| Author | Message | ||
     Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
Robert, Regarding your case of the "slows": All the things you list can affect boat speed (bottom, sails, skipper and crew). While the following may seem obvious, perhaps a detail or two within may help. Bottom: I just had mine professionally stripped, replaced with Interlux and sanded between coats to what the yard called a "Grand Prix" finish and had the keel templated at the same time (no small or cheap task!). I immediately noticed a 1/2 to 2/3 knot improvement in boat speed under engine power alone! While we have not had numerous opportunities to test this in OneDesign events yet (we will in about a week in Milwaukee's typically light air), I can tell you the boat is noticably faster. Some recent keel research and measuring of the 9.1 fleet on Lake Michigan has indicated that smoothness is clearly more important than size (accuracy to templates). The boats that are winning consistently have very smooth bottoms and their owners do not allow bottom paint to build-up over the years. Also, it is common for algae growth to happen in as short as a few days - have a scubadiver clean your bottom regularly or have it hauled and wash it a few times per season. This makes a bigger difference than you think. Sails: Suffice to say, this is a much discussed topic and I'll simply say that the investment required to win increases as the level of competition increases. If the others are racing with new sails, you probably need to ante up at some point. Skipper: My crew sums this up in one often-repeated statement - "Shut up, quit rubber-necking and drive". My personal experience with this is substantial (LOL). Get someone else to look around, tell you what's going on and trust that the crew knows what they're doing. Any time your eyes are off the telltails, you're going slow, period. Crew: Pretty much answered above. Consistency and confidence are linked and are "everything". You don't need pros to win, just dedicated folks who constantly learn. Here's one factor you negelected to mention (and it is something I was reminded of poignantly last night): Go the right way. If you have all the above mastered, you can still take yourself out of the race (we joke constantly that this is what keeps the 9.1 Meter fleet here on Lake Michigan so competitive). Ya gotta go the right way. If you haven't created a little notebook regarding the local conditions, start one. That way you'll know ecah time which sides of the course are favored in what conditions and wind directions (e.g. If it's blowing out of the east, stay to the right of the course and watch for the wind to increase, etc). Watch others and note what they do to win in these conditions. History does repeat itself and those that win are simply learning from it. Of course, everyone gets lucky at times, so don't be surprised when a J30 gets you. We race against them constantly and win about 60-70 percent of the time depending on the skill level of the J30 crew. Heavier air favors the J30 as do reaches. Light air should be your forte as well as windward-leewards. RE rig tune: You can find several helpful hints on this elsewhere on this web site. I'll simply state that the rig needs to be straight and vertical with little pre-bend for light air, subtly more raked aft with more pre-bend as the wind increases. This is not easily adjusted with the rig up, so experiment until you find a setting that generally matches your prevailing conditions. Hope this helps. |
