[Sonar] Humbled

[Martin Fossen]

Hello Fleet 5,
   
  Well gang, the Surly Angel team failed to raise the stature of Fleet 5.  Sorry about that.  Fortunately The Captain Hook team did better.  The wind was predominately on the lighter side.  The choppy seas were what we failed to deal with effectively especially mixed with the light wind.  You'd think it would just a matter of powering up a bit.  Perhaps it is if the boat is set-up right.  
   
  The first day of racing we had to wait a couple hours for wind to come.  As we were waiting, we had to bob in 2-3 foot swell mixed with light chop.  Numerous people got sea sick.  Fortunately none on our boat.  Three of us were a bit uncomfortable.  Only Tom could stand to be in the cabin.  The sea breeze filled in to about 10mph.  After a weak start we got to clear air and got the boat moving but the challenge was how best to power through the swell.  On one tack we were almost directly into the swell.  On the other tack, a bit "off swell" as Bill Allen explained it.  Off-swell there was an up and down motion but less pitching than the other tack.  But since neither tack had too much chop to break through, we handled it okay in comparison to the other days, and had what turned out to be our best finish at 30th place of 51 boats.  For races 2-6 the chop-to-wind ratio was significantly higher and, though experimenting with numerous trim and tune settings, we couldn't find
 a set-up that could get the VMG upwind that our competitors were getting.  We had other problems including some weak starts and roundings, but those problems were transient where as the upwind VMG issue persisted and drug us to the back of the pack.
   
  Though I didn't find the answers to this problem, hopefully I found the questions.  One thing I noticed was that on the other boats, despite the chop, their tiller action and heal angle stayed very quiet even as their boats pitched.  Meanwhile, for us the chop and pitching would push us out of the groove and my work on the tiller was more dramatic.  Finally, the last race I think we made the first step toward a set-up that works, a set-up that at least quieted the boat and felt balanced through the chop even though we still weren't able to point like most of the others.  I needed more racing with decent wind to figure it out further.
   
  So, in the end, I was left teased and hungry despite also being quite disappointed by defeat.  Surprisingly, I'll be waiting for our midsummer Sunday races with lots of boat wakes so I can try to figure out that combination of rake, headstay sag, heal, main twist, jib twist, etc. that achieves that power and balance though chop that those Marblehead sailors have dialed into.  I'm also thinking I might need to try to find a crew spot on a Marblehead Sonar at their NOOD event next summer so I might see firsthand how they do it.  Of course I'll also be pestering a couple of them with e-mailed questions.  
   
  The regatta experience off the water was truly outstanding.  Firstly:  Marblehead.  If you haven't been there, put it high on your desired destinations list.  The seas shore, the harbor, the Eastern Yacht Club, the neighborhood, the town, the history, the people, all contribute to make Marblehead an amazing place, especially for sailors.  Another element that made this experience special for us was staying at Phil and Ann Smith's house.  The organizers set up home stays for some of the out-of-town participants and I can't imagine anybody luckier than we were in this regard.  It's hard to explain the hospitality that we were given but I'll try:  Imagine traveling to a distant place to see dear old friends from years ago.  Friends with whom the years of separation disappear within moments of arriving and you quickly feel the warmth and good cheer at being in there presence once again.  Phil and Ann made us feel that welcome even though we'd never met before.  It was weird
 in really nice way.  Awesome house, three blocks from the Eastern Yacht Club.
   
  Thanks to Tom, Shaina, and Jeff for being on the Surly Angel team.  I think we made great strides as a new team in tough conditions.  I wish I could have drove the boat better for them.  
   
  See you all soon
  MF
   
   

       
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