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Bump's World - May 2010
May 14, 2010
J 105 RACING
Last night I did my first Wednesday night race of the 2010 season. It was cold and gray but fortunately we did not get rained on. I forgot my sailing gear, which made it a lot more uncomfortable than it should have been.
My good friend Mike Royer offered to let me race his J 105 for the Marblehead Wednesday night series. Mike is busy with work commitments and could only make some of the races so he asked me to steer, call tactics, and organize crew. So this was a good opportunity to benefit from having a well equipped race boat with out the bills of ownership. I also enjoy sailing with Mike and the crewmembers that come with the program. I bring along John Collins and a couple of my regulars to fill out the crew.
Since the boat is registered in my name there was advance notice of this plan to our competitors. As John and I walked the Boston Yacht Club docks to the boat the comments came flying at us from the other boats. John and I have been on the PHRF rating committee for over twenty-five years and with the many boats I have raced, there is often a comment about my favorable rating. Since the J 105 is a one design fleet in Marblehead I cannot hind behind my cake rating. So the comments were generally directed toward what am I going to do when I do not have my favorable rating to help me win.
Many people who race these J 105s are disenchanted by PHRF and the ratings they have been given in past boats. The beauty of PHRF is you can always blame your rating. Now one design racing is real racing since all boats supposedly go the same speed and are equipped with in the one-design rules. This eliminates the boat/gear advantage and gets down to true sailing skills. So was this PHRF guy up to the challenge of real racing, without my rating to hide behind.
I love all sailboat racing and I have done a fair amount of one design racing. In Bump's World you can read past articles of racing my Melges 24, which is a great one-design boat. Last summer I had the opportunity to do an Echelles regatta in Marblehead. There were 3 races on a Saturday and I got two firsts and a second. The second was the first race that was a learning curve. So I'm not afraid of one design racing.
As we were putting the sails on the boat, I saw Jack Slattery coming down the dock. We exchange hellos and Jack got on Achiever another J 105. Jack is a world-class sailor so I knew we would have our work cut out for us. The wind was south at only eight knots. Seas were a little lumpy but not too bad. What additional pressure there was seem to come from the right with small shifts to the right. The committee boat was favored for the start.
A ran down the line on port toward the committee boat. I could see the fleet lining up for a starboard tack approach close to the committee boat. No one else seemed to be doing my approach so that made things a lot easier. The first two boats were early so I let them cross my bow. With twenty seconds to go I tacked to leeward and ahead of rest of the fleet. I faked a luff, caught a puff and shot across the line at the gun with good speed.
Like good one design sailors, I covered the fleet. I am a big let's go on a flyer guy, but I controlled my temptation. I also protected the right since small as they were the shifts and puffs were from that direction. The crew work was very good and we had an excellent spinnaker set as we headed back down wind. Once again I fought my temptation to wander to one side of the course. We rounded the leeward mark having gained a couple of boat lengths. Same plan up the second weather leg, and the final downwind leg to the finish. We actually built on our lead, which means our boat speed was very good.
So we got the gun and did not have to take anyone's time since it is one design. This allows you to crack the beers quicker. In spite of the cold we all had a great time and almost dislocated our shoulders patting ourselves on the back.
Back at the club everyone showed great sportsmanship and congratulated us on our race. I told all of them the rating committee would be reviewing our rating, since it must be favorable for us to have won. Another good part of this one design fleet is they do not do the additional handicap for winning, so next week we have just as much chance of winning.
Lady luck smiled down on us last night and I'll take the win. My motto is "I'd rather be lucky than good". I do believe that in all sailboat racing well-sailed boats win races. I would like to thank my crew for great sail handling and great impute about what other boats are doing and what they see on the water.
Bump's World - May 2010
May 14, 2010
J 105 RACING
Last night I did my first Wednesday night race of the 2010 season. It was cold and gray but fortunately we did not get rained on. I forgot my sailing gear, which made it a lot more uncomfortable than it should have been.
My good friend Mike Royer offered to let me race his J 105 for the Marblehead Wednesday night series. Mike is busy with work commitments and could only make some of the races so he asked me to steer, call tactics, and organize crew. So this was a good opportunity to benefit from having a well equipped race boat with out the bills of ownership. I also enjoy sailing with Mike and the crewmembers that come with the program. I bring along John Collins and a couple of my regulars to fill out the crew.
Since the boat is registered in my name there was advance notice of this plan to our competitors. As John and I walked the Boston Yacht Club docks to the boat the comments came flying at us from the other boats. John and I have been on the PHRF rating committee for over twenty-five years and with the many boats I have raced, there is often a comment about my favorable rating. Since the J 105 is a one design fleet in Marblehead I cannot hind behind my cake rating. So the comments were generally directed toward what am I going to do when I do not have my favorable rating to help me win.
Many people who race these J 105s are disenchanted by PHRF and the ratings they have been given in past boats. The beauty of PHRF is you can always blame your rating. Now one design racing is real racing since all boats supposedly go the same speed and are equipped with in the one-design rules. This eliminates the boat/gear advantage and gets down to true sailing skills. So was this PHRF guy up to the challenge of real racing, without my rating to hide behind.
I love all sailboat racing and I have done a fair amount of one design racing. In Bump's World you can read past articles of racing my Melges 24, which is a great one-design boat. Last summer I had the opportunity to do an Echelles regatta in Marblehead. There were 3 races on a Saturday and I got two firsts and a second. The second was the first race that was a learning curve. So I'm not afraid of one design racing.
As we were putting the sails on the boat, I saw Jack Slattery coming down the dock. We exchange hellos and Jack got on Achiever another J 105. Jack is a world-class sailor so I knew we would have our work cut out for us. The wind was south at only eight knots. Seas were a little lumpy but not too bad. What additional pressure there was seem to come from the right with small shifts to the right. The committee boat was favored for the start.
A ran down the line on port toward the committee boat. I could see the fleet lining up for a starboard tack approach close to the committee boat. No one else seemed to be doing my approach so that made things a lot easier. The first two boats were early so I let them cross my bow. With twenty seconds to go I tacked to leeward and ahead of rest of the fleet. I faked a luff, caught a puff and shot across the line at the gun with good speed.
Like good one design sailors, I covered the fleet. I am a big let's go on a flyer guy, but I controlled my temptation. I also protected the right since small as they were the shifts and puffs were from that direction. The crew work was very good and we had an excellent spinnaker set as we headed back down wind. Once again I fought my temptation to wander to one side of the course. We rounded the leeward mark having gained a couple of boat lengths. Same plan up the second weather leg, and the final downwind leg to the finish. We actually built on our lead, which means our boat speed was very good.
So we got the gun and did not have to take anyone's time since it is one design. This allows you to crack the beers quicker. In spite of the cold we all had a great time and almost dislocated our shoulders patting ourselves on the back.
Back at the club everyone showed great sportsmanship and congratulated us on our race. I told all of them the rating committee would be reviewing our rating, since it must be favorable for us to have won. Another good part of this one design fleet is they do not do the additional handicap for winning, so next week we have just as much chance of winning.
Lady luck smiled down on us last night and I'll take the win. My motto is "I'd rather be lucky than good". I do believe that in all sailboat racing well-sailed boats win races. I would like to thank my crew for great sail handling and great impute about what other boats are doing and what they see on the water.
Please mail comments to me at Bump@newwaveyachts.com
Bump Wilcox