| Author | Message | ||
     Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
Robert, Regarding your case of the "slows": All the things you list can affect boat speed (bottom, sails, skipper and crew). While the following may seem obvious, perhaps a detail or two within may help. Bottom: I just had mine professionally stripped, replaced with Interlux and sanded between coats to what the yard called a "Grand Prix" finish and had the keel templated at the same time (no small or cheap task!). I immediately noticed a 1/2 to 2/3 knot improvement in boat speed under engine power alone! While we have not had numerous opportunities to test this in OneDesign events yet (we will in about a week in Milwaukee's typically light air), I can tell you the boat is noticably faster. Some recent keel research and measuring of the 9.1 fleet on Lake Michigan has indicated that smoothness is clearly more important than size (accuracy to templates). The boats that are winning consistently have very smooth bottoms and their owners do not allow bottom paint to build-up over the years. Also, it is common for algae growth to happen in as short as a few days - have a scubadiver clean your bottom regularly or have it hauled and wash it a few times per season. This makes a bigger difference than you think. Sails: Suffice to say, this is a much discussed topic and I'll simply say that the investment required to win increases as the level of competition increases. If the others are racing with new sails, you probably need to ante up at some point. Skipper: My crew sums this up in one often-repeated statement - "Shut up, quit rubber-necking and drive". My personal experience with this is substantial (LOL). Get someone else to look around, tell you what's going on and trust that the crew knows what they're doing. Any time your eyes are off the telltails, you're going slow, period. Crew: Pretty much answered above. Consistency and confidence are linked and are "everything". You don't need pros to win, just dedicated folks who constantly learn. Here's one factor you negelected to mention (and it is something I was reminded of poignantly last night): Go the right way. If you have all the above mastered, you can still take yourself out of the race (we joke constantly that this is what keeps the 9.1 Meter fleet here on Lake Michigan so competitive). Ya gotta go the right way. If you haven't created a little notebook regarding the local conditions, start one. That way you'll know ecah time which sides of the course are favored in what conditions and wind directions (e.g. If it's blowing out of the east, stay to the right of the course and watch for the wind to increase, etc). Watch others and note what they do to win in these conditions. History does repeat itself and those that win are simply learning from it. Of course, everyone gets lucky at times, so don't be surprised when a J30 gets you. We race against them constantly and win about 60-70 percent of the time depending on the skill level of the J30 crew. Heavier air favors the J30 as do reaches. Light air should be your forte as well as windward-leewards. RE rig tune: You can find several helpful hints on this elsewhere on this web site. I'll simply state that the rig needs to be straight and vertical with little pre-bend for light air, subtly more raked aft with more pre-bend as the wind increases. This is not easily adjusted with the rig up, so experiment until you find a setting that generally matches your prevailing conditions. Hope this helps. | ||
| Robert Zouck (Bl1) Rating: N/A |
Hello People: My concern is boat speed and the impact of rig tune. Any gifts of knowledge out there? I'm in PHRF B on the Chesapeake and am not doing the boat justice. The bottom, sails, skipper and crew are of course all suspect, but the boat doesn't seem to want to go fast. I'm not going by J-30's. Suggestions? Thanks! | ||
| Greg Grassle (Gregg) Rating: N/A |
Jeff, On "Pinch me" we've had good luck running pretty much the same crew Scott mentions. Only difference: our foredeck also jumps at the mast and pit person helps foredeck & does halyards. One person is dedicated to topping lift/down haul. Non spinnaker we'll run 3 to 5 people, 6 - 7 with a kite. Main trimmer is always just aft of primarys, helm is behind him - over the traveler. No special arrangement on the mainsheet. It's close quarters, but it works. Up wind everyone is on the fat part of the boat whenever possible. In anything less than 12-15kts. helmsman(me) is always on leeward side watching telltales and advising main trimmer on the shape of the slot. But the crew has to keep you informed of traffic. I've always felt these boats sail easily to their PHRF's. Sounds like you're finding that too! Good Luck! Greg Grassle "Pinch me" Hull #113 | ||
| jeffr Rating: N/A |
Scott, Thanks for the encouraging words. So what about the ability of the main trimmer to work the sheet and traveller from so far forward? My trimmer found it very difficult. Have you re-rigged your main sheet system? If so, please see my questions under that topic. We are planning on racing with 6 people at about 1000-1100 poounds. We have been shorthanded with 5 so far and really felt like we could use more rail meet and a few extra hands at the corners. One disclaimer on our performance; until I can get the running rigging set up better and we learn the boat we are racing in non-spinnaker division. This division does not have the most competitive crews in it but does have several non-spin specialists that are pretty good. I race with the Jamestown Yacht Club | ||
| Scott Corder (Pastcommodore) Rating: N/A |
Nice to hear you're doing well! On Scooter, we typically like 6-7 crew as follows (from the back of the bus forward): Driver, mainsheet, 2 trimmers, halyards/cabintop (in companionway when working), mast/halyard jumping, foredeck. If we carry more than 7, the extra crew are assigned to the topping lift/foreguy, helping take down spinnakers or simply hiking on the rail. Obviously the heavier the air, the more necessary the mast and foreguy positions become. It's pretty hard to race with less than 5, although we have had noteworthy success with this few when they're all experienced folks. I agree with your thoughts on seeing the telltales, but would argue that moving the weight forward is a good thing anyway, especially downwind. Once we're trimmed for speed upwind, the only crew aft of the companionway are one trimmer, the main and driver. As for downhill, the driver (me) typically stands forward of the tiller (between his legs)(in center of boat) and trims the main as he drives (holding the mainsheet seems to help me to feel any puffs), the only other crew aft of the cabintop are the pole trimmer and a tactician (if we have the luxury of a dedicated person to that task). Only additional thought for now regards chute douses. We've had success with both dousing (and relaunching) from the forward hatch and also dousing behind the headsail, through the companionway and re-packing the chute below. There are advantages to each... primarily the requisite housekeeping of lines upwind, flexibility for the next launch (bearaway or gybe set) and preference of the foredeck crew. Currently we prefer to launch bearaway even if a gybe set is somewhat preferred because it keeps us clear of upwind traffic after we've cleared the mark, we just gybe as soon as we're ready (this is obvious if the mark has an offset and especially helpful at large regattas where we share the course with lots of other boats)(clear air rules!). We also perform alot of what we call "floater" takedowns where we remove the pole early and free-fly the kite nearing the downhill mark. Have enjoyed your many posts regarding your first season. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged if you feel like you're not "getting there" fast enough. Lots of folks have waited much longer to get all the kinks out! You appear to be accomplishing a great deal in a very short time! | ||
| jeffr Rating: N/A |
What crew arrangements are the more experieinced 9.1 racers using? How many people, how much weight? I find it hard to see my jib telltales unless I sit well forward of the traveller. This moved the main trimmer in front of the primary winch and made his job very difficult. Do any of you put the main trimmer behind the helmsman? I have only had 3 races so far but I am very happy with the boat's performance. It seems to sail to it's PHRF rating fairly well. We are still figuring the boat out and making lots of mistakes and are finishing well -- a second place last night. |
