Osius Regatta

Competitors: 244, 247, 550, 57, 484, 562
Crew: Brian, Scott, Christopher, Tim

I'm going to try a new format for these posts to hopefully make them easier to write and to read. I welcome you comments.

The Basics
Course: Dropped marks off Tolly Point. Two races, windward-leward.
Wind: 20+ kts, with gusts close to 30!
Seas: Fairly heavy seas on the northern side of the course, Tolly Point lessened the impact of the wind on the seas to the south.
Setup: Reefed main, #2. Spinnaker when the wind wasn't too gusty.

Race One Highlights

• Good start.
• Overpowered at times on the windward legs.
• Went left while others went right. I felt the seas were less to the left which gave us better speed. This seemed to pay off.
• First downwind leg no spin; we watch TC struggle with it.
• Second downwind leg we gave it a go about half way down, and had we done it right at the mark rounding, we might have caught Towney. As it was we caught up a great deal.

Race Two Highlights

• Very similar to the first race.
• Found ourselves in second behind TC coming upwind the final leg. Towney was close behind.
• Dropped the traveller way down (had the backstay around 6) and saw a dramatic improvement in our ability to carry some wind in the main without being over powered.
• About 1/2 way up split as far left as we could with TC.
• We experienced a huge lift, and TC dealt with a huge header. We crossed ahead of him by about a boatlength right at the finish.

Lessons Learned

• Drop the traveller in heavy air!
• Make sure the foot is tight when reefing to make the main flat and depowered.
• Reduce headstay sag by tightening the backstay in heavy air upwind. This improves pointing.
• When flying the chute in heavy air going dead downwind, there is a tendency to death roll. Ease the pole forward to put the spinnaker behind the main and reduce the wind in it to minimize the rolling.

Christopher is a friend of Brian's, and he was a lifesaver on this race. We enjoyed getting to know him, and look forward to the next race with him. Scott did a great job running ragged on the foredeck. (We're putting it up. No wait. We're not putting it up. No. Yes, we are putting it up, but on the other side; switch it! No, wait, belay that...) Brian kept the tacks smooth, tracked the competition and introduced Christopher to racing. Great job, guys.

Next race: Solomons Island!

--Tim

p.s. The engine belt snapped on the way to this race. We noticed it in time (steam coming from the engine comparment below), and shut the engine down. I changed the oil once we were back to be sure we didn't scorch it. It turned out that the overheating boiled off all the coolant as well. So, if you're ever out on LinGin and the engine overheats, shut it down immediately and sail in!

Pos	Sail	Boat	Skipper	1	2	Total Points	Pos
1	247	ARGO	WILLIAMS, T.C.	1	2	3.00	1
2	244	LINGIN	WILLIAMS, TIM	3	1	4.00	2
3	550	SKYBIRD	TOWNSHEND, ROLPH	2	3	5.00	3
4	57	INFINITY	CURRIER, CB	4	4	8.00	4
5	562	WINDSWEPT	HELMS, LANNY	5	5	10.00	5
6	484	SECOND-2-NUN	GAMBER, HARRY	6	6	12.00	6
7	567	ANDANTE	COLE, ANDREW	8/DNS	8/DNS	16.00	7