Racing practice (dinghy)

Departure: 1:00pm 5/15/2007
Return: 2:00pm
Weather conditions: Sunny, warm and windy
Tide: ebb??
Boat: Wee Blow
Crew: 1 Woody

Wow! That's just about all I can say about Tuesday's weather. Wow!

This area is a great area to sail, but it's not perfect. It's often cold, sometimes wet and the winds can be fluky. But sometimes....

Sometimes, everything can come together just right to make for a gorgeous day - perfect for sailing. That's what it was like on Tuesday. The temperatures were reaching into the upper 80's. The skies were clear and blue and the wind was nice and steady (probably around 7-10 knots). When days like this come along, I'm usually not expecting them and they quickly slip away like water from my hand.

But as luck, or fate, would have it, I'd chosen this particular day to practice sailing the Wee Blow for her first race. And so, I stumbled into the nicest sailing experience I could have hoped for. And I needed it.

Sailing a dinghy is quite different from sailing a larger keelboat. The center of gravity is higher, and without the additional ballast, the dinghy feels more unstable. It tips and wobbles about, and every time a gust of wind hits, you think you're about to go overboard. The Wee Blow is a good boat though. She's pretty stable for a dinghy, and she's roomy so moving around isn't as difficult as a smaller dinghy would be. Stability is only one difference however.

The Wee blow has a leeboard instead of a center board and so the forces acting on her don't line up in quite the same way. (A leeboard hangs off the side of the boat to act as a keel instead of sticking down from the middle). The result is a tendency to favor starboard tacks over port tacks. I also have trouble pointing as close to the wind as I would in a larger keelboat. The rigging could also use some improvements. Right now the main sheets leads from the tack of the sail (back lower corner) directly to my hand. I don't mind trimming the sail by brute force; that's sort of how dinghy's are. But, the angle of the sheet to the yard can sometimes be extreme and that multiplies the force needed to trim. I'm going to try and rig something better before the race.

Speaking of the race, I should probably share the details. It's a monthly series every Thursday in May at 6:25 sponsored by the Gig Harbor yacht Club (GHYC). They are just for fun, and open to all classes of boats. Sophia and I are going to race the Wee Blow this evening if our courage doesn't fail us.

We've never raced before. Well, actually two times with club boats and club members, but that was so casual it was hardly a race. it also involved only two boats. This will be many more. I've been reviewing racing rules, but there are too many. I'll never remember any of them.


I'll report on how it goes. In the meantime, enjoy the photos of the Wee Blow sailing.


The above image is supposed to be an animated picture of me leaving. it's not working on my browser, but I'm leaving it in for a bit in case others report that it's working for them. You'll know it's working if you see movement.