Small, but keen fleet today at The Bus Stop
There was a hard core of racers lined up on the start line today who were there to race. There were eight starters. The interesting observation was how few incidents there were, racing just went well. The start line was buoys 3 & 4 which meant a nice long line and it was pretty square to the NE breeze that bends around the hill behind our venue. Interestingly, the fleet was split to both ends of the line in nearly every race. That first beat was crucial as the top mark, No8, was in a big hole. Those who managed to nip through there and take off down the run were very hard to catch.
A couple of days ago I posted a video of a lass tacking and gybing her boat around a buoy with no rudder attached to her boat. There is a lesson about in that which applies to sailing your boat in a race. The message is, get off your tiller and on to your sails. Watch the video I took today and you will see boats being knocked over in a gust and being corrected with the rudder. Try dropping your sails instantly instead of steering and see what effect it has. I'll say no more on that, but will take more notes next race day and in the meantime check out the action controller in one of the videos.
Today was a fun day for most, and I must say I found 197 very easy to sail today. The three RTW's were all keenly sailed with Clive 997 taking one and Pete 197 taking the other two.
Lastly, to remember our old sailing mate, Adrian 136 Thrupp, we are holding a race day this coming Monday Nov 9th, 12:30 registration, all local DF65 sailors welcome. A rig or less.
Enjoy the photos and study the videos.