My final report on Hyères which I forgot to post earlier:
Friday was more of the same wind and waves, although a bit
less of each than previous days.
And everyone is relatively tired since our rest day was
cancelled and we had been slogging it out for 4 days straight.
But, at least I can say that in race 1 I finished just
behind Mark Bethwaite! What did I do to
improve so much overnight? Absolutely
nothing. I continued to sail my usual
level of sailing and poor Mark, who was, of course, leading, went to the wrong
downwind mark (and was followed by at least one other). I was so far behind that I wasn’t tempted to
do so. Then, as I was about to round the
top mark into the reach I saw a boat coming up behind me and couldn’t figure
out who it was. Then, I made a bad tack right into a wave that stopped me and put
me into irons and then a dry capsize. As the other boat started nearing me – I
was amazed to see it was Mark and as he drew near, he tacked and said to me cheerily “Thanks for waiting for me”. He almost caught
up with me on the reach and then passed me on the downwind run. But at least I had a
great time going downwind, watching him carve S’s all over the place – far wider and quicker
than I normally dare to do - and adjusting the vang constantly. I tried copying his S’s and it seemed to work
to help catching waves – and doing the bigger ones is not a big deal. The
vang and all other controls were too much for me to think about.
Beyond that, it was another learning day. Aside from the bad tack, I had no real
mistakes. In the second race, I did a good job on the run, fetching the mark
even though I was sailing by the lee and just on the edge of gybing – but I
managed to hold it all together and round the mark.
Saturday was light airs and although I made no big mistakes,
it was pretty much the same order as before.
Mark went to the correct marks and, of course, won both races. I came in last place but with nothing to be
ashamed of. The real highlight of the
day was a lovely dinner with five of the GGM Standard fleet – further proof of
how welcoming and open these Masters events are. They were all trading stories of the Olympic
campaigns and races they had participated in. I mainly listened.
Then Mark revealed to all the secret of his success.
He said that whenever anyone asked him how he does so well, he always replies “The
first sixty years are the hardest.”
Hard to argue with that.
Great story. Did you get much close racing in the GGM Standard Rig fleet or did people spread out a lot? I guess it was quite big course for such a small fleet?
ReplyDeleteJust asking in case I decide to go to the Masters Worlds in Canada next year. It would be my first Worlds as a GGM and I have no idea whether I would go Radial or Full.
Also did you happen to see what Mark was doing with his vang on those downwinds. Was he pulling it tighter when going from by-the-lee to broad reach? And if so, was he doing it before or after the up-turn?
Yes, the course is quite big for such a small fleet and the fleet was usually pretty spread out. Also, starts were very easy with plenty of room on the line and very little worries. Once underway, I would usually be fighting with one or 2 guys trying to stay out of last place, but if you are looking for close racing, then the Radial would be better. On the other hand, with my last place in the GGM, I was able to say that last year I was 10th in the world which sounds better than 35th or whatever the Radial would be.
DeleteAt any rate, it would be great to see you in Canada - I hope you come.
As for exactly what Mark was doing with the vang - sorry, I can't tell you - I was too busy trying to do my bigger S's to concentrate on that.