Sorry for the delay in posting. Travel.
The last day of racing in Sydney was almost as windy as the day before, with 25kts gusting to 27. We were one of about 6 teams that chose not to sail. There was a very high risk of breaking stuff and injuring ourselves, so we opted out. Honestly it is very depressing to not sail two days in a row when there is an awesome breeze. I would never bail out on Lasers on a 25 kt day. I think I am still in a bad mood from it. The teams that did sail had an exciting day. Check it out at http://www.18footerstv.com.
I am finally in Miami getting ready for a serious 49er training session, and the sailing is getting delayed again. We are supposed to sail tomorrow, but we are going through some drama trying to get a hold of our mast bottom section which accidentally hitched a ride to Brazil. If all goes well, we will get a new one tomorrow night and be ready to sail the next day. Starting to go stir crazy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Races 4 and 5
Made it around the bouys yesterday for race 4, and had a blast sailing our 1 rig and actually competing. We were duking it out with Haier and ASCC and managed to pass both of them before the finish. (although ASCC did capsize right before the finish).
Today for race 5, we had pretty good breeze, so we sailed our 2 rig. The southeasterly directions is so difficult, the race is a marathon of different legs that crisscross the harbor. The gusts and lulls are huge, and even though we spend most of our time upwind easing the main, we still have to run in off the wire in many of the lulls. Today we had a few mishaps and two capsizes, but we are improving steadily and getting better at anticipating what is coming.
Tomorrow is another lay day and then two more days with a pretty full-on forecast. (20-30 kts). Hope we can make it through!
-Christine
Today for race 5, we had pretty good breeze, so we sailed our 2 rig. The southeasterly directions is so difficult, the race is a marathon of different legs that crisscross the harbor. The gusts and lulls are huge, and even though we spend most of our time upwind easing the main, we still have to run in off the wire in many of the lulls. Today we had a few mishaps and two capsizes, but we are improving steadily and getting better at anticipating what is coming.
Tomorrow is another lay day and then two more days with a pretty full-on forecast. (20-30 kts). Hope we can make it through!
-Christine
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Finished Race 3
We sailed with our number 2 rig yesterday along with a few other boats, including the other girls team. Once again, on the recalled start we were looking good, but for the actual race, we got rolled and had to tack and duck the whole fleet. We will keep in mind starting at the boat and tacking right away on the days where we have a smaller rig.
We thought our speed was okay upwind even with our little rig, and we did a good job of looking ahead for the breeze. It was much easier being a weekday, the harbor traffic was much lighter. The Northeasterly breeze was more predictable too. You could see what was coming since the wind was coming down the harbor instead of off the hills. We almost caught up with the other girls after our bad start, but we had one mishap heading in towards Shark Island that set us back again. Anticipating the lulls is so important in these boats, and the lulls are super hard to see when you get close to land. We hit one that I didn't see coming and we stopped so hard that all three of us went flying forward, swinging into the bow wires and racks with our arms and legs.
In the end we beat a few boats, but the long race really became a parade after a while without much passing.
Today the forecast is for Southeast 10-15 kts, so that should be interesting. We will focus on anticipating and avoiding the lulls.
-C
We thought our speed was okay upwind even with our little rig, and we did a good job of looking ahead for the breeze. It was much easier being a weekday, the harbor traffic was much lighter. The Northeasterly breeze was more predictable too. You could see what was coming since the wind was coming down the harbor instead of off the hills. We almost caught up with the other girls after our bad start, but we had one mishap heading in towards Shark Island that set us back again. Anticipating the lulls is so important in these boats, and the lulls are super hard to see when you get close to land. We hit one that I didn't see coming and we stopped so hard that all three of us went flying forward, swinging into the bow wires and racks with our arms and legs.
In the end we beat a few boats, but the long race really became a parade after a while without much passing.
Today the forecast is for Southeast 10-15 kts, so that should be interesting. We will focus on anticipating and avoiding the lulls.
-C
Monday, February 18, 2013
Day 2 finished, now gearing up to sail Day 3
Day 2
We had a beautiful start that turned out to be a recall. Getting back to the start was difficult with all the traffic, and by the time we got there, we were late in our approach. We started on port behind the fleet, and made our way around the course in 5-8 knots with chop and big lulls. Finished 25th.
Now we are rigged with our #2 (small) rig for today, looks like a nice 12-14 kts out of the northeast. Hoping it holds, and looking forward to the sea breeze direction.
We had a beautiful start that turned out to be a recall. Getting back to the start was difficult with all the traffic, and by the time we got there, we were late in our approach. We started on port behind the fleet, and made our way around the course in 5-8 knots with chop and big lulls. Finished 25th.
Now we are rigged with our #2 (small) rig for today, looks like a nice 12-14 kts out of the northeast. Hoping it holds, and looking forward to the sea breeze direction.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Does this sail make me look fat?
Before
AfterOur mainsail after I went through it. Behind you can see that Yamaha has a similar issue. We never even made it to the start. I think there must have been over a thousand boats on the water. I have never seen so many sails at once. We watched two skiffs get tangled up and run over by an ex America's Cup Yacht as we sailed out.
We have a different sail for today, and we are determined to make it to the start and sail the entire race! I am already learning a ton about the small but important details involved in 18 sailing, so I am excited to put it all together.
Katie Love, CC Childers, Christine Neville
More pics of everyone coming in after racing:
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