Yacht racing, fighting for speed

Heavy rain gave way to frustrating calm as J-FORCE prepared to face the competition. The skipper gave us orders to watch the other J Boats, to see who was faster than us and what they were doing. But this day panned out to be a different kind of racing.

Fleet rounding the yellow marker buoy, fighting for speed in low winds.

Hoisting the main as J-FORCE puts to sea. With no engine aboard, even manoeuvring through the harbour is a challenge.  

We expected to be drenched with rain, but instead the day was picture perfect. It was beautifully calm, which is a problem for a yacht. We pushed ourselves away from the dock by hand as hard as we could, hoping to catch enough wind to make it out of Sandringham harbour at a crawling pace. I joked that the boat would need running lights because we wouldn't make it back before dark.

Skipper Warren (rear at the tiller) discussing tactics with trimmer Chris

Alex Foreman, manning the bow of J-FORCE in a very slow race

I found that taking photos while working as crew in a race is very difficult. But this race happened in slow motion, giving me plenty of time to shoot pictures and enjoy the scenery.

The fleet, milling around trying to find some wind before crossing the start line

"I want to pick up some speed before we hit that start line!" said Warren, but the wind didn't come to the party. As our time came, we were still bobbing around with sails flapping, well away from out starting point. Frustration showed on the Skippers face, but he kept his cool and watched for the small gusts that a few other boats had found. Finally our sails took shape and we glided over the start line, then tacked towards the first marker.

J-FORCE crewman Paul, putting his new skills to the test

After crossing the start line we picked up a light shifting sea breeze. Then it became a very tactical game of making constant minor adjustments to the boats trim, to get the best out of the light wind. As the wind also constantly changed, it make for a real guessing game.

Gun Boat managed to get some speed up, and we copied her tactics then overtook on the first leg

Melbourne city skyline provides reference points as we slowly drift downwind

Sidetracked flying ahead with a spinnaker full of wind

Sidetracked put out with only two crew and they chose to fly their spinnaker. This meant they had to start with a 3 minute penalty. Their tactic payed off as they flew past us just half way through the race. Normally weight doesn't matter and it pays to have extra crew, but in very low wind the extra weight reduces speed. In addition, the spinnaker gave extra downwind sail area and obviously delivered more than 3 minutes of race speed.

The fleet bobs in another calm moment

Paul closely watching the competition, hugging the deck as we prepare to jibe

On the downwind run we jibed the boat several times. In a jibing manoeuvre, the wind still comes from behind but swings from one side of the stern to the other. The skipper called "Jibing, heads down!" and we had to hit the deck as the boom swung across.

Jibing diagram

On the downwind leg the Skipper payed a lot of attention to the fore sail which he calls the "Jimmy". To get extra wind, he fixed a pole to the sail and pushed it out. We had difficulty with polling the sail in earlier races and this time we had five minutes of struggling with it. We lost our competitive position as the sail flapped around.

Would this help us go faster??

I pointed out that we should have a pole dancer on the crew, maybe she would know what to do with it. Finally we got it right and tried to make up lost ground. Unfortunately we didn't succeed.

Chris manning the tiller after crossing the finish line, not as far forward in the pack as we would have liked

Our post race drinking spot at Sandringham yacht club

Warren took us up to the Sandringham Yacht Club after the race for food, drink and merriment. I must admit it is a very nice place to end the day!

Sandringham Yacht Club function room