Photo courtesy TJ Kowalczyk, Davis Island Yacht Club

Our 2024 season kicked off with new sails and strong winds against stellar competition at Davis Island Yacht Club, Tampa, Florida.

We ordered new #MadSails back in October after the Sail Fest Regatta at Kentucky Lake. Ryan Malgrem, sailmaker, had planned to attend this regatta and on Saturday morning just before Race 1 we received the sails directly from him. All I can say is Wow. These are excellent sails (no disrespect to any other sailmaker out there). And we’re in love with the new spinnaker! 

We were warned almost a year earlier to not expect to win in Florida. They have some of the best sailors in the Class. Indeed, Davis Island is home of the 2007 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and 2023 Flying Scot NAC champion Jeff Linton. While Jeff and his wife Amy did not sail, Jeff did helm another boat. That boat took 3, and the other two had previous NAC championships under their belts as well. So, clearly this would be a challenging regatta. Other competition included other NAC champions from the past as well. Our goal: Finish respectably, learn some quirks of the new sails, and enjoy the ride. Oh, and test out new camera and sound equipment!

Jeff & Amy (Smith) Linton hosted a really great welcoming pizza party Friday evening where we got a chance to meet new competitors and kibitz with others we knew.

Saturday had very strong winds out of the NNW, cloudy and in the high 60’s. Race Committee set up the WL 2x course about 3 miles south of Davis Island to ensure as consistent winds as possible. We were in border-line survival mode, and didn’t pay much attention to the shifts (a mistake, of course), but did watch both sail trim and heel angle. Our starts were not spectacular, and we were very consistent in our finishes near mid-fleet. The photo above is from our finish in Race 2. (That guy trimming the spinnaker is doing a stellar job!)

We tried out our new wireless mics tethered to our forward mounted Insta 360 1×2 camera during Race 1. The salt water essentially destroyed the camera as a result. Fortunately, we had a tiller-mounted Insta 360 camera as well, so we were able to get some videos of the regatta (links at bottom). But the mics were a real bust, and the technology challenges did interfere with our Race 1 start, which we agreed we won’t let happen again.

Saturday late afternoon we pulled the boat from the water and Dorothy gave us a hand — until she fell in! It was a classic fend-the-boat-off-the-dock-splits moment that we’ve all done. But the water and energy expended forced she and I back to the hotel to clean up and warm up, and we missed Mark and Michelle Taylor’s party. But Kendall didn’t, and he learned a few things about our fellow competitors as well. Not that that helped us, but at least we got some feedback.

A front came through Saturday night and Sunday dawned about 45 degrees with winds 10-15 from the NNW and spitting rain. While not survival conditions we were overpowered most of the day. And we went all the wrong directions for Race 4, giving us our worst race of the series. But, we tried to redeem ourselves for Race 5 and had probably the best start we’ve had since we started doing this regatta stuff. This allowed us to round the top mark in 5th, but unfortunately we couldn’t hold it, and finished 11th in the final race. That said, we went the right way, played the shifts, kept the boat reasonably flat and powered up when the wind did drop, and passed 2 boats at the finish of Race 5. Kendall kept a solid eye on the chute the entire regatta, I watched the competition and kept the boat driving as fast as we could manage, and on the final downwind leg, used the rollers to surf as much as possible, giving us a push to the end.

We ended the regatta leaving Gadzooks! behind at Mark Taylor’s home to store until the Midwinters at Lake Eustis in February. 

Here’s a copy of the overall results for this regatta:

Here are videos from this regatta. More get posted as they become available, so check back.

Race 2 Full Video: https://youtu.be/JXDL23VR-Nk

Race 3 Full Video: https://youtu.be/GMuVB5fZPww?si=ImSRPqgnETKHMup7

Race 4 Full Video: https://youtu.be/sRTBr-Po_OA?si=_G0OkNH4VPHx7zcZ

Race 5 Full Video: https://youtu.be/ehobJej4HYc

Short: Windward mark cluster: Who’s responsible? https://youtu.be/5iR7dZ8V2hk?si=kAynWmJfmdLdXhtY Here’s one with a more detailed analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAmoGL_UbYY. Leave a comment.

Or just look at this YouTube Playlist of all the Davis Island videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBtfV1bdnJYLRCQkzkq4g6uDkh6Xoe4L-

Learnings from this regatta:

I talked to Ryan Malmgren (sailmaker) after the regatta.  He pointed out a couple of things:

1. After every tack look at the top batten of the jib.  It cannot be hooked either in or out.  It must fly straight back.
2. We sailed with the rig too loose on Saturday.  We should have been as tight as possible on the rig.  (Although, Eric was there and he loosened his rig for Sunday and pointed higher and sailed faster.). Check the rig tension before every regatta.
3. In heavy winds we need to use the top pole ring on the front of the mast to raise the tack of the spinnaker as high as possible and keep the pole pushing the tack out.  We were not doing that.
4. I’m letting go of the tiller / extension at every tack. Learn how to tack!!! (I used to know how — what happened?)

Other things we noticed from the videos:

1. Check that the chute is all the way up.
2. It’s ok to douse on starboard; that may set up for a jibe set leeward hoist.
3. The board needs serious work.  Why won’t it drop?
4. The main needs to be eased (maybe a lot) as the puff hits or slightly before. Don’t wait for the boat to heel before easing the main. 5 degrees of heel is enough—no more than 7!
5. Starts should be timed starts with dives done slightly to starboard line end of where we want to end up.  We do much better that way; kendall holds kevin accountable for the dive tack and return upwind.
6. Kendall can help call tactics at the top mark; Kendall’s head is inside the boat at the bottom mark.
7. We were ahead of David Rink at the first windward mark in Race 3; he circled around inside the mark to avoid the mass that we were caught up in, and came around the mark Behind us.  I don’t know when he passed us, but he finished 10th in Race 3 to our 15th.  What did he do that we didn’t do?
8. We were AGAIN ahead of Dave Rink (by about 6 boats) in Race 5 at the top mark. But he put on afterburners on the downwind leg, and passed all but about 2 boats, and ended up 2nd in that race. The guy can sail!
9. Keep the main full in the reach to the off-set mark—speed can increase 3x!
10. Keep the main full downwind, esp. when setting the chute. BUT…
11. Don’t overtrim at the bottom mark. This causes the boat to heel and lose speed.
12. Pump, rock and roll to initiate and maintain planing downwind.  Besides, it’s more fun that way.  A little windward heel is fine.
13. Too many knots in too many lines.  😡
14. Soak sheets in buckets of fresh water — 5 minutes per soak, dump, repeat — until the water is no longer salty.