If you want to Win In Harbor 20s
Sail with Someone You Love
________________________________________________________________________
How does one win the Harbor 20 Class Championships? The secret is in crew selection.
Heritage Regatta together
Per usual, about half of the competitors at this years championships are married couples, while several other crews consist of family members. It’s just more fun to sail with someone you love! The family-friendly Harbor 20 offers the perfect opportunity to do just that.
They love sailing together!
The Sportboat with Cupholders is perfect for couples with the winning combination of comfort and speed.
Husband and wife team, Jon and Gale Pinckney, did a phenomenal job and won first place in the A fleet for the second year in a row!
In the 2013 Class Champs, Bill Menninger emphasized the importance of a strong start. Jon and Gale found a way around that by being the first to adjust to the rapid wind shifts, using the course challenges to gain an edge over their competitors. Their teamwork and practice has certainly paid off.
Winner’s Statement: Jon Pinckney
Looking at the A fleet entry list going into this year’s championships, the one thing that stood out was that there was a solid fleet of competitors. While there were many teams that had a shot at winning, we were more focused on the overall depth of the fleet and the difficulty one would have passing boats when having a bad race. Unlike last year, it looked like there would be enough wind this year to utilize a throwout, but the strength of fleet still dictated that consistency would be priority number one.
Saturday’s 10 knot SE wind was a bit unique in that the starting line was further north than normal and the weather mark was placed directly in the lee of Bay Island. There was also an incoming tide to sail against. The tide relative to the course was interesting as it had three channels to split into as it entered the turning basin from the direction of the Pavilion. Those directions of flow were (as looking from the Pavilion) a right turn toward the back bay, a left turn toward NHYC, or continuing straight toward the OCC sailing center. The current on the left, right, and center of the course along with the weather mark and leeward gate was different in each location as opposed to being uniform across the course.
The wind was the dominant factor, though, and because our weather mark was in the lee of an island it ensured that the wind shifts and pressure would be wildly inconsistent, putting a lot of importance on choosing the correct approach to the mark. I don’t think we ever really knew what side would pay but there were several factors that we considered. First, the oscillating wind wraps around both sides of Bay Island. On the left, the wind funneled down from the Pavilion, and on the right, the wind came from the Bay Island bridge, wrapping around Jim Buckingham’s house and on to the weather mark. Since the pressure came from the sides, it was more difficult to work the middle as there was usually less pressure and more random shifts directly under the influence of the island. You could easily get caught up in the “meat grinder” tacking too much in lighter air while others were sailing faster to or from a side and tacking less. I think the right on the first beat was a little more consistent as the committee boat was less crowded, with less current, and you were sailing further from the influence of Bay Island in more consistent pressure. Finally, you could tack off on to port from the committee boat and sail a one tack beat to layline while avoiding the crowd that usually got caught up tacking on each other in the middle and the left part of the racecourse. This simple right strategy seemed easier to execute and was why I think it was more consistent.
On the other hand, the left could pay, too, but there seemed to be a higher degree of difficulty in making it work. The start line was more bunched to leeward which made it harder to get a good start with clean air and more likely that you were sailing slower, pinching, while waiting for the boats on your hip to tack. By sailing slower you increase the odds that when you are finally able tack onto port you will not cross the next wave of boats on starboard forcing you into an unwanted tack. This becomes dangerous as you are potentially setting yourself up to become a VIP member of the “meat grinder club”. I also think that the adverse current was stronger in that area where it makes the turn to the Back Bay. That being said, if you could consistently win either side, while avoiding the meat grinder, you were probably in good shape for the day. I just think it was easier to win the right. We sometimes worked the left and sometimes worked the right. If we saw solid pressure coming down from the Pavilion, we were more inclined to go left, and if we didn’t see it or weren’t sure, then we went right. It was ok to be in the middle right after the start and then look up the course and make your decision, but the middle was progressively more dangerous further up the course. Our priority was that we were in phase and headed to the side of the course that we thought had more pressure while staying out of the middle as best we could in the top third of the beat.
Downwind, the right almost always paid as the wind near Harbor Island moved forward for a favorable starboard tack header, while also compressing along the land for more pressure allowing a faster, more direct course to the mark. As an added bonus I think the stronger current that was working against you upwind on the left was now helping you more downwind on the right side.
Sailing the bottom half of the course from the gates back upwind to the weather mark, we felt the left side of the course was best. If you rounded the right gate (looking downwind) and stayed on starboard tack you could just get to the left enough for relief from the river of current headed toward the bridge. Not only was there less current, but a couple times for about 30 seconds, I felt that we were in a small favorable current eddy that was pushing us up the course! As you got closer to Harbor Island and its lee you would then get a geographical left shift and pressure (same spot as downwind) from Harbor Island allowing you to tack onto port. Once you tacked onto port near Harbor Island you would look up the course toward the Pavilion and if wind was solid you could go even further left, but the safer move was to consolidate your gains on the fleet below you and sail fast forward mode on port to reposition yourself between your competition and the weather mark. Conversely, the boats that rounded the left gate were in more adverse current, and had to deal with the barge that either forced you to tack or sail through its bad air. On average it took from 2-4 tacks to reach the half way point of the beat just above the starting line, versus rounding the right gate and getting to the same spot in one tack. As a general rule of thumb you lose about 1.5 boat lengths when you tack. We never went to the left gate and always made gains on anyone who did.
Easiest way to think of the day was that In the SSE wind all four corners of the turning basin were in play, and you had to know how the geography of each corner influenced the wind and current in each area. If you were to look at a chart or take a “Goodyear Blimp” overhead view and draw imaginary arrows of where the current and wind are heading, it is easier than you think to predict the outcome for each area of the course. Since the race area was so heavily influenced by geography, it was important to have an initial plan of what to expect and then be proactive by sailing in each area to confirm or make adjustments. Just this simple exercise went a long way to understanding the racecourse and giving you the basis for developing a plan to execute.
Since the wind was all over the place the key was to know what to look for as described above and then keep your head out of the boat and do your best to get it right. Placement on the course was way more important than actual boatspeed, which was a good thing because I felt that our speed was significantly off the pace. We never really had a good fast forward mode and while there are a number of factors that could have contributed, I felt that the rig was raked too far back. After racing was done for the day I pulled six more turns on the forestay which I believe moved our rake about a half inch forward. This felt much better the next day. On Saturday our uppers were at 22 and our lowers were set so I had about a quarter inch of sag in the middle of the mast.
Sunday was a much different day in wind velocity, direction, and course location. Setting up closer to the South meant we no longer had as many geographical influences on the wind and current as we did on Saturday. The forecast was calling for a SW wind of 10 mph, but the cutoff low that was influencing our weather made the forecast seem a bit ambitious. While there was never a definitive way to go, there were a few things that we focused on.
First, setting up for speed would be important in the light air and was the only thing you had control of until you could figure out what the next random shift would be. The clouds that were stacking up against Saddleback Mountain and growing toward our racecourse signaled that the wind strength would be lighter and shiftier than forecast. Anytime the wind dropped during a race my head was out of the boat looking as far up the course as I could for clues for the next shift. Since the wind shifted anywhere from S to W, you had a wide area to cover in your search. More often than not, though, anytime the wind died, chances were the new wind would come from the “other” direction. Since our channels run east/west it is easier to see a new westerly coming down the bay and you have a longer period to prepare for it since you can see it on the water from further away. However whenever a west wind was dying, we would be quick to look for a new southerly because the southerly sneaks up on you faster since it is hidden by the moorings and comes across the channel giving you less time to see it on the water. We had poor starts all day, but still were able to post good scores by being the first to take advantage of the big wind shifts. Once we identified a change taking place in the wind, there were three ways to reach the new wind to reposition ourselves favorably relative to the fleet. Foot if it was in front of us, tack if way on the other side of us, and sometimes when the new wind was approaching from the beam just pinching up to it to get to it sooner. If you could recognize the huge wind shifts first and reposition and intercept them before your competitors, you were golden. Our uppers were tensioned to 17 and our lowers were set for about ¾ inch of sag in the mast.
The final key to our performance was my wife Gale’s crew work. While we haven’t fleet raced as much as we would like to, we have done a tremendous amount of practice in the boat over the years prepping for the Baldwin Cup team race. Team race practices are intense and put a huge premium on weight placement and sail trim because the boats are aggressively maneuvering against one another all the time. The constant tacking, stopping, and premium on accelerating for speed have sharpened our boat and sail handling skills helping us to always be in sync with how we are sailing the boat. As an example Gale will tell me “I am eased” if I am heading too low and waits for me respond by heading up or telling her it is ok because I am in fast forward mode. On Saturday Gale kept telling me that I was pointing higher and going slower. I would respond by putting the bow down and easing the sails, but I didn’t “feel” that we were registering the speed that I felt should accompany the lower mode. The rake adjustment that I made at the end of the day was the right call and was based entirely on her dialogue. Knowing our mode along with constant feedback from each other allows us to sail faster and speed always makes racing easier.
Finally we would like to thank the race PRO John Fuller and NHYC for running a great regatta in difficult conditions. Thank you to all the competitors for sailing a good clean regatta. It is difficult to avoid conflict in such a small racecourse, especially in a class championship, which is a testament to all those sailing. Congratulations to fellow A fleet sailors Jim and Mary Buckingham and Kurt and Anne Wiese along with all the other class winners. As a side note, both Kurt Wiese and Gary Thorne taught me sailing as a youth, and it is nice to be able to sail in the same fleet with them some 40 years later.
Jon and Gale
__________________________________________________________________
The Pinckneys were followed by Jim and Mary Buckingham in second, and Kurt and Anne Wiese in third for the A Division.
Anne Wiese is ready to sail!
Statements from the racers
__________________________________________________
Kurt and Anne Wiese- Division A, 3rd place
The regatta was two days of very odd conditions. There was good wind velocity on Saturday but it was hard to predict the favored side. We decided it looked a lot like lake sailing with puffs randomly sweeping in from either side of the course and so kept out of the middle. On Sunday, there were nice full puffs followed by total dead calm. Congratulations to the Pinckneys for completely mastering these very difficult conditions!
______________________________________________
Patrick Michael Scruggs
“Patches”, Division A, 4th place
“The racing conditions on Saturday were the most unique I have experienced in the turning basin. The middle did not work. The corners were the place to be. As you approached the weather mark just off Bay island (southeast breeze 4-7 knots) both sides had lifts. To complicate the decisions more the tide was coming in. John and Gale Pinckney had it all together and were always in the front! The race committee was real on their game.”
__________________________________________________
Len Bose and crewmate, Craig Chamberlin won the B fleet, earning them the right to move up to the A division. Here are some excerpts from Len’s statement.
Len Bose:
“The regatta was fun for me because I purposely took a step back and cracked a few jokes between my crew-mate, Craig Chamberlain, throughout the racing.
In fact, I only had one of my “Only Child” temper tantrums. I made sure we went by to congratulate the previous race winners and nearby teams throughout the regatta. We made sure to talk to happy people like Debra and Peter Haynes, Anne and Ed Kimball, and the sibling team, Kathryn and Ted Reed. These folks are always going to give you a big hello and tell you how lucky we are just to be taking part in this event.
Brother/Sister team- Ted and Kathy
Another new thing I did was attend the Saturday night dinner party and I have to say our fleet captain Nik Froehlich did an outstanding job. I never sat at a table that was laughing so hard during the daily first awards and throughout the night.
Froehlich requested a story from the winner before he presented their award. All had to be in attendance, or it was presented the next place finisher. It was going so well Froehlich decided to break out some more awards and just asked participants to come up and tell their stories from the race course.
The Winner’s Circle
One of the highlights was when Argyle Campbell came up, immediately followed up by Bridget, his wife. Argyle quickly returned with a look of disbelief and said, ” I cannot believe that Bridget came up here, she never has done that before.”
I have never seen Greg Newman laugh so hard. Of course his daughter, Jessica, was on fire with the jokes all night. By the end of the evening my wife Jennifer was telling how much fun she is having. We all had a memorable time.
It was an engaging season this year and I hope to see you all at our December 4th awards dinner.”
______________________________________________________
Kathy Reed:
It’s a tribute to a very competitive B fleet when different boats can rise to the top and win the bullet. Nick Froehlick made the bullet trophy presentations at the fabulous dinner a lot of fun! We had a blast getting to know our competitors better on the course and at the happy hour. Newport Harbor Yacht Club did an outstanding job of hospitality and race committee.
Thanks to all, Kathy Reed