The IOM latest ranking weekend - more of the same errors, signs of improvement, servo failure
28 boats attended the IOM ranking event but only 10 of those were from the M&S district. Those who stayed away missed out on some of the best racing we have seen all year. Steady winds with subtly shifts, highly skilled sailors, no room for error.
This post is all about the challenges facing an up and coming sailor. We all would like to think we are the best but when elements of our skills are just off a fraction in close racing as we had over the weekend, the punishment is severe.
For me the weekend started badly but improved. Frustratingly, I was not able to stay at the front of the fleet despite having reasonable boat speed.
In the seeding race while lying in the front end of the fleet I crossed behind Mick Chamberlain in 46 and misjudged slightly but the contact flicked his backstay out from its hook. Of course having disabled Mick I had to retire. If you have a Venti, take a look at the backstay hook and make sure the end is bent down and not pointing towards the back of the boat. My backstay was flicked out in a later race.
I won the B heat but in the next A heat I lost sight of the boat on the start line and when I saw it again I was hooked up with another boat and we missed the race.
After a reset I posted results between 5 and 9 with a couple of 14’s cause by hitting boats or marks.
A positive was I was easily able to escape the B heat when I fell into it and I got plenty of practice in.
After racing I rinsed the inside of the boat out thoroughly because we sailed on brackish water, maybe too thoroughly (see below) and cleaned everything up
On the Sunday things did not start much better. At Bartons Point, with the current wind direction you have to walk 150 yards to the Point from which you sail. Before I left the van, I turned on the electrics to check all was OK. I checked the winch but did not look at the rudder servo. When I got to the Point to sail and tried the rudder, the servo failed, so I had to walk back to the van to fit another servo. Mine would not fit so I thank Nigel Brown for lending me one of his spares.
When I got home rather than throw the servo away, I dismantled, dried it and tested it again. Of course it worked perfectly and the inside looked clean and shiny. I had previous experience with failed electrics and invariable a tiny ingress of water will cause a failure. Perhaps I was over vigourous with rinsing the inside of the boat with too much water. The next step will be to pack the servo with grease so water ingress will not be an issue. You will see from the photo’s where the water can get in, the main place being the top hole in the casing where the knob connecting the rudder arm passes through. I have seen failures like this before on the DF and after dismantling and application of silicon grease, the failed servo or winch has served me well with no repeat of the failure.
Here are the pictures of the servo after I took it apart. Everything is bright and clean
Racing on Sunday was a repeat of day one. 3rd in the seeding race but at the first mark my visibility was blocked by another competitor and then other boats. Apparently I hit the mark and an observer called once but I did not hear him. After the finish someone protested me. At the hearing which went on for some time, the conclusion was the observer should have called twice so in theory I was OK, but a number of people had seen the incident so they gave me the option to retire which I did.
Won the B heat. In the next race I rounded the windward mark 4th with a group of boats just behind, but as I bore off the boat would not accerate. Someone had sailed into the back of me and hooked on the backstay. We sailed off down to the wing mark and the hooked boat luffed causing mine to bear away rapidly through 180 degrees and we ended up sailing back to the windward mark. Eventually my backstay unhooked and my race was done. The other boat retired as you should when disabling a boat you infringe. I was given average points for race 3-5
Won the B heat and started the recovery finishing between 3rd and 9th with one 14 where I hit two marks, infringed another boat when doing a turn, and hooked one of the start marks on the second beat. How can so much go wrong in such a short space of time.
What do I need to work on
First the boat.
The jib luff tension on the B rig is I perceive a little soft. I have used my VISS rigs on the Venti where the geometry is slightly different. The shrouds on the VISS are 3cm behind the mast ram but on the Venti, there is only 1cm and the 5mm prebend on the VISS mast is not enough to provide enough jib luff tension on the Venti. Don’t get me wrong, the boat is quick and the set up looks good but I have time to experiment over the winter. I will work with what I have for now.
Technique which is my main downfall but major potential.
The starts. On almost every start you will find my boat a fraction (2-3 feet behind the fleet). Think Corporal Jones on Dads army marching just slightly out of step. When I got a good start I was easily able to hold a lane.
Holding the boat stationary on a start. I am pretty good at this but never get to windward of Craig Richards or Rob Walsh as they are able to hold their boats almost head to wind and can make life very difficult. More practice needed.
Positioning for windward marks and avoiding port tackers coming into windward marks. Sometimes it is better to tack for a port tacker than T bone the boat and stop dead in the water. If you tack the boat maintains momentum, or even a luff will give you a glancing blow and the boat will keep moving. The key is not to stop dead in the water. You might be in the right but that is nothing if you watch the fleet sail past.
Mark roundings. Just need to keep practicing these.
Overall it’s a 7 out of 10. It was an unusual weekend with two retirements in the first two races on each day. Never done that before.
Over the winter there is work to do but on the plus side I am getting in touch with the top ten. Its only a matter of time to catching up with the best.
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