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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Hi J22 World
Championship Attendees,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>As most of you know,
I sailed in the Disabled World Championship at Rochester Yacht Club last August,
and had quite an experience. The sailing there was completely different in
many ways from what we are used to on Lake Minnetonka and/or sailing the coastal
waters like Newport, Miami, or St. Pete. I thought I would share with
you some of the things that I learned with the help of our US Disabled Sailing
Team coach, Betsy Alison, and our private coach, Gordy Bowers. Some of
this may or may not apply to a J22, and may or may not work for you, so take
what makes sense to you and ignore the rest.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<OL>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008><STRONG>Rochester/LEFT-chester.</STRONG> For
whatever it's worth, the nickname for the Rochester Yacht Club is Leftchester
because, under almost all conditions, when in doubt, go left. This seems
to apply whether the wind is offshore or onshore, or parallel to the shore in
either direction. The German national champion almost won the Disabled
Worlds at Rochester by starting every race at the pin and going left. He
is an outstanding sailor, but not particularly fast.</SPAN></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008><STRONG>Current.</STRONG> There is current in
Rochester that develops from the river coming out, and the water piling up
from having blown from across the lake, and can be from either direction along
the shore. We sailed only 1 to 1-1/2 miles off shore, and I suspect you
may sail 5 or 6 miles offshore, which will lessen the effect of current.
It would be good to check the current, and the way we do it is to take a few
apples with us, toss one by a fixed mark, like a starting line buoy, and see
how far it travels, and in which direction, in 60 seconds. We
know that 5 or 10 feet is very small current, and that 3 boatlengths is a
whopper. We usually were able to pick up our apple to avoid any
controversy over tossing "garbage" overboard.</SPAN></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008><STRONG>Big waves,
Light air.</STRONG> Like ocean sailing, you can have long rollers
leftover from a dying sea, and light 4-5 knot breeze, which is something we
NEVER have on Minnetonka. Sailing in that condition is not terribly
difficult, except for the extreme need to keep up boat speed -- bow
down.</SPAN></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008><STRONG>Light air,
square waves.</STRONG> We had 2 days of this at our regatta, with an
onshore breeze, and a sudden shallowing-up near shore which caused the waves
to form a terrible square pattern. Instead of being smooth rollers, you
would go up 2-4 feet to the crest, then suddenly drop off the crest with the
bow slamming into the trough, and stopping you like anti-lock brakes. We
also had the problem with the Sonar that its hull is shaped like a Laser with
a relatively flat section up front that wanted to slap on the next wave and
really stop the boat badly. We had a rule on Captain Hook that we never
want to slap the bow, and that we avoid that by heeling it up a LOT, causing a
more knife-edge, deep-V shape going into the next wave, and less effect of
slapping, and more effect of cutting through. However, with the square
waves, we could not figure out how to prevent the slapping, even if we went
bow down an extra 10 degrees which, of course, is losing way too much gauge to
windward. We also had difficulty, as the boat pitched rather
significantly, in trying to figure out how to trim the sails. So, a call
to Gordy at day's end was quite helpful. </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>You can't do anything about the slapping
in those flat wave circumstances, and what you have to do is trim the sails so
you have maximum power going in, up and over the next wave. As the boat
is pitching rather violently, the sails seem to luff really badly as the boat
is pitching DOWN, and your tendency is to want to trim out the luffing.
The opposite is what needs to be done, because the luffing occurs due to the
apparent wind going forward as the boat drops off the wave, the mast going
forward in the top half rather quickly, causing the apparent wind to go
forward, making the sail luff. There's nothing you can do about that,
and what you want to do is EASE the sails as you go down the violent pitch
forward (which is counterintuitive) so that as the boat slows down going into
the next wave, and the mast stops its violent moving forward, the apparent
wind comes aft, and you want the sail OUT to give you laminar flow to go into
and over that next wave with maximum power. You can't trim the luff out
of the sail going down and then ease the sail to get it right going into the
next wave, because the pitching motion and the movement of the mast is so
rapid that the trimming can't keep up. So it is necessary in that
condition to at least get the trim right for powering into the next wave, up,
and over.</SPAN></FONT></LI></OL>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>The Rochester Yacht
Club is a wonderful place to go, has a very strong racing tradition, and has
great food, a great bar, and a whole lot of fun people. The immediate past
Commodore is a double-leg amputee Paralympic sailor, Keith Burhans, who went to
Sydney, Australia in the 2000 Paralympics, where I think his team bronze
medaled. If you see him, don't hesitate to say hello from Bert and
Carmella. The current Commodore is Skip Shumway, who is the owner of the
Sonar mold, the manufacturer of the Sonar and the Ideal 18, and the owner of
Shumway Marine which is adjacent to the Rochester Yacht Club, and where you will
probably be parking your trailers. If you see Skip, say hello to him for
me, as I bought Captain Hook from him and have been working with him over the
last couple of years. Also, encourage him to bring his Sonar to the Star
of the North Regatta at the wonderful Wayzata Yacht Club on the last weekend in
September.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>And last, but not
least, try to hook up with Anthony Kotoun, who was J24 champion a few years ago,
Team Captain Hook's private coach at the Paralympic Trials in Newport last
October, a really good guy, and, one of the most highly regarded coaches in the
world. (And Carmella says he's cute as a bug in a
rug.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Have fun and sail
fast.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008>Regards,</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Bert Foster,
Skipper</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Paralympic Team
Captain Hook</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Home:
952-473-2240</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Office:
952-544-1100</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>Cell:
612-281-9999</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN
class=846524921-15082008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=846524921-15082008>PS: There was
a wonderful volunteer at the Disabled Worlds, a RYC member, who was extremely
helpful to Team Captain Hook in getting us whatever we needed. Ernie
nicknamed him "Bob Who Knows All". If he's there, ask him if he remembers
Bert and Ernie, get on his good side. With 105 boats at your regatta, any
name-dropping you can do, knowing someone who can pull a string or 2 for you if
you need it, can't hurt.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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