Trimming and Weatherhelm

Something always surprises me about this yacht is that it is always perfectly balanced, we've been out in many different types of wind and seemingly never have to worry about weather helm. She's nearly always perfectly balanced, I do however occasionally have a little weather helm (1-2 inches on tiller), but its a little easier to read the yacht when you have this type of feedback. But my gut feeling is that we need to reduce the weather helm to nothing in order for this yacht to go FAST, needs more active trimming!

There is supposed to be a french trimming guide for this yacht, over the next few months I am going to try and get the guide and get it translated.

HINT: From Rob Kemp (of Kemp Sails) and says that in stronger winds its best to make sure that the kicker is released when going around a bouy unless the yacht will just keep going. Also drop the Genoa car back a little if we're finding the foresail getting a little overpowered for the wind strengths. One consideration is to re-rate "chill out" for conventional spinnaker, the spinnaker is a little bigger than the cruise chute and I'll get a much more direct course for downwind lega. Rob originally sailed this yacht and these are his recommendations for sail usage:
No.1 - 140% - upto 14 knots
No.2 - 122% - 15 to 21 knots
No.3 - 95% - 22 to 30 knots

HINT: Try turning the yacht by paying off the mainsail first before turning the tiller, it should naturally turn and will make sure I don't slow the yacht down during the turn with excessive use of the tiller.

2nd Race Early Bird Series - Low Water Race

Time: 10:00 – 17:00
Crew: Mike Clark (Helm), Amanda (Tactics & Trim), Rich (Tacking & Asym Trim), Cris (Tacking & Foredeck), Veerle (Foredeck), Sue (Mainsheet)
Wind Direction: Northerly
Wind Strength: 10-13 knots
Location: Long Low Water Race, Ranie, Breaksea and back
Sail Config: No.1, Full Mainsail, Cruise Chute

Fantastic sail today though not a very good result. The weather was perfect but unfortunately our start wasn't good (2 minutes), followed by my lack of experience at sailing directly downwind (4 minutes) meant that we only pulled an 8th today. A couple of observations though, firstly the upwind leg started with about 13 knots of wind and we we're making fantastic pace on all yachts and gaining up on the leaders, but when the wind died of to about 8 knots the boats gain on the other yachts died, so she seemed to be trimmed well enough for that wind strength but lower wind I'm not sure yet. I suspect that we should of tried a few things such as more twist in main, more mainsail outhaul, we weren't playing enough so still haven't found the right trim position for lower wind speeds.

We've now got a cruise chute drop technique which I'm comfortable with in ALL wind strengths, which is the following....

• Grab hold of the cruise chute leeward sheet
• Keep the halyard up
• Helm eases downwind
• Let go of the guy fast and gather the foot
• Once the foot is completely gathered behind the mainsail
• Drop the halyard and the chute falls into the boat
• Leave cruise chute in cockpit hatch for next lift

For those who haven't experienced it, low water at Cardiff barrage tends to get very low and a little crowded. After hanging around on anchor for a while outside the barrage we motored in to the bay, followed & proceeded by a procession of small craft. I've noticed that some people instead of anchoring just keep nudging forward into the mud at the entrance of the barrage, supposed it keeps them occuppied. Todays tide dropped to as little as 0.8 meters.

Decided now about crew and how to run this type of yacht, my idea is to get 2-3 very experienced racing crew, specific experience around foresail, tactics and spinnaker handling, then to fill in with 4-5 regular crew. The problem is as with any racing yacht is where to find the 2-3 experienced crew, over the next few weeks I'll have a search around and see who's available. Most are committed to other yachts, but some like BIG Rich (he is!) are available till he gets a yacht of his own. Anyway I reckon the situation will continue like this, firstly my regular crew will continue to train and learn about the yacht, then over the next few months I'll talk to people and try and get some more experience into the boat. Specifically experience related to cruise chute or spinnaker handling in strong winds, this type of experience is invaluable.

Tacking started to work well today, but we're still getting snags and the tacking still isn't crisp enough, so I'd like to instigate a few changes...

• No putting sheet into self tailing device, it wastes about 1-2 seconds
• Two people in the tack area only
• Cross over sheets so that your tailing from the opposite side of the boat to the sail
• If your letting go then carefull you do not let any sail out before we tack
• I'll call "ready to tack" which will mean 3-5 seconds to tack
• I'll call "tack" when I move the tiller
• Everyone should be ready to tack at anytime
• Cockpit crew should get back on the rail as fast as possible

End of day was completed by this perfect sunset...

We're Sinking! and Stuff

If you hadn't noticed but "Chill Out" has been progressively filling up more and more with water over the last few weeks and the condensation inside the yacht has been so bad I've had to take out the seats to dry them. Anyway I've completely cured it, it seems I didn't fill the mast to deck rubber seal and loads of rain water have been getting in. The sails are out and drying and I'm going to put in a de-humidifier this weekend to get the last of the damp.

The yacht is rated at 1.059 and I've calculated the following times we need to give all the other yachts per hour that are currently sailing in the early bird series...

Jackhammer - J109 - 2mins 35secs
Zulu - J80 - 5mins 17secs
Red Sky - J80 - 5mins 31secs
Spirit of Tilman - Sigma 33 - 8mins 46secs
Pindari - Robber 1/4 tonner - 14mins 31secs

Bought some Harken gear this week, new mainsheet tackle, asymmetric block and halyard block, they have 3 times more load resistance than the lewmar ones currently fitted. This is in response to our mainsheet failure last weekend and also because I don't want to fall into the trap of my equipment failing cause we're pushing the yacht too hard. Anway this should fix our gear problems for at least a season.

Also I've fitted an elastic bungee cord to the foredeck which can be used to wrap around the foresail when its sitting on the deck. It will hopefully give us some control when reaching with the asymmetric.

In addition I've taken the conventional spinnaker and the 120sq metre asym off as I can't use them for IRC racing as they are not on my IRC certificate.

We've tackled the sail rip we had last Sunday slightly differently than I first decided, what I wasn't aware was that Rob Kemp used to sail on this yacht before I bought it so has a vested interest and knowledge in the yacht. Rob phone me this week and he has agreed to take the sail (No.3) back and have a look to see why it failed so spectacularily. As it happens this weekend looks like it will be light winds so will be a No.1 or No.2, which is lucky.

First Race

Time: 10:00 – 14:00
Crew: Mike Clark (Helm), Ian (Mainsheet), Marc (Tacking), Cris (Tacking), Andy (Foredeck & Cockpit), Adrian (Foredeck), Amanda (Foredeck)
Wind Direction: South
Wind Strength: 18-27 knots
Location: Cardiff Bay
Sail Config: No.3, 2 Reefs Mainsail, Cruise Chute

NOTE: Load of thanks to Jonathan Croft Davies for photos, thanks Jon...

First off we got a clear 2nd place which for first time race was very commendable in my opinion, however we we're robbed ;-) Out of the 6 laps we did, we made nearly all of our gains in the first 3 laps after which we ripped our No.3 so continued for the later 3 laps of the race under mainsail only, and still got a second!!! So in all even though back to the sail makers I was very pleased with the result.

We need to change some of our gear, some of the it may of been replaced due to previous breakages or is simply not upto the job. But we had a mainsheet pulley failure today 60 mins before the race which we managed to improvise a work around, but I'm sure Ian only just managed to cope cause the change we made meant it was probably only a 6:1 system, instead of a normally 8:1. Myself and Marc will have a look at the gear this week and I'll just go ahead and order some parts, I can keep the replaced bits as spare parts then just in case.

The sail rip is more of a problem, cause I'm getting more and more worried about the quality of these Kemp sails, the stitching on them is crap so I think that I'm going to get the sail repairers to give them a good look over and see whether we can't consider restiching bits or putting in strengthening panels as a pre-emptive fix. But so far we've only been out 4 times and we've been back to the sailer repairers twice!!! If I can get a year out of them and I have a good season then we'll look at some North ones for next year, but I really, really want to get at least one out of them. At the moment I wouldn't bet on them even lasting a regatta!

I thought her pointing ability was fantastic today, but against something like Jackhammer (J109) who I was aware today might of been over canvassed I'm still not madly confident, yet! Next race on Sunday looks like a lot less wind so will favour the J80's more I suspect so will be very telling.

A few times today I noticed that a yacht in front of me was slightly to windward (both of us sailing closehauled) and will a few decent pulls on the tiller with full power up "Chill Out" made huge movements to windward though with reduced speed and all of a sudden we we're able to pass on their windward side. Definitely works will lots of wind, will need to see how it does with less.

We didn't overly trim today, no outhaul off for downwind legs and kicker, we need to make sure we do this, but for first race we had other things on our mind.

Good Sail but Some Mixed Feelings

Time: 10:00 – 14:00
Crew: Mike Clark (Helm & tacking), Sue Hoddell (Mainsheet), Cris Williams (Foredeck, Tacking & Gennaker trim), Andy (Foredeck & tacking), Adrian (Foredeck)
Wind Direction: South-West
Wind Strength: 11-20 knots
Location: Penarth Beach and Cardiff Bay

Well mixed feelings this week, but its all a learning curve, though I do feel its so steep we may need to change the way we do things. Great start in that we put up a No.1 Genoa and full main went out into the channel and realised that round Lavernock Point that it was gusting to about 20+ knots, so yacht was well over powered. Luckily it just meant tacking and going back towards the shelter of the shoreline. Had a go at reefing the main under sail and have noticed that their is a single silver guide at the base of the mast just above the boom which when reefing the sail it needs to be guided back into. This is because if we don't then the luff of the sail starts to be forced out of the track and starts to fray.

During the sail the 2nd (from top) batten pocket came loose and we lost a batton, this is now with a local sail repairers for attention, also they are going to replace the other battons on the main that are missing. We decided at this point to come back into Cardiff Bay and do some continuous tacking training.

In the bay the start of the session was good we did some tacking and techniques are starting to work and come together. Sue is handling the mainsheet well but I would like to start considering other techniques such as traveller, backstay and 16:1 mainsheet fine adjustment, I get the feel we're driving the mainsail like a cruiser/racer when we should be trying other methods and driving her more like a big dinghy.

We tried two cruise chute runs (in the bay), the first went well, but the 2nd was disasterous (hence the mixed feelings bit), managed to drop the chute into the water and ripped it across 3 panels, again another sailmaker job. I'm thinking of getting Josh from Severn Sails to live on-board! The reason for the mistake in my opinion is letting go of halyard & guy at the same time, without having control of the sheet. Here's a technique we can try...

1. Leave halyard up, which keeps the sail high
2. Ease the yacht downwind, the sail will empty
3. Gather the sheet
4. Ease the guy out while gathering the sail horizontally
5. Let the halyard out fast while the gatherer pulls like crazy

Next time we need to get Marc onboard and between us all we can perfect a technique which will work fast and efficiently. So for now it needs to be put down to lessons learnt!

First High Speed Dash (with Cruise Chute)

Time: 11:30 – 16:00
Crew: Mike Clark (Helm & tacking), Iwan Basten (Mainsheet), Marc (Foredeck & Gennaker trim), Andy (Foredeck & tacking), Gareth Roberts (Gennaker winch), Cris Williams (Foredeck & tacking)
Wind Direction: South-West
Wind Strength: 25 knots (gusting to 30 knots)
Location: Penarth Beach

Wow! Almost speachless about todays sail, probably the single most exciting sail I've ever had. The wind was gusting to 30 knots, we made two downwind legs from South end of Penarth beach across the beach towards Bristol. The first run was the most exciting and we reached about 16-17 knots planing at high speed. The boat was going faster than the wave pattern so we we're launching off the tops of waves into the wave in front of us, this caused a little concern when we actually encountered (my first) a complete white out. The yacht actually submarined herself into the wave in front and we took the entire wave over the bow of the yacht. I can highly recommend making sure the hatchway is closed as it can take a substantial amout of water in through the hatch if not. When the needs arise its not surprising that you soon remember to do this.

The helm at these speeds is quite twitchy so small movements are very responsive. Also as the yacht takes a strong gust (30 knots) it attempts to pull up into the wind and as its now going at 16+ knots boat speed then it takes a huge effort to pull the helm over to get her back on track, though its notable that it doesn't show the same symptoms as weather helm when going to windward and when you do pull it, it will respond. On some occasion it might be actually best for helm and someone else to pull the tiller at the same time, we tried this today and it worked well.

At one time we almost lost the gennaker as I helmed the yacht way too deep and it lost its wind and actually got wrapped around the forestay, potentially disasterous for boat and rig. But sensibly in that position we took the gennaker down and began the beat back up to Penarth.

The Genoa No.3 is excellent in todays wind but I feel its a little large to be used as a storm jib, so I'm going to take Syllabubs storm jib and use it on this yacht. I'll try it out next time.

There was some discussion about using a furling headsail, but my No.2 and No.3 are both battened headsails and won't furl so I don't expect this to be viable. I will however ease the pain of tieing up the headsail quickly by getting some bungie cord to tie it up to a rail when powering downwind.

Out last leg produced our scariest moment when we decided to take the spinnaker down and with so much weight up front (crew) she buried her head a little and decide to swing wildly to windward and almost produced what can only be described as a spectacular windward broach. It's alright dramatising it now as it didn't happen but it drives home the reason for good helming and sensible crew weight at all times, especially during those change over times such as gybing and gennaker take down and put up.

Taking everything into consideration, a very exciting day out!

HINT: Talked to Richard of Wessex Yacht Sales (they sold me the yacht) and says that if the yacht starts to submarine then jerk the tiller three time hard to windard and she will lift up on her own bow wave and not submarine.

First Sail (No Cruise Chute)

Time: 11:00 – 13:30
Crew: Mike Clark (Helm), Jonathan Croft Davis (Mid Cockpit), Cris Williams (Mid Cockpit), Andy Johnson (Fore Cockpit), Sue Hoddell (Mainsheet)
Wind Direction: Southerly
Wind Strength: 23 knots
Location: Cardiff Bay

The wind was blowing from the South so we were partly protected by Penarth headland. The Penarth side of the bay was blowing 15 knots and the Cardiff side of the bay was blowing 25 knots, which made it varied and interesting. The yacht was fantastic in all points of sail, but without anyone to race against its difficult to get an idea of speed. We concentrated today on technique and getting used to the gear, during the first few legs we kept getting knocked down on the Cardiff end of the bay but as we became more accustomed we gained more control.

We decided to go with a No.3 Genoa and 1 reef in the mainsail, which worked well, but I felt we probably could have gone with No.2 Genoa, or stayed at No.3 and no reef in the mainsail, my suspicion from this first sail is that the yacht is well balanced and capable of being pushed very close to its limit and the more we get used to the yacht then the more we learn how to spill the wind successfully and keep it well balanced.

On our last leg she showed her true colours, we put everyone on the side (legs out) and Sue by now had grown accustomed to the main trim more and powered up close-hauled into about 22-25 knots. The yacht has this amazing ability to sail in this position with no weather and no lee helm, I could actually let go of the tiller and she sailed herself perfectly into the wind, an absolute joy to helm. The yacht also responds very well to weight on the side, the crew need to understand that its important to keep weight out as much as possible, you can actually gain 5' pointing ability just using crew weight.

Sue thinks (certainly on the last leg) that if the yachts trimmed correctly we could spill enough wind (upto 25 knots) using just the 16-1 mainsail fine trim, I think she might be correct. But I'd like to also try using backstay adjustment instead of mainsheet adjustment. We need to do plenty of training to find out which we prefer.

For the moment I'd like to keep Sue in mainsheet position, Cris in foredeck along with Danny (wasn't with us today), then rotate the remaining crew in the mid foredeck position. We'll run with the current IRC rating of 1.051 which means we can only use the asym cruise chute, but at the end of the first series I'll have a better understanding on which rating (sail spec) I'd prefer.

First race for us is 3rd February by which time we will need to have tried the cruise chute.

The Yacht "Chill Out"

After a few years of racing in Cardiff Bay Yacht Club I fancy a change. The current fleet has been rated in such a way that with my current yacht "Syllabub" we would of been at the back of the fleet.

The Archambault Grand Surprise "Chill Out" has a rating of between 1.04 and 1.06 depending on sail configuration and as such is likely now going to be at the front of the fleet instead, hopefully. This yacht has sailed down in Plymouth and in 22 knots of wind they managed to get 16 knots boat speed out of her, but with all that power up front (cruise chute) they had to position everyone at the back, literally standing on the stern behind the helm. In France in about 35 knots of wind they've managed to get about 26 knots out of another sister ship.

The yacht is nicely designed, very good racing gear and can sleep 4. It has an inboard nanni engine, so no changing engines at the end of a race.