Racing my 26S (continued)

[Russ]

Congrats and enjoy the gloating, you earned it.

[dlandersson]

Kudos to you

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS GLOATING, BOASTING, AND UNSOLICITED ADVICE.

The short story: Excitable Boy finished 3rd in a field of 13 in the Grapevine Sailing Club Summer Series, despite not sailing in two out of the ten races in the series and being disqualified in a third race. If you think you would enjoy racing, I would encourage you to do so (with the Admiral's blessing, of course).

[Newell]

Enjoyed your racing write-ups. I have always loved the racing part of sailing more than I should.

Just took a 1st in a 9 boat open field with my 26D. I flew a BWY Liteskin Genny, built with hanks to maximum length of 26X forestay. I am singlehanded and use no winches. Sheets from Clue to camcleat on coaming. The non-club has already opened the topic of re-rating "some boats" at the once a year trophy meeting. Had 3 firsts last year

cid:6AD940F1-2300-4045-9718-9E00F4BB65E1

[Stickinthemud57]

Enjoyed your racing write-ups. I have always loved the racing part of sailing more than I should.

Just took a 1st in a 9 boat open field with my 26D. I flew a BWY Liteskin Genny, built with hanks to maximum length of 26X forestay. I am singlehanded and use no winches. Sheets from Clue to camcleat on coaming. The non-club has already opened the topic of re-rating "some boats" at the once a year trophy meeting. Had 3 firsts last year

cid:6AD940F1-2300-4045-9718-9E00F4BB65E1

Nothing like upsetting the applecart to prompt "changes" in the PHRF ratings. Kudos to you for having the skills to single-hand your boat in a race.

Last year our Racing Captain thought it would be more appropriate for me to race in "Fleet 1", which includes the true racing boats such as the J-boats, Melges, and the like. He was basing this on the displacement/length and felt because of the lightweight nature of the 26S that it would be a better fit. I protested rather vigorously, and the Racing Committee overruled him.

I don't envy any racing committee the job of trying to handicap the widely varying boats that people like to race, and have found the PHRF ratings to be a poor tool (albeit the only accepted tool) for trying to level the playing field. One of the things that puzzles me is the use of the percentage calculation for the jib in determining PHRF ratings. Todd at BWY figured out a way to significantly increase the total square footage of the jib without making much of a change in the percentage, thus very little change to the PHRF. The increase in performance is significant, though. Going from a standard rudder to an airfoil rudder improves performance, but does not alter the PHRF.

I took several firsts in last year's Summer Series, and managed to take third for the series despite not racing two of the ten races and being disqualified in a third.

I keep the bottom of my boat clean by putting it on the trailer and scraping the algae off with a plastic scraper every month of so in the summer. I can promise you that the keelboats in my fleet don't do this, and I am also convinced that the scuba divers with their drill-mounted scrubbers don't do near as thorough a job as I do.

Something I have seen a lot of is the "follow the leader" mentality: If you are not the first across the line then you follow the boat in the lead. It did not take me long to figure out that a fair number of skippers don't know how to read the wind, and will pursue a disadvantageous course when tacking would be to their advantage. My approach is to maximize VMG by pursuing the best course to the windward mark, and be ready to tack when the wind shifts significantly.

I am looking forward to the coming season and can't wait to bring out my drifter when the conditions warrant. Very little change to my PHRF, but lots more square footage when running downwind.

[OverEasy]

Hi StickInTheMud57!

Congratulations on a great racing season in 2023!
Thank you for sharing your adventures with us all!

May you have a fantastic amount of fun in 2024 and regale us all with more of your exploits!

Best Regards
Over Easy