Light air was the motto of the day. Our first race was sailed in 7-9 knots. We had an average start in the middle of the line but a little too far back.
We worked the left side of the course but ended up getting rolled to windward by Stig on the port layline. After that, we had to sail in their gas all the way to the top mark. Painful. We had a decent set and seemed to go average on the run. We struggled to gain any positions for the rest of the race.
The second race we got a nice start at the pin. We worked our way to the left again but found ourselves getting rolled by Stig on the port layline. Same movie… Again, we struggled to gain any positions for the rest of the race. On the upside, our boat handling was more crisp and we cleaned a few things up. Our light air sets have made an improvement, although we still feel that there are some more gains to be had there. We definitely struggled for speed all day in the light air. Our boat is moded for a bit more breeze and it showed today. So now our challenge is to squeeze some better performance out of the boat in the light.
2 more races tomorrow.
Doogie
Regata Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre: Coastal Race Day
Today was a rough one. We had one coastal race, which we had a rough time with.
We ended up quite close to the start line and struggled to burn the time off. We had an ok beat and managed to stay in contention by the time we got to the top mark. At the bottom of the first run, we rounded the leeward mark at the same time as Shockwave but had a small problem getting the jib on the lock. The issue was quickly resolved and about 5 seconds after going around the mark we were trimmed on and going upwind. Back up to the top again but this time to a rock about 35 minutes away. The fleet got to the right of us and had better pressure and shift coming into the top. We had a decent run but still not good enough to get us to the top of the fleet. We rounded the leeward mark and headed back to a different weather mark. The next leg was 125 true wind angle which meant Code 0 time. The set up went well and we hoisted about a minute from the top. We tacked and went for deploy and from then on, it was a disaster. A mis-communication and some other issues resulted the in the sail not fully deployed. So we had to quickly go to the kite. Kite up, then struggled to get the Code 0 down. We sailed with the A2 for a while until it was time to get the jib up and kite down. We started the drop with the string, but the high angle and some other problems resulted in the sail catching water and over the side it went. We had to cut the halyard, kite sheet, and tack line. We reached into the finish pretty bummed out and frustrated with ourselves.
Before dinner we all sat down and went through the issues and seem to have them sorted. So now onto the next day and 2 more windward leeward races tomorrow.
Doogie
Regata Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre: Race Day 2
Tonight’s update will be a bit short due to a power outage in the hotel.
Another 2 races were sailed today in 12-18 knots of breeze. A bit more pressure helped us out and gave us some more comfort downwind.
We had a decent start in the first race and had a good first beat. We swapped jibs on the run as the breeze built from 12 to 15 knots. It was nice getting the boat on a plane and doing the runs at 17 knots. Ran still got the best of us in the race and we finished second.
For the second race, we wanted to work our way to the right side but where held out to the port layline by Highland Fling and Ran. We rounded just behind Fling and Ran with tack sets. A problem with the take down system prevented us from using the string line at the leeward mark and we rounded at the same time as Shockwave. So not a great run for us. We gained back nicely on the next beat and run but still finished 3rd.
So overall, we had a better day but still feel like there are some large improvements to make. Our boat handling needs some work and we still have to sort a few things out.
Tomorrow will be a coastal race so there will be some focus on boat handling.
Doogie
Regata Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre: Race Day 1
2 races today. Both races in about 10-12 knots.
The first race saw us starting at the pin and able to pinch off most of the other boats. We rounded the weather mark in the lead but struggled to find the right mode downwind. We rounded the leeward mark after a bit of a messy drop and worked our way back to the left side of the course. We finished the race in second place. Not terrible but we felt like we could have sailed better.
For the second race, we again started at the pin and were able to pinch most of the boats off on our weather hip. We rounded the top mark in good shape right behind Stig. However, we again struggled downwind and got rolled by Ran after the gybe. We had to clear our air on the beat but struggled at the top of the beat. We finished that race in 5th place, just barely beating Highland Fling.
So overall, we felt like we left some places on the course but we also can identify them. We will have 2 more races tomorrow in probably similar conditions so we will get another chance to improve.
Doogie
Regata Copa del Rey Audi-Mapfre: Practice day 2 and flag retrieval
We headed off the dock at 11 am ready for a good day of sailing. On the motor out, Jesse was at the back of the boat taking care of business when an unfortunate encounter with the American flag resulted in him accidentally dropping the flag and pole in the water. The boat made an immediate turn around an Jesse jumped in without hesitation to retrieve the flag. Successful rescue.
After we all had a good laugh, we hoisted the sails and sailed to our starting area while looking at a new Code 0.
Once there we sailed upwind and then looked at some kites on the run. We worked on some pre start work and time and distance to get comfortable with the conditions. Once the sea breeze filled in, we ran 2 practice starts and a 2 lap race with a few other boats on the course. It was good to get some sailing around other boats and start to get a feel for our positioning. The boat handling was smooth with the spinnaker take down system working quite well.
Tomorrow’s first start is a 1 pm. Looking forward to it.
Doogie
Jesse rescuing the flag
Sailing today
After some long days in the yard, we got off the dock around noon today. We had to check the systems, mast, and generally make sure the boat was back together ok. It was forecast for a small building sea breeze but instead we got a strong offshore breeze that peaked at about 28 knots. All seemed ok with the boat.
The breeze then backed off to about 15-17 knots and we continued working on a little boat handling and boat speed. We did a few practice starts and a 1 lap race against Shockwave. We have one more day tomorrow to get ready for Monday’s racing so we will continue to work on boat speed and boat handling.
Doogie
The Bella Mente team compound. 2 40 ft containers, 1 20 ft container and another 20 ft container that we are renting.
Keel off
As is visible in the picture, we have taken the keel off and are doing a small modification to the boat before the racing starts. Tomorrow will be a full day to get the boat back together and service all the parts. The whole team will be participating with everyone taking on various responsibilities.
Palma, here we come!
Well, it has been a couple of weeks now since the Newport Bermuda Race and the team is now gathering in Palma de Mallorca, Spain for our next event, the Copa del Rey.
The boat is scheduled to arrive on the 11th and unloading it the same day. After that, it will be flurry of activity to get the rig down, make a few small mods, perform some service on the boat, and get it cleaned up and put back together. The target is to have her sailing again in a couple of days. So stay tuned for more news as we gather the team again and prepare for some inshore racing.
Newport Bermuda Race 2012: Great Video from Racing
Newport Bermuda race review
Well, we made it to Bermuda. It was a reach for the whole race. No tacks, no gybes, but plenty of sail changes, probably too many. We started the race under A2, after a few minutes, peeled to the R2, and then to the jib top, all within 15 minutes. We sailed alongside Rambler for a good portion of that afternoon with small losses and gains on them. We were pleasantly surprised as to our performance against them in those conditions. Throughout the rest of the day, we were between the jib top and the R2, reefs in and out. This continued all night with us holding up well against the competition. Our biggest competitor was the water coming into the boat. There was constant pumping and bailing for the whole race.
We started crossing the gulf stream late at night and early in the morning. As conditions got lumpy, we slowed down a little to keep things under control. At this point, Rambler was able to stretch on us. We probably waited too long to get back to 100% and lost some valuable miles to Shockwave. By the end of the day we had Shockwave a couple of hundred yards to leeward of us and the battle continued like this all the way to the finish the next morning. As the light came up in the morning we could just make out the mainsail of Shockwave just a couple hundred yards ahead of us. Both boats were pushing hard and we ended up bow even and to leeward of them about 20 miles from the finish. As squalls rolled through, both boats changed sails to try and stay in tune with the shifts. We had to improvise on some of our changes because of a damaged tack line that had occurred the previous night. We finally passed them about 10 miles from the finish and held them off until we finished the race.
The race was quite a big learning experience for us. We learned quite a bit about the new boat and its strengths and weaknesses. We have quite a bit of waterproofing work to do to make the boat more seaworthy. Proper sail combos and when to go to them also need to get sorted.
Now the boat gets loaded onto a ship and gets shipped to Palma in the med. Our next 2 events will be inshore oriented so our focus will be on that. See you for the Copa Del Rey.
Doogie
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