J24 Blog

Photo Bill Blevins used under a Creative Commons license

I posed the following question to the fleet listserve after the downwind start in the third race last Tuesday:

What is the strategy for a downwind start. For instance, when do you set your spinnaker, when do you raise the pole?

It sparked quite a discussion…

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Following up on the race report from Tuesday night, I emailed Joy Okazaki of Hot Pursuit, the boat we collided with, to get a clearer picture of what happened. I got that and more.

First of all, here was the situation:

Our strategy was to avoid the crowd at the pin. Unfortunately, with Tundra Rose (TR) to leeward of us and the starboard tackers in front of us, we felt boxed in. As we approached the pin layline, TR “helpfully” suggested that we should “make our turn.” We went for it. We tacked under Hot Pursuit and then began the luffing game. As we drifted there the jib backwinded and we tacked.

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“Of all the different boats we race, one thing holds true: racing them downwind in light air can really suck.”

Last Tuesday we got schooled downwind. We actually beat a group of pretty fast boats to the windward mark, and were hanging tough after the set. But inevitably we got rolled and left for dead.

Just in time, there is a good article by Tony Rey on the Sailing World website focusing on downwind strategy and boatspeed in light air. Here are Tony’s 7 Light-air Tips:

1. When in doubt, heat it up slightly to keep the speed.
2. Keep the spinnaker pole tip lower than you think.
3. Communicate to the helmsman about the pressure in the sheet.
4. Keep the crew weight low and forward (dogs down in the house).
5. Keep it snug (foreguy, topping lift, and just enough backstay to keep the rig stable).
6. Trim both sails equally (don’t ignore the mainsail!)
7. Stay focused at the end of the run to ensure your rounding sets you up well for first few minutes of the beat.

Full article here.

Stuart Streuli interviews Charlie Enright at the Fleet 50 Blog. An excerpt:

 The key to starting is getting one that can help you execute your game plan. The best way to end up where you want to be on the line is to back it all up a couple of steps. If you know you want to be at the middle of the line at go, you know you want to be on your final approach to starboard of the boat at a 1:30, and if you know that you also know that you want to be on port in the middle of the line at 2:30. I like to tell my crew how many maneuvers we have left as it becomes apparent. We have a bow guy calling lengths to the line. We have the trimmer listening to the helmsman who only says, trim, slow, or racing…we have one person dedicated to the time and another looking back for scoopers. Our time guy is our radio guy after the start.

Chris Snow has a great write up of the final race to win North Americans this year. There are many details about his preparation, strategy, and tactics, including this description of the final approach to the line:

Now it was a waiting game. Main in Genoa out the boat can stop and lose very little distance to leeward. 15…10,9,8, genoa in main out, get the boat rolling, now point slightly below the pin, 4,3, genoa in main on slight luff to clear the pin and we are off, Klatt on our windward quarter, all clear, off to the races we go.

Full article: http://www.northsailsod.com/class/j24/j24_whatsnew.html#55

From Ian Ainlee:

A Polish coach once said to me in typically blunt fashion: “when two boats cross tacks on the race course, you must know that one of you is right and the other one is an idiot. As you cross the other boat, think to yourself: ‘Which one am I?’”

Article: “Turning Point – America’s Cup Match – Race 3″ by Ian Ainslie

Here is a prep-list for a successful J/24 campaign from the 2004 J/24 World Champion:

1. Crew chemistry is key. Everyone on the team should help organize the program and schedule.
2. Sail at maximum crew weight.
3. Keep the big picture always in mind. Avoid clusters of boats, get off the line with clear air, and avoid the big mistakes.
4. No protests!
5. Update the boat with the best equipment possible. Mast, boom, lines, compass, deck gear included. Work with an experienced company (such as Hall!) to ensure things are class legal.
6. Sail and practice regularly.
7. Be prepared going into the regatta. Set a schedule with the crew well in advance. For worlds especially, arrive early, get through the measurement quickly and spend a couple days with a low-key practice schedule before the regatta starts.
8. Buy new sails for a big event.
9. Thank the people who help you along the way. Our sponsors Hall Spars & Rigging and Samson Ropes made the event possible for us.

Full interview: Jens Hookansen, 2004 J/24 World Champion

During the second race last Tuesday we had another incident rounding a mark where a boat called foul on us. Approaching the leeward mark we noticed that two boats rounding ahead were stalled at the mark and there was enough room to pass between them and the mark. I called for room, although I’m now sure we weren’t entitled to room. It was not an attempt at deception, just a lack of real experience with the rules during mark roundings. Significantly, neither of the other boats contested or refused my request.

We came through the gap between the leeward mark and the two boats and drifted a bit due to the course being above close hauled. As soon as we could we tacked and completed our rounding. We neither hit the mark nor the other boats, but one of them did call a foul on us.

Again we had the benefit of hindsight in the form of gps tracks. In the following animation we are the blue boat and the boat that called foul on us is the green boat. I’ve left another (yellow) boat in the animation to help indicate the leeward mark location, which is an educated guess. The red circle is roughly the two boat length circle (16 meters). What this animation shows is that we were not entitled to room:

[kml_flashembed movie="wp-content/uploads/2007/06/rounding.swf" height="460" width="460" play="false" /]

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“Washington Generals”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Generals

Probably spelled with a “J” in place of the G to stay in the J24 theme. 

We are the Washington Generals to the fleet’s Harlem Globetrotters