ERRATIC WIND FINDS COLLABORATION IN GOOD FORM

(Sunday, June 7, 2009) "Better lucky than smart!"  Those were Bob Vickery's words summing up Collaboration's victory at the Hobelman Regatta today.  Of course most of the 40.7 crews believe that Vickery, The Lake Fox, makes his own luck. 

There were two races today at the Hobelman Regatta, hosted by the Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club (at Montrose Harbor) and the wind couldn't have been more erratic. 

The first race started in moderate wind of about 10 knots on a course of 165°, four windward/leeward legs at a distance of 1.75 nautical miles.  With the wind beginning to shift to the right, going into the 190's and even 200°, the starboard tack to the weather mark came up fast.  Tom Weber's La Tempete was first around the buoy.  Vickery's Collaboration was hot on their heels about one boatlength behind.  Several boats, Turning Point and Vayu among them, which had tacked to port right after the start found themselves overstanding the layline and now cracked off to fetch the mark.  

At the mark La Tempete did a gybe set and went inshore to the left while Collaboration continued on starboard heading offshore.  At the leeward mark it was Collaboration ahead by two boatlengths. 

Back at the weather mark, Tsunami, after trying to pinch up to fetch, was at a standstill, as boat after boat passed them. 

During that race the wind died to 1 knot or less when most of the boats were somewhere on the 3^rd leg of the four leg, windward/leeward course.  As the wind began to fill from the northwest many of the boats began sprouting spinnakers.  The breeze reached Tsunami, first.  On the third leg they were trailing everyone as they rounded the 2^nd mark.  Don Hayes' crew quickly got their chute up and began gaining on the boats immediately ahead (Excalibur, Vayu, Rhumb Runner, Turning Point). 

As the 40.7's headed into the fourth and final leg of the race, some opted to go right (east), some went left (west).  Due to the wind shift this leg was an upwind beat.  Excalibur rounded the final mark with Vayu overlapped to the inside of them.  After the mark Excalibur tacked to clear her air while Vayu continued to the right.  Mojo and Turning Point also tacked to the left early in the leg.  With the wind continuing to veer, the right side paid off allowing Vayu to extend her lead over Excalibur and to pass Turning Point and Mojo and finish in 5^th place and for Tsunami to pass Excalibur and Mojo and finish in 7^th behind Turning Point.   Toward the end of the leg Mojo and Turning Point engaged in a tacking duel with Turning Point coming out ahead. 

The second race of the day was on a course of 60°, four windward/leeward legs at a distance of 1.75 nm.  By the time the 40.7 section started at an official time of 14:35, the wind had backed about 20 degrees which favored the pin end of the starting line and skewed the course in favor of port tack.  Starting wind speed was about 12 knots, but increased to 15-20 knots on the last leg of the race.

It was Tsunami and Collaboration, starting near the pin end and tacking early, who jumped to an early lead.  Vayu, perhaps next to tack, closely followed and, as so often happens on reaching courses as this one turned out to be, it was this same order of boats that rounded each successive mark and crossed the finishing line.  Basically, the first three legs were straight reaches, no tacking involved, using  genoas or jibs and only on the fourth and last leg were any of the boats able to get their spinnakers up. 

Winning skipper Bob Vickery had this to say about the day's racing:

40.7:  Bob, can you describe the first race from your viewpoint?

Vickery:  You know our story, better lucky than smart!

Vickery:  (On the first race) La Tempete was the boat to the first weather mark, but we rounded about a boat length behind them.  They have excellent crew work and did a spinnaker gybe set to work the west side of the course, while we sailed to the east side.  We saw a fresher breeze on the water in front of us and sailed toward that wind.  We held good speed for most of the leg which allowed us a two boat length lead at the leeward mark.  From there we started a very light beat for the third leg, with us going to the west side of the course and LaTempete going to the East.  Five minutes into the beat the wind crumped completely and we sat, but I noticed a wind line bringing in the new northerly breeze.  Our crew did a good job of getting the spinnaker up and we led at the third mark and then covered LaTempete to the finish.

40.7:  How did the start of that race go for you and did you tack at all on the first leg, or not, due to the wind shift making port tack the long tack? 

Vickery:  We started in the middle of the line with good speed, and LaTempete to weather of us and Tsunami, Das Boot and Excaliber below.  Tom & Company on La Tempete had a touch better speed and height and led us to the mark, holding starboard tack until just short of the lay line and then a quick port tack to the pin.

40.7:  How did you handle the lull half-way through the race and what did you see that influenced your decision in that part of the race? 

Vickery:  Our crew did a great job of getting the spinnaker up and going.  I was very pleased since this was only our second day on the water this year. 

40.7:  Were there any exciting moments on that first race?  Was there any time that Collaboration really had to work to stay in the lead? 

Vickery:  I don't think you can ever really relax in the lead with the caliber of boats in our fleet.  LaTempete is particularly tenacious, but so is Vayu, Tsunami, Turning Point and Das Boot.

40.7:  As for the second race, which turned into a reach for the first three legs can you describe the battle with Tsunami?  

Vickery:  The challenge of the second race seemed to be making the right decision about the headsail.  The wind was rather unsettled before the start with velocities bouncing between 7 and 15 knots.  Since we had our rig tuned for light air and we were very light in crew weight, I opted for the heavy #1.  As it played out, that was the wrong call for the start, but the right sail from the mid-point of the first beat to the finish.  Tsunami won the start and had much better speed off the line compared to us and lead at all the marks.  You know that if you give DH (Don Hayes) and his crew a lead, they aren't going to let it go.  At the end of the first leg we were ready with a spinnaker for the second leg, but the velocity increased and the apparent wind stayed forward of the beam, so we kept the kite in the bag.

40.7:  At the final rounding mark of that second race, did you anticipate getting up a spinnaker?  Did you get the gear ready or was it something of a decision after the mark?

Vickery:  We noted that the sections in front of us were trying to carry spinnakers to the finish and since we still had the kite rigged, we were ready to go with it.  I had a clear discussion with the crew in the middle of the third leg about carrying a spinnaker to the finish.  I told them that we didn't need to finish first in the second race to win the regatta and all we needed to do was to keep second place, therefore we were not going to be the first boat to put up a spinnaker and we were not going to put up a spinnaker until it was obvious that Vayu or a boat behind them could carry it. Once it was clear that Vayu was holding the spinnaker and moving faster than us, we put it up.

40.7:  Can you describe that final leg and your battle with Tsunami?

Vickery:  It wasn't the final leg that was interesting, but rather the third leg.  We tried to establish an inside overlap on Tsunami so that we could have room at the mark, but they defended their position perfectly.  At several points on the third leg we had better speed and started to overtake them, but they maintained position and didn't loose their cool as we pressed them.

Vickery:  I thought the boats once again demonstrated how closely matched we are.  Tsunami won the start, maintained good speed and executed every maneuver flawlessly.  They led at every mark and defended smartly. 

40.7:  Thank you, Bob.

Next, Tsunami's long-time tactician, Tory Enerson had this to say about the Hobelman Regatta:

40.7:  Tory, can you describe the Hobelman racing from your viewpoint?

Enerson:  (It was) a frustrating yet satisfying day all at once.  In the first race,  coming up to the starboard layline, on the first beat,  I called the layline short and we were trying to pinch up to the mark when the wind completely died, we actually tried to drop our head sail (a move I don't advise almost ever) to try and just push around the mark, but with about 2 knots of breeze the boat just stopped and bobbed.  It took us forever to finally round that mark.  We were in fourth or fifth before that maneuver, and then Vayu and the rest of the fleet rolled on by us.  Obviously the jib set was the right choice tactically so we went with it and were able to finally get the boat moving again. 

"At the leeward mark it was again a struggle to get going in that crazy breeze.  After finally getting around the mark and starting to sail upwind, we saw the 180 degree shift coming from behind us first (one of the advantages of being in last place) and we were able to get our chute up before the boats immediately ahead of us. 

"Getting to the windward (now leeward) mark we definitely saw that we wanted to be right on the final leg, now a beat.  We thought that we were going to get Vayu and Turning Point in that race as well but about 20 boat lengths before the finish, the right shift failed and went about 10 degrees back left, putting Vayu and TP well ahead of us. 

"Though the actual place in the race was less than impressive, the fact that we kept our heads and remained focused on the shifts enabled us to make up probably something like 50 or 60 boat lengths to salvage that race.  A great lesson that it is never over in sailboat racing until you cross the line.  If that right shift had sustained, or even greatened, we may have come in fifth in that race after being well behind. 

"In the second race, it was all the start.  We knew going into the prep that it would be a port fetch for about 95 percent of the first leg, which might make you fight for a boat start, but in gauging how they set the line, the pin was favored by about ten degrees.  So the goal was to win the pin, and with that disparity in the line to the wind, tack and cross the fleet heading virtually at the mark.  Bob (Vickery on Collaboration) and us jockeyed at the pin but we were able to get the position on him with about 1:30 to go.  He tacked and we went under him immediately with us both burning some time in the breeze, then got the boat up to speed on starboard and banged the pin. 

"Bob held his own a bit, but as we had hoped, winning the pin enabled us to both tack and cross the fleet just moments after the start.  We got ahead of Bob during that leg, and thankfully, never looked back. 

"The most important part of that race was realizing that the angels had improved just enough for a chute on the final leg.  we were ready to go, but actually waited for a moment before setting to make sure we were correct.  We saw Vayu hoist and then immediately got our chute up, well before Vickery.  From there on we weren't challenged.  That would have been the only spot for Bob to have a real opportunity to pass us, so thank goodness, we didn't have any problems with the set. 

"Essentially we led start to finish, with Bob only threatening a bit at the start.   We had a new foredeck guy, 19 year old Eric Esko, who did a great job in his first duty on the bow.

"It was great to get the core of the team back on the water together.  Having Bryan drive, DH on main and Wendy on the jib trim along with the rest of our crew doing their normal jobs frees me up a lot, especially with the foredeck starting to shape up, to really be able to focus on the tactics of the race.  It all makes a huge difference in our ability to perform to the level we expect of ourselves. 

"All in all, a fun day.  It never really rained, and we are looking forward to a great, very competitive season."

Bob Vickery summed up the day's racing this way:

"If you were not on the line with full speed at the gun or didn't adjust quickly to the wind velocity changes, you lost out to the boats that did those things better. That is the essence of close, technical racing.  Frankly, our racing is so much superior to the other PHRF fleets.  Our starts as a fleet are closer.  Our mark roundings are tight and a premium is placed on crew work.  Compare that to competing in PHRF 1, where there is a 66 second per mile spread in ratings.  Those boats aren't being pushed by competitors because there aren't any two boats that are close in relative speed.  When a PHRF 1 boat wins a race it is largely due to the design, not to savvy sailing. 

"Our fleet is a wonderful combination of good personalities, and closely matched boats.  That is a fact worth celebrating and promoting.  Spread the word and invite others to come play."

Photos of the 40.7 Fleet at the Hobelman Regatta start at: 

Hobelman Photos

More 2008 & 2009 fleet photos start with:  40.7 Photos

Results of the Hobelman Regatta

Current Area III BOY standings: