2013 J-105 North Americans – By Geoff Becker
Skipper: Jack Biddle, Main Trim/Tactician: Geoff Becker, Jib Trimmer: Brent Allen, Spinnaker Trimmer: Anthony Pulgram, Mast: Roger Kagen, Bow: Caroline Kir
Day 4 – Final Day
3 races (2 races 4 legs/downwind finish, 1 race 5 legs/upwind finish) Wind 14-20+ knots @ 350°-015°
Since Day 3 at the J-105 North Americans had no racing due to the complete lack of wind, the RC decided to start us an hour earlier on the final day. Fortunately, daylight savings ended the night before, so getting up early was less noticeable to the timing of our morning routine and the earlier start time. Something that was different on this final day was the weather! Cold temperatures, about 50°, and great winds, 14-20 knots out of the north, greeted the fleet on the way out to the Chesapeake Bay for the 10am first start.
The strong northerly winds created a puffy and shifty racecourse creating some exciting racing with lots of passing. On the other days of racing we had been able to be consistently near the front of the fleet, which had kept our overall place slowing creeping up. Even with the shifty conditions, our team continued our race consistency and ended the day with finishes of 7th, 6th and 6th, moving us into 5th place overall in the championship!
Staying consistent always sounds so easy when it is discussed as a goal for any regatta. The reality of being consistent is that it has to be included in nearly all the decisions made during each race of the entire regatta. Smaller gains are traded for the possibility of bigger ones and passing a boat or two during the entire race is the ultimate goal and usually achievable. Again, that sounds easy to say, but the reality can be much different especially when bad things happen.
On the final race of the regatta, we tacked to port shortly off the starting line, ducked a couple of boats and found ourselves on the right side of the course. Soon after, we tacked back to starboard and found a 20° right shift vaulting us up into second place around the weather mark. Sweet! We carried our position to the leeward gate and started the second upwind leg still holding our second place.
What happened next was our luck finding its equilibrium. Almost immediately after rounding the left gate mark on port tack, a large right shift hit the leader and then us forcing both boats to auto tack onto starboard. This didn’t seem so bad at the time because after our tack we were sailing on a lifted starboard heading. So, we figured to just wait for the next shift to the left and work our way up the course. Unfortunately, the pack of boats that rounded behind us were able to sail through the first blast right shift and found a bigger right shift with more wind further to the right side of the course.
What happened for the rest of the leg was simple, we sailed out of phase. After missing the larger right hand shift after the leeward gate, and in the puffy conditions, getting in the same wind as the NEW leaders was more than challenging. By the second windward mark we had fallen back into 9th place and needless to say were frustrated. This situation represents a challenging scenario when you are trying to remain consistent in a bigger picture. It would be easy to look for big gains right away, taking big risks, immediately after taking a large loss on the course.
After a deep breath, we started to look for smaller manageable gains and pick off the boats one by one. On the run we caught one boat
(Yay!) and started up the final beat to the finish. We stayed in the best breeze we could see and tried to stay on the lifted tack making small gains when we could. By the finish, we had worked up into 6th place in the race, another good keeper race. That said, after being in second place earlier in the race, it felt a little disappointing at the time.
Looking back on the whole event, our consistent approach worked well for entire regatta and even in the final race. Sometimes it can be harder when the bad things happen in a race to remain committed to small gains. Seeing the whole of a regatta at the end and how a couple of points each race can make a large impact on an overall score, it is certainly worth looking for small gains over the course and not trying for larger gains and risk larger losses, or even worse, the opportunity for passing one boat!
Our takeaways from Day 4 are…
1. Consistency pays off for the whole of a regatta or series.
2. Consistency is a mindset that should be used no matter the situation.
3. Look for a point or two a race, over 5 points in one leg!
FINAL RESULTS
Pos | Bow/Sail | Boat | Skipper | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total Points |
Pos |
1 | 30/ CAN 110 | Hey Jude | Rathbun, James | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 23.00 | 1 |
2 | 13/ 50 | eclipse | Emery, Damian | 3 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 39.00 | 2 |
3 | 22/ 328 | Mirage | Lewis, Cedric | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 45.00 | 3 |
4 | 35/ 334 | LouLou | Stone, Bruce | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 56.00 | 4 |
5 | 11/ 321 | Rum Puppy | Biddle, Jack | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 58.00 | 5 |
6 | 12/ 600 | GHOST | Colburn, Ken | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 61.00 | 6 |
7 | 28/ 113 | Le Renard | Phillips, Stephen | 8 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 63.00 | 7 |
8 | 10/ USA 43 | Jester | Bethell, Hugh | 7 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 68.00 | 8 |
9 | 27/ 267 | Live Edge | Mountford, Michael | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 96.00 | 9 |
10 | 19/ US 351 | inigo | konigsberg, jim | 16 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 21 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 102.00 | 10 |
11 | 24/ BER 490 | Distant Passion | Macdonald, James | 10 | 13 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 103.00 | 11 |
12 | 20/ 649 | Radiance | Lakenmacher, Bill | 9 | 8 | 28/DSQ | 12 | 8 | 19 | 16 | 4 | 104.00 | 12 |
13 | 14/ 501 | Tenacious | Gitchell, Carl | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 105.00 | 13 |
14 | 15/ USA 674 | Java | Groobey, Chris | 14 | 21 | 18/ARP,30% | 15 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 107.00 | 14 |
15 | 32/ 523 | Santas Reign, Dear | Santa, Donald | 5 | 23 | 12 | 23 | 17 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 112.00 | 15 |
16 | 33/ 90 | Max Power | Schulze, Gerrit | 18 | 10 | 5 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 14 | 125.00 | 16 |
17 | 29/ 98 | Better Mousetrap | Putnam, Robert | 21 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 20 | 11 | 20 | 125.00 | 17 |
18 | 23/ 202 | Dog House | Libby, Arthur | 13 | 19 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 22 | 8 | 21 | 128.00 | |
19 | 21/ 619 | Froya | Lawrence, Chuck | 23 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 27 | 27 | 24 | 10 | 142.00 | 19 |
20 | 18/ 220 | Bat IV | Kennedy, Andrew | 19 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 23 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 142.00 | 20 |
21 | 26/ 52000 | Unbridled | Mock, Robert | 17 | 18 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 26 | 22 | 143.00 | 21 |
22 | 36/ 50259 | Trio | Uhlir, Jim | 24 | 22 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 16 | 27 | 11 | 161.00 | 22 |
23 | 31/ 313 | A Train | Reeves, Robert | 27 | 17 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 173.00 | 23 |
24 | 34/ 83082 | Singularity | Shortz, Stanley | 22 | 24 | 22 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 10 | 27 | 176.00 | 24 |
25 | 25/ USA 330 | At-Tack | McCloud, Dennis | 25 | 25 | 21 | 14 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 23 | 181.00 | 25 |
26 | 17/ 251 | Breakaway | Hinds, Richard | 20 | 26 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 196.00 | 26 |
27 | 16/ USA 159 | Crescendo | Guarino, Angelo | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 199.00 | 27 |
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Day 2
2 races (all races 4 legs with downwind finish) Wind 3-10 knots @ 190°-210°
Day 2 at the J-105 North Americans started out stormy and windy! The RC needed to postpone the start of the first race (race 4) until 2:00pm because of high winds and a large squall line passing through the area during the morning hours. The rain eventually cleared out and Race 3 was started in 6-8 knots of wind that was slowly dying. Halfway up the first upwind leg the breeze evaporated to 3 knots in the puffs and less in the lulls! It looked like the race might have to be abandoned as the time limit to reach mark #1 was in serious jeopardy.
Just as the leaders reached the top of the beat the breeze filled back in and the first boat rounded mark #1 with only seconds to spare inside the first leg time limit. Race #4 was completed in much steadier winds than it started. So much so that the RC was able to get in Race #5 as well. The breeze for most of Race #4 and all of Race #5 was a fairly consistent 7-10 knots from just west of south. Our team was more than pleased by our performance in the two races today finishing 6th and 5th, moving us into 6th place overall with five races left for the remaining two days.
Sailing in the lighter breezes today, our ability to shift gears and make appropriate sail adjustments became a big asset. With wind speeds ranging from near drifting in the first race, building to everyone hiked out on the rail for much of the second race, adjustments to the boat and sails were critical for us in keeping our boat sailing at full speed. The J-105 has a very underpowered sail plan in winds under
10 knots and keeping both the main and jib powered up was for us, a primary focus. We used three sail adjustments together to keep the jib trim appropriate for the changing conditions. The jib sheet, the jib halyard and the jib lead position were all used in sync to help us keep the sail powerful in both the puffs and lulls on the day.
It is important to keep in mind that the halyard tension on a headsail, especially on a smaller jib like the J-105, makes a big difference to both the shape of the sail and the sheeting angle as the sail is hoisted and lowered. As the halyard is eased, it will effectively move the sheeting angle aft since the sail is closer to the deck. Because of that, when the halyard is eased, the jib lead position will normally need to be moved forward, or the sail will need to be sheeted tighter, in order to maintain the proper leech tension on the sail. The opposite is also true; as the halyard is raised, the jib lead position will likely need to be moved back, or the sheet tension will need to be ease
d since the leech tension increases as the entire sail goes up with the halyard.
Knowing your boat, and how complementary adjustments interact and affect performance, is fundamental to making the correct changes during a race. When learning a boat, consider making sail control adjustments in small increments to more easily identify how each adjustment will affect the boat’s performance. Once a change in speed or performance is evident, good or bad, more small adjustments can be made and so on. Just as the sheet, halyard and lead position all work together in concert, many other sail controls interact together and adjusting one sail control will immediately require another complementary adjustment. Learning how sail controls are used together on the boat is critical element to proper sail trim and boat setup and well worth the time and effort to get correct for all conditions.
Our takeaways from Day 2 are…
1. Be diligent with shifting gears in changing conditions.
2. Know what sail controls need to be changed as the conditions change.
3. Understand how sail controls interact and make complementary adjustments together.
Results after day 2:
(27 boats) (top)
Pos | Bow/Sail | Boat | Skipper | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Total Points |
Pos |
1 | 30/ CAN 110 | Hey Jude | Rathbun, James | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12.00 | 1 |
2 | 22/ 328 | Mirage | Lewis, Cedric | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 22.00 | 2 |
3 | 12/ 600 | GHOST | Colburn, Ken | 1 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 24.00 | 3 |
4 | 28/ 113 | Le Renard | Phillips, Stephen | 8 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 24.00 | 4 |
5 | 13/ 50 | eclipse | Emery, Damian | 3 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 35.00 | 5 |
6 | 11/ 321 | Rum Puppy | Biddle, Jack | 11 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 39.00 | 6 |
7 | 35/ 334 | LouLou | Stone, Bruce | 4 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 41.00 | 7 |
8 | 10/ USA 43 | Jester | Bethell, Hugh | 7 | 7 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 42.00 | 8 |
9 | 14/ 501 | Tenacious | Gitchell, Carl | 12 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 61.00 | 9 |
10 | 27/ 267 | Live Edge | Mountford, Michael | 15 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 62.00 | 10 |
11 | 20/ 649 | Radiance | Lakenmacher, Bill | 9 | 8 | 28/DSQ | 12 | 8 | 65.00 | 11 |
12 | 33/ 90 | Max Power | Schulze, Gerrit | 18 | 10 | 5 | 22 | 19 | 74.00 | 12 |
13 | 29/ 98 | Better Mousetrap | Putnam, Robert | 21 | 11 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 74.00 | 13 |
14 | 19/ US 351 |
inigo | konigsberg, jim | 16 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 21 | 75.00 | 14 |
15 | 24/ BER 490 | Distant Passion | Macdonald, James | 10 | 13 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 76.00 | 15 |
16 | 23/ 202 | Dog House | Libby, Arthur | 13 | 19 | 17 | 8 | 20 | 77.00 | 16 |
17 | 15/ USA 674 | Java | Groobey, Chris | 14 | 21 | 18/ARP,30% | 15 | 9 | 77.00 | 17 |
18 | 32/ 523 | Santas Reign, Dear | Santa, Donald | 5 | 23 | 12 | 23 | 17 | 80.00 | 18 |
19 | 26/ 52000 | Unbridled | Mock, Robert | 17 | 18 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 80.00 | 19 |
20 | 21/ 619 | Froya | Lawrence, Chuck | 23 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 27 | 81.00 | 20 |
21 | 18/ 220 | Bat IV | Kennedy, Andrew | 19 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 23 | 91.00 | 21 |
22 | 31/ 313 | A Train | Reeves, Robert | 27 | 17 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 104.00 | 22 |
23 | 36/ 50259 | Trio | Uhlir, Jim | 24 | 22 | 25 | 21 | 15 | 107.00 | 23 |
24 | 25/ USA 330 | At-Tack | McCloud, Dennis | 25 | 25 | 21 | 14 | 25 | 110.00 | 24 |
25 | 34/ 83082 | Singularity | Shortz, Stanley | 22 | 24 | 22 | 26 | 24 | 118.00 | 25 |
26 | 17/ 251 | Breakaway | Hinds, Richard | 20 | 26 | 23 | 27 | 26 | 122.00 | 26 |
27 | 16/ USA 159 | Crescendo | Guarino, Angelo | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 126.00 | 27 |
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Day 1 Click HERE for Day 1 Results
3 races (all races 4 legs with downwind finish) Wind 11-15 knots @ 175°-190°
Today was day one at the J-105 North American Championship, hosted by Annapolis Yacht Clun and being sailed in the Chesapeake Bay. The weather offered overcast skies, chilly temperatures and believe it or not, some better than expected sailing conditions. The winds were blowing consistently between 11-14 knots from the south and an incoming tide keeping the water relatively flat, which allowed the 27 boat fleet to enjoy close racing the entire day. By the end of the day, our team had consistent finishes of 11th, 9th and an 8th, earning us 7th place with 7 more races scheduled to be sailed over the remaining three days.
Our team did struggle some today on the upwind legs, since one of our crew was unable to sail day one due to a work commitment. Sailing one body short left us a little light on the rail when we were trimmed in and hiking upwind. That forced us to work a little harder to stay with the lead pack, all of who were all sailing at weight and at their best for this big event. The moderate breezes and our lighter crew weight put us into our depowering mode sooner than we would have preferred and also sooner than many of the other boats. Unfortunately we could really only manage to break even, at best, with the top boats when sailing to windward today. This meant our team had to find somewhere else to find an advantage and be able to attack the course and make our gains.
Our advantage ended up becoming the downwind legs, where we were able to catch u
p to some of the leaders and often make passes. With the solid breeze, our skipper and spinnaker trimmer worked well together keeping the boat moving fast and working lower lanes anytime we had the opportunity. It was critical for the trimmer to keep the skipper informed of the pressure in the sail and when the boat had enough power to sail a lower course. The communication between the two had to be constant and consistent, which created a rhythm allowing the boat to accelerate first in the puffs and then using that apparent wind pressure to work the boat down to the mark. Then as the pressure in the sail decreased, our trimmer had the skipper sail back up to recover the speed and apparent wind before there is any substantial loss. If the recovery and rebuilding of apparent wind is delayed, it can be much more difficult and time consuming, costing the boat distance and position.
Lane selection is another factor aiding in our downwind performance on day one and our tactician is always looking behind for the next puff and keeping our sailing lane clear of disturbed air and trailing boats. It is important, especially in boats with asymmetrical spinnakers, to keep your lane clear since building apparent wind is key to using asymmetrical sails most effectively. Without a clear lane, and maybe some bad air, the boat is unable to maintain the speed and apparent wind necessary for the asymmetrical spinnaker to work efficiently and sailing a lower course on the downwind legs becomes almost impossible.
Along with the lane selection on the downwind legs, the approach into the leeward mark gate was often crowded and selecting our approach was critical. Normally that meant coming into the preferred gate mark from the side and not the middle of the course. If the gate is approached from the middle, the boat will have to sail a lower course at the end of the leg, or even gybe to get to the gate mark to be rounded. In either case, the boat will be sailing at a much slower speed at the end of the leg limiting our options and making it much more difficult to exit the rounding with any momentum. By approaching the gate from the outside, while there might be some disturbed air from other boats, a higher course can be sailed allowing the boat to maintain its apparent wind and speed longer into the mark, which normally translates into a better rounding, and more speed out of the mark.
Our takeaways from Day 1 are…
1. Sailing at maximum crew weight cannot be underestimated.
2. Find your strengths and attack the course with them.
3. With asymmetrical spinnakers, keep your downwind lanes clear and it is often best to approach the leeward gate from the sides with more speed.
Pos | Bow/Sail | Boat | Skipper | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total Points |
Pos |
1 | 30/ CAN 110 | Hey Jude | Rathbun, James | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10.00 | 1 |
2 | 35/ 334 | LouLou | Stone, Bruce | 4 | 4 | 3 | 11.00 | 2 |
3 | 28/ 113 | Le Renard | Phillips, Stephen | 8 | 2 | 2 | 12.00 | 3 |
4 | 12/ 600 | GHOST | Colburn, Ken | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13.00 | 4 |
5 | 22/ 328 | Mirage | Lewis, Cedric | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14.00 | 5 |
6 | 13/ 50 | eclipse | Emery, Damian | 3 | 1 | 15 | 19.00 | 6 |
7 | 11/ 321 | Rum Puppy | Biddle, Jack | 11 | 9 | 8 | 28.00 | 7 |
8 | 10/ USA 43 | Jester | Bethell, Hugh | 7 | 7 | 17 | 31.00 | 8 |
9 | 33/ 90 | Max Power | Schulze, Gerrit | 18 | 10 | 5 | 33.00 | 9 |
10 | 20/ 649 | Radiance | Lakenmacher, Bill | 9 | 8 | 16 | 33.00 | 10 |
11 | 19/ US 351 | inigo | konigsberg, jim | 16 | 15 | 4 | 35.00 | 11 |
12 | 14/ 501 | Tenacious | Gitchell, Carl | 12 | 12 | 14 | 38.00 | 12 |
13 | 32/ 523 | Santas Reign, Dear | Santa, Donald | 5 | 23 | 12 | 40.00 | 13 |
14 | 27/ 267 | Live Edge | Mountford, Michael | 15 | 14 | 11 | 40.00 | 14 |
15 | 24/ BER 490 | Distant Passion | Macdonald, James | 10 | 13 | 21 | 44.00 | 15 |
16 | 15/ USA 674 | Java | Groobey, Chris | 14 | 21 | 10 | 45.00 | 16 |
17 | 18/ 220 | Bat IV | Kennedy, Andrew | 19 | 16 | 13 | 48.00 | 17 |
18 | 23/ 202 | Dog House | Libby, Arthur | 13 | 19 | 18 | 50.00 | 18 |
19 | 21/ 619 | Froya | Lawrence, Chuck | 23 | 20 | 9 | 52.00 | 19 |
20 | 29/ 98 | Better Mousetrap | Putnam, Robert | 21 | 11 | 20 | 52.00 | 20 |
21 | 26/ 52000 | Unbridled | Mock, Robert | 17 | 18 | 25 | 60.00 | 21 |
22 | 31/ 313 | A Train | Reeves, Robert | 27 | 17 | 19 | 63.00 | 22 |
23 | 34/ 83082 | Singularity | Shortz, Stanley | 22 | 24 | 23 | 69.00 | 23 |
24 | 17/ 251 | Breakaway | Hinds, Richard | 20 | 26 | 24 | 70.00 | 24 |
25 | 36/ 50259 | Trio | Uhlir, Jim | 24 | 22 | 26 | 72.00 | 25 |
26 | 25/ USA 330 | At-Tack | McCloud, Dennis | 25 | 25 | 22 | 72.00 | 26 |
27 | 16/ USA 159 | Crescendo | Guarino, Angelo | 26 | 27 | 27 | 80.00 | 27 |
Notes
(1) | Scoring System is ISAF Low Point 2009-2012 |
(2) | Time limit expired (TLE) penalty is: Finishers plus 2 |
Principal Race Officer: Chip Thayer
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