Monday, 16 April 2007
Spring Series Race 5
Sunday provided another very light wind day for the Spring Series race five. The light wind forecast was not entirely what our teams wanted to hear! The Reflex 38’s are not renowned for their light wind performance and points are very close at the top of the score board which had Puma 2nd in the series and Jaguar 5th.
We have been working very hard over the past ten days top improve the light wind performance of the Reflex. This has included some rig tuning and trying different sail combinations. The light winds of the past week have provided the perfect opportunity to improve the performance, especially having had both our boats out on the water for our five day race development course.
Both Jaguar and Puma started close together toward the port end of the line. Both were fairly evenly matched up the first beat and Puma rounded the windward mark just behind Jaguar and mid fleet. Puma put in an early gybe to keep out of the adverse tide whilst Jaguar opted for the other side of the course where there was slightly more pressure. This was a tactician’s nightmare; deciding which option to go for. In the event Puma’s tactics paid off and they went around the leeward mark in 3rd place.
The rest of the race was a case of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer! After the leeward mark there were very few opportunities for place changes, except that Longbow squeezed ahead of Puma at the last leeward mark pushing them into a very credible fourth place. In the dying breeze Jaguar finished just before the time cut off in 9th place.
In the series Puma have reinforced their strong 2nd position; just 5 points behind 1st place and Jaguar are in an excellent 5th equal place. With just one race left in the series now it is still all to play for and there is a strong possibility that with a good performance from both teams our boats could both finish in the top five!
Sunday provided another very light wind day for the Spring Series race five. The light wind forecast was not entirely what our teams wanted to hear! The Reflex 38’s are not renowned for their light wind performance and points are very close at the top of the score board which had Puma 2nd in the series and Jaguar 5th.
We have been working very hard over the past ten days top improve the light wind performance of the Reflex. This has included some rig tuning and trying different sail combinations. The light winds of the past week have provided the perfect opportunity to improve the performance, especially having had both our boats out on the water for our five day race development course.
Both Jaguar and Puma started close together toward the port end of the line. Both were fairly evenly matched up the first beat and Puma rounded the windward mark just behind Jaguar and mid fleet. Puma put in an early gybe to keep out of the adverse tide whilst Jaguar opted for the other side of the course where there was slightly more pressure. This was a tactician’s nightmare; deciding which option to go for. In the event Puma’s tactics paid off and they went around the leeward mark in 3rd place.
The rest of the race was a case of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer! After the leeward mark there were very few opportunities for place changes, except that Longbow squeezed ahead of Puma at the last leeward mark pushing them into a very credible fourth place. In the dying breeze Jaguar finished just before the time cut off in 9th place.
In the series Puma have reinforced their strong 2nd position; just 5 points behind 1st place and Jaguar are in an excellent 5th equal place. With just one race left in the series now it is still all to play for and there is a strong possibility that with a good performance from both teams our boats could both finish in the top five!
posted by Sailing Logic at 11:35 AM
