Wednesday Night Racing @ NOYC

Ok, now to the racing. A good start is crucial and simple. Our strategy includes collision avoidance and being on the line with good boat speed at the start. If we do those things and manage to use the favored end of the line, we really do nicely. I notice the slower boats in the class or starting bracket can sometimes do better positioning out of traffic, instead of winning the start at the favored end then getting rolled or forced high of rhumbline by the faster boats.

After starting, with a typical evening southerly breeze, reach to J and back. Race strategies very. If the breeze is a little more from the southeast, where it is a little tight and sometimes a fetch, it typically pays to go slightly higher than course. If the wind has enough east in it where you are not laying J, stay offshore until you can at least lay Bayou St. John. Only bang the shore is when the breeze has not filled and you are waiting for the thermal to build. If the breeze has filled but still shifty, most of the big moves are made in that quarter mile before Bayou St. John and the quarter mile after. It’s also smart to keep clean air lanes and avoid positioning yourself where you will be getting rolled by faster boats that started behind you. If the breeze has some west in it on the way down to J, it is almost always good to stay offshore and low of rhumbline. You don’t get the puffs first, but when they reach you they last much longer than inshore and they seem to be a little stronger offshore. When racing non-spinnaker and you have those broad reaches it always pays to jib-vang, using your spinnaker/whisker pole on the same side as your boom. It’s like having a genoa track two feet off of your beam, like an outrigger. It works to keep your leach from spilling too much air in the puffs and opens your slot between the genoa and main. With a topping lift, in the light stuff, you can use it to keep the weight of the sail and trims from closing the leach of the sail.

There are a couple of tricks with passing other boats when rounding J Mark and Baby J but I’ll save those for another time as I have pontificated enough for one easy read. After rounding Baby J it’s time to sheet, cleat and eat. This is where we tack our fruit and cheese tray, allow the sushi chef to bring up the first round of rolls and our bartender brings up our second round of drinks. You then let your least experienced crew member take the helm and bark out some orders. Tell your new driver to lock it on 267 degrees and you should be back home to the finish in no time.

Good luck, be safe and have fun.