IRC/HPR Annapolis STC Regatta Oct 2012

IRC/HPR regatta or racing Sandy, Annapolis.

The east coast IRC championships here in Annapolis was the perfect place to do a dual score with HPR. We had eight boats, 2 very good east coast TP’s, Interlodge and Flying Jenny 7 that was just donated to USMMA, Catapult a new Kerr 40, Stray Dog a B/C GP 42, OOAH a new Mc 38, Spookie a new Carkeek 40 and 2 Farr 400’s. I had the pleasure to sail on Team Premier, Farr 400 403.

winner FJ7

All photos by Dan Phelps/SpinSheet magazine

spinsheet.com/photogallery

The racing was very good as all the boats were well sailed and in very good shape, with 6 out of the eight from 2011 or later. The first race was a light bay tour. First leg proved to be the most tactical. A port tact reaching start that tuned into a beat. First around was Interlodge, with Flying Jenny just behind. We had a very good start and sailed a good leg to be next, followed by the MC 38, GP 42 and Spookie. The next leg was follow the leader but that all changed on the third leg.

Interlodge, 2nd HPR, 4th IRC

This leg was a run across the bay in 8 knots of wind. Problem was on the other side there was little wind and the rubber band contracted. Worse hit was Interlodge as they showed everyone the hole and a lot of us got around her. This was their undoing for the regatta in both rating system. FJ7 took off getting to the wind first and was never threaten. We rounded second and was able to hold on to the finish less Interlodge passing us 2 legs later. And that was basically it.

1/2 way through the light air Bay Tour



Spookie, 3rd HPR & IRC

The next day with Sandy getting closer we had a perfect day of sailing in 13-17 knots of wind. The RC decided to get 4 races in and cancelled Sunday’s racing for good reason. The first 3 races was wind with tide that gave the big boats an advantage. The last race the tide turned and was more even. With all five races we saw a pattern with the caparisons of the boats. Most interesting was the 40 footers as there were 6 boats you can see a lot.

Catapult K40, 2nd IRC, 7th HPR

The Kerr 40 was a bit of an odd ball in the group as it was a real IRC optimized 40’. She rated the least of all the boats in IRC and finish mostly behind the other 40’s except the MC 38. But her IRC rating came in well and she ended up second to FJ7 for the IRC series. The HPR does not give the Kerr the go slow credits and she dropped to 7th . The Farr 400’s rated not so well in IRC but good in HPR as the lowest rated of them all. We went from 5th in IRC to 4th in HPR.

My take on the whole boat comparison is as follows. The TP’s still have an advantage in both rating systems. I believe this come from two areas. First there has been years of development in these boats by some of the best sailors/designers int he world. Second, there seems to be a dynamic advantage of this size of boats over the 40’s. They just go better upwind and downwind. Biggest advantage is in light air where they can do more apparent wind sailing.

In the 40’s, it is more interesting. Spooky is a high tech latest thing from Carkeek. She is a direct development form the TP’s and also designed to what was to be the HPR fast boat. She is definitely the fastest 40. She is also the most expensive by far. Carkeek has a more reasonable version coming out from PCT.  She did not fair as well in the light air and was slower than the Farr 400.

Stray Dog 6th IRC and HPR

The next fastest boat is the GP 42, she is longer by 2 feet or more and very high tech build. She did well in both classes and would have done better if sailed the last race. The next fastest boats on the water are the Farr 400’s. And the fastest 40 in lighter air. They rate high in IRC but the lowest in HPR. We had two bad races and it showed but we deserved our finish on points of 4th in HPR and 5th in IRC. The 400 cost much less but is still built of carbon and epoxy resign. She has a very good mast and winch package and is easy to sail. The Farr 400 is a true one design boat, but we did one small mode for this race that help in HPR and hurt in IRC. That is we added a pole.

Farr 400 Team Premier

4th HPR 5 IRC

hooking up the pole after gybe

The pole was the same length as the sprit. We gybed, hoisted and dropped off the sprit but sailed with the pole. It was very fast in the first light air race when we can sail 8-10 degrees lower than the other boats with sprits at the same speed. In the windward leeward races it took quite a while to figure out what angles to sail, we figured the last race we got it right and it seem to me that we were faster by 25 sec a mile compared to our sister that sailed without the pole. The pole cost 7 ticks in IRC and nothing in HPR, go figure.

Pole set and flying

Next fastest on the water was the Kerr 40. They were very fast upwind in breeze, almost as fast as the Spookie and the GP but quite a bit slower downwind against everyone. We came back from a couple of very bad situation to pass her down wind. Once at the finish line. Also, she was the slowest boat by a lot in the light air first race. If it was a light air regatta, then she would not have placed as well. But you have to give her credit as she was second in IRC, all the go slow credits work in IRC.

The slowest boat on the water was the MC 38. Her best race on the water was the lighter first bay tour. But in the moderate winds of the up and downs she was not so fast. The in the 4th race she had her jib halyard break and was un able to finish the last 2 races. The 38 is the least expensive boat.

Good action at a start

I like the HPR better than the IRC as it promotes fast boats that are fun to sail. The corrected times were much closer in this first try. So I would expect the racing to be closer next year. On the water we all had fun on the faster boats. It is nice to sail fast in the light and the breeze. Something you can say the IRC does not promote in the 40 foot size boats. The IRC could rate these faster boat fairer but they choose not to. The IRC gives too much credit for going slow in this size range and therefore a designer has a choice. Yes, Spookie did do ok in the IRC results. They were the best sailed 40’.

     under 10 knots HPR     over 10 knots HPR                    <10 irc="irc" nbsp="nbsp">10 IRC

1 Farr 400 with pole          Carkeek 40                              Carkeek 40               Carkeek 40
2 Farr 400 wo/p                Farr 400 with pole                    Farr 400 with pole      Kerr 40
3 Carkeek 40                    GP42                                      GP42                        GP42
4 GP42                             Farr 400 wo/p                          Farr 400 wo/p          Farr 400 with pole
5 MC38                            MC38                                      MC38                       Farr 400 wo/p
6 Kerr 40                          Kerr 40                                    Kerr 40                     MC38


Results can be found at:

Results

Sailing with Team NZL

I have been having a great time with TNZL here in San Francisco. Being home for 10 days and sailing on the AC 45 has been a real learning experience. Working with the team as their local knowledge expert is something that comes naturally as I have been sailing in SF bay for over 45 years, wow, that is a long time. But applying my experience to how it works for Cats at over 20 knots is new. Getting to know the angles and speeds. You surely don't want to tack or gybe to often, so taking advantage of the tides have to be done with more planning. More of a strategy, than a tactic. Yesterday we were had a nice view of USA 17, the 72. I was able to get some shots and videos, so enjoy. Sure is a big monster compared to the little AC45... Yes that is a 45 next to her..

Dee Smith joins ETNZ

"Team NZ look outside the team to gain an advantage in San Fran.

In a bid to get back on top of their AC45 game, Emirates Team New Zealand have called on a San Franciscan to educate them, while the Koreans have turned to a Kiwi Olympian to steer them in the right direction.

Dean Barker's crew "failed to spark" in the last event of the America's Cup World Series on San Francisco Bay, finishing seventh in fleet racing and fourth in match racing.

So they've gone to Dee Smith, rated by many as one of the world's top tacticians, to clue them up on the nuances of the bay before the next ACWS event on October 3."

- Suzanne McFadden - Boating, NZ

Read Full Article

Bella Mente wins Mini Maxi World Championship

Nice to be brought back on board Bella for the Worlds this last week here in Porto Cervo.  Bella has been going though some growing pains the first few months in the water.  After working the project for  over a year this was my first sail on the boat.  I joined a fantastic crew and owner, Hap Fauth.   The after-guard included John Cutler as strategist, Ian Moore the navigator and I filled in as tactician.  We knew we had our hands full with the other boats including Ran that has won multi worlds.  

The series started with a coastal race around the fantastic islands here.  Shockwave jump out to a great start and lead the boats around 1/2 of the course.  we had a 3 boat tacking dual coming out of Boom Ally and Ran jumped into the lead that they would not lose.  As we came around one of the islands near the harbor, we slipped just past Shockwave.  We then watch almost the whole crew go swimming when they hit a rock very hard and the life lines broke.  We ended up second in the race for a good start to the regatta.  Boat seemed to go ok.

The next 2 days we sailed 4 windward leeward races in 10-18 knots, really perfect conditions.  We lead around every mark in the first 3 races.  By no means was it not hard boat were very close in speed and we just got off the line very well and was able to sail very clean.  The others had more problems with traffic.  In these races we had a 1,1,1,2.  Ran on the other hand had 4,4,5,1.  This gave us a good lead.

The next day was another Coastal that again counted 1.5 points.  Very light patchy conditions.  We had a fantastic start and Ran was over the line early and with all the traffic and light air they ended up very far behind.  We were in the lead, controlling the race, with Ran deep behind when the race was cancelled.  We all returned to the starting area to wait for some more breeze.  The RC forced in a race in even lighter air and gave us a course that was more suited for a Bucket Race.  Anyway, Ran got to the first mark first, the only beat of 1.5 miles, and we followed.  Shockwave went under the island with a code 0 to gain an inside overlap on us at the next mark.  This was hard as we could not get around her and ended up coming in 4th.  Ran wining gave us the tie on points.  

On the last day with 2 windward leeward races in the plan but even with lighter winds expected we boat had 12 points but we owned the tie break with more first places.  After 4 hrs of waiting at the dock for wind the races were cancelled and we ended up with the big win.

ORC European Championships

ORC European Championships

Farr 400 Team Premier Sonnkenkoenig

End of June, Punta Ala, Italy

This was my first experience with ORCi rating system. On the good news, the system is a published rating system and there are no secrets. That said it is easy to figure out that this system in its current form is a lot like IMS. The B/C boats that are made to go up and down are very fast. What I do remember when we brought the TP’s into the Med a number of years back the TP’s were able to beat the IMS boats under IMS. This happened here too. The lone TP, Aniene, well sailed was an easy winner, winning every race they started.

It was good to see how easy the Farr 400 is to transport through Europe.  This boat just won the trans Lake Constant race over all and it had to make it over the alps to get to Punta Ala.  The rig made it easy.

Back to the Future

Sailing a great one design boat in a handicap system, one should adjust the boat a little to max out the performance under the rule sailed. We made only one adjustment, and that is adding a spinnaker pole to the already fast down wind 400. It was an easy thing to add, a removable sleeve over the mast to hold the pole gooseneck. 2 after guys and a peace sign… We set, gybed and dropped off of the bow sprit. In the very light and big breeze, (there was none) we would also go off of the sprit. But the pole gave us many advantages. We now had a choice of what angle to sail. We could sail around traffic, or run deep into a mark if we didn’t hit the lay line perfect. This was huge.

But the biggest thing was the speed. Punta Ala is normally a light air 6-12 knots Med condition. A performance boat like the 400 has a hard time against the lead mines of the IMS or even IRC, in these conditions. Having to sail high in this wind range with the A sail on the Sprit is not how these boats should go. The pole boats that can’t speed up, just run deep. So I came up with this idea, to be able to sail to our rating down wind by sailing less distance. In ten know of wind, we can sail 10 degrees lower and .5-.75 knots faster, around 8.75-9.0 knots of boat speed.

The racing was fun, only the up and downs were a bit like ground hog day, all the races sailed in the south 7-12 knots of wind. You had to go left and wait for the big boats to tack and pick your spot. We were the smallest boat in our class but we rated 3^rd highest. Of course the one design boat wants to be fun down wind first. But we did surprise many by being right in it at the top mark and always finishing on the water 3^rd.

We did have one good race in the 150 mile offshore race. Twice around Gillio was a good course. We had 0-18 knots and all angles. We sailed very well around the holes of the islands to take a second, our best finish. Sailing a boat like the 400 in this race is great. Every time there is a change, the boat steps out. Anytime there are extremes, the boat is much faster than its rating. Like under 7 knots and over 15 when it starts to plane.

In the video, you can see many things. We sailed with 8 good guys. 8 guys on this size boat is not too many, but as you can see, there was not a problem to do anything well. We just figured out how to move forward and take care of things. The grinder made it easy and the ability to trim from the windward side really keep the boat moving all the time. If we sailed in a windy area, I would pick 9 people but making them smaller.. You just don’t need to add weight to this boat.

We ended up 6^th in the regatta. It could have been a bit better but the rating in that condition is hard to sail to. But for a one design boat that is not designed to the rule and sailing against boats that are, it is not too bad. I can tell you one thing; we enjoyed our sailing more than the others. A lot of heads turned as we flew by..

Farr 400 test sailing with spin pole

We have tried something new with the Farr 400.  Adding a spinnaker pole for handicap racing under the ORCi rating system.  The idea was to be able to sail competitively in the range of 6-14 knots.  The 400, Sonnenkonig is sailing here on the first try in 8-9 knots of wind doing 7.75-8.6 knots at 158 true wind angle. We start racing today, Monday, June 24 in Punta Ala, Italy.  We will see how we go.  But at least in this condition it should be fast...

Stand by

Dee

Flying Jenny 7 Wins Second NYYC 158th Annual Regatta

FJ Sailing Team mastered the light airs off Newport RI during the 158th NYYC Annual Regatta.  We only got in two races over the two day regatta as the sea breeze was late to show each day.  On the first race, Jenny and Vesper went al the way out to the left side.  This allowed Interlodge to get over to the right and hit the big right shift to lead at the first mark.  Jenny forced Vesper over about 2 minutes fromt he layline, we continued to the just under the layling where we found a good shift back to the left and was able to get some back on the Interlodge.

Downwind the race was diecided as Interlodge gybed off to port and we continued in the lefty we had going into the mark.  When they came back we had more wind and a good shift.  It also helped that they cought their spinnaker on the mast and ripped it.  We slid on by to win the race, Interlodge second and Vesper third.

After waiting almost 3 hr on the ast day to get a race in the start was 30 minutes before the limit.  Vesper with their third figured that if they pushed us to third they would win on a count back tie.  So right off the start, Gavin started to match race us.  We did our best to hang tough to be second to Vesper at the top mark and closed in on the run.  Maybe they that made it easier for them to push us back and they did.  After about 15 tacks we round the last top mark 4th about 1 minute behind.  There was better breeze ont he right side going upwind and as the fleet ahead headed off to the right facing downwind, we gybed to port and sailed all the way to layline.  As we approached the finish it was apparent we passed everyone except Vesper but, we had the starboard advantage on them.  We finished overlapped and corrected on Sled by 13 seconds to get the second place we needed to win the regatta.

There is some great footage on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSaY0ASEojE&feature=relmfu

Blue Class 2 - IRC 2 (IRC - 5 Boats)

1. Flying Jenny 7, IRC 52 52, David and Sandra Askew , Annapolis, MD, USA - 1, 2, ; 3

2. Vesper, TP 52 52, Jim Swartz , Park City, UT, USA - 3, 1, ; 4

3. Interlodge, IRC 52 52, Austin and Gwen Fragomen , Newport, RI, USA - 2, 4, ; 6

Leukemia Cup, Annapolis, 2012, Team Premier, Farr 400

All photos from Sandy Askew

Best day sailing in Annapolis, ever for me.  Great boat in the Farr 400, Team Premier.  Great crew with a bunch of locals, Dave Askew, owner of Flying Jenny 7, Ian Gordon and Emerson Smith from the Farr office, Matt Beck, our insurance man, Ted Haarland from Annapolis Rigging, Mike Beasley from Beasley Marine and one one transplant, Chris Hosking from Newport.  They all gave a hand for the cause of racing well  and raising money for cancer research.

The main goal here is to raise money.  We set about it sending mails out to the wild marine people and industry.  The reaction was very positive.  In Fact, Team Premier was the top fund raiser of the regatta, the big win.  A big thank you to all that did donate.  It is not too late to donate your share at http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/deesmithFarr400/lcr.

The racing was fun.  There were 3 races, all in a 10-20 knot Northwester, very shifty and puffy.  We had two good starts but one over the line early, but we did win each race against 2 Farr 40's and Stray Dog, GP 42.  The boat went really well upwind and down.

We sailed under PHRF and won each race by many minutes.  The races were all about 4.7 miles long, so there was a lot of action. 

This week it is off to Newport to sail Flying Jenny 7 in the Annual Regatta.

Dee

Support the Leukemia Cup with a Donation!

I am very pleased to announce that Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premiere will be racing on the Farr 400, for this year's 20th Anniversary Leukemia Cup, in my home town of Annapolis, to be held over June 1-2, 2012. Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premier are committed to raising more money and set higher goals for the 2012 Leukemia Cup.

As some of you already know, that in the past I have dedicated our sailing and fundraising efforts to an old friend Mark Rudiger, who lost his courageous battle to Lymphoma a few years back now.

This year I would like to dedicate the regatta and fundraising efforts to two, very dear sailing friends, Rob Moore and John Cook who lost their battles with cancer earlier this year.  Both guys were avid sailors.

Rob was a good mate, on and off the water and we had the pleasure of racing in many classes over the last decades in and around San Francisco, down the coast of Mexico, Hawaii, just to mention a few of our ocean going escapades.  His camera was never far from his side, and we all looked forward to reading his sailing expose's in Latitude 38 every month. On a personal level, loosing Rob to lung cancer, the same form as mine has been a hard pill to swallow this year. 

My other sea faring buddy John Cook, an English gentleman of the highest caliber, owner of the TP52, Christabella, lost his brave battle with stomach cancer only a few weeks ago in the UK. I am honored to say that I raced many seasons aboard the Christabella, and John was one of the first people to bring me back on board to race again after my recovery. 

They both had a real passion for our sport of sailing and will be truly missed on and off the water.

The Leukemia Cup continues to raise huge amounts of money, which is used to keep funding cancer research in the hope of a cure, and development of medicines and technology that will keep Stage 4 Cancer patients, such as myself alive. The success of this year’s cup is dependent on strong community support and corporate leaders. Dee Smith Yacht Racing and Team Premier are making significant contributions of time and resources as well, but we need your help in making the 20th anniversary Leukemia Cup the best ever.

Please help me help keep this science working....  

Go to this site to make a donation http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/deesmithFarr400/lcr

Yours in good health! Dee Smith  

Sponsored by:

Bert Jabin's Yacht Yard

www.bjyy.com

Caribbean Tour

I am getting plenty of sun being down for now over two weeks.  It started when I arrived in St Thomas with Joc just over two weeks ago to sail on the Farr 400 Blade in the 39th International Rolex Regatta.  We had a great time sailed ok to finish fourth.  I will be making a full report on this regatta in a Seahorse article.  I have never done this regatta, but it is now on my top 10 list and I plan to get back as many times as possible.

Then we cruised the whole 15 miles to Tortola for BVI Regattas.  There was no breeze the first day so we motored to the Bitter End on Virgin Gorda.  What a great place this is.  Again, I can’t believe we have not been there….

The first series were two races, one around VG and the other back to Nanny Cay, Tortola.  We were third in the race around and won the blast sail back averaging around 15 knots, our sister was second.  So much fun to sail the 400 in a breeze….  Speeds to 20, it was hard to see the other boats behind..  With the first place we won the top prize for the 2 race regatta. 

Then it was more of a battle in the 3 race series of 9 races with really good 5 boat fleet.  The races were very close, too much to tell right now, will report on the race side later.  But we sailed well, tied for 1st the first day, tied for 2nd the second day but ended up a close third.  Very competitive class

Now, in St Barths, sailing on Decision.  This is a new Carkeek 40 owned by Steve Murray.  They asked if I can help get the new boat up to speed.  It was an easy question to answer.  We start sailing today through Saturday. 

I will report more soon, I hope,,,,,

Farr 40 Oz Championships

What a way to end a great trip! It was wonderful to be in Sydney to help launch the First Farr 400 in Australia. During the week I was asked to join the Kokomo crew as a fill in Tactician for Michael Coxon, who blew his back out in the Etchell worlds the week before. The driver was going to be Neville Crichton, but while trying to lose some weight to get me in, blew his back out too. So the back of the boat was set only 2 days before the regatta. Ivan Wheen took over the helm just a few days after he was a member of the winning Etchell crew.