Fleet 43 Wednesday Series I Wraps Up
Fleet 43 finished the first 7-week 2007 Wednesday Night Series on a fabulous night for sailing. With the wind blowing 12-16 knots and fog pouring in the Hussey, Denali’s RC crew lead 12 boats over to the western end of the anchorage an set up a long WL using C11 (The Brothers’ can) as a windward mark. Two races were held; the first WL2 and the second WL. The legs were fairly long and even with the strong, steady breeze, the first race took an hour to complete. The course was also set up perfectly to split the fleet – square line, more wind on the left, but less tide on the right. It seemed like crew work and keeping the boats flat and moving forward were the keys to success.
Al, with Carter White at the helm, dominated the evening with two bullets. He was consistently flatter and pointing higher than everyone else. When I asked him after the race how his rig was tuned, he replied, “For about 8 knots”. So how did he keep the boat so flat and high? (He is willing to share his secrets if you ask.)
Results:1st Race: Al, Flying Circus, Second Chance2nd Race: Al, Mr Hankey, Second ChanceFor the Evening: Al, Flying Circus, Second Chance
Not long after the fleet got to the anchorage, the fog engulfed everything . . . perfect timing.
Series Wrap-upWe sailed 6 of the seven weeks of the series with only one week featuring a total lack of wind. We sailed 12 races and had 12 or 13 boats on the line every week.
For the 2007 Wednesday Night Series I, the final results were as follows:
| Place | Boat | Skipper | Points |
| 1 | Second Chance | Jeff Smith | 11.43 |
| 2 | Al | Mark Klein | 14.66 |
| 3 | Flying Circus | Howard Coon | 19.00 |
| 4 | Mr. Hanky | Andrew Carey | 24.00 |
| 5 |
|
Tony Jessen | 29.34 |
| 6 | Bad Apple | Bruce Morse | 31.00 |
| 7 | Flying Chicken | Rich Carlson | 33.00 |
| 8 | Bouncing Betty | Chris Kuhn | 53.00 |
| 9 | Pit Party | S. Fernald/R. Ketchum | 55.00 |
| 10 | Kinda Blue | Matt Blakeman | 61.00 |
| 11 | Impetuous | S. Neal/S. Gill | 65.00 |
| 12 | Draco | Gretchen Kinsey | 65.60 |
| 13 | Belafonte | Nick Dambrie | 76.00 |
| 14 | Jazazzi | Jim Dodd | 78.00 |
| 15 | Insecurity | Dan Holt | 78.66 |
Wednesday the 18th starts the second 7-week series.
Howard
July 17th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Ok. Here is the real scoop. I did not tune the rig but I have received word from Mark in Canada that the previous week he had the rig tuned at 22 upper and 22 lowers, although I feel that they may have slacked a bit during the week. The Hallett mainsail likes a straight mast and therefore we try to get the numbers similar. Also we were using 3 year old sails which are cut well for 10+ knots, the newer sails which we used at Downeast last year are cut better for 6 to 14 knots (they are deeper). As for how we kept the boat so flat and moving fast, I used a ton of traveler having vang sheeted the mainsail. Also when a puff is approaching and is a really big puff and the traveler is already down near the leeward side, try easing the jib sheet 4″ this will momentarily keep the boat on its feet. However, you need to keep the bow up or you will start to go sideways, also trim the 4″ back in quickly once the puff has past. Just a few notes from last week. I can answer any questions any time. Feel free to email, call or just ask in person.