Strong Winds & Winter Swimming
The forecast for today had been really good. I was really looking forward to it. I re-rigged Bubble yesterday, I have a new XD kicker and a new watch with a countdown timer that is more than enough for sailing. It was supposed to be windy, but it turned out to be even windier. The presence of gusts and shifts, didn’t make things easier either. So it was a struggle. But let’s start from the beginning.
I arrived at the club in time, but the weather was not very nice. It had been raining and it was quite chilly. I had to put PVC handles on my control lines and that took a bit of time, so I was late for the first race. It was quite windy, but the race was too long and I wasn’t fully awake. I find that I don’t perform on the first race as well as on the second. I guess it has to do with warming up and getting my mind focused on sailing. I was trying to keep the boat flat but it wasn’t so easy. For some reason I was not feeling very confident/safe to hike. For the short periods I was hiking, things were quite good. It was a bit gusty and shifty though and I was worried that the boat would come on top of me.
For the second race, I was more prepared and I had a quite good start and a good first upwind leg. One of the problems I have to find a solution for is, tacking in strong winds. You see, in strong winds you need to put loads of kicker on in order to keep the boom low and de-power the rig. But the boom is so low that there isn’t enough space underneath it when you tack. So, you have to let the kicker off, tack and then pull it again. I have to find a formula to do that quickly. Anyway, the wind was so strong that I was struggling to keep the boat flat. As the wind grew stronger I started capsizing more and more often. I have to admit that I lost count of how many times I capsized. My main problem was the shifts and gusts.
At some point I was hiking on an upwind leg and the wind shifted so much, that I found myself in the water. I could feel my feet stuck under the toestrap, so as I was lying in the water, I bore away and the wind brought the boat upright and lifted me off the water. The boat accelerated swiftly but with all the spray I could hardly see where I was going. It was exciting but dangerous. The boat was planing quite a lot, but the strong winds made the whole thing very difficult. I was quite disappointed that I was capsizing all the time. Eventually I decided to go in. When I went in I was told that everybody had been capsizing, mainly the Lasers, and all the other Laser sailors were in the same position as I was. I have to admit that I felt better knowing that it wasn’t just me.
We de-rigged with difficulty under strong wind and with frozen fingers and we went for a hot shower. I seriously need winter gear. I need some winter gloves, neoprene socks and a new hat, because I lost the one I had.
All the new rigging and fittings worked very well today under these bad conditions. This is good news. Now I can concentrate on my sailing.
Today I got some feedback on the RS200 Open Meeting DVD. At least three people told me that it was really good, and there was one playing at the club house.
I am going to be sailing next Saturday, so more news then.