.....the fleet's settled down after 3-4events,,,remembering to figure-starting sequences,,what the course is,,etc,,,,so starts are getting tighter,,OCS's at times,,,and the occaisonal 'friendly banter' between boats can be heard
.....vancouver lake was a good setting to see how the i550's go against each other,,,with 2-4 kts on saturday for 2 races,,,and ~12-16kts for 5 races on sunday.
I was sailing CarbonOffset,,,equipped as I got it other than the cockpit rebuild-- with slightly short,ex scow mast,,,,old ,cut down melges 20 sails,,highish boom,,,fairly chunky ,underlength foils with unfaired bulb, amongst a fleet of 4 Portland boats,,with full-on,,maxed out carbon spars ,,custom sails,,,and beautifully engineered foils......I was thrilled to get a 2nd with Carbon,,,,and consider this a victory for the owner's of cobbled-together i550's everywhere!!!!
,,, especially since I just launched for the season at the event,,winter-scum not scrubbed yet,,,a different crew each day,,,and had more than my share of 720's and OCS returns UPWIND-- since side by side boatspeeds were very close allround,,,much like racing those stubby short ElToro's,,,gains and losses were made through windshifts rather than anything relating to boatspeed.....it's generally agreed that these boats are best sailed with 2 persons in any wind below the ~20's,,all but 1 boat sailed 2-up.,,,,the gain is much bigger downwind for -not- having a 3rd person,,than anything they can do upwind,,,,,,but it's getting clear that there's VERY LITTLE that can be done to affect actual boatspeed between these boats upwind in anything below 20kts!!
...currently Downwind is rather different,,,for myself and others.....I've had a LOT of challenges with snags on the Gybing ,external spinnaker pole,,,had a LOT of down-time,,,,for the mostpart had no gains here,,,,and others certainly had their difficulties too....so the next big gains as a fleet will come with honing our downwind handling & techniques! ..............personally,,I've got some things to try with my pole system before I scrap it--the benefits of being able to rotate the pole seems good (when it works!!),,,,,,and crew-wise,,,I have them helm downwind,,and deal with the chute myself,,,therefore avoiding the need to relay requests,suggestions,,directions,,,plea's,,,or maybe even shouts in the heat of a race,,and only have myself to blame for the system's many snarls!!
....I've long believed that putting carbon spars and expensive new sails on i550's is not so much as 'lipstick-on-a-pig',,as it just seems to be contrary to the i550's spirit of homebuilt resourcefulness,,,and am glad t'see that it just doesn't seem to matter on the racecourse!!!....so have-at-it you jolly resourceful i550 builders,,,don't feel intimidated by all the carbon $par$ going around!,,,,it's time for some healthy INVERSE PRIDE in how -little- we spent to get to the line!!....cheers!!,,,CARBON---OUT!!
