Racing: First Race

A long time with no posts but post the release of GTA sailing has been happening, including Kraken's first race. This post is my takeaway from the race.

In a field of 8 boats we finished 7th, 6th and 7th. For me the main thing was turning up, getting across the startline and making it through the main components of racing Kraken, and on that basis the day was completely successful!

Overall we got the boat going at speed a fair few times, both upwind and downwind. I think we've got some well matched boats to race against in the local fleet and they seem pretty well sailed so we can have some fun getting to grips with then and it'll be good preparation for larger races elsewhere.

We were definitely short handed for spinnaker flying but by the end of the day we were working much better.

For our experience level it was a pretty good start though I'd have to say Jordan saved the day!

The really good news is that we lost buckets of time (minutes here, minutes there) in ways that are hopefully pretty easily remedied to get better results quickly.

Next time I'll make sure to organize some food!

Starting

• First start wasn't too bad but could have been a lot tighter, it was a miracle we made the last two :) on the second start we probably should have continued on port looking to duck the fleet but I was worried about them leaving a gap in front of the committee boat, I think it would have been better to try this than the slow tack and consequent slow start we made.
• From what I could see the fleet tended to start slow and bunched at the committee boat and there might be some good room for clean fast starts a little clear of all the trouble in future races.
• I've ordered a starting watch with 5 minute countdowns...

Upwind

• We were a little off the pace but I didn't feel that boat speed was horrible overall. 
• I was definitely a bit wandery as a helmsman and need to work on holding a more optimal course.
• Jordan had some ideas about getting our tacks slicker. There might be some clues here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy2zxgFpFcI
• That headsail needs re-cutting / replacing. That's a project for this winter, probably the next major project I have for the boat.
• After initial trim the headsail needs to come in tight - just about touching the top spreader. While its important to get weight highside fast the trimmer should wait long enough to see if the sail pulls further out as the boat accelerates and it powers up.

Downwind

• We had one roundup when bearing away, need to make sure the main goes out before doing this when traveling at any speed as it just has too much power and overrides the rudder. I'd read about this but this was the first time it had happened to me in Kraken.
• It would be good to change the headstay, headsail hoists and drops are way too slow with the roller furling unit. I have another headstay but will need help swapping them out.
• Need to pick the longer leg first, with our speed of maneuvering downwind we need the time to setup the gybe at the moment. Also of course, its better tactically in general.

Spinnaker

• Need to practice raising and lowering the spinnaker - too much reliance in Jordan who had to work his ass off. If people are up for it we could do a couple of lunchtime practice sessions. This would include setup, launch, gybe if the wind direction allows, takedown and repack, all at the dock.
• Watching some videos of 36.7s racing (for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESqUsucDEDo) the standard on downwind legs is dropping into the forward hatch.

Tactics

• I had no idea which end at the start was favored (didn't check)
• We weren't tracking wind shifts. We only tacked on one.
• After the first two races we should have packed the spinnaker on upwind leg and concentrated on getting the headsail set, getting to the start late was a killer blow each time.
• On race two's second spinnaker leg (the reach to the shore) we should have raised the headsail earlier.
• On race two's last leg we should have gybed then set, might have made a position this way.