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June 16, 2008 by bladef16Gambler’s long distance report
June 16, 2008 by bladef16Last Saturday we sailed the first Gambler’s long distance race (open for F18 and F16 only). A fun race with an unusual rating system. In fact you had to rate your own sailing skills.
At the briefing (12:00) the course was given, together with the finishing time: 16:00.
Then we had one hour to estimate the length of the course (17 miles) and how long we would sail on it (taking decreasing wind and current into mind).
By 13:00 we had given up our starting time and the times of the other crews were also revealed.
If you finished before 16:00 you kept your original starting time. For every 5 minutes you finished after 16:00 you were deducted 10 minutes of your starting time. The overall winner was the boat with the latest starting time after deduction of any penalty minutes.
1st: Nacra Infusion
2nd: Cirrus (same starting time as us but sailed 1 minute less on the course)
3rd: Blade 2-up
4th: Infusion, 5nd: Nacra F18, 6th: Nacra Inter18, 7th: Mattia F18
We entered with an estimated 1h35min of sailing and had our beach start together with a Cirrus F18 at 14:25. In the mean time the Inter18 and Mattia had already taken off.
5 minutes after us the 2 infusions started and another 5 minutes later the Nacra F18 started in last position. All of the starting positions were kept, only the Infusion (who won the race) did catch up with us and even passed us! In real time they sailed 7 minutes less on the course.
We started off with 7 knots of wind I guess, 30 minutes upwind to the first mark (the marks were 4 weather stations). We had a bad beach start, not because of Kathleen’s running skills but because apparently I didn’t attach the port rudder properly to the transom, meaning we lost 2 minutes on the water getting the rudders ok….
By the time we were at the upwind mark we almost catched up with the Cirrus. They were double trapping but sailing a lot deeper than we did. I could only trap myself but we could steer much higher.
Then down to the second mark (downwind leg). The wind was a little gusty, between 5 and 10/12 knts I would have guessed. On the first leg we went past the Cirrus and were really going fast. Then we made the mistake to go too far to the beach where it was much gustier, making it difficult for us to keep the boatspeed up. By the time we were at the 2nd mark, the Infustion overtook us and we were again a couple of seconds behind the Cirrus.
At that time we were already racing 55 minutes and only half way the course. I thought we would never make it on time.
The leg to the last mark was a half wind one and from the last mark back to the sailing club also half wind. Meanwhile the wind had picked up and was blowing 10 to 12. The waves started picking up forcing us to stand way back in trapeze.
Because of the gusty wind and the bigger waves we had to head up once in a while causing us to end to high at the last mark. We were right behind the Cirrus but had to sail straight downwind to round the mark. There we lost valuable minutes again….
Apparently we sailed quite fast on the last 2 legs, cause we finished close to 16:00… Only 3 minutes late!
Tonight the pic report…
It’s been a while…
June 13, 2008 by bladef16We haven’t been sailing much recently. Or there was too much wind, or too much rain or no wind at all. So not the conditions we expected for the beginning of June.
We are hoping the summer will start soon.
This weekend we have a new race scheduled. It’s called “the gambler’s long distance route”. We don’t know yet what this race will bring. But we will have to guess how long we will sail and the ones who have guessed correct will win… Very new kind of race, but should be fun. We’ll beach start; I hope that will go ok, it is the first time we will do something like this. Ahh the nerves are already starting to build up 
Forecast for tomorrow: 12 knots at 14.00, afterwards declining to 9 knots. Air temp: 16°C and apparently no rain. Let’s hope so!
Afterwards we’ll get back to you on how the race went, what we had to do and hopefully some funny pictures too!
Eurocat Carnac – Day 4 (04/05/2008)
May 8, 2008 by bladef16Today we didn’t race, no wind.
We finished 17th out of 41 contestants. Not bad, but we aimed for a top 10 place. So we’ll have to practice some more. Especially flying the kite needs some more training. Not so much for Gill, but for me, because I tend to get scared whenever he’s flying the hull too high with the kite up. I think this is because I have had so many bruises and pain due to stuffing the boat in a wave, while flying the kite. I shouldn’t worry too much, because when we get the hull out of the water, there is way less chance of stuffing it. So the more I do it, the more I – hopefully – will get over this fear…
Hereby a link to the end results. End Results C1
These are not yet totally correct. Hans got 2 DNS (1rst and 3rd race). He protested and they posted his results (19 & 16) but apparently they didn’t add them to the end results. So overall he should be 14th we think (and first F16).
There were also 5 Mattia Esses sailing I think and the first overall was a Mattia.
It was fun and a good meeting place for the beginning of the sailing season. It was nice to see the other F16 sailors again! Up to the next event…
Eurocat Carnac – Day 3 (03/05/2008)
May 8, 2008 by bladef16On Saturday there were only two races, as the decent breeze seen in the first race died very suddenly half way through the second race. Paul missed the start of the first race due to a series of objects forgotten on the beach. This did mean that he had an excellent spectator seat for the end of the first race which saw Hans finish second on the water, beating three of the four Tornados. A very impressive result in conditions that weren’t obviously favourable to a 1-up F16 – the Ts were twin wiring upwind, and the course included a couple of reaching legs.
Eurocat Carnac – Day 2 (02/05/2008)
May 8, 2008 by bladef16The long distance! We made it! We were on the water for 6.5 hours. That is very long. The first part went ok, we still had some wind. There wasn’t enough to trap, so we got to sit a lot. After we rounded the rock, the long kite run began. But then the wind slowly decreased and we were only moving very very slow. Finally we finished at 6.30PM and we managed to get back to the beach safely. What an experience! It was a beautiful day, we ate our lunch on board and we got to see some lovely scenery. We did screw up somewhere and only finished 148th.
Eurocat Carnac – Day 1 (01/05/2008)
May 8, 2008 by bladef16Today started windy, but it calmed down in the late afternoon. We raced in the C1 class (all boats with rating lower than 107). I think there were about 30 boats in our fleet (correction: it turns out there are 41 participating boats in our class). A lot of Mattia Esse’s, some Tornado’s and 2 FX One’s (don’t know if it’s the Extreme version or not).
We are with 5 F16’s present. John Alani, Hans Klok, Paul Warren and MarkP all sailed one-up. There were 3 races done. We went very fast upwind, but downwind we always lost some places. I think we finished overall in the middle of the fleet.
We raced from 3 o’clock until 7 o’clock, all I want to do know is eat and sleep.
This morning we also had an interview with a journalist from the French sailing magazine “Voile et voiliers”. She went with Gill on the Blade, crewed and steered. After that I got on board and she made a lot of pictures as seen from a Zodiac. So we will have some very nice pictures of us sailing. We sailed together with a Spitfire for this shoot. They were also a mixed team. The Spitfires are well presented here, and they have their own start on the same rounds as us. The F18 class is the largest class here. They are divided in 4 groups and are moving between groups.
Tomorrow we have the long distance raid scheduled. This is a very long (100 km) run and I am still doubting if I’ll go or not. It will depend on the conditions tomorrow and the social pressure, I guess. I hear it’s a beautiful run, with lovely scenery. After that we have Saturday and Sunday left for racing, but predictions are there will be less and less wind.
Live at Eurocat Carnac – first impressions (30/04/2008)
May 8, 2008 by bladef16It’s raining!
There will be 5 F16’s racing in the C1 class. We had some difficulties registering because we aren’t an ISAF member. Only the Stealth was on the list. But finally everything came trough and we’re game for the next couple of days of sailing.
We had lots of wind today. Nobody went on the water. Boat is fully rigged. Start tomorrow at 3 o’clock. Weather looks ok. Wind will decrease towards the weekend.
Right now the sun is coming out again so we are gone for a drink on the beach.
Cheers!
Our first sailing movie
April 21, 2008 by bladef16This weekend we shot our first sailing movie!
See how we look…
Watch how we sail…
Enjoy!
Credits: music: Dire Straits (Sultans of Swing)
Easter cup / Paascup 2008
April 15, 2008 by bladef16We had our first club race this weekend.
The “Paascup” (easter cup) is traditionally the first race of our catamaran racing season. This year the club decided to have this race 10 days earlier that we’re used too. And we felt it! It was cold, 7°C air and water temperature.
The day started out very windy (5 BFT) and cloudy. Winds were to pick up to 6 BFT later that day. Racing was going to start at 12.30. Gill and I got on the water at 12.00. It felt ok, although the waves were larger than expected.
After 20 minutes we trapped out to test everything. A wave hit my feet and I fell back on the trampoline. I got back out immediately but while doing this another wave hit me and my feet were slammed of the boat. We were speeding and my legs immediately “flew” to the back of the boat. I was still hooked and I got turned, my back against the hull. Gill tried to slow the boat down but he couldn’t turn into the wind because another boat – a Hobie Dragoon – was sailing right next to us. It took a while for them to pass us and finally Gill managed to reduce the speed and pull me back up. At that time I was exhausted and freezing. I had several cold waves over my head and I was shaking and cold. After a lot of discussing and doubting I decided the race was over for me and I wanted to return to the beach.
So we returned and took the jib off so Gill could start the race solo. He managed to get back in time at the start and he did ok. He could keep up with the Nacra Infusions. Buy, after half a lap, there was another team in trouble. Iris pulled her shoulder and she had to get back to the beach. Gill noticed this and decided to follow them to the beach. Since by then it was really blowing Gill decided to get back with Jan on his infusion and finish the race.
Race 2 started, but never ended. After rounding the gate, Gill and Jan capsized. Due to the strong current (spring tide coming up the next day) they got separated from the boat and needed to be put back on by a rescue boat. At that moment 4 other boats were capsized (with crews separated from their boats) and since the rescue boat was also the start and finish boat, all further races were cancelled.
What a day!
Right now we’re trying to sail as much as possible in the weekends. We need to be prepared for our next event: Eurocat at Carnac. This event is looking great: 4 days of sailing (May 1 to May 4) in France, with 400 participating boats. We’ll also see some of the F16 sailors from Holland and the UK, so I am really looking forward to that. Just keep your thumbs up that weather will be nice. My wish list: sunny and 3-4 BFT! Please help me weather gods!
