Rigging problems
This morning, the weather was nice but not for sailing. There was hardly any wind and on top of that I was slightly late and as a result I didn’t rig Bubble properly. I forgot to put the clew strap. The clew strap holds the bottom rear corner of the sail onto the boom. On top of that I arrived late at the start line. Because of the very light wind, the absence of the clew strap wasn’t a major problem. As the wind picked up though it started affecting me more and more. Eventually the kiwi knot that holds the outhaul on the boom fairlead, gave way.
A kiwi knot is a granny knot with an overhand knot at the end. I have been told by a kiwi that the combination of these two is called a kiwi knot.
As the kiwi knot gave way the sail got unhooked and it was flapping like a flag. I was in the middle of the Harp, with a flapping sail and the safety boat was nowhere near me. I needed towing in and they were not even watching for people that might need help. I whistled at them but they didn’t notice me. I realised that I had to manage on my own. I held the clew of the sail in one hand and the tiller with the other so I could bring the boat head to wind in order to put the outhaul hook through the clew eye. Eventually, after a couple of attempts I managed to do it, but since I was missing the clew strap, I thought I better go in because it was bound to happen again.
I had also forgotten my sailing watch at home, so without a sailing watch, things were even more difficult. As a result I didn’t have a good start, but soon I already had three boats behind me and I could see Steve in front of me. I thought that most probably he had a bad start too. I knew it was too difficult to race Steve and Jay who was behind me came closer to me and we were racing each for most of the time. Eventually she managed to pass me. The two boats that were behind me both capsized simultaneously on the downwind leg. On the last lap I had a really good upwind leg and I covered most of the distance that I had lost to Jay. Unfortunately the leg was not long enough for me to pass her.
A quite interesting day that started bad, but it got better bit by bit. Overall, I am quite happy because I feel that I am getting there slowly but steadily. No sailing next Sunday due to the MRX/Firefly Open Meeting, but I will try to sail on Saturday instead.