4 races banged off in 5 hours - now that's race management! Well done ABYC.
The morning started off feeling like 10-15 knots and they wasted no time getting a course set and it was pretty clear from the radio banter in the morning that these guys were not joking around.
The day was forecast to be miserable, but thankfully that's about the only profession that only requires about 1% accuracy. It was only partly cloudy and blowing. And the swells were about 4-6 feet high - now that's super fun sailing. And Jenny managed to not abandon ship.
The first 3 starts resulted in general recalls. Aggressive sailing by everyone so that's awesome. The 4th race was a black flag start - over early and you're disqualified.
Our starts were awesome. 7 starts in 4 races - all timed well. All executed well. All aggressive. All went according to plan. All of them took other boats up. All of them resulted in clean air on a tight line. Unfortunately, probably our 3 best starts were all of the ones recalled!
After the first leg of the first race our hoists were awesome too. All of our douses went smoothly including when Holly made an executive on the spot decision to douse to starboard and pulled it off seamlessly. Some stuff went wrong, especially after we all got a bit tired. But who cares. That really wasn't the point.
We kept saying that given another month together we would be really competitive together. But we didn't have that. And we had fun anyway. Tons of fun.
Surprisingly, the only collision we had all weekend was with the other Hudson team. We were headed around the windward mark of the last race, chatting and laughing and whatever else. Marian took the inside and then suddenly we were hitting her starboard stern. We each thought it was the other's fault and I'm sure that was later solved over a beer, but I've yet to hear their decision. No one did spins. And as far as I'm concerned, no one cared.
GRTB II sailed very impressively after a rather rough start to the morning. Sailing out of the harbour under jib alone resulted in being blown into the rocks. Thankfully the water is deep there and some of the members ran to their rescue and all was fine, minus a couple of shot nerves.
They recovered well and made a smart decision to change their foresail. We had discussed that and ultimately decided against it but I think they made the right decision and there were several times I was winching that Genny in 10/12 knots that I wished we'd done the same.
Overall, I don't even know what the results were because i had to leave to catch my flight but I don't even care to be honest, that wasn't the point. The point was we went. The point was we are capable enough sailors to pull that off and fit into a fine group of Canadian women sailors.
And, more so, the point is we had an absolute blast.
The regatta may be over, but the lessons are not. Stay tuned for more blogging this week as this all starts to pour out and the photos start to pour in. I've been trying to figure out how to post a slide show, but now I really have to. Promise.
Sep 15, 2008
Sep 13, 2008
Happy Disasters
Today was awesome and disastrous all at once. The morning started off with really light air and a postponement. When we decided to leave the harbour and go for a sail anyway people definitely questioned what we were doing, but there was no way we were going to sit there and drink coffee; we didn't come all this way to sit in the harbour. We took advantage of our time to walk through some hoists and douses; the source of a number of our frustrations yesterday.
When the wind picked up and boats started to appear out of the harbour, we were prepared. A course was set in reasonable time, but due to the fog you couldn't see the windward mark. We were very grateful for our tactic as the boat does not have a compass.
Our first race was full of frustration; we could not get the boat to move and we watched boats with sails trimmed like ours and weight in the same places just parade over us and we could not figure out why. After the first downwind leg we stopped racing to spend some time asking one of the coaches about sail trim; we had been choking the main and were about 3 inches from trimmed on the jib.
Thus, the second race went much more smoothly; we even felt like sailors. Our results weren't quite what we wanted due to making a couple of the wrong choices about which side of the course to pick, but otherwise we sailed the boat reasonably well, tacked quickly, hoisted, doused and rounded cleanly, even shutting some doors on other boats. We tacked on top of several other boats that then had to bail and protested a fast boat so they had to spin. Success!
Much the same feelings were echoed on GRTB II though they had a much better first race than we had. Unfortunately, we were forced to tack on them a couple of times in the second race but we finished within a couple of boat lengths of each other.
The most important thing is we are all having fun. The second most important thing is we are all learning a lot and it's a great experience to race against a lot of really experienced female sailors. The third thing is we are all dressed well and getting several compliments on our shirts and we haven't even pulled out the red ones yet; we're saving those for the party tonight!
When the wind picked up and boats started to appear out of the harbour, we were prepared. A course was set in reasonable time, but due to the fog you couldn't see the windward mark. We were very grateful for our tactic as the boat does not have a compass.
Our first race was full of frustration; we could not get the boat to move and we watched boats with sails trimmed like ours and weight in the same places just parade over us and we could not figure out why. After the first downwind leg we stopped racing to spend some time asking one of the coaches about sail trim; we had been choking the main and were about 3 inches from trimmed on the jib.
Thus, the second race went much more smoothly; we even felt like sailors. Our results weren't quite what we wanted due to making a couple of the wrong choices about which side of the course to pick, but otherwise we sailed the boat reasonably well, tacked quickly, hoisted, doused and rounded cleanly, even shutting some doors on other boats. We tacked on top of several other boats that then had to bail and protested a fast boat so they had to spin. Success!
Much the same feelings were echoed on GRTB II though they had a much better first race than we had. Unfortunately, we were forced to tack on them a couple of times in the second race but we finished within a couple of boat lengths of each other.
The most important thing is we are all having fun. The second most important thing is we are all learning a lot and it's a great experience to race against a lot of really experienced female sailors. The third thing is we are all dressed well and getting several compliments on our shirts and we haven't even pulled out the red ones yet; we're saving those for the party tonight!
Sep 12, 2008
Schooling
Well.... what is there to say about today.....
First - format. We started in the clubhouse, figuring out where our boat was and getting GRTBII registered. Then we had a Shark oriented, dry-land training by some guys that have been racing Sharks for lots of years (cute guys at that - or at least one - or at least that was my opinion - lol). Then we went down to the boats and talked about rigging and some of the nuances about racing sharks while divided up into 2 groups.
The women here are from all over: BC, Ontario and Quebec primarily with at least me from Alberta and another girl on a BC team from California. Immediately we recognized a couple of women from Ottawa that had been at HYC for Tanzer NA's a couple of years running, including winning in 2006 on Beagle.
Then we went out on the water. It was blowing 10 knots or so but oscillating and not constant. There were coach boats to learn from, but it turns out we did enough learning on our own without the coaches.
Once again, we had a couple epics. Not the least of which was our man-overboard drill - actually Jenny overboard drill. Turns out the Shark is not quite as beamy as the J24 or 22. However, the lack of lifelines also facilitates quick rescue, which we managed to pull off within half a boat length. Awesome.
Also awesome was the coaching and the venue. ABYC has done a phenomenal job of hosting this regatta and putting together a fantastic coaching staff.
We showed up in our Girls Around the Buoys t-shirts and looked very team like. We worked out the kinks (hopefully). We've just been for some great Italian food in the Beaches just east of here and eaten too much ice cream on the way home.
Tomorrow, if nothing else, we plan to win the party.
First - format. We started in the clubhouse, figuring out where our boat was and getting GRTBII registered. Then we had a Shark oriented, dry-land training by some guys that have been racing Sharks for lots of years (cute guys at that - or at least one - or at least that was my opinion - lol). Then we went down to the boats and talked about rigging and some of the nuances about racing sharks while divided up into 2 groups.
The women here are from all over: BC, Ontario and Quebec primarily with at least me from Alberta and another girl on a BC team from California. Immediately we recognized a couple of women from Ottawa that had been at HYC for Tanzer NA's a couple of years running, including winning in 2006 on Beagle.
Then we went out on the water. It was blowing 10 knots or so but oscillating and not constant. There were coach boats to learn from, but it turns out we did enough learning on our own without the coaches.
Once again, we had a couple epics. Not the least of which was our man-overboard drill - actually Jenny overboard drill. Turns out the Shark is not quite as beamy as the J24 or 22. However, the lack of lifelines also facilitates quick rescue, which we managed to pull off within half a boat length. Awesome.
Also awesome was the coaching and the venue. ABYC has done a phenomenal job of hosting this regatta and putting together a fantastic coaching staff.
We showed up in our Girls Around the Buoys t-shirts and looked very team like. We worked out the kinks (hopefully). We've just been for some great Italian food in the Beaches just east of here and eaten too much ice cream on the way home.
Tomorrow, if nothing else, we plan to win the party.
Sep 11, 2008
Arrival
The gang is all here - minus Erin who arrives tommorrow. Everyone arrived, somewhat via a couple random tours of the beaches, all to meet up eventually at the Irish Pub next door for a beer or 2.
It appears that the boat that crew 1 has could be interesting. The several pages of instructions appear convoluted; it's odd that both roller furling and hanks are utilized on the same genny. Apparently we'll have to arrive a bit early tomorrow to check it out.
Team II will sleep in; their spiffy, dry sailed, gleaming boat looks a-okay.
On a positive note, all of us are very excited about our new jackets. These are a sure step up from the regular regatta t-shirts; we've all been given white, down-filled logo-ed ladies sailing jackets that are...well...swank. Stay tuned for photos.
We are all half asleep, but excited. There is talk of buckets, breakfast and dancing queens. Somehow that all works together. Don't ask questions. You'll see. There'll be pictures. Don't worry. But that's for later. So never mind.
Just rest assured, we're all here, we're super prepared, we're excited and we're going to bed. I know, it's only midnight but give us a break, I've been drinking since 3.
It appears that the boat that crew 1 has could be interesting. The several pages of instructions appear convoluted; it's odd that both roller furling and hanks are utilized on the same genny. Apparently we'll have to arrive a bit early tomorrow to check it out.
Team II will sleep in; their spiffy, dry sailed, gleaming boat looks a-okay.
On a positive note, all of us are very excited about our new jackets. These are a sure step up from the regular regatta t-shirts; we've all been given white, down-filled logo-ed ladies sailing jackets that are...well...swank. Stay tuned for photos.
We are all half asleep, but excited. There is talk of buckets, breakfast and dancing queens. Somehow that all works together. Don't ask questions. You'll see. There'll be pictures. Don't worry. But that's for later. So never mind.
Just rest assured, we're all here, we're super prepared, we're excited and we're going to bed. I know, it's only midnight but give us a break, I've been drinking since 3.
Sep 9, 2008
Lessons Learned
Just in case there is a repeat of some of the mishaps experienced on training week, we've put together this handy tool kit that I'm quite convinced could fix just about everything on a boat. In fact, used creatively, we could even build a boat with this stuff:
jig-a-loo
needle-nose pliers
regular pliers
vice grips
hammer
Phillips screwdriver
flat head screw driver
1200 km of tape (variety of colours)!
duct tape
scissors
sail repair tape
spinnaker repair tape
extra tell-tales (Cathy has some in her lifejacket)
2mm spectra - a whole spool
shackles & snap shackles
split pins & rings, (clevis pins, cotter pins)
winch handle
snatch blocks
and a first aid kit - the kind for self-repair instead of boat repair.
Now that I've learned that snatch blocks are different than a chastity belt, I'm still not sure what we could possibly use a hammer for; this is supposed to be about potential repairs not destruction but hey, if it fits in the small tool box we may as well bring it. Can you ever be too prepared?
jig-a-loo
needle-nose pliers
regular pliers
vice grips
hammer
Phillips screwdriver
flat head screw driver
1200 km of tape (variety of colours)!
duct tape
scissors
sail repair tape
spinnaker repair tape
extra tell-tales (Cathy has some in her lifejacket)
2mm spectra - a whole spool
shackles & snap shackles
split pins & rings, (clevis pins, cotter pins)
winch handle
snatch blocks
and a first aid kit - the kind for self-repair instead of boat repair.
Now that I've learned that snatch blocks are different than a chastity belt, I'm still not sure what we could possibly use a hammer for; this is supposed to be about potential repairs not destruction but hey, if it fits in the small tool box we may as well bring it. Can you ever be too prepared?
Sep 5, 2008
Banter with Me!
Once you start blogging you're really in trouble. Because then you have to read other blogs. And read. And read. And then at some point your books collect dust and that newspaper that only comes out once a week and really doesn't say anything different than what it said last week really never gets read. I'll tell you what: I bet another bear died because some stupid fast driver wasn't paying attention again - that's what goes on in the Bow Valley papers. And I betcha someone's really pissed off about some sewer situation in Hudson - I haven't even picked up a paper in that town in almost a year and I think I just won that million dollars. So ya, I'm sure that choice is what has you riveted to this, right?
There are blogs out there about all kinds of stuff. Even really eye opening stuff. I guess it's like the kind of stuff you find in books - it's all about what section you pick. And my god, there are some interesting sections out there. I'm beginning to think that self image of being super well traveled and otherwise "experienced" is a total sham (say that with your hands up in front of you using your 2 favorite fingers to make the quotation marks at the right time during the sentence - it's more fun that way).
But hey, the different thing about blogs is that you can COMMENT. You can use that little 'comment' thing right down at the bottom of each post and leave your thoughts. Then the author gets to read them! Cool eh? Then you get to have a little banter created by comments, like a conversation on IM but permanent published-like. What other thing do you get to read where that happens. Oh ya, there's the newsy places but that's BORING. All that climate change and world politicking and war and all that other stuff we're constantly bombarded with in the so-called main stream (otherwise called plain-dreams) media. It's not exactly a cool chick's sailing blog about absolutely nothing important.
Like most things I do, I'll just happily plod along anyway without your comments but I'm just putting it out there... that here I am putting it aaaallllll out there and a few little comments, some praise, some out and out right mockery and even a few constructive insults would be most welcome.
There are blogs out there about all kinds of stuff. Even really eye opening stuff. I guess it's like the kind of stuff you find in books - it's all about what section you pick. And my god, there are some interesting sections out there. I'm beginning to think that self image of being super well traveled and otherwise "experienced" is a total sham (say that with your hands up in front of you using your 2 favorite fingers to make the quotation marks at the right time during the sentence - it's more fun that way).
But hey, the different thing about blogs is that you can COMMENT. You can use that little 'comment' thing right down at the bottom of each post and leave your thoughts. Then the author gets to read them! Cool eh? Then you get to have a little banter created by comments, like a conversation on IM but permanent published-like. What other thing do you get to read where that happens. Oh ya, there's the newsy places but that's BORING. All that climate change and world politicking and war and all that other stuff we're constantly bombarded with in the so-called main stream (otherwise called plain-dreams) media. It's not exactly a cool chick's sailing blog about absolutely nothing important.
Like most things I do, I'll just happily plod along anyway without your comments but I'm just putting it out there... that here I am putting it aaaallllll out there and a few little comments, some praise, some out and out right mockery and even a few constructive insults would be most welcome.
Sep 4, 2008
The other side
I spent Labour Day weekend a bit differently this year - camping in Waterton Lakes National Park with my friend Ally. Ally is going to have her ACL (knee) replaced next week and I was feeling a bit bummed about missing HYC's regatta so we decided to get outta dodge for a few days together and have some fun.
We had planned on getting up early on Saturday morning and riding our road bikes through Glacier National Park on the south side of the border along the Going to the Sun Road, but a severe wind storm on Friday night prevented any sleeping so when the alarm went off neither of us were motivated, to say the least.
Instead we drove up to Cameron Lake and had a picnic on the shore. We watched kids be super creative with sand and fed organic leftover sausages to a very happy dog. Then we hired a canoe and a fishing rod and paddled the lake for a couple of beautiful hours. Every time the wind picked up I wished the canoe had a sail.
The next morning we woke up to steady rain and low clouds. We made ourselves breakfast and planned the day around our pedicure appointments. I went and bought a rain jacket - the kind that doubles as a foul weather sailing jacket making sure it was big enough to fit over my foul weather pants. I kept trying to block out the desire to be racing sail boats across the country. I'd look out at the rain and think about how much more pleasant rain would be if I was sitting on a boat trimming sails.
But alas, I was sitting in a bar drinking beer. And drinking more beer. At least I was inside. And at least there was still beer. There are vast differences in the things I do depending on what side of the country I'm on, but a couple things remain the same - there's always a nice cold beer to solve my problems. And, I always miss the other side.
We had planned on getting up early on Saturday morning and riding our road bikes through Glacier National Park on the south side of the border along the Going to the Sun Road, but a severe wind storm on Friday night prevented any sleeping so when the alarm went off neither of us were motivated, to say the least.
Instead we drove up to Cameron Lake and had a picnic on the shore. We watched kids be super creative with sand and fed organic leftover sausages to a very happy dog. Then we hired a canoe and a fishing rod and paddled the lake for a couple of beautiful hours. Every time the wind picked up I wished the canoe had a sail.
The next morning we woke up to steady rain and low clouds. We made ourselves breakfast and planned the day around our pedicure appointments. I went and bought a rain jacket - the kind that doubles as a foul weather sailing jacket making sure it was big enough to fit over my foul weather pants. I kept trying to block out the desire to be racing sail boats across the country. I'd look out at the rain and think about how much more pleasant rain would be if I was sitting on a boat trimming sails.
But alas, I was sitting in a bar drinking beer. And drinking more beer. At least I was inside. And at least there was still beer. There are vast differences in the things I do depending on what side of the country I'm on, but a couple things remain the same - there's always a nice cold beer to solve my problems. And, I always miss the other side.
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