Eastport Regatta News?

[Peter J]

Few thoughts:

1. Biggest speed differences are upwind in a breeze. And in the transistion point between no-wire to dual trapeze. I think the Ullman kites will even everyone out downwind.

2. Ullman main great for crews at 330 lbs ++. We've been sailing with the Ashby main, which looks really nice for crews under 340 lbs.

3. As I was singled out by WF for not showing, I hope Doug shared why we missed this one (the only class event I've missed since buying the boat). Nick is recovered. I couldn't leave him alone up here. Hadley was gone to a family obligation.

4. Travelling regattas are toughest during the season. Local fleets are the surest way to get regular racing. Newport is so close to really working. Need Cogan, Gonzalez, and 1-2 others, and we're off and running.

5. Ullman kite is more sheet tension because you can sail tighter (and windier) apparent wind angles, and you have a longer leech which seems to create more force. We went to dual ratchets on each side. Chris, try that.

6. There is no question that even longer poles will be faster. I went through this with skiffs when Jay Cross and I launched the very first asymmetrics and retractable poles on the One Design 14s in 1987. Longer is faster. More projected sail area, higher aspect sails, deeper angles for the same speed. Does not matter which kind of boat. The same will hold true for the 18HT. WF tried to argue this one with me before the St Pete regatta. I think WF has a longer pole and a higher hoist now.

7. Finally, regatta turnout....For the number of active owners, we are spread too thin for the number of planned events. Right now, we could probably get good 10-15 boat fleets if we went to one major event in the winter, and one major in the summer. And then worked on everyone repeatedly to be there. There's a bit of a leadership vacuum right now. WF was doing this, and is the natural person to do it, as he is the importer with a vested interest. A lot of us put in quite a bit of time into the class, but likely cannot do a whole lot more than is currently being done. I think it reasonable to expect two regattas a year from any team. I think it would be healthier to recognize that most of the active teams have done this, and actually quite a bit more. Selling some more boats would also help a lot.

[Dave]

Heck with sailor skill and Ullman kites and mains, Chris Brown had the Moxie "Go fast" shroud. ;D

Just kidding Chris! There is definitely a gap in experience level(one we're hopefully fast closing) as well as the sails. I agree with Chris that the commaraderie within the class is great and that we should tap into that to help the slower teams give the faster ones a run for the money.

I also agree with Jean Brown that the Ullman spin is very touchy. Sailing with Doug on Sunday was my first experience with the kite. It could have been luff tension, my trimming, I don't know, but the sweet spot was very narrow. The fact that there was very little wind on Sunday didn't help either. The rocking horse motion seemed diminished with the Ullman kite as well. That's my 2 cents on the kite.

[Peter J]

You guys are misunderstanding the Ullman kite. It allows you to sail tighter apparant wind angles. It's flatter. You need to strap it in harder on trim.

The old kites could never sail such tight app wind angles, because they were so deep and tubular.

The Ullman applies their learnings from the Tonrado's. Basically it is as jib-like as you can get and still be an asymmetric spinnaker.

At the end of the day, how can you compare the character of a slow kite to one that is so much faster. It is not apples to apples. Just different. OK, I guess twitchy too.

[Bob Hodges]

Hey Folks,

Great regatta this past weekend in really challenging conditions. On Saturday, we had decent wind at 6-12 knots. The first race had the best conditions. For the second race, the wind backed about 15-20 degrees but the RC didn't adjust the course so the next two races had skewed upwinds and downwinds. It was quite interesting maneuvering through the mono-slugs. Lots of powerboat chop made keeping the boat moving fast a big priority.

Sunday was (to say the least) interesting. The wind was 6-12 knots on the way out but quickly lightened to 4-8 knots with lots of slop, holes/puffs, and BIG windshifts. We sailed the next two races in those conditions. In the first race, we initially had lead up the first beat but let Chris and Jean get over to the left and they spanked us all hard with a big shift that put them 200 yards ahead at the first weather mark. We tried but could not find anything to cut back on their lead which grew to over half a leg. The corners seemed to be where the pressure was, the middle was where the O2 masks were dropping. In the second race, we were tied on points with the Browns. We got some pressure from the left that gave us a solid 100 yard lead at the weather mark but quickly sailed into two holes that Chris and Jean capitalized on downwind. On the second beat we got to the left of the Browns again and it paid for us once more. We stayed out in front for the rest of the race but had a scare on the last leg as we again sailed into a hole about 100 yards from the finish and we could see Chris and Jean just rippin down to us in solid pressure.

It was hard to make any conclusions on boat speed because this was a race and the conditions were so unstable. A couple of things I believe we learned with the Ullman mainsail. The telltales will tell you a lot, trust what you see. The mainsail seemed faster in light and moderate conditions with maximum outhaul (we sailed all day on Sunday with outhaul tight to test that theory).
I really believe that this mainsail (like the A-class Ullman mainsails) needs light air and heavy air battens. The F-18HT main is a lot of HP. Twist in the upper third of the mainsail is critical when you need to depower. We'll be measuring our battens in Newport and figuring out what we need to try for that extra gear in breeze.

I agree with Chris that the Ullman spinnaker is more forgiving (by lifting the bows more). It has a lot of range (by adjusting the luff tension) but I believe a narrower trimming envelope so you have to be more attentive. I really like the extra visibility!

We were disappointed by the turnout. Doug stuck his neck out with Eastport YC and they seemed disappointed by six boats but we got nothing but compliments about being there.

See y'all in Newport.

Bob

[Peter J]

Bob,

Thanks for that report.

Bill Vining just bought my Ullman sail. As we kept sailing with it, we kept tightening the diamonds, and it looked better and better. Seemed quicker and quicker. I have good diamond tension numbers from the good kind of Loos Gauge...not the POS kind WF uses. I'd like to measure your boat at the Newport Regatta and see how close our rig tune was to yours. I have my numbers with my gauge. If we were close, I would think we'd have good numbers to help out Bill.

Bob, it would be helpful if you could share how much cunningham, rotator, mainsheet tension for the races in Eastport. Like yourselves, tighter outhaul seems quick in light stuff to us too.

[Bob Hodges]

Peter,

Yes, let's measure diamonds in Newport, we have an idea but nothing to really compare against. I'd also like to MEASURE mast pre-bend, diamonds might not tell it all.

Downhaul - if the boat did not feel like it was accelerating in a puff, we pulled on more. The range only seems to be about 2". WF would make the change and I would let him know how the boat felt. If you were high but not fast in the puffs, you probably need more.

Mainsheet tension - In light air, I trimmed until I got a slight stall in the top telltales. In breeze, I know WF was trying to trim as hard as possible to keep the lower and mid leech tight. If we weren't going fast forward with max downhaul, we'd consider dropping the traveller about 3".

Rotation - I hate the rotation system on our boat because I can't see it. We need to mark it on the adjustment line in Newport. I'd guess we had the rotator pointing behind the daggerboards. On my A-boat, the rotator is low to the trampoline and I have it marked, Much easier to see if it is where you need.

Bob