pretty level and you should pick your sailmaker by who provides the best after sales support. So that's it for 2007. Hope those who are reading in the cold, cold north will make it down to sail next year. Yes, it's an expensive proposition, but you only live once and you can't take it with you! |
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| 19.Jan.07 | The photo boat was done for the week, so today I went to the state park at Fort Zachary Taylor. I took a swim and watched the start and the beginning of the race from about four miles away. To my eye it appeared that the pink kite (MASQUERADE) was about third or fourth coming downwind for the first time around. The weather today was as it has been for the week. Perfect for t-shirts and shorts on the course. It is funny to look at the photos for the last two years with people bundled up in foul weather gear. The gear sales for the fleece has been way down this year, despite the best efforts of SLAM to promote their brand in the tent. I then went over to Truman Annex to watch Acadia be launched. Clay Burkhalter is doing the Mini-Transat in a 21 footer designed by his uncle Rod Johnstone. He sailed around in the breakwater a bit, but will eventually sail from France to southern Brazil in this little craft. Better him than me. We've still got the fun awards to give out tonight and then I'm off for chilly New England on Saturday and hopefully frostbiting on Sunday. I'll be back for an update Monday on the week's events. Thanks for reading! |
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| 18.Jan.07 | I had a ringside seat for today's action aboard a Contender 26 with twin Yamaha 200 hp outboards. We got very close to the action and were the hare to the 105 tortoises. But before I go into the action, let me wish a happy birthday to John Mathis who is sailing aboard FORERUNNER with his son. 1947 may have been a good year, John, but 1945 was even better! The first start was postponed for 15 minutes while the wind and the course moved right by 20 degrees from 85 to 105. They set a four legger with a weather mark 1.7 miles out. The wind strength was pretty much what we have seen for the entire week. It topped out at 12 and averaged perhaps 10. We went up the right side of the course with SAVASANA and RUM @ SIX. GUMPTION and a few others seemed to play the center and punched out quickly. At the weather mark it was GUMPTION, TENACIOUS, and SAVA. MASQUERADE was back in the middle. At the first leeward, they changed the course to 85 degrees. GUMPTION almost shrimped their kite while leading by a bunch. TENACIOUS and SAVA and MAX POWER followed. MASQUERADE had troubles in traffic and dropped even further back. At the top mark, GUMPTION pulled up their kite with an hourglass, but it did not matter because they were so far ahead. They won going away. But SAVA had taken the regatta lead from MASQUERADE. In the second race they posted a five legger to 95 degrees with the same 1.7 mile distance to the weather mark. GHOST and GUMPTION headed right after the start while a large contingent, including ECLIPSE and MOPELIA went for the beach. At the first mark it was PERSERVERENCE (who played the middle, EAGLES WINGS, MASQUERADE, and CONVEXITY. At the bottom it was MASQUERADE moving up a place with MAX POWER in the mix. This time PERSERVERENCE moved out smartly and won the race going away. Tomorrow there will be one race, with MASQUERADE holding a slim four point lead over CONVEXITY. But other lurk. |
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| 17.Jan.07 | I was out on Circle #2 (big boats) and Circle #4 (small boats) today with the videographer taping the J/120s and the J/92s. We even caught a few 35s, 24s, and 27s. Yesterday's top temp was 81.9 degrees and today was the same. Sure beats 8.19! The wind was fairly light again today and there was no change forecast for Thursday and Friday. The races were generally run to 80 degrees with the first being a four legger and the second a five legger. Ken Colburn offered that the wind on Circle #3 was 9-11 in the first race and 7-9 in the second. The second race saw a significant leftie. A couple of boats were OCS in the first race, but none in the second. I might point out that the results that I have been posting on the main site are preliminary and subject to change. For example, yesterday a boat added a "p40" (40% penalty) and another was DSQed. Those show up as they are available on the Premiere-Racing web site. I'm always asked about current at Key West. Perhaps the best advice I can pass on is given by Jeff Johnstone who said "I always look for the weed lines. If the boats on the other side of them are doing better, I move over. If they are doing worse, I stay put." Basing one's action on empirical evidence, sure beats trying to interpret the current charts (none that I know about) and what is happening on the buoys. Current IS a factor in Key West and sometimes more than others. It always seems to me to be going in the same direction, with only the velocity changing. Two new owners have commented to me that the most difficult thing about learning how to drive a J/105 is steering the waves. One of them was brought up on lake sailing and the other was a Bermuda owner (where the wind is generally heavy, but the water is generally flat). I tend to agree, and nothing beats the experience of sailing in the waves next to other boats. Today the waves were down a bit, but in general they are a significant factor. Tomorrow I'm back on the 105 circle in preparation for the Thursday night owner's party at the JBoats Hospitality tent. Hoooooray! |
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| 16.Jan.07 | Let me first correct an error from yesterday. JAVA did not get to the top mark first in the second race by going right. She went left into the shore two of three times and found the wind better nearer the shore. Stangely (or not), the perception of what is going on with the wind might differ from boat to boat. I was out on the Division 4 Circle today following the J/109s. The wind was similar to yesterday, with decent breeze to start and then dropping off to light. Maybe 12-14 to start and more like 8-10 at the finish. Both races were four leggers to 120 (SE) with 1.4 mile weather legs. The four circles are numbered from 1 to 4 going west to east. Those on the 105 circle who complain that they must follow the Melges 24s should be thankful. On Circle 4 there are six starts and the fleets get mixed up far more than with only the Melges ahead and the J/80s behind. Our videographer inadvertently caught some Santana and Beneteau action, even though he was working for JBoats. At least in a one-design circle all the boats on any given start are equally matched. In the PHRF classes it was painful to watch some of the slower boats in the slowest classes in the light air. Altogether there are 260 boats here. In the Farr 40 Class, His Royal Highness, Prince Frederick, 38, has been given alot of press. This is his first year here and his first year in Farrs. He can only sail 2 weeks a year, but enjoys mixing it up with the "rock stars." He managed a 9th in the 17 boat fleet. The Farr 40s all have the best tacticians that money can buy and the Prince is no exception. |
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| 15.Jan.07 | For those who have not been paying close attention, we have 33 boats this year from 11 fleets. Leading the way are Fleet #3 (Annapolis, thanks Walt) with seven, Fleets #8 (and #1, California) with five, Fleet #14 (Southern New England) with five, and Fleets #5 and #6 (Chicago and Long Island Sound) with four each. We also have two from Bermuda and one from Canada. This is an "all star" group with some considerable talent.< The temperature hit 81.5 degrees at 2:30 today and it was sunny. The winds started out in the medium range (about 15 knots) and declined as the day wore on. By the end of racing the winds were under 10 knots with little serious hiking, but enough to get the boats around the course. The first race was a four leg course to 70 degrees and the second was five legs to 80 degrees. The weather mark was a generous 1.75 miles upwind. The 105s had what they perceived to be a short line for 33 boats, with a mid-line boat. The first race went off without any boats over early. MASQUERADE led at the first mark and finished with a bullet, followed by CONVEXITY and SAVASANA. The second race saw the sea breeze filling in and moving the wind right. Several boats were OCS and called back to restart. The boats who ventured to the right made major gains on the first leg and left MASQUERADE well back. At the first mark it was JAVA in the lead with MAX POWER and SAVA not far behind. At the second windward it was MAX POWER, SAVA, and JAVA, but by the finish it was CONVEXITY, JAVA, and PERSERVERENCE. I was fortunate to be in the photo boat with Dave Dunnigan who was taking video for JBoats. I actually got to take stills with a very professional camera and zoom lens. Maybe the website will have some decent "amateur stuff" this year. More after day two. |
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| 14.Jan.07 | I know it has been warm up north. But if you think you are lucky, you need to come to Key West in January. Today was another "chamber of commerce day" in the Keys. The temps topped out at 80 degrees and the wind was perfect for practice, right in the 15 knot range. The wind was out of about 100 degrees (E for you landlubbers). There was a practice course set up and there were at least a dozen 105s availing themselves of the course. I finished the inspections early and bribed ECLIPSE into giving me a ride if I inspected them over at their Truman Annex spot. I didn't have my boat shoes, so I thought I would go barefoot. Big mistake. On the first tack, I got half way across and then slipped to the new leeward side and nearly fell overboard. I'll be carrying some black and blue for the rest of the week. For those on the crews out there it is certainly good advice not to let your helmsman get too far away from the helm (in most cases). Tomorrow they are looking for 10 to 15 knots, and hopefully I'll catch a ride on the photo boat to give you the play-by-play. As I write this, Chicago has won (way to go Fleet 5) and New England is losing to San Diego (Fleet 8 may get bragging rights over Fleet 2 and 14). Fleet #3 had a setback yesterday as Baltimore lost to the Colts. Yes, we do stay in touch with some of the reality. Back tomorrow after racing. |
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| 13.Jan.07 | We ran through more than the scheduled inspections today and there were only a few boats we did not see yet. Inspections work better when you do not have forestays to worry about and when the inspectors come to the boats rather than having the boats come to the inspectors. Two thirds of the boats are at the Historic Seaport rafted up along the dock. Two thirds of the rest are an easy walk from there. The ones that are from outside the Bight still need to come over to the Seaport. It was a wonderful practice day. The winds were in the 15 to 20 range for much of the day and on land the temps hit 80 degrees. The predictions are for high 70's for the rest of the week and Monday is shaping up to be a great first day with wind in the 10-15 knot range. The lone "casualty" of the day was the Fleet #2 boat that came back without power. Powersailing is still not a good thing to do in a J/105, especially when you are heeling. Learning to "bleed" the engine is definitely a skill to be learned. Tomorrow there should be more good weather for another practice day. |
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| 12.Jan.07 | Arrived at about 4:30 p.m. From the air there were a smattering of white caps and the sailing conditions looked great. Over at Historic Seaport, there were boats rafted three deep with room for about three more boats. Saw some old friends. The inspections start tomorrow at 9 a.m.
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| 11.Jan.07 | I've said in my Updates that I'm not making predictions this year other than that Tom Coates and MASQUERADE are the team to beat in 2007. He followed up his win at KW in 2006 with wins at the Annapolis NOOD, the Newport Rolex, and the North American Championship. I also predict that if MASQUERADE is fortunate enough make it a "three-peat" (he also won in 2005), then the margin will be much smaller than last year when he won by 18 points. Be back after I arrive in Key West.
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