Seventh Annual Oyster Stew Tuning Session
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
Fleet 8 would like to welcome fellow Catalina 27 sailors to our tuning and training session. We plan to run starting drills and short windward/leeward practice races, as described below. The object is to help you get your timing, boat handling skills, and boat speed improved.
Rendezvous, 11:30 am, in the vicinity of the spider at the entrance of the Severn River/Annapolis Harbor. The committee boat will be a blue 32 foot power boat called Oyster Stew. The committee boat will monitor channel 68. We will advise of any changes to instructions and provide some limited commentary on this channel. If traffic requires a change, we will go to channel 72. Please be sure to bring your radio and TURN IT ON!
When you first arrive, look to pair up with another boat and work on upwind boat speed. Go through plenty of tacks; set a spinnaker, work on a couple of jibes and takedowns. As you warm up, stay in the general vicinity of the committee boat. We may move to a less congested area where we can set up a starting line and use an inflatable as a weather mark. Exact location will depend on the breeze direction. First gun for the starting drills will be at noon.
STARTING DRILLS
(12:00 PM)
Once the line is set, we will begin a series of rolling practice starts, using a five-minute sequence:
Five Minutes Flag up
START Flag up Long Horn
The next five-minute sequence begins with the start signal from the previous sequence. Continue this pattern ad-nauseam.
These will be continuous, rolling starts. After starting, you will have just enough time to sail upwind for 100 yards or so to check your speed and acceleration. Don't get too far upwind. You will already be into the next sequence. We will run one hour's worth of starts; around 12 give or take a few.
There is no better way to practice racing than to race. After an hour of practice starts, we will take a short break. Stay near the line! Get ready to race. We will use either a government mark or an orange inflatable as the windward mark. The leg will be short, adjusted to breeze velocity. Leave the windward mark to port (go around counter-clockwise). Finish through the start/finish line. Blue Flag means one lap, Red Flag means two laps using the inflatable on the starting line as the leeward mark - again rounding counter clockwise. The same five-minute starting sequence used for the practice start, will be used for the practice races. We will try to get in at least two short races.
RC WILL USE CHANNEL 68 (OR 72 IF 68 IS TOO BUSY) TO ANNOUNCE CHANGES TO SAILING INSTRUCTIONS. ALL SKIPPERS ARE REQUESTED TO HAVE AND USE RADIOS FOR THIS PRACTICE SESSION. I ENCOURAGE YOU TO COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER AS WELL AS THE RC.