The Race Committee looked out at the steady rain, 15 knots of wind from the North East, 3 foot waves out in the Bay and said, “Let’s do a long distance race.” The course was start, round R “4” to starboard, round 1 AH to port, round R “2” to port and back to the finish. It was borderline reefing wind, so everyone had to leave the dock with a reef in but it was up to them whether they kept it in.
It was wet, so wet we couldn’t use the camera and Laurie had to take pictures with her phone. So wet it that the rain ran down your jacket and soaked you from your neck to your socks if you didn’t have a hood up.
It was a blast. Everyone had a great time. The boats that shook out their reef ended up doing better than the ones that didn’t. The key for them was vang sheeting their mainsails.
Vang sheeting is putting the vang on hard and then playing the mainsheet. The vang keeps the mainsail flat so that when you ease the sheet the sail doesn’t power up by increasing draft and twist. It allows you to ease the sail in increments to keep the main working without heeling the boat over too far and having to use a lot of rudder to maintain control.
Full gallery: https://photos.app.goo.gl/7r7pDLtfyTv8XHF37
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