Karolis LTU 1001 was showing amazing upwind speed and angle, but some branches in the water and some mistakes didn't let him to rule the races. All the time he was closely followed and in the first two races overtaken by brothers Greseviciai (Mantas LTU 13 and Gedas LTU 76). Giedrius LTU 11 was also sailing fast. These 4 guys were in TOP 4. And there was an intense fight for the 5th place.
I came to the starting line first to measure the distance and this was a mistake. Before the starts it was better to start Starboard near the pin-end, but during the starting procedure the direction shifted and now it was better to start near the boat, afterwards I have made couple more mistakes and finally finished in shameful 8th positions.
During next two races I was sailing fast enough to be in TOP 4, but again tactical mistakes has destroyed everything, I was always making tacks in the wrong place - sometimes not sailing to the layline and sometimes over sailing it. I finished 5th and 6th in those races.
Another problem for me was lack of power in my legs. Before this event I was training hard to improve my leg's performance (running and cycling), but I didn't rest enough before the competition, so I arrived here already tired and 2 days of windsurfing didn't help to recover either. I managed to control the board going upwind, but I couldn't push the board to it's limits while going downwind.
Conclusion
5th place in Slalom
5th place in Formula
3rd place in 1h Slalom
I am a little bit disappointed about my performance in FW, even in high winds I had enough speed to compete with heavier guys (They were faster than me, but not much), but I wasn't using my brains, so I lost in tactical battle. This competition will be a good motivation for me to train even harder and smarter (DO NOT FORGET TO REST BEFORE THE COMPETITION) and to learn more about tactics.
I think that I deserved 5th place in Slalom. This is the place where I should be now according to my preparation. The wind was light so perhaps I could have stepped up to 4th position but not more. If I want to be in TOP 3 all jybes should be planning jybes (not 1 from 10 like it was on Saturday) and I have to work on starts. During all 4 starts I came to the starting line to early and I had to slow down (one time I went over the line too early and got OCS).
1h slalom is: Super long (1.5km one leg) 8 form Slalom distance where you have to make as much laps as possible during 1h.
I was surprised with my 3rd place in 1h slalom. As I am one of the lightest guys in the fleet I don't have really good speed and my jybes were not really great as well. I only had advantage in planning out as I was pumping really hard.
I strongly believe that during 1h Slalom there were more wind than during normal Slalom, so I though that guys who have overtaken me in normal Slalom will overtake me here as well (some guys were complaining that there was not enough wind, while I was saying that there was enough wind, they just need to pump more (they were very angry on my afterwards).
I decided to count how many statistical points each sailor gets. This was my formula:
Board volume in liters + sail size*10 + board width + fin size - sailors weight
I don't know if it is correct, but the more statistical points you get the earlier you should start planning, and the better your performance in light wind should be.
I will count how many statistical points I got and how many other sailors.
my:
109 + 7.0 * 10 + 69 + 39 - 73 = 214 points
Mantas LTU 13 (I don't know his exact fin size, but it should be around 43cm)
121 + 7.8*10 + 75 + 43 - 73 = 244 points
Karolis LTU 1001
110 + 7.6*10 + 72 + 42 - 87 = 213 points
So how you see equipment is not everything, if you can pump a lot, you can achieve a lot.
Few tips for light wind sailing (FW and slalom):
- Keep your sail as upright as possible this will give you more power
- Play with outhaul system, if you need more power release it, if you need more speed and control tighten it.
- Try using uphaul rope
sorry for newbie question: "if you need more power release it, if you need more speed and control tighten it" - power vs. speed here - I thought power = speed. Could You explain?
ReplyDeleteAbout your formula it is very abstract and I think it is not accurate enough. Because if my weight would be 90kg i still have more points than you but I rely don't think that I would plane earlier with this weight:)
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous:
ReplyDeleteYou are right, until some level when the power becomes inefficient. You may still be able to hold the board pressed to the water, but your speed won't increase as more wind comes.
It is caused by many factors: the bigger sail's profile is the bigger air resistance is and that slows you down.
All in all you have to try out different settings. When you will plane try to play with your outhaul system - release it and try to feel if you go faster or not, then tighten it and again try to feel if you go faster or not. This will be easier if you have a training partner.
I hope I have answered your question.
To Mantas LTU 13:
Yes, I totally agree with you -formula is very abstract. If we want to have a real formula we should also somehow enter board bottom form, if the sail is made for light winds or for high winds and so on...
But I think this formula shows that some guys may have more difficulties to plane out at the same wind speed than others.
There are some contradiction in your article:
ReplyDelete1) "... one day of medium wind slalom"
2) "... while I was saying that there was enough wind, they just need to pump more..."
Since when slalom with pumping is treated as 'medium'?
I wasn't using the biggest sail which is allowed to use, but...
ReplyDeleteOk, I agree it was light wind slalom :)