Words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom – 11-06-05 - Scott Ferguson

I have never been a fan of sailing near the edges of the course. At times this gets me into trouble, but for the most part it leads to more consistent finishes. Even if one side is clearly favored I will always tack at least 5-10 degrees below the layline to allow for a lift to get me to the mark, or a header which allows me to tack and cross the guys on my hip. Brenton Cove is tricky place to sail when the wind is in the south quadrant coming over the land. But for the most part you can see the wind on the water. I always carefully study the wind on the water, trying to discern which way the puffs are moving, and how I can align my boat to take the most advantage of each wind cell as they move down the course. I do not pay too much attention to the cells that are out of my reach. For example early in the day the far left looked pretty good, but that pressure and angle would never hold all the way to the windward mark. Sailing on port across the middle of the course I would see guys over my shoulder at times lifting off me with pressure looking pretty good, but if I looked at my path to get there it just was not an option. I would only take steps to the left when my puffs allowed me to. In the first 3-4 races my path up the beat was almost identical. I played the middle/right side with good success. The forecast was for a building southerly as the front approached, slowly turning the wind right to the SW. This was one reason I favored the right side of the fleet, but I think the way the wind came down the course ultimately determine my upwind path. There was some geographic right pressure at the windward mark for the first 2-3 races causing me to lose distance to the few boats on my right, but more importantly allowed me to stay in touch with the bulk of the fleet on the left.

The last 2 races the breeze came up a bit especially on the left side of the course where there was a distinct line of pressure that did not fill across the course. This became significant mainly on the downwind legs and the last beat where you could make big gains if you stayed to the left of this line which was very visible on the water.

Starting in Laser Fleet 413 is more difficult than any other open regattas. The line is shorter and skill level covers the full range, thus leading to a lot of 'random' circumstances. I try to seek out low density places at around 1 minute generally away from the very ends of the line. I like to keep track of the favored end right up to 1 minute. This lead to one easy start in the 3rd race when the wind shifted right late in the sequence
allowing me to start near the boat, away from the bulk of the fleet, and altogether avoiding the battle for a hole. So option A is starting without boats right next to you. Inevitably you need to do battle. I feel most
comfortable when I have competent boats above and below me with just enough room in between us (1-2ft) that no one wants to come in from behind and jam their nose in there. I try to close up the windward distance during 30-10 seconds then use up that little bit of space to put the bow down and accelerate up to the gun. The start is good if I can hold my lane for a while, and it is a great start if I force the people on my hip to tack. My goal when starting near the pin was getting onto port tack because the wind was in a left phase. I had great starts in 4 out of the 5 races. The last race I got was close to the pin (Sue Wallace had a perfect start!) I bailed out quickly onto port luckily with clean air.

Boat set-up tips (Sunday was 6-9 knots) Outhaul- belly of the sail 8" from the boom careful not to make this too loose Cunn-just barely tug the wrinkles out Mainsheet - 2 blocked if you are hiking, but I hate the big wrinkle from the mast joint to the clew. So my boom is often up away from 2 blocked by 5-8" and the vang just tight (when 2 blocked). Basically trimming the main as hard as I can before the wrinkle starts to show..... I probably do not point as high, but I need to keep the fat body rumbling..

Nice job by Xavier high school sailor Clint Hayes who was 3rd ..... I like to see the young guys do well.