[SCOW] Racing Tonight

 

 

Hello SCOW Members and Racing Fans!

 

Come racing tonight with us on the Flying Scots. We will begin setting up boats at 5:30 PM and putting them in the water about 6 PM, with a brief skipper's meeting at 6. We'll try to get in as many races as we can, and we'll keep the races relatively short so that we have lots of opportunity for close boat racing, which will give us practice on our right-of-way rules, especially at the start line and rounding marks. Also this will give us lots of starting practice. Also I plan a pretty tight starting line tonight for an extra challenge.

 

All participants, please RSVP if you can to me, and tell me whether you will be crew or skipper, and about what time you can show up. If you can't RSVP, still come on out. But this way I can plan better.

 

Note a few things that will help your racing performance:

 

1)      Stay close to the start line pre-race. There will be a 2 minute countdown and you need to be able to hear the whistle.

2)      Keep the boat heeled a little to leeward for extra speed.

3)      Just like playing chess, think of your moves ahead of time. What is the favored end of the start line? I might be coming close to Boat A, so ahead of time I need to think about who has rights. After rounding the windward mark, which end of the finish line is favored? If you have questions about these, ask me.

4)      Keep tiller movements to a minimum. A tiller handled well glides the boat through turns; handled wrong, and it becomes a big brake.

5)      Do not, do not go aground. It will pretty much finish the race for you. When nearing the shoal, tack and do not take chances.

6)      Keep crew weight compacted in the mid/front of the boat. Weight in the aft end of the boat slows it down.

7)      The starts are very important in these short races, and for that matter, in just about any yacht race. So focus on your starts, be on the start line at the gun, have good speed, be on the favored tack, and have clear air in front of you, and you'll almost certainly do very well in the race.

 

Hope to see you there tonight.

 

 

Jim