On a beautiful early spring day on Narragansett Bay, Newport Shields Fleet #9 competed in the opening race of the 2009 Spring Series. With about 14 boats in attendance, Dr. Robin Wallace and his crack team of race committee volunteers wasted no time in starting the season off on a high note. The race was sailed in a southerly breeze at about 5-10 knots and the current was just changing to flood. Dr. Wallace chose a starting area south of Rose Island and sent the fleet to the race buoy off of Hammersmith Farm. The course was 4p Sp twice around. On the first beat we decided to work the left side to get out of the incoming current. We soon found out, somewhere around the point of Fort Adams, that the current was still going out at the Dumplings. We decided to head west to the uphill flow but we never really crossed the tide line. 258 was the leader out of the right side and 222 did well by working the left all the way to the weather mark. They rounded 1, 2 and we ended up rounding 5th after missing the last shift to the left.
Dr. Wallace’s choice of a twice ’round course was vital in the 217 comeback as the racers maintained their placements around the first leeward mark, the red bell off of Rose Island lighthouse. This time 217 struck out for the right side and tactician Tim Healy sited the Dumplings honor buoy perfectly. Working up the inside right, John Dory experienced a right shift and slack current at the Dumplings and then dove back left in good pressure to cross the incoming river. We managed to cross 226, who worked the Newport side hard, by 2-3 boat lengths. 222 sailed the middle of course and faded back a bit due to the incoming current. We rounded in first followed by 226.

The course was changed to 6p (green bell) for the last leeward mark and our crew worked hard to maintained our lead to the finish line 1/4 mile to weather of the green Bell. . All around it was a great start to the 2009 Spring Series. Thanks to the RC and the fleet for a beautiful night o racing!

Eric Hanson- 217 John Dory

To quote one of the literary greats, John Burnham, “Shields don’t like sailing with other Shields. That’s something Charlie Levy always told me, and it’s true. You almost always go faster when you’re in your own patch of wind”; an excerpt from  http://www.northsailsod.com/class/shields/shields_teamprofile1.html

That being said, I don’t have anything tactical, tuning, or revealing, just this: the need to keep clear air heading into this ebb was going to be critical (and don’t tack too much!).  We were able to nose out with a good start at the boat, and stayed middle-left of the beat, finding the wind was best right in the middle of the channel approaching the bridge.  Every time we looked around, it appeared either side of the course was doing better, then much worse, then better again.  After lee-bowing 217 and then passing under the bridge, we noticed #1 had come out of the right side looking fast, and we crossed over to the Coaster’s Island side of the course; approaching the windward mark, the guys coming in from the left side (101, 33, 167) were looking great on port tack, and lifted. We were able to round first just inside 167.

Downwind we were able to keep our momentum and clear air, and a hot angle and the outgoing tide seemed to keep us pointing toward the bridge, and we headed to the middle of the channel again.  After the bridge, 33 and a couple other boats had taken the low road along Rose Island, and could very well have been a whole lot closer, just one shift away.  We managed to hold off 217, and worked to keep pressure on the kite in the lightening breeze. Someone correctly read the code flags on RC, and Robin later confirmed the downwind finish on the shortened course; a beautiful night finished even better.

Thanks to Race Committee for another great race!

Our pre-race discussion focused primarily on pressure, and then on current.  With 3 minutes or so left in the pre-start, we saw more pressure on the right, and noticed the RC pointed in a direction that hinted of some leftover ebb in the channel.  We started at the boat and led up the right hand side of the course toward Clingstone, with 107 and another charging hard below us and 217 back on our hip.  The other half of the fleet headed toward Fort Adams on their way up to Hammersmith, all of us wondering which group would come out on top.

We were reluctant to leave the right side for the top mark, but it had to be done.  217 forced our hand by tacking out first, and we quickly followed to prevent them from getting too bow out below us.  In the end, the leaders from both sides converged evenly at the top, the right seeming to have more pressure and the left a better angle and perhaps less current.  In fact, we found ourselves crossing tacks with 76, the same team that gave us a friendly port tack cross at the very bottom of the beat while on their way to the left.  Who knew?

We rounded the top in the top 3, with 217 and 101 and 232 and 33 close by.  The run was relatively uneventful, with the lead pack compressing on the Green Bell off the Dumplings and then gybing in toward Jamestown for the final approach.  We exchanged the lead with 217 at least twice on the bottom half of the run, with 232 gaining on both of us from the inside.  We rounded the bottom first, heading left upwind with 217 below us and a little bow out.  Working hard to keep pace, we protected the left hand side up the beat, eventually taking the gun.

Boat setup:   Uppers – 800+ on (24.5 on Loos – this is our base)

                   Lowers – hand tight

                   Headstay – approx. 47 ¾” to the datum

Thanks to Chuck, Phoebe, and Pirate for making the boat go fast and keeping us pointed in the right direction.   And to the RC for being patient and looking smart.

-Jeff Gladchun, Coffee Grinder 108

The days are getting shorter , the evenings cooler but the best days of Southern New England are just around the corner . Last night brought us the 2nd day of a beautiful  Northwesterly gradient  wind pattern . First signs of autumn perhaps ? With this wind pattern often comes fantastic Shields racing ; nice shifts , flat water, more than enough breeze, no water on the deck and an awesome sunset . Does it get any better than this ?

We were a little late to the starting area so we did not have a lot of time to do much re-con pre start. It looked like the starting line was about 5 degrees favored towards the pin in the median breeze direction . However , just prior to the start a left puff settled in making the pin more like 10+ degrees favored . Our game plan was to start in the pin 1/3 of the line and be able to tack as soon as possible . Our reasoning for this was that the breeze was already as left as we’d seen it and that the next  shift would be right given the normal attributes of a northwesterly, and we didn’t want to get strung out on the left . Some how, however, we ended up only 2 boats up from the pin by the time the starting gun went off instead of 1/3 of the line away from the pin. Luckily for us  we were able to tack and cross 254 immediately to windward of us as well as all the boats on our hip within less than a minute or so from the start . This was very fortunate as Jeff Gladchun in 108 was directly to leeward of us and were about to squeeze us off . Once we were on port tack the wind was so far left that we were nearly on the layline , for a while . As we’d hoped prior to the start , the wind eventually faded back to right . By that point we were “bow out” on everyone to the  right of us ,so the shifts helped to lever our gains . From there Tim Healy and the rest of the 217 crew of Jeff Dionne, Eric Hanson and Chris Greenman did an excellent job of keeping us in or near the most breeze and on the lifted tack or headed gybe . On the second leeward leg the breeze filled in from behind helping Andy Burton and crew onboard 201 to reel us in quite a bit but luckily for us we were able to hold them off through the finish .

Our rig settings were as follows :

Uppers – 28-29 on the Loos’ Gauge
Lowers – 0-4 on the loos Gauge
Head stay – at our max length which is 49″ to the datum 

Thanks to Robin Wallace and his RC team as well as Peter Denton and the Ultimate Pressure team for doing a great job of race management and providing us with such a beautiful evening of Shields racing on Narragansett Bay .

Respectfully submitted ,

Jamie Hilton
John Dory – Shields #217

We had classic summer conditions for the final night of the Summer Series – warm seabreeze, a flood tide, and plenty of cold beer.  The Race Committee set up a huge course, twice around, which allowed the fleet to spread out and stretch it’s legs.  I often question the fleet’s propensity to race north of the bridge and conduct only a single race, but last night it seemed to make sense. I suspect that had we finished deeper in the fleet (as often happens), we would have begged for two races, once around, so that we could have a chance to improve on the night.

As for the racing, our pre-race discussion revolved mostly around the fading flood tide and whether we should approach Can 13 from the right or left.  We chose the left, and tacked up the passage in the middle of the pack leading up the left side.  We converged with the middle and right groups at the top mark, rounding right ahead of 36 and 222, with 17 and 107 rounding a strong 1-2.  The first run was a long starboard pole, can’t recall if we ever gybed but I do remember the fleet charging hard to leeward of us and taking gains on the leaders on the right.  Going into the bottom right gate we knew we needed a flawless rounding, so we “started things early” and managed to round with the kite half down, jib half up, and spin pole swimming along side.  It was all grins though, and we had the boat settled and going fast within a few boatlengths, beers in hand. 

The second beat was much like the first, except that we noticed 217 hit the right side hard and look good doing it.  They looked lighter, but their breeze was right and they appeared free of any residual flood in the channel.  We converged at the top and rounded, in order, 107, 108, 217, with 17 and 59 close behind.  The second run was much like the first, except that we noticed 59 charge hard early down the left side of the run, and then start to fade as we approached the leeward gates.  Combing these observations (217 on the beat, and 59 on the run), we decided to head up the right side on the final beat and rounded the left gate, splitting with 107 and 217.   That proved to be a great move, as we looked good early and even better further up the beat, eventually taking the gun.

Congratulations to Summer Series winner Jamie Hilton and his team on 217, to Andy Segal and his team on 101 and to Charlie, Kurt, John and company on 36 for rounding out the top 3.  Shields Fleet 9 is a competitive fleet with a deep bench, and putting it all together (crew, sails, and cold beer) on a consistent basis is a great accomplishment.  Thanks again to our top-notch Race Committee for giving us yet another great night and Series on the water.

My thanks to Chuck Norris, Phoebe Patterson, and Alex Hood the crew last night, and to Tommy Burnham, Pete “Pirate” Henderson, Sean Horrigan and Rob MacMillan for being part of 108’s Summer Series team.  And to my wife Alyssa, for letting me go sailing when she’d rather be.   

-Jeff Gladchun, Coffee Grinder 108

John Edenbach, #36

We had the starting line square to 225 magnetic . We were getting wind readings at 210 to 206 minutes before the start . BIG incoming tide . Weather mark off the grave yard at Hammersmith . Not normal afternoon SW’trly . Wind is showing left with leftish puffs . All that considered ,plan boiled down to start near the pin go left get relief from tide , hook in to left puffs . We were the second boat up from the pin at the start , with 17 below us . We were able to live off their hip long enough to out of the current . When we got in behind Ft Adams and tacked on to port we were able to cross any starboard tackers . From there on it was a matter of staying ahead of the conga line tacking up the shore . With the breeze more left than normal the port tacks were much longer than the starboard ones . It also seemed as though with the breeze a bit left of usual , the corner bangers on the right , who looked ok for a short bit by Clingstone/Ft Wetherill, would be unlikely to send in a winner.

We set without the pole at the weather mark as we were in a right shift . Gybed straight away onto port and got out into the current as soon as possible .

From there not alot happened . It did help that we were able to stay clear of the PHRF fleet the 2nd time up . It was definitely a night where all the conditions were favorable to being in front , so the rich got richer.

We were a little tighter on our lowers . We had them set at 21 on the Loos gauge . Headstay was at max long setting , 49″ , I think. Cap shrouds at 29 on Loos gauge .

Thanks to Jeff Dionne, Tim Healy, Eric Hanson and Chris Greenman the crew on 217 last Wednesday .

Cheers

Jamie Hilton

After the previous Wednesday’s cancellation due to no wind, and this Wednesday’s appearance of light wind, I was shifting nervously on the launch dock and assuring our guest on 36 from the Bay Area, Peter (and potential new Fleet 9 member– Are there any used boats available, anyone?), that we did in fact have breeze in Newport; I was vindicated as the breeze strengthened out of the west for our picture-perfect two-race night.

Race 4 was marked by an all-too-forgettable early start and missed layline at the windward mark (due to the strong outgoing current). After some good wishes from some passers-by we put together what could have been a boat-end-winning start in race 5, until we were given the opportunity to remind someone the windward boat is not entitled to bear down at a time of their choosing. Unfortunately that message to #17 wasn’t received, and we were quickly on a beam reach at the gun to avoid hooking our anchor chock on a shroud. This put us in a bail-for-clear-air situation and surprisingly made us the first to tack off towards Rose Island, we found decent boatspeed, and saw no need to tack since we were within the shadow of Rose Island’s current relief (where we thought race 4’s leaders made the time).

We sailed as far as we could towards Rose without hitting it, and tacked onto what we could only guess to be the layline, with 101 a few boatlengths to leeward, and 201 a short distance behind. Much of the fleet appeared to have taken the left side of the course. This put us first around the mark, with 101 and 217 giving chase. We managed to hold onto the lead, and halfway down the run, with the prospect of a first bullet for the crew of 36, all I could think was how bad the kite appeared to need replacement. I asked the crew if anyone agreed, and got a brutally unequivocal ‘Yes’ from Peter. I should have kept my mouth shut. On later relaying that anecdote to Rob MacMillan of Quantum Sails, I received an equally blunt “and that’s a sales order” (incidentally, that’s the answer to Reed Baer’s bullet blog 3 query as to whether we’d gotten any new rags yet).

Peter did a great job flying the kite, and on the leeward rounding just inside the mouth of the harbor, TJ and Jamie did a great job at bow and pit, with brother John driving and myself on main. We covered to finish, vindicating ourselves from race 4, and Reed’s prediction from that bullet blog.

Charlie Edenbach
#36

Reed Baer, Grace 107

Lesson #1: Doing Good Leads to Doing Well!

A coincidence that three of the folk who met throughout this past winter to reorganize Fleet 9 ended up at the top of the standings last night? I think not! Fleet Captain Andy Segal and his team on Rajah, 3^rd; Fleet Secretary and Web Master Architect Kurt Edenbach steering Zephyr to its best finishes ever, 2^nd; Executive Officer (only a heart-beat away!) Reed Baer, your humble bullet blogger of the day, sailing on Grace with John Burnham, Pete Schott, Matt Buechner and Rachel Balaban, 1^st.

Lesson #2: Dress for Success

Anyone who caught a glimpse of our fashion-plate skipper, John Burnham, with the newest addition to his swag-based wardrobe courtesy of Ken Read’s Volvo Ocean Race effort, knows what I am talking about here. Sayeth John:, “My new gum-soled Puma sneakers were obviously fast-out-of-the box, gripped well in the death rolls, and are much more orange than anything I’ve ever worn before.”

Lesson #3: What’s with those guys on 36?

No one was faster upwind than Kurt Edenbach and his team last night.

Kurt refused to answer my question as to whether he has a new set of rags aboard – if he does, whoever the sailmaker is might want to speak up to get some credit! He did say that they used way more vang and backstay than they had in the past, and that it worked – they sailed high and fast. My prediction is that we should all look for Kurt et. al to be writing the bullet blog themselves soon!

Lesson #4. How we did it.

Excellent start 2/3 of the way down the leeward-favored line, with acceleration off the line allowing us to go over Scott Ferguson on 254, then flipping to port to cross the bulk of the fleet, with 101 and 36 eventually tacking to port up on our hip; on the long way over towards the 1^st gong, we lifted off the boats to leeward, and had good speed and height versus 101 (they seemed to fall into us a bit), but 36 was just as fast and maybe a bit higher. We tacked short of the layline to the 1^st gong to stay in the current, extended to mid-channel, then flipped back to port short of the layline. A super set allowed us to head towards the bottom mark with a boat length lead on 101, and when the traffic thinned, we made the move that sealed the deal – a jibe to the left. As the wind was still more southerly that it had been earlier, the temptation was to stay on starboard, but we were going for the cone south of Rose Island; the bonus was that most of the fleet continued on starboard, so we had clear air all the way down the run, while 101 had to fight to keep clear air. We avoided the round-ups that seemed to be a problem for a few (Jamie, nice one!). We rounded the bottom mark with a several boat length lead, and just covered to the finish.

For the technical stuff: Uppers at 840 (tighter than the tuning guide, but it seems to help in a blow), lowers at 300; headstay was a bit longer than usual for us (we have been using our own Spinlock numbers so long we don’t have the inches datum that the North Guide talks about – need to work on that!); 2006 jib which still looks good, a blownout 2002 main (heh Chuck, where’s that new North main we ordered back in OCTOBER?!), a 2005 chute. We find that the old main needs a TON of Cunningham to get the draft forward, plus max outhaul to flatten the lower part of the sail. Upwind on the first beat, lots of backstay and constant playing the traveler to keep Grace tracking with a minimum of rudder movement; on the 2^nd beat, with more waves, a bit less backstay, less mainsheet and higher traveler for a more forgiving feel in the bounces. Downwind in the gusts, Pete kept a steady hand on the vang to blow her in case of a round-up; Rachel warned of impending gusts; Matt kept the chute choked down pretty much to lessen the possibility of a broach; John steered aggressively; and the pastor did what he does best – prayed a lot!

–RRB