Regatta Report

 

After the events of this past weekend, the Can Opener and I are now firm believers in ‘cruising’ regattas.

We arrived on the Friday at the host clubhouse (the Rompin’ Yowlers Squadroon) for relaxed evening drinks to open the festivities with our fellow participants. A jovial team-building dinner followed, a delightful ship-board sleep, and early next morning, away we sailed to the designated round up point.

In fact, the Saturday ‘race’ was more of a stroll round the cans in company. More than one helmsman had one hand on the wheel while the other brandished a streaming cup of tea. 

We anchored en mass for a leisurely 2 hour lunch, and then pulled up anchor to round the cans again in the afternoon with renewed vigor and topped up tea mugs.

Very civilized.

On the first leg, the Can Opener had been non-plussed and seemed determined to press his racing luffing rights – as one normally does. But the cheerful lift of the next yacht’s tea mug and an ‘After yooou, dear boy…’ confirmed our growing suspicion that an entirely new and intriguing game was afoot. 

‘Not at all, after you, dear Sir,’ I replied. 

The Can Opener grinned a sheepish grin, handed the helm back to me, and trotted down to the galley to make up steaming cups of brew for our own dear team.

We are liking this take on the cruising life.

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Bryan Willis, The Rules in Practice – Reviewed

 

Links at bottom below post

Book the Captain just finished snoozing on: The Rules in Practice 2009-2012 by Bryan Willis

How have the racing rules of sailing changed since the 2005-2008 version?

What are the new rules and how are they used in a racing?

A truly dense book that I had to snooze devotedly to get through. It’s not the volume of pages that takes time – it’s actually a pretty thin book. It’s the fact that the analysis of each rule takes time to really sink in as you consider the situations from each angle. 

I set myself 15 pages a night to digest and got through it in a week.

Bryan Willis, world championship umpire and judge, IYRU committee member and Olympic jury member, explains how the new racing rules work…

The Best Parts

• good intro comparing key changes for the 2009-2012 rules versus those from 2005-2008
• clearly drawn diagrams – made even very complicated multi-boat situations clear
• well laid out
• every rule methodically covered from every angle

Wishes

I was hoping for more useful hints on how to use the rules well to gain tactical advantage. The constant exhortation to err on the side of caution is commendable. But there’s no redress given that will make up for being badly fouled by another competitor.

More emphasis on how tactics are being successfully used with the revised 2009~2012 sailing racing rules would have made this book even more helpful.

Conclusion

This book is a good investment for any racer. The rules were clearly illustrated and analysed as he considered each one in detail and from the perspective of every boat involved.

I’m going to check out Paul Elvstrom Explains the Racing Rules of Sailing next.

Ever read Bryan Willis’ The Rules in Practice? How did you find it?

Any good recommendations for books on tactics and use of the sailing racing rules?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Book Reviews
Next: World Cruising Survey – Reviewed

Previously: Care and Feeding of the Sailing Crew – Reviewed

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Umpire for Team Racing

I‘ve volunteered the Can Opener to help out on the umpire boats at an upcoming Red Tabby Team Racing Regatta.

It’s a great way to give back to a good club and to bone up on the sailing racing rules at the same time.

Why do we need to know the Racing Rules for Sailing if our real focus is on cruising?

Team racing means lots of close quarters manoeuvring. It’s a great way to participate in what in many ways is a totally new (to us) sport – while continuing to hone critical boat handling skills. 

And if you play the game, you’d better know the rules.

 
Have you ever tried umpiring a team racing event? How’d it go?  

–Captain Cat  

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Update: The umpire training day and regatta were postponed due to icy weather. Hopefully, we’ll get another chance soon…

Update 2:  Looks like this won’t be rescheduled till next winter season. We’re looking forward to joining in then…

More High Performance Snoozing Ahead

What’s the best way to spend a Wednesday?

Hmm. 

Seems like it’s shopping online with the Can Opener for… even more great books for the sea library!

We thought the most recent batch would be the last additions for a while… but we couldn’t resist. 

So, more good snoozing ahead (so all that fine sailing and cruising info can seep gently upwards into my mighty brain) with…

• Offshore Sailing: 200 Essential Passagemaking Tips, by William G. Seifert
• The Psychology of Sailing: Sea’s Effects on Mind and Body, by Michael Stadler
• Cruising Under Sail, by Eric C. Hiscock
• Paul Elvstrom Explains the Racing Rules of Sailing: 2009-2012 Rules, by Paul Elvstrom

Book reviews coming soon! 

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Book reviews

Offshore Sailing: 200 Essential Passagemaking Tips
The Psychology of Sailing
Cruising Under Sail
Paul Elvstrom Explains the Racing Rules 2009-2012 

Sea Library

Previously: French, Spanish… and then some!

Pack Yer Bags

Can Opener: Pack yer bags! We’re going team racing this Sunday. It’s the division heats for next year’s championsh– that hat looks ridiculous!

Captain Cat: This hat looks fan-tas-tic and you will admire it accordingly. What’s not to like about this many feathers?

Can Opener: Many would agree with you, Captain C. And all of them ladies.

Captain Cat: Exactly. Mia Meow was all over me in this– 

Can Opener: I’ll bet. While laughing her tail off…

Captain Cat: Your oyster allocation is terminated. Effective immediately.

— transcribed by the Can Opener

Team Racing

 How to hone your boat handling skills with maximum efficiency? The most learning in a few moments of your valuable time? Try team racing. 

This past weekend I took the Can Opener out for Team Racing training and a regatta with the Red Tabby Yacht Club. 

Team racing is two boats sailing together against another team of two boats. A whole different ball game from traditional fleet racing. The object is to have your team finish with the best combined result per race. 

Here’s how you win 
If your team finishes the race in: 

• 1^stand 2^nd, you win
• 2^ndand 3^rd is also a winning combination 

but 

• if your team finishes 1^st and 4^th – you lose.

Moral of the story?  
Don’t be last. 

This means you might even need to sail against the direction of the race to help out your teammates if they get trapped under a competitor ‘downstream’. It also makes for some hairy and aggressive start sequences – our kind of fun!

The race course is set up to compress the action – with short start and finish lines and short course legs. This increases opportunities to make use of team racing tactics… and means a lot of close quarters manoeuvring. Great for improved boat handling! 

If you’ve mastered the basics of sail trim and points of sail, and have already done some round-the-cans fleet racing, think about trying out some team racing. It’s a great way to participate in what is in many ways a totally different sport – while continuing to hone critical boat handling skills. 

Have you ever tried team racing? How’d it go? 

–Captain Cat 

(transcribed by the Can Opener)

Captain Cat Approves of J80s

We didn’t go as fast as these guys – but it felt like it!  

Spent this past Saturday doing on-the-water boat handling, spinnaker drills and practicing short course races with 5 other boats and coach.

I must say that Captain Cat surpassed himself on helm. Dennis Conner watch out!

–The Can Opener

(supervised and approved by Captain Cat)
 

Boat Research Begins – Needs and Usage

 

What kind of boat do you really need?

In ‘How To Buy A Used Sailboat – Step 1’, Adam Turinas asks some straightforward questions to help potential buyers make sure they get the right boat for their real needs. 

His questions seem routine at first glance but are worth serious consideration. Buy a boat for what you are really going to do, not what you vaguely might hope to do. ‘Hope is not a strategy,’ he says.

I like his method (and our plan will only be looking at used boats…), so I’ll bang through his quick questions here with respect to the Can Opener and myself:

Where are you going to do most of your sailing?

Ocean coastal and then offshore. We’ve already done lake sailing on 2 continents, coastal cruising and some offshore. Time for the next challenge.

How much are you going to sail?

6+ months of the year live-aboard during refit and first 1-2 years thereafter. Considering full-time after that. After refit, an estimated 10% of that time passage-making.

Racer, cruiser, racer/cruiser, blue water?

Blue water.

Who’s going to be sailing with you?

Counting just those with opposable thumbs, the Can Opener’ll be solo-sailing most of the time. We’ll probably pick up 2-3 crew for ocean crossings.

How long will you own it?

Estimated 10 years. But we will research/ cost analyze 5, 10, 15 year scenarios.

Will you be able to sell it later?

Final sale is an important working assumption in our cost analysis.

How much work will you do on the boat itself?

No contest, I prefer sailing to endlessly working on boats at the dock. The Can Opener is up for basic repairs, refitting for offshore and maintenance as needed, but not for engine overhaul, rewiring or an interior rebuild. 

As Turinas says, don’t fall in love with a boat that’s a ‘project’ and ‘buy with your brain not your heart’. ‘Nuff said.

How much can you afford?

The real question here is not just about the initial purchase cost – it’s about the cost end to end. A damn hard question that will keep the Can Opener up at night balancing initial purchase cost vs. needed refit costs vs. running costs vs. financing (while I snooze on the relevant open reference books, keeping them warm and toasty). 

But one of the driving purposes of this blog is to cost/benefit analyze the answer.

So what’s the right category of boat for our planned usage?

We’re looking for a blue water live-aboard, good for solo-sailing, with a design that holds its value over time. We’re aiming for 30 feet or so to begin with. Enough space to provision and live in but a workable size that’s not overpowered for single-handing.

Captain Cat, however, does reserve the right to completely revise his assessment based on new information uncovered going forward. Just as he does nightly when musing the wide ranging options for his upcoming dinner…

But these are the baseline assumptions we start from.

What assumptions will you start from?

–Captain Cat

(transcribed by the Can Opener)