CLUB UNDER 40 REGATTA AT MANSFIELD – 25 JULY 09

Finally Summer is here. It was just a perfect day. The wind was also perfect; about 10mph from the SW with some shifts and streaks. Lots of fun. I decided to sail my USOM instead of the IOM. I hadn’t sailed it in quite some time. It was slightly over powered, but still drivable, that is until I started to trim the sail set. Before lunch it was pretty open set, with a big slot and loose lufts. It sailed pretty well, and did not fall into irons easily. After lunch I closed up the slot and generally tightened up the sails. Typical case of brain fade, that is identifiable after the fact. The other skippers also did some wrong trimming, but not as bad as I did. They were able to stay together well and have close racing. I can remember when Dick L. first started sailing his boat some years ago. It was bad. Dick had to do much to bring it up to his standards, and now it is very fast and Dick has learned how to drive it well.

NEXT REGATTA  -  MANSFIELD HOLLOW SITE – 1 AUGUST  OVER 40 INCH CLASSES

Now that summer is here, I can expect to have a good day of racing on 1 August at Mansfield. Plan to attend and add more bodies to the mix with your STAR or US12 or EC12 or Cantebury J. The Cantebury J that Ron is putting together is 48” long and is modeled after the Ranger J. The Ranger was probably the best looking J boat made. The model is well cast and inexpensive. I can’t wait to see it sail. …R