I haven’t stopped sailing

I’ve just been working all hours so not had the time to write up latest adventures!

More next week when I am back from Berlin (work!).

Video of Topper Xenon

At last a Topper Xenon video! You would have thought Topper would have promoted a few more of these. Anyhow here are some chaps in New Zealand sailing a Topper Xenon. They don’t know how lucky they are not having to negotiate mud banks and deal with tidal flows. It looks like they have awesome conditions down there - my only comment is – keep the boat flat! (but hey I’m in my study with a glass of wine…)

Topper Topaz and Safety Boat

This weekend I was doing my bit for the Sailing Club and was helping out with the safety boat and the Club’s cadets.

We had 2 of the safety boats out, a Rib with a 50hp motor on and something called a Viking which looks to me like it was once a fishing boat or a very large tender; it gives us that stable base and a platform we can anchor on the river (Colne).

I probably found the cadets more amusing than any sailing I did on the day. There is a real mix of girls, boys, those that can, can’t sail, will continue to progress and will become, given the chance, very good sailors. Half way through the afternoon, I transferred from the safety boat to sailing one of the cadets on a Topper Topaz ; an 11 year old who informed me about his previous 6 girlfriends, his current 2 year old relationship and how he is one of the strongest in his class – all completely and very innocent!

Topper Topazs are great fun to sail and incredibly easy compared to the Xenon. It is light and goes into irons very quickly when pointing into the wind. They are extremely manoeuvrable and great fun when learning to sail.

Xenon real Handicap

So just what is the handicap of a Topper Xenon??

Being a good citizen I registered it at the club when I arrived as PY1070 – just like the booklet tells me.

The Lasers which I race against are ‘officially’ PY1078 and there has been some comment in the club that the handicap PY1070 is perhaps a little low ….(or we have very good Laser sailors, or I am particularly rubbish). It has even been suggested that Topper might promote low handicaps to make their boats faster!! <gasp!>

So officially at Wivenhoe Sailing Club, Topper Xenons are now rated as PY1075. This by co-incidence is the same handicap as Brightlingsea Sailing Club uses.

In my quest for the truth, I looked at a couple of other club websites and had a laugh at Erith Yacht Club who has gone totally the opposite way and has given their Topper Xenon class a local handicap of 1035!!

I suspect that a major issue is that when we race, the Barman and I are both quite heavy fella’s and this might cause some of the apparent slowness. Read here for the weight guide lines!

That said, last Sundays race went extremely well for the Barman and I. Despite the spinnaker detaching itself from the bow sprit and the forestay accidentally not been undone when the jib was rigged, we crossed the finish line a credible 2nd just behind the lead Laser. Lessons described in the blog posts below are working.

Close Haul Tips

In my previous post I gave some hints about how best to using the cunningham to adjust tension in the luff to help point the boat - especially in light winds; it's also critical to beating the Laser sailors. On the Topper Xenon this is controlled by the helmsman so naturally I would take most interest in it.

Just to complicate things there is another rope called the outhaul and this is controlled by the crew as it is cleated off under the boom by the mast. Todate when sailing we have not touched it - just made sure it was tight - well it is my first year learning to sail after all. Guidance from Topper is as follows.....

When sailing upwind you will nearly always have the outhaul pulled quite tight but you may wish to loosen it for the downwind legs. You can pre-set the "off" position by tying a large knot (or use a ball) about an inch from the cleat when the foot is pulled tight. This means you simply have to uncleat at the windward mark and it will be in about the right place for downwind sailing. Remember to pull it back on before rounding the leeward mark!

 So next time we go out I will put 2 knots in it and report back how it works.

Sailing with a Cunningham

In an earlier post I highlighted that the Topper Xenon has a cunningham in oppose to a downhaul. This is not just another rope and is extremely useful when racing and of course sailing in general.  If you have a Xenon you have got to learn how to use it. In our last race the Barman and I noticed a significant improvement.

The cunningham adjusts the tension in the luff extremely quickly and easily. By hauling it in or easing the line, the tension in the luff can be changed, thereby shifting the point of maximum draft forward or aft so as to optimize the sail shape.

I have found the greatest impact is when you are trying to point upwind on a close haul. If the cunningham tension is on, you don't point very high.

This bit from the Xenon manual starts to now make a bit more sense....

For a medium wind (crew sitting out hard, but able to sheet the mainsail to the centreline) you should be able to use maximum power. Use very little or no cunningham. The outhaul should be set so that there is about a 3in (7-8cm) gap between mainsail foot and boom at the point of maximum chord. Try to keep the boom on the centreline, provided that the boat remains flat.


The jib can be eased about 1-2in (5-10cm) from maximum tightness for optimum performance. As the wind increases, reduce the power in the mainsail by pulling down on the cunningham progressively until the boat feels comfortable and balanced again. If you have tell tales on the leech, use enough gnav to keep them flying.

For very windy conditions flatten the main by tightening the outhaul, tensioning the cunningham further (with a fully-battened sail this has the effect of flattening the sail without pulling the fullness forward and can therefore be used much more than with a conventional mainsail). Sit out hard and sail free.

In light airs, use little or no gnav to allow the leech to open.

Xenon Rudder

A comment I have about dinghy boats is that often are not the manuals available to show you how to fix minor problems. The only knowledge source is in the collective mind of the sailing club. For example, when I snapped all the lines in my rudder (see Man Sailing ) I was left guessing as to exactly which bolt the two lines should be threaded. Well if you have this problem, look at the two pics below and this will give you a clue.

Before you get too far in re-threading your stock and tiller assembly, you need to make a decision as to which type of cord you are going to use. Yes! There are 2 types of cord; that which 'gives' a bit and that which doesn't. The cord which doesn't 'give' or stretch is generally used for halyards and the like - nothing worse than sails coming down in a race and apparently the other type is more useful for sheets.

Before the man sailing day my rudder was pulled down on a 2:1 pulley with non-stretch cord. I have made a decision that since I am likely to hit mud again that it will be a better idea to use the stretchy stuff; it's cheaper as well. It's the white cord in the image above.

Speaking of cost, I was gobsmacked by the price of a stock and tiller assembly + rudder blade. At the time of writting it is in the region of £500 - see here. To all Topper Xenon owners, look after your rudder.

South vs. East Coast

I've been on holiday and away from sailing for a couple of weeks. Whilst away I was in Poole on the south coast of England; I am told it has the World's second largest natural harbour. I was very impressed with the sailing arrangements down there. There are public slipways so it is possible to launch your boat not far from the town centre - from a beach as well!!. I understand as well the tidal range is a good 3ft.

I also visited Dartmouth, home of Britannia Royal Naval College, on the River Dart. The Dart is deep, reasonably wide and long - perfect for a dinghy.

Compare and contrast that with muddy banks, salt marshes and shallow esturine rivers with +15ft tidal ranges back in Wivenhoe, Essex. They don't know how lucky they are; so watch out if I ever race you in your bit of the sea.

Man Sailing and Gunships

Last Sunday's sailing was tough and I have classed it as proper man sailing - apologies to all women sailors!

The Barman and I had the boat going to Brightlingsea and once the estuary opened up we got the Xenon going like a speedboat. Now the forecast said it was going to be a managable F4 wind which was perfect; unfortunately it was much stronger. On return and checking the Brightlingsea Sailing Club website (see above) we had been out in a F6 gusting +30 knots.

When we started to plane off Brightlingsea, I have to admit I was starting to get a little scared, not necessarily because of the wind but the size of the waves that we started to hit and the fast approaching shoreline directly ahead of us. To add to the man-sailing day an Apache AH64 gunship flew overhead as we were bombing along looking cool.

Now the real challenge was getting 8km back up river and maintaining control (i.e. not capsizing); as a result my tacks became real girly (I've made my apologies already).

Problems came when we found a mud bank opposite Arlesford Creek and came to a sharp halt; I had managed to get the nose pointing back down wind before both centre board and the rudder had to come up.  We then found ourselves on a very difficult to control run in a foot of water, all lines on the rudder snapped again(!) and the tiller looked like it was going to break as I tried to keep us straight - it started not to be so much fun. I wasn't able to get the rudder back down properly so we had to limp the last 4km back in to Wivenhoe. All in all an exciting and challenging sail.

Update on dress in the boat - it is time for wetsuits.

Tealeaf in Wivenhoe

Wivenhoe has a traditional village feel about it and it is a very desirable place to live. There is a tea room, couple of pubs, spectacular views down the Colne River and always some type of community event going on. In other parts of this blog there is a video Dylan Winter has taken showing the fantastic waterfront.

All is not well though at the sailng club and not all local residents are as charming as the town they live in. Somewhere out there someone is pilfering the cruisers in the sailnig club - this evening  a boat was discovered to have been raided even though it was on a mooring (albeit was in the mud at low tide) and last weekend a 4hp motor was pinched.

Sounds like we are in a den of thieves but fortunately it is only likely to be 1 or 2 people the town genuinely is a very charming place.

Topper Xenon and Endeavour Championships

I could hardly own a Topper Xenon and not make mention of the RCYC Endeavour Championship.

Well, here goes - The RCYC Endeavour Championship is a unique event in the UK dinghy sailing world, recognised by the RYA as the pinnacle of that year's dinghy sailing achievements which will hail a "Champion of Champions". Held on the tidal waters of the rivers Crouch and Roach every October, it's an invitation only three day event, with the guest-list hand-picked from National Champions of selected fleets.

Once the year-long preparations for the event are complete, the Topper pantechnicon arrives in Burnham containing thirty 'box-fresh' Xenons and the Topper technicians (dogs-bodies) who prepare the boats for the competitors. The Friday is a training day of Olympic standards when the entrants get the chance to familiarise themselves with the dinghy that may help to them to realise their dream "...over the hallowed waters of the Rivers Crouch and Roach". The Saturday and Sunday is a relentless progression of eight races, whatever the weather...

So I wait for my invitation and see if I am able to swap Xenons for a slightly newer model...October right? I'll save the date!

So why a Topper Xenon for this event?.......the continuing choice of the Xenon for the Endeavour Championships solves two problems at a stroke. Previous entrants considered that the RS400 (the previous boat) was a handful for lighter crews and there were occasional difficulties with availability. The Xenon's crew weight is pitched between 18 and 24 stone and Topper continues to supply all the boats so entrants need only arrive in the dinghy park to find a boat awaiting them (cheers easy).

hmmm.... at this point all I will say is my crew and I need to loose some weight...picture above is from http://rodtinsley.co.uk/ and is of Steve Tylecote and Toby Lewis who won in 2007. Looks just like me and the Barman.

ps. look how flat they have the boat

Topper Xenon's Cunningham not Downhaul

Sailing parlance can be very confusing at times as the same thing onboard can be called a number of different names (e.g. a kicker, boom vang, gnav, thingme giggy etc). When learning to sail this doesn't help your speedy understanding of the technicalities of sail setting. Another example is the downhaul; on the Topper Xenon which is called a cunningham!

The cunningham differs from a typical downhaul in the way that it attaches to the sail. The system usually consists of a line which is secured at one end to the mast or boom below the foot of the mainsail. It is then passed through a cringle in the luff of the sail near the foot, but above the tack, and then led down on the other side to a fitting on the mast or boom or on deck.

It is named after its inventor, Briggs Swift Cunningham II, a victorious America Cup skipper, who was a yacht builder and sailor, as well as being a racecar enthusiast, driver, team owner, and racecar owner and builder. The yacht, Columbia, was led to victory by Cunningham in the America Cup competition of 1958. Briggs was inducted into the America Cup Hall of Fame in 1993. He is also in the international and American motorsports halls of fame and when innovating devices for yachting, called on the specialized talents of automobile racing friends to solve problems such as metal stress and selection.

There you go!

Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has begun arriving in Hull marina, with the race starting on the 13 September 2009, it runs from Hull to Hull round the World. The reason why it is interesting is because the stripped down 68ft racing yachts are crewed by amateurs (like me), also each yacht is named after a sponsoring city, region or country.

So it must be very popular right? All you have to do is sign up at the web site here and they send you a pack!

http://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/index.php/take_part

The cynic within me thinks there must be a catch here - it can't be that easy - fill in the form - do the training - go on the race around the World.... I'd do it tomorrow ..

I think the catch is somewhere along the line someone (you?) will need to pay for the fun you have and I bet it's not cheap. Someone let me know...

Wivenhoe Sailing Club - Open Day - Exhibition

Not only do I sail, but I also paint!

Wivenhoe Sailing Club is holding its annual open day this weekend and as part of that they are having an art exhibition in the club house. Can I strongly recommend all readers to come down (with their wallets) and buy one or all of my paintings. There will be more next year if they are all gone by the time you get there.

I'll try and get some better images up as I do admit my phone camera which took the photo below is crap (thanks O2).

The picture here is of a fisherwoman painting her boat on the beach at Aldeburgh.

Hiking out

So in principal we all agree that to balance the boat is important especially when on a close haul...centre board stays deep keeping the boat pointing upwind as much as possible and it does not act as a rudder trying to turn the boat...right!!

Also, we agree that the proper technique for hiking is legs straight and back slightly bent to get the weight out with as little effort as possible.....this works for me at the helm as the Topper Xenon does not have any cosy area for the helm to sit and it's great to stretch the legs....

What I have found in my 1x season as a skipper/helmsman is the tendancy of some new crews not to not want to lean over the edge of the boat and get their weight out but a preference to lie across the middle (i.e. feet against one side of the boat and head at other which is possible in a Xenon as it is about 2m wide).

BALANCE THE BOAT they'll hear me say.

Anyway here is an excellent article on what I am on about   http://www.uiowa.edu/~sail/skills/racing_basics/chap4.shtml @ Mark Johnson

Capsizing Drills in a Topper Xenon

It happened again last weekend with my Father as we sailed up the River Colne...the shame...!

We went over on a tack, which was interesting as the dinghy has come near to doing this before with other novice crew. I am beginning to have a theory as to how this might happen - beyond blaming myself.

Firstly the cleats that hold the jib sheets on the Topper Xenon often out-fox novice crew who I have seen have difficulty releasing them. When on a close haul the jib is set very tight and so is the cleat holding the jib-sheet. Coming round on a close haul tack, if the sheet is not released properly the nose will continue to pull round and instead of being on a close haul (opposite tack) you will find yourself coming on to on a beam reach. Obviously with a tight main sail + slow speed over you go. So, lessons to be learned are as follows...

• Teaching your crew how to operate the cleats and warning them of consequences if they get it wrong.
• Helmsmen don't be lazy and be ready to let the main sail go if things go wrong on the tack (i.e. take it off the cleat).

Finally, make sure you explain in detail what you want the crew to do when you go over. Novice crew have a tendency not to want to go in the water (quite understandable really), but the Topper Xenon floats very high on its side and with the crew trying to clamber desperately up the inside, the boat is inclined to turtle making it harder to right.

• Tell them to get in the water and swim to the back to hang on to the toe straps).
• Always be nice to the Romford Navy, speedboats and barges as you may need their help one day.

Brightlingsea One Design

My lack of original content and poor prose show up badly when compared to professionals like Dylan Winter. I came across another video he did as it had some Topper Xenons in sailing at Brightlingsea. Anyway it gives a great impression of what it's like where the Colne River opens up and what they look like underway.

The Brightlingsea One Design (BOD) is a big feature of this video and is similar to the Wivenhoe One Design (WOD) but bigger!

Anyway - here is how the pros do their video blogs.....

Topper Xenon Launching at Wivenhoe

I finally have created some content of my own. Here is my father and I taking the Xenon out for his first sail on her from Wivenhoe to Colchester and back up the River Colne. I chose what I thought was a safe passage, but yes we did have an incident on the way!!...more later.

Forgive the music, I was under a bit of time pressure to get this 'out there'

Xenon Handicap and others

In a sop to the search engines I am going to put in a post that covers the PY Handicaps of the Topper Xenon and others who I race against.....


Topper Zenon - 1070 (with Trapeze??)

Laser - 1078

Wayfarer - 1099

Topaz - 1212

Mirror - 1365

Wivenhoe One Design - ????

A list of the most popular fleet boats can be found here thanks to the RYA. What is not clear to me is how the Trapeze option impacts the handicap. I think that the handicap above is with the Trapeze operating. I don't have a harness yet so I believe that I am probably getting penalised with a too high a handicap at club races.....hmmm very interesting I must find out more as this could make some big changes to my race results..!

Laser Blogger ?

I'm not the only one that blogs about trying to sail. This chap is interesting, he's 60+ and it appears be sails one of those pesky lasers that I am always trying to beat ...

Actually I have been a little cruel and linked his entry about hating Laser sailors... I don't really I promise!

http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2006/07/seven-reasons-to-hate-laser-sailors.html

Dinghy Racing - Long Distance Race

We had the long distance dinghy race last weekend; the Barman my usual crew was not able to make it due to work commitments but his very experienced father volunteered to replace him; Father of the Barman now known as FB.

I thought it was going to be a walk-over but 4 other boats did eventually enter into the long-distance dinghy race. End result we came 3rd and that includes with the handicap. The 2 boats we left way way back were a Wivenhoe One and a Mirror.

What was slightly disappointing was the margin by which we were beaten by another Wivenhoe One and a pesky Laser. We did expect to do much better and were slightly disappointed. FB did have some good sailing tips. The issue we have is that there is very little knowledge within the club about how to sail a boat like the Topper Xenon.

Being the observant helmsman and having had a few crew on board, I have noticed a couple of things where the manual differs (see http://zambezishark.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-sail-topper-xenon.html) from the habits of experienced crew used to sailing other types of boat.

These are (when going upwind)

• tension tight on jib
• lots tension on cunningham

I also notice that there are a number of opinions as to where the telltales should go. Some say both fly horizontally across, others having the inside flicking upwards (as per http://zambezishark.blogspot.com/2009/07/where-should-telltails-go.html)

We were a new team and areas that we could have improved were around handling of the spinnaker. We struggled at times and perhaps should have borne away from a straight run to build up speed on more of a reach angle. This will come with practice I am sure. What is not certain either is whether the jib should furl when the spinnaker is up? Marketing pictures from Topper all show it up - I'll have to check some more neutral snaps but I reckon the jib can stay up.

Finally disappointing as it was, there are a whole host of other reasons why we did not do as well...

• other helmsman was a previous national champion on Enterprises (apparently)
• there is a tidal channel through the course of River Colne which I don't know very well yet
• we grounded on the mud
• my first season
• luck

Anyway if there are other sailors of Topper Xenons please add your top tips in the comments section below.

Laser Vago Planning

There is a dire lack of videos out there of what a Topper Xenon looks like when it is planning. To give a clue of how the Barman and I looked (albeit briefly) before we capsized I found this video with a reasonably similar looking boat. It does take a bit of skill to do this and they are not out for their first sail.

The Xenon is slightly larger and I believe has a slightly lower handicap (just) - it starts getting picky when you try to decide whether it is with or without trapeze.

Have a look....

Hydroptere - World's Fastest Sailing Boat

No it is sadly not my little dinghy.

Sadly it is also a French boat - honestly I thought we invented everything. :)

So what is it?

The World's fastest sailing boat is the Hydroptere - a hydrofoil trimaran giant. If they ever want me have a go on it and make a report I am ready.

Reading about it on the web it has apparently hit an amazing 61 knots!!! However I see that back in December 2008 it made the headlines when it hit that amazing speed and wiped out!! Look at the link below and see the pics! To right such a massive boat it had to be towed to shore.

http://catsailingnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/hydroptere-61knots-and-huge-crash-with.html

http://yachtpals.com/hydroptere-4036

Trapeze required for Xenon

I have being mulling over how we came to capsize the Xenon and how we could have avoided it - thoughts are with me still because I am only just loosing the stiffness and bruises I developed last Sunday.

Given that from the weather station records it was blowing F5/F6, and we, without a care in the World, popped the spinnaker up on a dinghy, I think we were pushing it. It was a very gentle blow over and it makes me think that we might have been able to avoid it if The Bar Man, my loyal crewman, had had a harness for the trapeze kit.

If anyone knows of one going, let me know!

How to Capsize a Topper Xenon

I finally capsized the Topper Xenon with the Barman!

Today was a damn good outing - HW was at approx 4pm and we launched at about 2:45pm from Wivenhoe Sailing Club. May be it was a little ominous but I botched the start again - need to get the rudder down faster so I get control of the boat before we get blown into the mud in front of the club house. Knee deep in mud we had a second launch and were much more successful.

The pic above shows how good the wind was - we were out on the peaks. It's on days like this you need a warm-up program as you get a proper workout as the invisible hand (called the wind) flicks the sails with its finger randomly. At 3:45pm we were opposite Bateman's Tower at Brightlingsea (took about 50min - remember we had a botched start). Hmm seems we were averaging 6 m.p.h. which is not too bad - feels faster!

There were a couple of skiers about and oddly enough the RNLI were attending a boat on the east shore.

We had turned and were heading back when it all happened. We tried to line the boat up for a mega down-the-river-gybe with the spinnaker up all the way. We were just about on the plain as it was but this was going to be even faster - sadly not. Only a couple of minutes after we had the spinnaker up, we were over powered by the wind and into the Colne River we went - salty yum.

So we are in the water. Initially puffing because of the cold. All of a sudden the boat is massive - only our heads are above the water and the boat towers high-up floating on its side. We have to right her. I swim round the back and the dagger board is above my head at the top of my arms reach. I get both hands on. Kicking my feet and hauling myself up I get laid across feet still in the water. Nothing happens. Slowly it starts to move towards me and we shout at each other as it comes up straight. Sails up and wind blowing it starts to race off and blows over again. This time worse. The mast starts to sink and she begins to turtle. This is not good. Our arms are aching as we try to haul ourselves out of the water and right the boat. It starts again but blows over. We keep going and getting tired fast curse not going to the gym enough. A speedboat approaches and offers help. They haven't a clue what to do. We need to get the nose to the wind when we right her. A rope is tied to the front and it hauls the nose towards the wind. Another young guy pitches up in a speedboat but he is on his own and useless. We start again. Tired, it's getting harder and I understand how people get too exhausted to do anything. It works though and I try to get over the side. It's too difficult now and I go over the transom at the back instead. I bring down all the sails. The Barman needs hauling on board, he's tired out as well. We re-organise the sails. Thank the speedboat people and get on our way. We are knackered.

It's not over though as we have a few miles to do.

However this is when the good bit happens. All the time I thought I had been on the plain previously were mistaken. We were hurtling along when all of a sudden the boat lifted up above the water and we had a significant turn of speed - WOW it made it all worth it.

There are many lessons learned here - see my coming blog about gennakers (!) - but I would recommend if you are going to do daring things with dinghies and they are 10ft+ it is well worth getting a mast float. Next time I go out, I need to take the mast down and wash the top where it scooped mud from the bottom of the River Colne (meconium style [er....look it up]).

Why a Topper Xenon?

Press and reviews of the Topper Xenon often make referrence to its 'stylish looks' and this was repeated to me recently at the sailing club. I started a conversation about why I had originally bought the 'Zambezi Shark'.

Initially it was not on my radar what-so-ever. I had trained on a Wayfarer and had been using the sailing club's Toper Topaz. The Toper Topaz is a small boat and at the most is designed to take one adult and one child. This ruled it out of my selection criteria as I had visions of taking Mrs Hook out one day.

The Wayfarer was looking like a good option - it was very stable, reliable, kept its value and could fit at least 4 people in. I knew how it worked and everyone said what a good boat it was. There were a few niggles though. All the boats I saw 2nd hand had kept their value just a bit too much and for a boat 10+ years old prices were £1500++. I thought this was too much given the maintainence that I would potentially need to do. Also the matter of style started to come into it - the older Wayfarers, within the range of the boat-fund looked horrible. There were too many home made paint jobs.

Some might say that you shouldn't buy a good boat to start off with. I disagree. Buy the best you can. It's a sport that you have got to commit to. I had nightmare visions of buying a boat and growing out of it very quickly, wishing I had somethig better. If you are new to sailing and you know it is what you want to do, get the best you can so you can enjoy it more.

Having raced for a few months on theTopaz, I had another requirement and that was speed. The Wayfarer was well out of it now and after further research I went to check out a Topper Xenon. I would have looked at more boats, but it was so good looking that as soon as I saw it, it made me buy her. Considerations were...

• Size
• Speed
• Cost
• Looks

This blog is not sponsored by Topper, but if they want to send me some £ .....

How to sail the Topper Xenon

Here is some useful information for me and my crew to remember when sailing the Zambezi Shark (aka Topper Xenon) - particularly the Barman, as we were definitely rusty during Friday evening's pursuit race er....or was it just me??

The aim this course is of course to beat those pesky Lasers. BTW everything below comes from the Topper manual so must be true..

Upwind
For a medium wind (crew sitting out hard, but able to sheet the mainsail to the centreline) you should be able to use maximum power. Use very little or no cunningham. The outhaul should be set so that there is about a 3in (7-8cm) gap between mainsail foot and boom at the point of maximum chord. Try to keep the boom on the centreline, provided that the boat remains flat.

The jib can be eased about 1-2in (5-10cm) from maximum tightness for optimum performance. As the wind increases, reduce the power in the mainsail by pulling down on the cunningham progressively until the boat feels comfortable and balanced again. If you have tell tales on the leech, use enough gnav to keep them flying.

For very windy conditions flatten the main by tightening the outhaul, tensioning the cunningham further (with a fully-battened sail this has the effect of flattening the sail without pulling the fullness forward and can therefore be used much more than with a conventional mainsail). Sit out hard and sail free.

In light airs, use little or no gnav to allow the leech to open.

Tacking
Be aware that with a fully-battened sail the power comes on very fast after the tack. Do not over steer with the rudder as you will find yourself on a reach. Do not sheet in hard immediately, with either main or jib, until the boat has picked up speed after the tack. Whenever the boat slows down it pays to ease sheets, bear off a couple of degrees and then oint up again once the boat has regained speed. In light winds, when about to tack, make sure that there is some gnav tension, as this will help the battens to flick across. Ease the sheet a few inches before tacking. A sharp pull when you reach the new tack will also help the battens across.

Downwind
With an asymmetric Spinnaker, large distances can be gained (and lost!) very quickly. It is essential to keep the boat traveling at the optimum speed and direction towards the next mark. This direction will vary according to the wind strength. In light airs, at displacement speeds, where sailing higher will not result in a great increase in speed, it pays to sail low towards the mark. In marginal planing conditions, sailing higher will allow the boat to plane and the consequent increase in speed help to offset the extra distance traveled. The boat can be sailed progressively lower as the wind strength increases.

Just when to sail high or low and at what precise angles will come only with experience, so keep practicing. The crew can have a better idea of the correct angle to sail by feeling the power in the spinnaker sheet. Allow the crew to call the pressure. Sail as low as possible, keeping the pressure on, unless there are overriding tactical considerations.

Gybing
An asymmetric Spinnaker is far easier to gybe than a conventional spinnaker and takes no longer than tacking. Ideally you should always gybe when the boat is traveling at maximum speed as there is less pressure on the sails. It therefore pays to gybe 'reachto- run'.

If you try to slow down and gybe 'run-to-run' the spinnaker pulls the top of the mast forward, making the boat unstable and less controllable. The additional air pressure will make the mainsail harder to pull across. So be positive and gybe smoothly and at speed.

In strong winds you will probably have borne off so that, although the apparent wind still shows a broad reach, you are in fact running directly before the true wind. If you then try to gybe through your normal angle you will gybe on to a reach and be overpowered! So in strong conditions remember to gybe through a smaller angle. As with tacking, apply some gnav tension and Cunningham when gybing in light airs to help the battens flick across.

Navy visit the River Colne

That is of course the Romford Navy!

During the warm-summer weekends, the Romford Navy invade the River Colne. They are generally not popular with the Sailing Set as they don't have any appreciation of the sea, go too fast in 5mph areas, create huge wakes and come too close to us little guys in dinghies. Oh yes, they all seem to have a jet ski in tow which don't seem to have any point except make noise.

Okay, okay!.... being the owner of a sailing craft I am a little bias. Actually I don't mind our Navy friends as it makes for interesting sailing going past to see what they are doing on board.

The expression Romford Navy made me chuckle when I first heard it - blame the Bar Man. The expression can be found by doing a Google search or looking at a site called Urbandictionary. The definition is far too rude for me to link to with all my family readers. :)

To all the none-UK readers of this blog, Romford Navy is a degenerative term for uncouth Londoners who have more money than sense and drive big boats - slang!

East Coast Sailing Clubs

It has been said that the Essex & Suffolk Coast with the River Colne, River Crouch, River Blackwater, River Stour, River Orwell and River Deben offer some of the most interesting sailing in the UK. From the preponderance of sailing clubs in this area, one might agree. The map below highlights locations where some of these can be found.

On the map above at 'B', is a marina and the Bradwell Outdoor Centre. Here Essex County Council run an Outdoor Centre for 'yoofs' and adults alike and is where last year, I completed my RYA 1 & 2 dinghy sailing course. Slightly disconcerting is a disused nuclear power plant which over looks the area.

Another interesting place is of course 'H', Wivenhoe Sailing Club out of which I launch the Zambezi Shark (aka Topper Xenon). I am told we all become very good sailors here as we deal with the shifting and frequently light winds, the shallow water, tides and narrow channel.

Finally at Tollsbury there is again also a marina and sailing/yacht club combo. This place has special memories for me as when Mrs Hook and I reconnoitered sailing clubs to to park my new big boat (it was a before the recession) I parked the new BMW on a road near the marina office to return 40 minutes later to find it in fast rising 6 inches of sea water.

I am not the only one who this happens to. Visitors to West Mersea (very smart website) will frequently see cars parked too close to the rising sea and owners too ensconced in fine dinning or too new to the sea to realise what is about to happen.

Sailing and Fishing

I have been interested in the idea of fishing off the back of my Topper Xenon. I have however come to the conclusion that the style of dinghy makes it totally impracticable. Unlike a Wayfarer it is impossible to drop the main and wrap it up round the boom. Since I have a gnav and not a vang (American I know, should be called a kicker), when the main sail comes down, the boom does as well leaving the deck covered in sail and boom. The advantage however is that when the main sail is up, there is more room on deck. This might mean I am better off fishing whilst underway, perhaps some type of trawling with a line and spinner on the end, the sort of thing you see in the Pacific when line catching tuna - idle thoughts I know when in Essex.

Here's a chap called Blakdog who fishes on the Colne River; I'll keep an eye on to see if there is anything worth catching http://seaanglersnotebook.blogspot.com/2009/05/batemans-tower-brightlingsea-essex.html

Parts of a Sail

Since I am blogging about sails and trying to sound knowledgeable about how I know what each bit is called, here is the secret - a picture taken from Wikipedia with luff, leech, roach, battens, head, clew foot and tack all identified. It was a mystery to me where all these bits were until I had to start taking more notice of what the sail is meant to be doing....

Where should the Telltails go?

It is some time since I completed my RYA 1 & 2 dinghy sailing course. It is on these courses that you learn and prompty forget what things like the telltales should be doing to get you going as fast as possible. To prove my point, when last out on the River Colne, just short of Bateman Tower, even the Bar Man, my experienced crew could not remember.

After a few months of sailing I have now mastered the ability to look up at my sails and make a vague judgement as to their worth. Having spotted the telltales I felt it was the next thing to master in my quest to beat the Lasers.

Once you have the jib trimmed correctly, you can start steering the boat, using the telltales as guides. If the outside telltale "piddles," this means the sail is overtrimmed for the direction of the wind on the boat. You don't want to let the sail out, so you must head up. This, in effect, retrims the sails, except instead of bringing the sails in, you "brought the whole boat in."

If the inside telltale piddles constantly, or if the sail luffs (actual luffing, or just an inversion at the front edge of the sail), the jib is undertrimmed. You don't want to crank in more on the sheet, so you must retrim by bearing off.

Your goal is to make the outside tale flow straight back and the inside tale "lift" occasionally, meaning some air is getting to it, but not all the time. If you don't know how often the inside tale should be lifting, err on the side of too often. It's better to have too much air flowing along the inside edge of the sail, than not enough.

So Lasers, with this and the Roll Tack, you had better watch out.

The next intreguing issue about the sails is to understand what the telltales on the leech-edge of the mainsail are meant to do...

Roll Tack

Back to the serious issue of dinghy boat racing!


I mentioned before that we seem to loose a lot of distance when tacking against the Lasers and I think I now know why. Many reasons.... but principally it is too much rudder. Sounds odd as you would anticipate wanting to turn as fast as you can to pick up the wind for the next leg.

This weekend when on board the Topper Xenon with the Bar Man, we did some reasonably quick tacks and it was noticeable to me at helm that the boat seriously digs in on the corners and slows down (Chine technology?). I had heard of a roll tack but couldn't remember quite what it was.

That was until now.....

Roll Tacking Basics (video at end!!)

Roll tacking is a method for getting the boat through a tack quickly, without losing much speed or ground. Listed below are three basic advantages to a roll tack, which is used primarily in light air when boatspeed out of a tack is important. However, keep in mind this is not the end-all, be- all of dinghy racing. The best roll tacks in the world do not guarantee a win, and sometimes they can blow your concentration if they are used before you have mastered them.

• Roll Tacking Basics Heel the boat to leeward about 10 degrees. This initial heel allows the boat to turn itself, cutting down on the rudder usage necessary to initiate the tack. Don't heel the boat too far. The object is to turn the boat slowly enough so you can control the tack. During this step, you should be able to let the tiller extension slip through your hand, with the hull of the boat doing all the work.

• As the boat starts to come down on you, rock it hard to windward. Timing is important in this step. The goal here is to help the boat do what it wants. The biggest mistake you can make is to try to roll the boat too soon, "squashing" the tack, finding yourself head to wind, or on the same tack on which you started. This mistake costs much more than a regular tack would (and it feels horrible). Wait until the jib luffs and the boat feels as though it wants to come down on top of you. Then rock it hard. Rocking the boat to windward may feel funny, as though you're going to capsize. However, it's important to rock it this way. Sometimes the boat will stop the rock on its own, if you don't help. In fact, it may be good to practice this maneuver until you capsize a few times. If you're afraid of capsizing, your tacks will be mediocre. You must get the feel for how far you can go.

• The purpose for this step is to get the sail through the tack as quickly as possible. Notice that, usually when you're tacking, there is a long period of time where the sail luffs through the tack. This step will alleviate that luffing, with a telltale "pop" of the sails.
  Once the boat is on the new tack, and still heeled up from the rock, flatten it quickly. This is the heart of the roll tack. The rock should have put the rail of the boat in the water. Now, when you flatten it, you are pulling the sails through the air, effectively increasing the wind speed over them. This gives you a nice push forward, accelerating you out of the tack. Note the position of the sails. They should be trimmed in during the flattening, but not all the way. When this "wind" is created, it acts as a lift, so the sails should be eased slightly. Then, when the boat is flat and up to speed, trim in the sails to pointing mode again.

• This flattening should be done after the sails fill, but as soon after the rock as possible. With the boat up on its ear at 45 , it will slip sideways very quickly. Just watch someone who doesn't flatten immediately. They will lose a lot of distance to leeward, much more quickly than you would think.

That can sound quite complicated if you are not used to nautical terms so here's a video demo.



Could the Bar Man confirm we're okay to do this next outing and I'll report back of progress against the Lasers.

Ipswich Dock

Sailing on the East Coast isn't all muddy banks, creeks and difficult-to-navigate rivers. Yesterday on a blazing summer's day I found myself at Ipswich Dock which is or has been one of the largest regeneration projects in the East of England....!

Mrs Hook and I boarded the Il Punto, which is "a renown French Brasserie alfloat and moored alongside Neptune Quay at Ipswich Marina".

The food was fantastic and so was the service. My only complaint was the weather was just too hot!! Anyway this made it impossible to tell that we were still on "Mud Island" and it was very easy to imagine being in Antibes again (which by the way has a very interesting looking Yacht Show).

Unfortunately this has rekindled my interest in getting a bigger boat to sail on.

Lunitidal Interval

Even Pirates have Birthdays; fortunately Mrs Hook has taken very seriously my woes about crossing the start-line last everytime. I now have a sailing watch to rectify this! [thank you Mrs Hook]

Now it is not only the countdown alarm which is going to be useful for telling when to cross the startline, but it has the very handy facility that shows you what the tide is where you sail. From my earlier blogs you'll know it is very important to get this right. All I had to do was input

1. GMT Differential +0.0


2. Longitude 1'0333'' E
   
3. Lunitidal Interval ??
   

If you are like me you'll have no idea what the Lunitidal Interval is and why should you because I don't think anyone does unless they buy a watch that displays what level the tide is at.

Still guessing? [so am I]

The Lunitidal Interval is the average time difference between when the
moon passes over a time meridian and the following high or low tide. If the time meridian referenced is the local time meridian, then the lunitidal intervals are called the "Local Intervals." If the time meridian referenced is the Greenwich meridian, the lunitidal intervals are called the "Greenwich Intervals."

Generally, the manufacturers of such items use the Local Intervals for their calculations. Our office does not track or maintain the
Local Intervals; we calculate and track the Greenwich Intervals for various locations. This information can be found in the Datums
section of our website.

The Greenwich Intervals we provide can be converted to the Local Interval using the following formula: Local Interval = GI - (0.069 * L)
Where L is the longitude for the location in degrees. West longitudes are positive; East longitudes are negative.Example: 122 degrees 23.7 minutes West would be
122.395 degrees. (23.7 / 60 = 0.395)
Longitude for a station is available from the Accepted Datums page by using the link provided for further station information. Where GI is the Greenwich Interval. To calculate the High Tide Local Interval, use the Greenwich Mean High Water Interval in Hours from the Accepted Datums page. To calculate the Low Tide Local Interval, use the
Greenwich Mean Low Water Interval in Hours.

Some products will require the Local Interval to be a positive number. You can convert a negative interval to a positive by adding 12.42 to the result.For example, if your interval calculated to be -4.11; you could also use 8.31 (-4.11 + 12.42 = 8.31)

The Highest Tide normally refers to the highest tide for a particular year. For practical purposes, there is no single "highest tide" for a year. Depending on the location, there will be between 2 and 8 days during the year when the high tide is at it highest predicted height for that year (with a precision of 0.1 foot). We do not attempt to track which day(s) this will occur on as the date and time may be different for each location. You may determine the date of the "highest tide" for your uses from the High/Low Tide Predictions section of our wesbite. After selecting the station you are interested in, you will be provied the times and heights of the high and low tides for that location through the entire year. In general, the highest high tides and lowest low tides occur around the dates of the New Moon and Full Moon; these are known
as the "spring tides". Dates of the New Moon and Full Moon can be found in the Astronomical Data section of our website.

Insurance

Insurance one of those things you wish you didn't have to bother about. Well actually you don't but taking that decision means that you accept the risks, that's how it works.

Now I read this last week about a chap who was stopping at every port in the UK as he circum-navigated Britain. Unfortunately he came a cropper when he ran aground in Dorset and the yacht was a right-off. Apparently he had no insurance and had a load of cash onboard to sustain him on his trip.

Click here to see...

Video - Colne Estuary

I found some more clips on YouTube and think they are great. They show where I sail, all thanks to Dylan Winter (dylan.winter@virgin.net) - no I don't know him, but just giving credit where it's due!

Video - Wivenhoe to Colchester

Blimey - the water where I sail is famous and appears on YouTube!!

I found this video on YouTube which pretty much follows last Sunday's race. I reckon it was taken one of those weeks where I was unable to race - some of the boats are in the pictures Mrs Hook took on Sunday.

I am now blessed with a wealth of new facts about where I live; Mrs Hook's parents will not be pleased that Britain's largest recorded earth quake took place where they live and I also know why I described the turning at the buoy 'the arse of Colchester' - you'll have to watch the video to see why. Finally looks like I might need to move to Rowhedge!!

Handicap System

I have discovered that it is not just enough to have the most pointy-fastest boat in the club. There is another thing called the handicap system which I must over-come.

Today's race took us up to the Ancient Roman Port of Hythe, yes up to King Edwards Quay in Colchester (who would have thought that Colchester has a port). In short, lovely sail through green fields to finally turn at the dirty arse Colchester bit. If someone dredged that bit at the top where we turned, there is a fortune to be made out of the marina that could be there. Instead Colchester has opted for the VAF further into town - read the link, I know which one I'd prefer.

Anyway, all was going well until we reached the inevitable turn. Another nautical lesson learned here about which object you refer to in sentences when going around port side - to me it is ambiguous as it could be either the boat or the buoy. As race rules stipulate, having gone round the wrong side, I had to perform a 360 spin - time lost but not too bad. We were still doing well and were vying for the lead. Unfortunately another disaster struck when we hit the mud, became becalmed and drifted into low hanging branches. We crossed the finish line 2nd, but the handicap system meant the Mirror that came last actually won.

So the handicap system is something I will learn to deal with in the next few races; for me and my crew (here on known as The Barman), we both agreed that we would prefer to cross the finish line 2nd than last.

BTW - going round port side means port side of the boat (I think my mind is set to look at everything from a different perspective).

Wivenhoe Regatta 2009

Last week it was hot, hotter than the Med....er probably.

Unfortunately I couldn't get out on the boat because tides, crew and my flight to Edinburgh check-in time could not be co-ordinated. However I did manage to have a meander round the Wivenhoe Regatta and take some snaps. It was a great day for sailing and I found myself quite jealous of the boats going by - there was a good breeze and was a gorgeous day.

The Wivenhoe One design is a boat and feature of the day. I always find it strange even though a small number were built, (about 20) they attract such enthusiasm from their owners and they have been kept going for so long. FYI they are the smaller looking boats with the red and white flag (burgee) on the sail. The others are 100 year old smacks that are sailed in the Essex, Thames area.

2x Races 1x Weekend

This weekend, with much anticipation, the Zambezi Shark was entered into her first race. To start the picture on the right is not us (but could be!).
Becalmed in the scorching sun we took 20 minutes to cross the start line. So far so good 'cos we were actually in front. However it appears I need to work harder on my tacking as a couple of those pesky little Laser boats got away when we reached this part of the course.

On the return leg we popped open the spinnaker for the first time and it was AWESOME - had we had another 1000 yards would have pipped those Lasers. We came 3rd out of about 8(?). My spinnaker is black btw.

Monday (today) we came 2nd but perhaps because of the effect of the previous day, the 4am feed of King Alfred and the drinking at the-night-before-BBQ I was a little knackered. No spinnaker this time as we were being overpowered by the main - my race buddy and I now want a harness for the trapeze.

During a long weekend, racing twice is a sure way to appear absent from the family; future weekends like this will need to require negotiation with the Wife,

Winter Series with Topper Topaz

The Winter Series at Wivenhoe was where it all began. It looks very placid on the day these particular pictures were taken - a very pleasant easy sail for my first outing. On the 28 Dec 2008 it was a different story. It was slightly more windy and holding in a skin-full during a run-ashore with Kenneth the Land Lubber the previous evening; I subsequently capsized, cracked a rib and DNF the race.

Brave 3rd Sail

Sunday, 17 May 2009

"Er...Captain Hook, have you seen the weather report?", my new sailing buddy asked on the phone.

"Of course! Of course! I checked and it was a F5 and I'm positive that it is going to die down by this evening"

"Er...okay as long as you're happy...Ray who knows at the club says winds are 50m.p.h...."

Pah!...Seemed fine to me when I checked on the net a week before.

In between meeting my buddy at the club house I took the wife for a driving lesson and found a beach further up the coast at St Osyth. We parked and stepped out to look over the sea wall. HOLY COW!! - it really was blowing a gale and there were massive waves crashing into the beach. This was no time for cowards or to show any fear!!!

Launch time 5:30pm (high tide of course!!). Main sail reefed and jib furled (not for long though).
No problemo!!!.
Well I say no problem but because of the wind we were restricted to a 500 yard run in front of the club house.

It was brilliant though. We raced up and down that stretch like a speed boat and for the first time, I really was able to put the boat through a few of her paces - and she through mine.

Getting out the water...there's a challenge when the F5 gusting F7 is blowing straight towards the slipway. The answer is to come in as slow as possible, turn at the last moment and make use of all that lovely mud to land on - then dropping the sales as fast as you can.

Special note - New race-sailing buddy found. He knows what he is doing which helps on this machine.

Sinking Second Sail

10 May 2009

So, buoying with confidence I invited a mate from my MBA course for a sail on the new boat.

The sun was out, the sky was blue and winds very light. I carefully rigged the boat and got her in to the water. With my carefully acquired knowledge of when to launch and retrieve (high tide of course!!!) everything was going well.

Although the wind was light the Zambezi Shark responded well........as we continued though she got increasingly sluggish. Was it me? my new-to-sailing crew member who was pulling the jib sheets to tight? ....were the winds just too light?

A dinghy from an earlier race was passing the other way and I proudly looked across from the helm....something was wrong! They weren't gasping in awe at my good looking boat and the speed of travel; it suddenly hit me........

...the bung was still attached to the dangly string on the rudder and we had been taking on water for the last 40 minutes.

After leaning over the transom and putting the bung back, sailing was no longer any fun. With all the water in the hull we were incredibly unstable. We rolled back.

Again - it was damn difficult getting the boat out, this time because it was so full of water. At the top of the slipway we waited 25minutes for the water to drain out before we could move to clean and park-up.

I was annoyed and will have to endure the bung joke for months to come.

First Ever Sail

As we launched from Wivenhoe into the Colne River, the tide was in the last 1hr of ebbing, the wind was with us gusting maybe F4-5 so I put a reef in the main sail and we furled the jib. With all that it was the fastest I have ever gone down the river - in 20 min we had covered at least 4km toward the open sea, it was exhilarating. My crew member was slightly less enthusiatic, this not being his boat, at buoy 18 grateful for his work and commitment I turned back.

Going back was fine and easy until we hit the final bend in the river towards the slipway. With 500 yards to go the river became extremely shallow and narrow where we could actually sail. Additionally we had the wind blowing straight at us from between the gates of the flood barriers. Very hard work to follow; the centre board was up and down as we touched the bottom at the end of each tack; we subsequently were having to deal with being blown backwards and sideways. We came very close to having the nose being blow back and finding ourselves on a reach or a run - charging down stream not by our own volition!!!

Nose to wind we finally go to 30 yards from the slipway on the otherside of the river. We were able to beach here and walk her up - then a simple glide across.

Sounds simple, but it was not yet over yet. We were below the bottom of the slipway because the tide was so low. This meant there was 4m of thick uphill mud to get through before we reached the paving This was infact another obstacle as the lip was a foot higher than the mud. We were more wet inside our wetsuits.

Lesson learned!!

At low tide there is no way I can pull the boat up myself....and that was the most difficult part today, the low tide.

To all the future crew members reading this we will be launching and recovering at more favourable tides )I go through all this so you don't have to!!)