Race Clinic 2009 at Golden Gate Yacht Club April 4, 2009

Home	Race Clinic 2009 Golden Gate Yacht Club April 4, 2009

(If you like, you can skip down through the prose and go straight to the pictures below!)

What a great day! Beautiful bright blue skies greeted 45 people representing 19 (almost) Islanders! We got going just about 1000 hours at Golden Gate Yacht Club for Jim Robinson's humorous, insightful, hilarious, sometimes stinging (ask Tom Newton), thoroughly enlightening, and did we say funny, presentation. You'll get the idea when you follow the link to Jim's handout: "Obnoxious in Victory; Bitter in Defeat."

But first, here's the list of the great people who showed up. It was wonderful to see 5 fresh faces representing Eyelevel, Serenity, Spirit, Zingara, plus Orion who will be racing for the first time this year. Glenn Zimmermann with his Freeport 36 Dayna Marie gets honorable mention because he had registered to come, but got a tow to the boatyard to fix his cracked quadrant -- and we caught him on camera with a curious US Coast Guard boat racing up alongside.

Boat	Crew

Blue Streak	Don Schumacher
Captain Hooke	Tom Newton
	David Newton
	Bob Nunn
	Mike Fritch
	Jason Scott
Dayna Marie	Glenn Zimmerman
Eyelevel	Jeff Mezzetta
Freedom Won	John Melton
Luna Sea	Dan Knox
	Myphi Knox
	Chester ?
	Lorraine Weiss
	Ray Durkee
Mischief	Charles Hodgkins
	Kathryn Munn
Natural High	Dennis Bush
	Judy Bush
Ophira	Gary Salvo
	Pat Salvo
Orion	Ray Duran
	Tom Allegretti
	Richard Bullock
	Jean Morris
Pacific High	Harry Farrell
	Carol Williams
	Michele Williams
	Brad Bergman
	Deb Fehr
	Steve Murphy
Pilot (ex)	Jim Robinson
Serenity	Eric Mueller
Spirit	Bill Knopf
	Dave Knopf
	Suzi Knopf
Tenacious	Kris Youngberg
	Ryan Youngberg
Vanishing Animal	Rick Van Mell
White Horses	Rob Blenderman
	Ruby Wallis
Zenith	Art Fowler
	Betsy fowler
Zingara	Steve Swanson
	Jocelyn Swanson
????	Chris
????	Dave

Jim emphasized the full spectrum of optimizing performance on a boat. While the point of the discussion was better racing, all his suggestions about setting sails, and treating the crew well, apply just as well to cruisers. When first getting aboard, Jim emphasized, learn where things are on the boat. Learn what your job is and how you're expected to do it. Get out on the course early. He pointed out that Olympian and AC skipper John Kosteki likes to get out on the race course the day before the race to see what the waters look like and find such telltale landmarks as smokestacks and flags -- that's handy for the cruiser too.

We all know that getting a good start is important, though Jim didn't talk about starting mechanics -- but he did stress that if you want to learn -- follow the good guys. And, as you improve, know which skippers are friends, (and which are enemies). Be sure to plan at least the first part of the first leg. Just exactly where to you want to be on the line at the start, and where are you going to go from there - based on the both the wind and current where you are, and what you expect farther along the course. Sometimes slowing down is good if it puts you where you want to be.

Going to windward, the skipper's job is to keep the boat moving at optimum speed and direction. Jim steers from the leeward side and always keeps his eyes on the jib luff, with the inside telltale angled up about 45 degrees, and the outside one level. The crew should be reporting how you are doing against other boats, traffic to windward, and wind changes they can see. On tacks, fight for inches to weather, don't wear out the crew making them grind in a lot of jib, and say nice things to them when the do a good job, and mostly nothing when they screw up. (Not: "Did wrapping that sheet counterclockwise work for you?"

When rounding the weather mark, a quiet command from the skipper should be all you need. "Ease Main - Haul Away," works for Jim. All of the crew know what to do next. The main and jib go out together, and the spinnaker pole is raised to wing out the jib if appropriate. Jim pointed out that "reaching sheets" are very important. These are jib sheets that lead through blocks at the rail rather than inboard on the track. They help control the leech of the jib and enable you get it to work equally well at the top and bottom of the sail. This is important for cruisers, for instance, as they sail up San Pablo Bay. Protect the inside position going downwind. Use your wind shadow to slow the boat in front of you. Remember to ease your main halyard, backstay, and probably your jib a bit too. (Another bit of good advice for cruisers.)

When rounding the leeward mark, if there's a crowd with boats being forced outside in a big wide circle, slow down and aim at the stern of the inside boat -- a good way to pick up several positions at times. then protect your position heading for the finish. A good rule of thumb is to stay between your competition and the finish line - don't go off on the other side of the course. There - wasn't that fun!

Here's Jim's handout Obnoxious In Victory - Bitter In Defeat You can also find other valuable racing tips and crew training aids on our Race Clinics Menu.

With the wind still flat calm outside, we revised the schedule and had lunch downstairs at about noon. After great burgers, salad, fixins and some cake, the breeze started to fill in about 1300. We packed three boats with 24 sailors and headed out. Gary & Pat Salvo, with help from Judy Bush, John Melton and two other GGYC Race Committee regulars ran the Race Deck. Courses were announced on channel 71, and two short races were run to mark "A" (St. Francis YC) and back. There was one practice start for guest skippers to take a turn, and then we wrapped up with a longer race up to Blackaller Buoy near the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The thermal built in until it was blowing a very nice, steady 14.

Dan Knox and the Luna Sea crew got three very good starts. Pacific High won the two short races. Then Luna Sea lead from start to finish on the long race to the bridge. Three cheers for Dan! Various rumors floated around that last year's champion Newton boys were sandbagging it not to give away their secrets!!! But it was a great day and everyone had a good time.

Many thanks to Golden Gate Yacht Club and the GGYC RAce Deck team for their hospitality and skill.

Here's a table of movie clips you might enjoy, with a special treat of a clip taken by Mike Fritch aboard Captain Hooke.. You can click on the "YouTube" word and the movie will open in a new window on the YouTube site where it will be larger, and you can even blow it up to full screen. (Since this was shot on a digital camera it will be a bit pixelated in large size.)

Deb Fehr's Crew Instruction	Captain Hooke's Crew
1st Short Race Start	Practice Start
2nd Short Race Start	2nd Race Finish
Long Race Start	Race Aboard Captain Hooke

Pictures by Rick Van Mell. Click on images to enlarge, click "Back" to return.

Carol starts breakfast	Dan & Myphi too	Betsy's in line	Registration time ...
Ruby, Jeff & Eric	Ray Durkee	Just waitin ...	for wind!
Rob & Ruby	Jim, Judy, Betsy & Art	Art, John, Myphi & Jim	Rick & Jim
Jean & Michele	Eric, Jocelyn, Steve, Bill, Suzi, Dave & Jeff	Dan, Chester & Dave	Carol & Tom check funds!
USCG makes ....	lots of waves while ...	escorting Dayna Marie	It's time to start ...
Jim's a great speaker!	Happy crowd.	Kris & Ryan Youngberg	Check out the shirt!!!
Time to go sailing	Race prep time	Luna Sea feeds jib	Michele concentrates ...
Steve gives advice ...	and our strategy is ...	Judy's inspection.	Looking for wind ...
any up there?	Captain Hooke is ...	ready to go!	Luna Sea is too.
Ditto Pacific High	Under way.	Collegiate regatta & Alcatraz	Light going
Making a run	Here comes Dan	Tricky currents too	Fine race deck crew
Last pass.	Dan's good start	Downwind leg	Pacific High wins
Gary announces ...	another start sequence.	J - 105s play.	Better breeze
Good fun	Dan's away on port; Pacific High restarts	Splitting tacks	Heading for Blackaller
The run home ...	Dan's in the lead!	Dan Knox WINS!!!	Pacific High and ...
*Captain Hooke*	Comming in.	Happy campers	had a good time ...
All secure	Time to relax	So, How'd it go?	GREAT!!!
A beautiful end to ...	a beautiful day.

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