Anonymous wrote:Result: 5th place, out of 5 in Ilvy's group. Last, again. Quite frustrating. The folkeboats simply pointed a bit higher while being faster - and I surely need to train more on my upwind junk rig helming. I'm still pinching too much (didn't fasten the luff telltales yet).

Bonjour

In such conditions, only the best racers are racing. 

The important thing is not to be first or last but not to be overwelmed by all the others and ending half an hour after.

Eric

Paul,
I bet you have access to the race results with the sailing time for all the boats in you handicap group. From there it is doable to find the average of their sailing time. This would let you calculate the needed speed increase you need for Ilvy to end up in the middle of the group.

Cheers,
Arne

(..about to go sailing on a trimaran...)

(Edit: Oooh, we did over 7 knots much of the time and touched 8,2kts  -  in light winds...)

Paul,

My guess is that the mast is a little bigger than needed, both taller, thicker and heavier than the mast of my Ingeborg.

• ·         Its length is 11m versus 9.7 on Ingeborg
• ·         It is 170mm thick versus 150mm on my boat. Higher windage of the naked mast.
• ·         The way the top section is shaped, makes the walls thicker up there and this moves the CG of the mast upwards.
• ·         Its weight is around 60kg versus around 53kg on Ingeborg, even though Ilvy weighs only around 2000kg ,while Ingeborg weighs 2150kg.
• ·         The sail generally rides higher up, creating more heeling moment than on my boat.
  

These factors are not enough to kill the performance of Ilvy, but for racing, their combined impact may well reduce her performance with 1-2% (..what do I know...), and that is noticeable when racing.

I suggest you just accept this as it is, calling that mast a cruising mast.

Enjoy the season!

Arne

Paul,
thanks for letting us hear about your racing experience. You are asking for much if you want to beat Folkboats to windward, in particular if their crews are good. I crewed in a Folkboat for years in our local Wednesday races. They surely are good upwind in the conditions you describe.
Still, by racing, and having other boats of similar size around you, it is easier to learn to wring out a little more boat speed.

These races around the cans mostly favour upwind performance as they generally start at the leeward mark and finish at the weather mark, after one or two rounds. Right?

S-bending of the battens.
This didn’t look so bad  -  what are the dimensions of the battens? My guess is that 22-25% mast balance (or should I rename it sail balance?) is what leads to minimum batten bend in this or that way. On my Ingeborg, the boom and two top battens are Ø50 x 1.5mm and the other battens are Ø35 x 2mm.I never notice any bend in them. Mast balance around 15-17%

Mast.
In these conditions, the weight and windage of the mast start playing a role. What are the dimensions and weight of Ilvy’s mast?

Windex.
You appear to have a Windex.
I find it very useful to use the two vanes (hopefully set up symmetrically) to help me settle on a good close-hauled course after each tacking.

Keep up the good work!

Arne

Eric, Arne,

thanks for your input! I agree, she slows down too much while pinching, dramatically increasing leeway. Summed up, I need to work on my steering. From bm sailing I'm used to steering by the luff telltales, one in luv and one in lee. I'm missing those on my sail right now - I think that's why I tend to leave the groove too oftenly. Luckily, those are not too hard to make.

About thightening the sheets: I pull as long as the sail comes closer to amidships. There is always that one point where, if I pull even harder, the sail is not closing more but is mostly being drawn aft (by mast bending) by the sheets. I avoid that, and just haul in up to the point where this aft-drawing is just not happening. The end of the boom is then just above the gunwales.

We cleaned Ilvy's hull three days before the regatta...