What a morning! All I can say it was well worth not drinking last night so I could get up and sail with a clear head this morning. I made the decision last night to not drink after looking at the met office forecast and again it was bang on.
Start was at 9.30 so it was up and straight down to the club for 8.00 to get the boat out of its box and ready to race. SW again so a good wind direction wind sped at 8 was around 12 knots so getting near Farr weather. There was some cheeky little gusts coming through at about 18-20 knots so it was going to make for interesting sailing!
The course was full of up wind and dead down wind legs with only one reach right at the end and with wind over time up until HW planning was paramount to best use the tide and find relatively flat water.
The 1st race started well with a very average start but I made the decision to foot off and go for speed off the line and it paid off sailing under the Lasers, eps, phantom and Blaze. Tacking was ok up the beat and I managed to round the windward mark in 2nd. Not bad for my 1st race of the season. The bear away went well as I moved across the river to get out of the tide. Now time for the Gybe, not a great idea when hit by a sizeable gust and there was swim 1! It is a little disheartening when the rest of the fleet sail by waving but I managed to get the boat up right and then play catch up without loosing too much time.
The next upwind leg saw me munch some of the slower boat and find myself in a half decent position again. Swim 2 came as a bit of a surprize it was another down wind leg and after the Gybe. I think I slowed the boat down a little too much and then as the boat powered back up it seemed to trip over the bow and splash!!
A slight error of course reading meant I went for another downwind leg before realising that it was just foot off slightly back to the club and across the line. The end result was 5th not bad but I didn't feel I had done the boat justice.
Race 2 was better although a slight miscalculation on the start time = 10m from on the gun but second boat over the line. Same course so it gave me a chance to learn from my mistakes, or so you would think! Round the 1st windward make in pole position and looking good. Bear away not text book but passable. Gybe average until the boat rolled over on me to windward. Swimming is great fitness for sailing (that's my excuse anyway) . Again the fleet sailed past and again I was playing catch up. The Gods must have then decided to give me a break and once stable I managed to play a mega gust just right and found myself overtaking all but the phantom before the upwind leg. Upwind in a good 4 to 5 the Farr is quick for a 12 foot boat as long as you foot off and then drive the boat. With this in mind I managed to get him planning upwind and sail under the phantom before then pointing up again. Then it was a just a case of footing off in the lulls to keep the boat driving and the speed punched me through the oncoming waves.
As I rounded the last windward mark for the bear away back towards the club the phantom must of been a good 100m ahead. The tide had turned and I decided to keep the boat a little higher and use the island as cover from the tide. It was worth getting out of bed just for that leg. The phantom seemed to be punching the tide and not really cooking where as I was fully powered up and flying. 100 m was cut down to 5m as we rounded the mark. In fairness if the leg had been a little longer I would of had time to pass him but that was not the case. It was going to come down to the last beat and I decided to head in to the moorings and out of the tide. Knowing the boat is better when you foot off I carried into the moorings a little longer than usual. The phantom tacked early and as I tacked it was looking like he was going to make it to the line 1st but it was going to be close. Fully sheeted in flat wiring and powered up to the max the Farr did what it does best and thumped through the short chop and over the line about 10m ahead. Happy days.
When the results were published I had nicked it on corrected time from a laser 4.7. so all in all a great day out. Looking at the recorded wind speeds we has nothing less than 12 knots and the gusts hit just under 25 knots. The Farr is defiantly a great ride in these winds and it keeps you on your toes. Looking back and trying to find out the reason for all the swims and I think I might have found the answer. Dead down wind you have to get weight aft to stop the bow from digging in and you find your self behind the tiller. Now to Gybe you have to get in front of the tiller. This shift in weight results in the bow digging in somewhat and this instability cost me. I think the best way forward is a gantry and as the rules allow it if or when I was to build another I would defiantly put one on. Will I to this one? No I don't think I will, this boat is a bit of an iconic boat. It is the 1st NZ in the UK and my feeling is why touch it (at the moment).
I feel it only fair to end with a little prayer to the wind god:
Cheers for the sail today Eric and please may this wind continue until September!!!
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