NSW State Titles Toronto Jan23,24

[tonyquoll]

Hi,

NSW Paper Tiger States this weekend!

Long range forecast from

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/hunter/toronto/forecast

Sat: 10 knots, lighter WSW swinging to stronger 20 knot SSW with chance of showers

Sun: 10knot SE increasing to 15 knot SE later in the day, also chance of showers

With ambition exceeding logistical limits as usual I'm hoping to take 2 boats all the way from Merimbula, after completing along list of repairs and upgrades (ha, as if!).

Will try and install helmet-cam & get some video & photos, for later production of Youtube race report.

Will also try and submit progress reports to this thread.

tonyquoll@yahoo.com

PT 2901 Tigerdelic

loaning 2128 Pelikinetic to Sean the Laser sailor from Sydney, go Team!

[tom]

Sounds like it should be a great weekend!

Hope you have a great time and i'm looking forward to seeing some of your footage..

[tonyquoll]

Preliminary report; full details to follow at end of series. Possibly 18 boats, but for example Pelikinetic snapped a rudder cross-bar on the first lap, so not sure if that counts as an entrant.

Race 1 was gusty, shifty NE to NW winds, ranging from 10 to 20 knots.

Ian Marcovich lead from the start and had built a massive lead by the end of the race. The battle for 2nd was closely contested by about 8 boats.

The fleet was split by wind, as boats heading to windward were stuck in a hole near the mark, while the lead boats raced off on a windy reach.

Personally in Race 1 I started a few minutes late, after rigging 2 boats, and being very last to leave the beach. Made up good ground on the first reach; screaming across the lake in a 20 knot gust which boats ahead missed. Seeing Pelikinetic in trouble I headed up the Port side of the 2nd windward leg, but realised I couldn't help so tacked towards the mark. A good karma wind gave me 10knots from the west, so I had a fast reach straight to the mark while everyone else worked. Moved upto 7th! Then somehow caught the mainsheet over the tiller extension and tangled my foot, so lost a lot of time on one tack. All good fun.

Race 2 had light, shifty winds, alternately swinging from NE to NW, with rare blasts straight from the West on one part of the course. It ranged from 0 to 10 knots.

The fleet was split again at the windward mark, and the tactics were all about staying in wind and timing tacks to go with windshifts.

After gettig in irons at the start I slowly moved up the field, leading the 2nd pack, in around 10 place. I saw Ian covering Kim Marcovich up the last windward leg, and think that was how they finished.

Race 3 was cancelled as the wind died out at th end of Race 2, with the last 1/2 of the fleet drifting over. Around 6pm the Southerly Buster hit, whitecaps seen all over the lake. Tomorrrow will be interesting!

[tonyquoll]

Congratulations to Kim Marcovich, NSW 2010 State Champion!

Race 4 (Sunday Morning) was held in shifty light winds, around 2 to 6 knots from the SE.

A shift right at the start gun favoured the port end, and there was more wind on the left side of the windward leg. However the mark was far right, making it a difficult decision on when to tack.

Kim was in the lead at the first mark and held it all race. Behind him there were many close battles, as each wind shift favoured some, or a stronger patch of breeze favoured others.

In a post-race interview, Ian said he was "asleep" at the start, which lead to him being at the tail on the first leg. A masterful display followed as he sailed through the fleet, overtaking boats all through the race to finish 5th.

Race 5 was similar, but with even lighter winds. As a flyweight I enjoyed great boatspeed and could pass the heavier guys, but for example Steve Halliday used great tactics to repeatedly pass back, and eventually cross in front at the line after a sustained battle.

B Grade winner Ralph Skea described the series well, saying "in the race where I came 2nd, I had the same speed as the lead boats. And in the race where I was at the back, the guys there were just as fast. With such even boat speed it really was upto the skipper to sail well to get a good result".

Here's the results:

(Place, name, boat,---Race 1, 2, 4, 5; Points)

1 Kim Marcovich "Broken Wind"----6, 2, 1, 1; 4

2 Ian Marcovich "Mojo"-------------1, 1, 5, 3; 5

3 Doug Matthews "Thumpa"-------9, 4, 4, 4; 12

4 Raplh Skea "Solitaire"------------4, 8, 2, 12; 14

5 Wayne Eager "Second Wind"----10, 3, 6, 5; 14

6 Neil Waterman "People Eater"----3, 5, 7, 10; 15

7 Jon Pinkerton "Johnny B Goode"-14, 6, 3, 7; 16

8 David Stumbles "Rapture"--------2, 7, 14, 8; 17

=9 Lance Maizey "Carbonated"-----7, 10, 11, 2; 19

=9 Steve Halliday "Dipsi Danis"----5, 11, 8, 6; 19

11 Tony Hastings "Tigerdelic"-----11, 9, 9, 11; 29

12 Bill Arthur "Out of Sight"-------12, DNF, 10, 9; 31

13 Troy Bennet "Wish Come True"-8, 12, 16, 14; 34

14 Andrew Holly "Happy Holly"---13, 13, 12, 15; 38

15 Bruce Proctor "Bean"---------DNF, 14, 13, 13; 40

16 Des Collins "Chicken Liver"---15, DNF, 17, 17; 49

17 Sean "Pelikinetic"-----------DNF, DNS, 15, 16; 50

18 Anthony Williams "Characin III"-DNSx4; 57

Due to fading wind the course was shortened in Race 2, with the finish boat parked near the windward mark. There was also a finish mark, some 20m further upwind. Boats that crossed between the bouy & boat, as normal in a shortened course, but did not cross between the finish mark and boat, scored DNF.

It would be fair to score Bill Arthur his 10th place finish in that race, reducing overall points to 29, and =11th with me. Good one Bill!

(Edited to add more detail)

[This message has been edited by tonyquoll (edited 27 January 2010).]

[humungus2]

Holey crap Ian,

You just can't take a trick.

maybe next year.

[tom]

Thanks for the reports. That looks like a VERY competitive fleet for a state titles.

Well done to Kim, sounds like it was a great regatta with a lot of different conditions.

[tonyquoll]

Transcript of Interview; Kim Marcovich [KM]

NSW Paper Tiger State Champion 2010

Interviewer Tony Hastings [TH]

TH: You won by winning both races today, where there was very light, very shifty winds…

KM: Yeah

TH: How did you know which way to go?

KM: Oh, well I looked at the fleet really. I saw what they were doing, to get an idea of where I needed to go as well. So I was managing myself off the fleet.

I had some really good starts though, made sure I had clear air at the start. And even if I might have been in front at the start, I made sure I looked back and sussed out, where the wind was coming from, but where was the main.. my main competitors going.

TH: right

KM: I knew to keep in line with them. So I strategically thought about how where the guys I was competing with, hung next to them and went where they were going.

TH: yeah. So, at the start like um, it’s a unique thing with Paper Tigers, everyone sits there bobbing around until the gun goes and then takes off,…

KM: yeah

TH: So it’s about maneuvering, with about 2 minutes to go you have to start drifting to the right spot.

KM: yeah

TH: What’s your strategy?

KM: Oh., Um well, my thing is, it’s 2 minutes 30 for me. 2 minutes 30 if I’m not within 5 metres of the rescue boat, I need to be there. Then I make sure I have a clean line, I’m drifting towards the rescue boat, and then I hold that for 2 minutes 30. So until the gun goes, and by that I claim my position and it sort of, no-one can get around me. So I have to make sure I’ve got a positive hold on that position.

TH: yeah right

KM: It worked for me each time.

TH: Oh well done.

KM: It’s difficult though, trying to jiggle it, make sure it’s not moving, but you’ve got to keep the boat just going along, and when the gun goes, you’ve got plenty of speed to go without getting drowned out.

TH: What about yesterday, your Dad just took off and left us all behind.

KM: Yeah

TH: It was similar in that it was very shifty and gusty

KM: mmm

TH: but it was, the gusts were a lot stronger

KM: yeah

TH: How did you go yesterday?

KM: Well the first race I got 6th in. Didn’t have such a good one. I managed to get back though. The next race I got 2nd in. I was just on the edge of Dad, Ian. He got first, but we were battling it out near the end there. What I did there I kept my wits about me and looked at how the breeze was falling down. Cause it was coming in patches. I noticed I could read the change, so I went for pressure all the time. And made sure – weed was a big issue out there, made sure I had my rudders and centerboards clean all the time. And that saved me a lot as well.

TH: When you’re saying “Pressure”, do mean like the dark, ruffled bits on the water?

KM: Yeah, dark ruffled bits, where the wind’s blowing the most.

TH: yeah

KM: So when there’s everyone sitting around like glassy patch and all wondering where to go, in the distance sometimes you can see dark little patches of breeze coming. Usually there was a pattern of it coming off the mountain, you could see it coming off there, so I knew if I went that way, highly likely I’d get a bit of pressure there. On the probability that it usually hits there. So you sort of weigh it up and think yeah, statistically that’s where it’s going to hit most of the time.

TH: Oh well done. Thanks for that.

KM: That’s all right.

TH: Any other comment you want to make?

KM: Nah. Had a great time!

[tonyquoll]

Transcript of Interview; Ian Marcovich [iM]

2nd place NSW Paper Tiger State Titles 2010

Interviewer Tony Hastings [TH]

TH: Ian, Congratulations on ALMOST winning.

IM: Laughs

TH: And training the winning sailor? I s’pose?

IM: Training? Oh well…yeeah yeah yeah. He occupied my places on the starting line, yeah. (Laughs)

TH: So starting with that. I asked Kim what’s the strategy. Like the Paper Tiger thing’s unique how everyone just bobs around before the start, then suddenly takes off.

IM: mmm

TH: And it seems to be about 2 minutes or so before the start you’ve got to get in a good spot.

IM: Yeah you’ve got to pick it. Got to sort of line up, and know here you’re going to go. Myself and Kim, we’ll both sit fairly close up behind the boat and as often as not, especially if it’s like a bit biased towards the boat end. People like Jon Pinkerton, given a chance they’ll always run down the line and hit the pin end.

TH: Yeah.

IM: so you know, we all have our little pet theories that seem to work for us.

TH: I wondered with, you’ve got the very high aspect ratio sort of skinny centerboards.

IM: mmm

TH: I wondered sometimes when you go to take off from the line, do they stall, and you sort of get stuck there

IM: the trick is to have your traveler down, so that the boat doesn’t round up, and with about 8 seconds to go you’ve actually got the boat moving. So you’ve got to be already moving before you really sheet on and pull the traveller in. If you’re not actually moving, well…you’re just going to sit there. It doesn’t matter how wide or narrow the boards are just...(grimaces)

TH: yeah!

IM: Pretty ugly (laughs). Everyone goes “Wait for me!”

TH: So yesterday particularly in the first race, like you won the start and took off, left everyone behind.

IM: Oh, well what happened on that start was I was asleep. I had already sussed out that I thought I wanted to go to the right side of the course anyway, so I wasn’t terribly focused on going down the line. So as soon as I had my opportunity I tacked and just roared out to that side

TH: yeah

IM: It just felt that was a better way to approach it. There seemed to be more wind channeling down there. As it happened Lance came with me, and that was more or less the way to go on the first beat.

TH: yeah.. You’re the Master at reading the water, and knowing when to tack and which way to go.

IM: Doesn’t feel like it.

TH: How do you do it?

IM: Sometimes it works. It’s interesting that sort of ‘read the water’ worked to about where that yacht is there (points at yacht 100m from shore) and that side of the course. But it falls apart here and into the hill

TH: yeah a lot of turbulence

IM: a lot more random

TH: yeah

IM: and when you had a bit, it was really just a bit of twist on the water, and if you tacked in it, you were done for (looks pointedly at TH).

TH: (laughs, thinking “that was me!”)

IM: It was more keeping an eye out for the bigger pressure patterns, and trying to sail within the pressure patterns. Lifts and knocks were a bonus on top, IF you could score them at the same time.

TH: In Race 3, something went wrong at the start of the race, and then you showed us all how it’s done by sailing through the fleet, upto about 5th place or so.

IM: Hmmm

TH: Was that deliberate? Or?

IM: No. (Both laugh) Asleep. Just asleep.

TH: I was impressed that briefly you I were sailing along, pointing at the same angle,

IM: yep, yep

TH: going pretty much the same speed

IM: yep yep

TH: and then I tacked onto starboard, Steve Halliday crossed behind me

IM: hmm

TH: then I got a big knock, so I tacked to Port, he tacked to starboard, so I had to go behind him, and I’ve looked, and you’ve just gained about 60 meters. And then I got another knock and then tacked, and stuffed up the mark rounding, and by that time you’d gained about 200 meters.

IM: Hmm. It’s not the speed that you’re going, it’s how well you do the corners, the linking bits between each bit of all the same boat speed. So yeah, the right time to tack, clean mark rounding, You set up, so y’know you might hang wide at the beginning to come through on the inside. Make sure your travelers in the right position so you actually climb up and get that little bit of windward separation on the guy at the bottom mark.

At the gybe mark, trying to get to the inside position, so that you’re best out of it on the next reaching leg. Yeah, there all the key factors. The little turning points. The junctures make all the difference.

TH: Wow. Well done. Also curious; in Race 2, I was sailing downwind and got a nice close look at you and Kim sailing upwind, after having rounded the mark ahead of me. And you both had the telltales flowing, and the leech ribbons were flowing. It seemed that your sail was a bit flatter; you weren’t hiking as hard, but you were pointing a little bit higher. But he was fuller, almost a bit overpowered, hiking out more an pointing a bit lower.

In contrast I cant get my telltales and leech ribbons all flowing at the same time. So how do you work out which controls you need to pull, or…how did you decide how to set your sail?

IM: Yeah, um. Leech ribbons aren’t that critical. I know it sounds funny, in those sorts of condition sometimes you actually sail with the sail sheeted on harder so the leech ribbons are sucked around a bit. But as soon as you’re sitting on the windward hull, they should be flowing. And as soon as you’re hiking, they definitely should be flowing. If they’re not not, there’s something really really wrong. But it’s not the be-all and end-all.

I steer of the middle one. I sheet of the top one and the outhaul is the bottom one, tells me how full to make the sail.

TH: Oh!

IM: I tend to sail, as you’ve noticed, I tend to sail upwind with my sail a bit flatter.

TH: yeah

IM: And I’m finding that’s probably a good compromise

TH yeah

IM: Kim hasn’t sailed for a while and he hasn’t noticed that I’m flatter and he’s still where we both were. (both laugh).

TH: Is there anything else you want to add?

IM: Just that the Paper Tigers are a great class and we just enjoy getting together. It’s not about the winning, it’s just about having a bit of fun together and the venue is always different and interesting. And so we discuss that each year, as we did at the meeting last night. And we try to make it inclusive. So the next one, we’re trying to get it down the south side, to make it, people like yourself and the guys from Wagga, just so that you can get there.

TH: Yeah

IM: Like Cameron and Garry, they haven’t got any water in their lake, and the States becomes one of the few times they get to go sailing.

TH: yeah

IM” sad. Y’know?

TH: yeah. Thanks Ian! Great!

IM: Seeya

[edit; corrected a few typos]

[This message has been edited by tonyquoll (edited 27 January 2010).]

[Dave]

Thanks for those great reports, Tony. You've kicked off your new role as NSWPTCA Publicity Officer with a bang! Well done. Some great insights from Kim and Ian.

Just one correction in your earlier posting. Race 2 wasn't actually shortened. We sailed the full three laps. The committee was correct to finish us using the separate Finish Mark. Sadly, Bill Arthur's eyesight is so poor he would have struggled to see the small mark they used. It's actually amazing he can sail as well as he does. But really great that he can join us out there.

I reckon the Toronto Amateur Sailing Club committee did a great job, especially as they had never set our gate course before. A very friendly club, including the ladies in the canteen. Thanks Toronto. Hopefully we'll get back there some time.

Regards,

Dave.