Home	Race Clinic at Golden Gate YC April 12, 2014

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

Twenty-five people representing sixteen Islanders enjoyed a fun and informative Sail Trim Clinic at Golden Gate Yacht Club. The weekend started as Newsletter Editor Bill Ray climbed aboard commorore Van Mell's Vanishing Animal for a nice sail from Brisbane Marina to Golden Gate Yacht Club. Typical westerlies made for over seven knots with jib only for most of the trip. Dennis & Judy Bush and Gary & Pat Salvo arrived by land yacht just before 1700. While we six relaxed overlooking a windy, sun dappled Bay, Bill's wife Terry and her sister and husband Sue & Jerry completed 14 miles of walking for the by walking up to GGYC about 1645. We all enjoyed a light and delicious dinner at GGYC.

Saturday morning Gary, Pat, Dennis Judy & Rick were setting up the downstaris room for the Clinic, including coffee and bagels, name tags and handouts. Our handouts included Crew Tasks Handout, How To Become A Super Crew, and a new addition from Peter Szasz, A Modified Vanderbilt Start. Shortly before 1000, Ralph Greenwood and his crew arrived on Tranquility, followed by John Melton with Freedom Won and Robert DaPrato with Bella Luna. All the rest arrived by car, and here's the list of who was there for the fun:

Race chair Kit Wiegman kicked things off shortly after 1000 by introducing past Fleet Champions Jim Robinson (8 time winner) and Peter Szasz (3 time winner) to share their winning secrets. In a casual, round-table fashion Jim and Peter sat at the head of a table and exchanged telling tales for about 40 minutes, taking questions along the way. Here are some highlights your writer was able to scribble down:

Jim Robinson:
We always arrived in the starting area at least an hour before the start. One person was designated to study the sailing instructions for the race and lay out the likely marks and courses. We'd guess which way the starting line might be set, and sailed upwind, maybe even to the first mark to see which side of the course was favored along the way. Back in the starting area, it's easy to figure out which end of the starting line is favored: just bring your bow head to wind and which ever end of the line is closer to the bow, that's the favored end. Decide which side of the course you want to be on, then practice a few starts to get to that side. Current, of course, is critical on the Bay and needs to be studied before race day. (Kit spent almost the entire 2013 Sail Trim Clinic on how to read and apply the tide tables!) Our boat was always quiet. There was no yelling. The only time a voice was raised was so it could be heard. The only talking was about critical racing information. If the boat is noisy, it's the skipper's fault. Yelling at the crew because the crew screwed up is still the skipper's fault for not teaching the crew in the first place. Once racing, I watch the sails and keep the boat moving - that's my job. The rest of the crew tells me about the competition and wind and waves and where the mark is - that's the dedicated course person's job. The crew frequently reminded me to "shut up and steer." Of course a clean bottom is pretty critical too. Remember to ease everything off going down wind. (Outhaul, cunningham, halyards.) When asked if he had raced with a dodger, he replied, "yes, for a while, particularly when Lou Zevanov put on a new dodger and beat everyone!"

Peter Szasz:
I agree with Jim on getting out there early, and there are two kinds of courses. The ones using government and permanent marks lets you lay out courses in advance, and if the Race Committee is setting marks you can bet that they will usually set up for the first leg to be dead up wind. When asked about using instruments on the Bay, he said they are helpful; particularly for seeing if you are being lifted or headed over time; apparent wind angle keep you honest about being on the wind; heel angle is important too - try to keep about 6" of topsides out of the water. In high winds flatten the sails; start by lowering the traveler to leeward to reduce heel; if it blows harder, may be bring the traveler back up a bit but ease the main sheet to let the top of the main twist off to leeward. Try to get the weight out of the ends of the boat. Concentrate on your start, the course and the windward leg. While lots of little things add up, concentrate on keeping the boat going fast and your eyes on the sails. Going upwind trim the to the wind and wave condition, then steer on the jib. Off the wind, steer to the course and trim the sails to the course. (Not mentioned during the clinic, but a critical instrument, course and trim consideration is reaching across a tide. You need to compare the GPS course-over-ground (COG) with the course to the next mark and change your steering and sail trim so the COG is the same as the course to the next mark. Also, comparing speed-over-ground (SOG) with your knot meter tells you if the current is with you or against you and, again, change course and speed to maximize favorable current and minimize adverse current.)


As if all that isn't already a great pile of wisdom, we then moved on to our Guest Speaker, yacht designer Jim Antrim.

Jim Antrim:
Jim had a great set of slides using an Islander hull shape for explanation. We'll add them here when we get them. There are several images of them in the pictures sections too. Since it's be a discussion topic for a while, Jim commented the differences between heavy and light boats. Heavy boats have a longer waterline (more speed potential), more momentum (to get through some waves) and greater righting moment (less heel). They are generally faster upwind and power reaching in moderate to heavy winds. Light boats have less drag (more speed) and are generally faster upwind in light air and always faster downwind. Jim went into considerable detail to explain why having weight at the ends of the boat (big anchors and chains; big radar arches, etc)is a bad thing. Weight at the ends translates to more pitching in waves and thus considerably less speed. So, if you want to be faster in a chop, get the weight out of the ends. Jim reminded us that the keel and rudder are foils too, just like the sails. And, they are in use 100% of the time. That is why it is important to keep them clean and fair. The fanatic racer probably has the bottom done before every race. They both provide lift (the force to help you go to weather. It is important to have the boat balanced, that is no leeward helm and just enough weather helm. That in turn goes back to sail trim and heel angle. Jim showed a picture of a happy crew sailing an Islander, but noted several problems. (Picture "Pretty with problems.) You can't see it behind Jim's shoulder, but there is a big anchor on the bow; the headstay has a lot of sag; and the main looks to be too full (more heel than desired.)

After a quick and tasty foot-long hot dogs and chili with Caesar Salad lunch, we piled all those that wanted to get out on the water on Tranquility, Freedom Won and Bella Luna. The morning clouds had given way to bright sun with 15 knots of westerlies so there was plenty of good water to go out and adjust sail shape, move lead blocks, and move crew weight around to experience the things we'd talks about all morning.

Finally, Jim Robinson volunteered that he would be willing to go out for an hour or two with any boat that was willing to come pick him up at San Francisco Yacht Club (in Tiburon/Belvedere.) His email is james_w_robinson@ml.com. (Not in link form to avoid spam - just copy and paste.)

Pictures by xxx. Click on images to enlarge, click "Back" to return.

Newsletter Editor Bill Ray ...	approaching San Francisco ...	AT&T Park, and ...	South Beach Harbor.	Bay Bridge coming up.
Clipper Round The World ...	Derry-Londenderry-Dorie ...	just after finishing.	Ex America's Cup ...	USA 76 is ...
taking folks sailing ...	smile!	Tied up at ...	Golden Gate YC ...	smile Bill.
Friday night racer.	Upstairs at GGYC ...	Bill, Dennis, Judy, Pat & Gary	Golden Gate shadows.	Pat, Gary,Jerry, Sue, Terry, Bill, Judy, Dennis
Artemis Racing's YC Flag	New Zealand's YC Flag	Luna Rosa's YC Flag	Winding down ...	A good Friday night.
Saturday morning ...	setup.	Lower deck ...	looks great and ...	ready for us.
Freedom Won and Tranquility	Here comes ...	Bella Luna	Chat time ...	Rich, Judy, John & Bill
Jim with Art & Drew	Pat & Peter	Kit and Eric	Rob & Ruby	Kit kicks it off ...
the crowd ...	is ready.	Jim & Peter tell all ...	Next it's time for ...	Jim Antrim.
Heavy vs Light ...	what keep us upright ...	plus and minus.	Pitching moment ...	keep weight centered.
Pretty with problems	Down Below also key	Polar Diagrams	Jim finishes a ...	quick inspection.
Light stern ...	heavy stern!!!	Next boat.	Ready to sail ...	Tranquility crew ...
casts off.	Bella Luna rigging ...	crew is ready.	Aboard Freedom Won ...	crew assembles and ...
casts off.	Jim & Art chat.	Flags fly at ...	Golden Gate YC.	Tranquility
Bella Luna	Meanwhile, on deck ...	all relaxed.	Beautiful Gate ...	Lonesome Animal.
Wrapping up ...	Bella Luna starts to ...	furl the jib.	Well done & ...	looking good.
Dropping Peter off ...	getting off and ...	going home.	Tranquility heading in ...	turns after ...
dropping off Kit, then ...	heads home.	Here comes ...	Freedom Won ...	heading in ...
into a slip.	Old SF Bay working scow ...	Alma.

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