A number of years ago, I offered to trim jib for a J/24 at the San Francisco NOOD Regatta. That experience, which featured three days of short tacking the shore to avoid the strong flood tide, gave me two things: 1. A deep appreciation for the intricacies of trimming the genoa on this one-design. 2. A severe case of tendonitis in my left elbow.
The years since have erased the pain in my elbow and any sense of how hard it is to really tack the genoa on a J/24, especially in any kind of breeze. I can look back from my spot on the twings (now there's a challenge) and tell our genoa trimmer, with a straight face, how much it would really help us if he could get it inside the lifelines on the next tack.
Or at least I could do that. Last night, after three light-air Thursday nights, we got a load of breeze on the one night that none of the top three trimmers on our crew depth chart could make it and I was forced to fill in.
If there is one benefit to being the jib trimmer, it’s that you can swear with impunity. I did plenty of that, especially on the final tack of the night when I thought I’d finally gotten my technique down pat and the jib sheet somehow got caught around the latch on the companionway slider. How did that happen? I’m still mystified.
Tacking the genoa on a J/24 might be among the toughest headsail handling jobs in the sport. Think about it: modern boats like a Melges 24 have only a 100-percent jib. That couldn't be easier. If the boat is any bigger, and has a genoa, you usually will have help in the maneuver, and you’re not likely to cross sheet. Nope in the J/24 the jib trimmer is all alone, just you, two winches, 20 feet of squirming sheet, and four sets of eyes watching you knowing they could do it better.
But aside from my struggles with the jib sheets, what a fabulous night of sailing. The choice between the blade and the genoa was quite interesting and if anything I came away with the sense that the windspeed range where either sail is pretty effective might be larger than many of us had thought. After all, the first race, which was the windier of the two, was won by Salsa (USA 1964) carrying a genoa. The second race, when the windspeed dropped a bit into the mid-teens, was taken by Barfly (USA 3360) with a blade. (Quick note: Don't forget that sailing with the blade means EVERYONE on the crew MUST WEAR LIFEJACKETS! The RC will DSQ you if you don't follow this part of the SIs. More than a few boats learned this the hard way last night.)
Rob Lambert, from Barfly, was quick to get back to me with his thoughts on the evening. Those are below. Hopefully someone from the Salsa Syndicate will do the same today or over the weekend.
How many days until next Thursday? Oh yeah, same as on every Friday, six!
Winner's Wisdom from Rob Lambert of Barfly
Many of the teams that sailed with the blade in the first race switched over to the genoa for Race 2. You didn’t and, despite a slight drop in windspeed, won the race. What was your thinking in staying with the small jib?
Rob Lambert: Though we did not have a great race on the first one, we thought that we had plenty of power with the blade and our speed and height, when we were in clean air, was good. For me personally I have learned the hard way that I have trouble going as fast as the some of the pro boats like Salsa at the top end of the No. 1. We have had better performance with the blade in 14 knots then the genoa. This is somewhat against the norm, but it is extremely hard, for me, to drive the 24 with the genoa in 15 knots. We noticed the drop in wind speed between races and seriously considered changing up. The deciding factors were that we were confident in our speed with the blade from the first race, thought the wind might come back up, and the water was relatively flat so we thought we did not need the power in the genoa. I think we also got a little lucky because it seemed to get a little more breezy right around the start of the second race.
Did you change the set up of the boat at all between the races to accommodate for slightly less breeze?
RL: No change in the rig, we had it set for the North Sails 14 to 17 wind range. No change in the car position for the jib. The major difference was the backstay, max on the first race, about half way on for the second race.
Can you give us a quick rundown of your strategy for the first beat. Most teams worked the right side of the course, presumably for better current and maybe an evening right-hand shift. You played the left side.
RL: Our fundamental idea was to ride the current as much as possible. We wanted to stay away from the south side of Rose Island where we thought there would be less favorable current. Holding starboard tack off the line, staying in the current, was key. This took us between the two large anchored yachts where we got some more favorable tide push from the water dumping out of Newport harbor. The port tack put us from there in the middle of the bay where we anticipated the most current.
What about on the run? What was your thinking there?
RL: Get out of the tide, get inside position. Coming into the windward mark we decided that we wanted to stay close to the Fort Adams shore to get out of the current. We were able to stay there for a while, but a couple boats from behind began to gain as they were covering us. As it seemed they might get inside position on us we jibed out to maintain inside position and tried to keep as close to the shore as the other boats would allow. In the end it turned out that we were neck and neck with On the Beach for about half the run, but the inside position established in the beginning of the run paid off as we were able round inside at the leeward mark.
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