I am guessing you might not know this: Learning the Racing Rules can be a WHOLE LOT OF FUN! There is no sugar-coating it – the rules are very complex. That’s what makes actually understanding them so much fun. And every person that improves their understanding of the rules helps improve the quality of competition for everyone out on the race course. Please come join us at BCYC on March 15 for the “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” seminar. The venue is fantastic, the hospitality excellent, and you will find yourself in the company of like-minded folks spending the day immersed in the inner workings of your favorite sport. Whether you are learning the rules, or refining your knowledge, this experience will be worth your while. So, please join us. You’ll be glad you did!

Click here to register.

The only situation in which a boat may make a tactical rounding, i.e. go wide and then cut close to pass the mark on a close hauled course is when she has entered the zone clear ahead. Boats behind often misunderstand this as an opportunity to cut inside, because the space looks very tempting. But, she has no right to do so, and is likely to hear a robust “Don’t go in there!!!”

The rules are not just for skippers. The more knowledge on your boat, the greater your competitive edge. So, whether you are a skipper or crew, if you would like to up your game in 2014, join us at BCYC on March 15 for the “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” seminar. Animated PowerPoint slides like that shown above make the rules come to life. The game is a lot more fun, and safe, when you know the rules!

Course Description

Register

We hope to see you there!

When: 10:00-2:00, Saturday, February 22

Where: Lido Isle Yacht Club

Guest Speakers: Bill Menninger & Peter Haynes

If you need help with rig running, or other fixes or adjustments, bring your boat.

Because lunch, compliments of Fleet 1, is included please RSVP no later than February 19th: Michael Volk, michael@mvaarc.com .

The theme for this year’s Tuning Day on Saturday, February 22, is “Tuning”. Tuning is the act of adjusting the lengths and tensions of your standing rigging, i.e. the wires which support the mast. Because your mainsail is attached to your mast, and your jib is attached to your headstay (which is part of the standing rigging), rig tuning affects sail shape. If your mast is not centered athwartships, or your mast is shaped other than straight when sighting up the mainsail slot, your boat will not sail the same on each tack. Raking your mast aft by lengthening the headstay will increase windward helm, and help you point higher at the cost of stability. Outer shroud tension sets headstay tension, and thus headstay sag, and is the one adjustment you might see being made prior to a race, especially if it is expected to be very windy.

How important is rig tuning for Harbor 20 racing in Newport Harbor? If the setup is not just wrong, probably not that much. That is because we don’t do a lot of long legs where a tenth of a knot of boat speed can make a difference. Properly playing one wind shift, or gaining an inside overlap at a mark makes a much bigger difference. But, you are competing after all, so your boat should be setup properly. We will show you how.

What do you need? To measure mast positioning in the boat, you need a tape measure longer than 30 feet. To adjust your turnbuckles, you need a small wrench to keep the wire form rotating (a small crescent wrench or vicegrip works well), and a screwdriver to turn the buckle. It is easiest to tune with two people, one on each side of the boat, in which case you will need two sets of tools. You will also need a wire tension gage (Loos Gauge), but these are expensive and we will have several on hand.

We will also be talking about sail shape, and the adjustments which can be made underway. One adjustment which many people cannot make easily when underway is the height of the jib in the headstay. Use of two fiddle blocks, as shown here, makes it a snap!

The fiddle block is a Ronstan Fiddle Block with V-Jam, RF341. West Marine Part 110884.

Every sailor should know the basic knots which can get you through a lifetime. They are the proper cleat, the clove hitch, the rolling and taut line hitch, the bowline, and the c-gasket to secure a coil of line. If you can demonstrate each of these knots, you will win a prize. If you cannot, we will teach you the knots, and then give you a chance to win.

PROGRAM

10:00am Welcome sailors. Boats secured on the docks.

10:30am Tuning Tips- Peter Haynes and Bill Menninger give a brief review of rig tuning and sail trim under various weather conditions. The Schock Factory will be participating in the Q & A.

11:15am Lunch available to eat on the patio or dock.

11:30am Boat tuning and repairs begin. Experienced sailors will be on the docks to share tips and assist with tuning. Loos Gauges will be available for shroud adjustments.

2:00pm Tuning Day concludes

Lunch and Refreshments are compliments of Fleet 1. (You must RSVP to receive Lunch and Refreshments)

The Schock Factory will have many parts for sale so we invite you to work on your boat repairs during Tuning Day. If you share your plans for any unusual on-site repairs, we will inform the Schock Factory in advance.

Please RSVP no later than February 19th: Michael Volk, michael@mvaarc.com

 

You can register online or by mail.

Online:      $75.00 if registered by March 12, $85.00 if registered after March 12
By Mail:    $75.00 if postmarked by March 8, $85.00 if postmarked after March 8

The higher prices for registering later than the dates above help satisfy the requirement that a head count be provided to the host yacht club three days in advance.  While last minute registrations can usually be accommodated, it is very helpful from logistical perspective if folks register earlier, rather than later.

REGISTER ONLINE: (up to two registrants at a time)

Choose Registration…

Registration for One $85.00 USDRegistration for Two $170.00 USD

Attendee #1 Name

Attendee #2 Name

 

CLICK  HERE TO REGISTER  BY MAIL

We hope to see you there!

The 2014 Seminar Schedule has been posted, and the first will be “Boat Handling & Sail Trim” on Saturday, January 25, at BCYC. This will be a great opportunity to make sure you and your crew are up to speed in 2014. But, this is not limited to Harbor 20 sailors, so please feel free to pass this information along to anyone you think might benefit. Here is a course description, some testimonials, and an article from the Newport Beach Independent about a local reporters experience. You can register either online, or by mail.

We hope to see you there!

These reflections on this years Harbor 20 sailing and class championship are posted on behalf of our 2013 Class Champion Bill Menninger:

 What a great job the class officers and directors have done in helping our class continue to grow. A big shout out! To our faithful ; John, Peter, Emile and Karl.

Then we have unsung heroes like Judy, to keep Robert Kinney company on our championship race committee, and Jim Kerrigan (sorely Missed) who helped create the Kerrigan jib boom adjuster. There are many others who make our class strong and our social events fantastic. Mark and Shana, Karen, Judy and Kathy. Not to mention all the significant others who dedicate their time behind the scenes.

 This years championship completed eight races, for which I was very thankful. By the time we got to the dock, I had a faint idea we had won, but I wasn’t sure with Jim Buckingham winning the last race. Thankfully, Chris Allen had not won a third in a row, and Gary Thorne was just behind us. Tim Hogan had one bad race on Sunday, so I was really just worried about Jim, our newest class addition, sailing with his youngest daughter Biz.

 What was interesting for me is there are many ways to sail a Harbor 20, and it really comes down to starting and getting a first shift. While I depend on a looser rig to sail some headstay sag in lighter conditions, Jim sailed with a relatively tight rig, and used the mainsail boom vang to bend the mast, thereby shortening the mast and that too develops headstay sag. Two different ways to skin a cat, and since we never sail in one direction more than 150 feet in the bay, we really cant say one technique is better than another.

 The light air put a premium on jib trim and crewing, constantly trimming the jib in and out to maximize acceleration and minimize steering. The shifty conditions put a premium on crews who could spot the puffs and talk about different situations on the course.  We tightened our jib outhaul on the runs to give us more

Effective sail area downwind, we kept our jib downhaul the same on every race, and find it better to be erring a little on the too tight side, versus too loose.

Our shroud tensions were around 15 on the uppers and 8 to 10 on the lowers. On Sunday we raised our jib an additional inch to make the sail slightly fuller after a disappointing final race on Saturday….I typically call our diver ahead of an important regatta to remind him the bottom has to be smooth, and he usually does the boat a day before the races…

 Strategy wise, we chose to start on the windiest part of the line, disregarding the shift we expected of the side of the course to favor. In other words, a good start, heading the wrong direction, usually finds you in the top five. A bird in the hand so to speak!  Downwind, we tried to avoid the lido lee and take advantage of better wind or tide around Bay Island. We used almost no vang tension all weekend as the boom weight was enough to keep the leech firm.

And every so often I looked up to see the battens hadn’t popped through after a gybe, so I would gently pull the main boom in until they popped to leeward and noticed the boat immediately accelerate.

 A special thanks to Peter Haynes and Greg Helias, who reminded us on more than one occasion to go around the weather mark offset buoy. Without them, someone else might be writing this!

 Every year, the class gets stronger and better. I hope we can help share some good ideas and encourage others do the same.

On Thursday, September 26, two days before the Championship, the H20 Association is sponsoring an evening called “ASK THE JUDGES” at 7:00 PM at NHYC. Certified judges will be present to answer any and all questions you might have about the Racing Rules of Sailing for 2013-2016. A whiteboard with magnetic boats will be used to help visualize on-the-water situations as they change over time.  This year we will be honored to have certified judges David Blackman, Kevin Hawkins, and Peter Wells. Don’t to go into the Championship with lingering questions about the rules. Come and get your questions answered at this important event! For those of you who have not attended this traditional pre-Championship event in the past, you might be surprised how much fun a lively rules discussion can be. We hope to see you there!

If you are in close company with another boat, can you gybe as part of your windward mark rounding? If you are not absolutely sure of the answer, that is not surprising. The rules change every fours years in cadence with the Olympics, and this rule has changed 3 times in the last 9 years! Below are illustrations from Dave Perry’s current, and previous two versions, of his “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” book:

 

As you can see, if you do not actually study the rules, it is very difficult to understand subtle changes such as have occurred with this rule over the years. Don’t handicap yourself by sailing with tribal knowlege of the rules which is incomplete at best and incorrect at worst. If you would like to learn or re-learn these complex rules, come join us at the “Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing” seminar on Sunday, September 8, at BCYC. We hope to see you there! 

Registration and Course Description