This will be a new challenge!

Refanut has now been entered into the Watski2Star two handed race this coming May. It is a three-legged race with short pitstops. The proposed course can be seen in the graphic below:

We'll have to work a bit more on the strategy, but since we have to get a new LYS certificate for this event anyway we might try to remove the mizzen to improve our rating a bit since we'll have our hands full without it. This will also prompt us to look over our instruments and make sure they work (the flux-gate compass never worked last year which meant that the autopilot didn't work either). This will be interesting :-)

Fredrik

I want an iPhone "starting" app

The iPhone could be a great tool for racing. There are already some nice apps out there that will help you around the course, but no tool provides you with a full blown starting tactician. Designing one shouldn't be that hard and here is my stab at the features.

• Count down timer (duh)
• Setting the position of the starting marks so that "time-to-line" can be calculated
• Display timer as well as time to line for a timely start.

Count down timer

You want to be able to customize the running time as well as pick from standards. Further, you need a "quick adjust" feature that just sets the timer to the closest whole minute when you tap the "adjust" button. Thus, if you didn't start the timer at exactly the right time on the first gun you can adjust it at the next opportunity.

Starting Line

• set line by tapping in marks
• set bow to iphone distance (so that the app calculates the bow position)
• display time to line and countdown timer. Add color code green/yellow/red where green means "go", yellow if you're within +1 to -2 sec at the line (2 sec early to 1 sec late or something like that). Red means you'll be over early.

Setting the line

Easy solution is to just allow yo to "drop" the port and starboard marks by tapping when you are at them. However, a few refinements would be useful.

To improve precision it would be useful to be able to add further "line markers" to help calculate the position of the line. I envision that you'd sail outside the line (on each side) and drop a mark when you are on the line. If you do that on both sides of the line and pretty far away you'll get a much better precision on where the line is. If you really wanted to have fun you'd allow dropping of a large numbers of those marks and just fit the line between to those observations (least squares).

It might be useful to be able to do a port/stb offset since you can't typically sail right up on top of the mark (especially at the committee boat end). Let's say you're marking the stb mark but you are 10 yds outside the line. You should now be able to enter that offset. That said, you can usually tell if you're going to be inside or outside the mark (although if you're starting from far away and there is significant current it might be useful to have a good port/stb estimate of the mark as well as time to line.

Once the line is set you can switch over to "starting timer" mode where Speed, Time to Start and Time to Line are displayed. Optionally you could also show where on the line you are aiming (or outside the line).

In the image above the boat is schedule to arrive at the line 1 sec after the gun and the time to line as well as the image of the boat are therefore yellow. Those colors would change to red if you are going to be over early (by some margin) and green if you are safely late.

Gotland Runt 2009

I wasn't able to sail myself, but Gustaf was an able skipper and got them around the course fast enough for line-honors but not quite fast enough to win the class. As is always the case with a class with such difference is size and speed as we have the weather will determine the outcome to a large extent. This year started with very little wind and then had the wind increase over time. That will, by necessity, give the small boats and edge since they get and extra time allowance early on and, once the wind picks up, they've banked an advantage that the big boats wont have a chance to get back. This theory is well backed up by the evidence on the course where the results at the first mark (Nynäs angöring) were very stable all the way to the finish (on corrected time). That is just the name of the game.

Jag inser att jag aldrig följde upp efter Gotland Runt. Vi fick riktigt Refanut väder med en ganska hård kryss i krabb sjö från Alma till Nynäs. Inte känns det som vi gick så fort i dom förhållandena men vi vet att andra (som 12an Clipper och Ballad) får det betydligt jobbigare. Clipper var visserligen framför oss, men de skall (som sig bör) ge oss ganska mycket tid. Ifrån Nynäs till Sandön och sedan ner till Salvo hände inte mycket. Dock lyckades vi kommar runt Salvo precis som det dojade och kunde ta en brant slör väster om sandön för att hålla fart när andra båtar som Ballad och Itaka fick en mycket lätt kryss sista biten upp till märket. Vårt val att skära innanför Sandön visade sig mycket bättre än Clippers mer direkta spår väster om ön. När vi fick kontakt med dem igen norr om Sandön hade vi tagit in mycket av deras försprång. De skar upp (för att hålla kontakt med oss antar jag) och vi låg ett par distans ifrån varandra under hela länsen upp till Alma. Med ett par timmar kvar till Alma fick de trassel med blåsan och var tvungen att segla utan spinnaker ett tag (30-60 minuter skulle jag tro) och det var tillräckligt för att vi skulle kunna gå om och hålla dom efter oss in i mål.

Som salt i såren för båtarna bakom oss så mojnade det lagom efter att vi gått i mål. Sånt är Gotland Runt... med en klass så bred som vår när skillnaden i handicap mellan snabbaste och långsammaste båt kan vara över 12 timmar så vinner inte alltid den bäst seglade båten. Man måste segla väl för att ha en chans, men i slutändan avgör vädret. Med de förhållanden vi hade under 2008 års upplaga kunde det bara stå emellan oss och eventuellt Clipper (men den första kryssen gav oss en enorm fördel). 2007 var det tvärt om och det var ingenting vi kunde göra åt de minsta båtarna då vinden fyllde i bakifrån när vi gick i mål. Vem som får spader ess nästa år får vi se... men kommer det åter på vår hand skall vi vara beredda att ta vara på det.

Nu är det dags igen...

Vi laddar för fullt inför 2008 års upplaga av Baltic Race Classic Yacht (eller vad det nu heter i år). Det är 10 båtar på linjen (så här långt). Som vanligt kommer vi at segla mot Ballad, Regina och Anitra. Tyvärr har Anahita beslutat att segla "riktiga" Gotland Runt, något jag mycket väl kan förstå. En mycket välkommen överraskning är att vi åter kommer att ha Vagabond på banan. Det var inte igår och jag ser mycket fram emot det. Likaså är det alltid kul att se vackra Itaka. Jag hoppas bara att det inte blir alltför blött för dem (och jag undrar vem det gjort sig ovänner med för att få sitt enormt höga mätetal).

Med hopp om vackert väder och god vind!

Gotland Runt 2007

We are preparing for the third installment of the Classic Yacht version of the Round Gotland race starting on July 1. Currently there are five boats entered in our fleet:

• Refanut
• Ballad
• Anahita
• Regina
• Anitra

I've heard rumors that Itaka might join us as well which would be wonderful.

Först i mål, Gotland Runt 2006

Refanut gick i mål som första båt i fältet klockan 22:03 (ett par timmar före den första av de "stora"... dock seglade Classic Yachts en väsentligt kortare bana). Anahita gick i mål ungefär 10 minuter senare och vann klassen på korrigerad tid.

Visby Pokalen (the Visby Race)

Refanut performed beautifully in the 105nm race from Sandhamn to Visby on July 2nd and again in the return to Sandhamn along a slightly different 145nm course.



We took the start in Sandhamn at the middle of the line and was the third boat at Almagrundet (having been passed by two faster boats, a Sk95 and a Swan 65). The race down saw good winds until 11pm and then light winds through the night. We made on erroneous course choice that cost us and also had big problems retaining speed and point when the air got really light. We will have to work on that before the next race. The high point of the race was a tacking duel against Anahita and Regina during the last three hours of the race in light air. While we got closer and close to Anahita they held us off to finish roughly 100 seconds ahead. Unfortunately (for us) Regina caught us on the last tack to the finish line and crossed 7 seconds ahead of us (once again we couldn't get the boat moving in the light air close to shore where the finish line was located). Regardless of the result those three hours are a fond and exciting memory where we tacked a total of 22 times.

The return trip saw as starting in extremely light air. We didn't manage to get up to the line in time and got off to a mediocre start with slighly disturbed air. We did however manage to roll a Sk95 to windward to get into clear air. An hour or so into the race saw the whole fleet get a drastic windshift with new wind building from the east right up against the shore. We got the boat going well in the new breeze and passed Regina to leeward (which always feels rewarding). We continued sailing well and were slowly catching the Swan 65 Travel. Once again we actually managed to sail through their dead air to leeward and found ourselves climbing up on their bow and finally racing away from them up towards Kopparstenarna. We round Kopparstenarna as the second boat in the fleet (after another Swan 65) and hoisted the spinnaker heading for Dalarö angöring. We continued sailing well on the run throughout the night and rounded in the same position having lost 4 minutes on the Swan but gaining distance on the boats behind us (Anahita being the closest some 22 minutes behind us). The next leg up to Almagrundet was essentially a tacking leg. This is usually the strength of Refanut ... as long as we have enough power. After an hour or so on this leg the air starts to thin and we see Anahita sail both higher and faster behind us. Desperation took over and we decided to trust the forecast and tack out to sea to catch the new easterly wind that was hinted at. This was a mistake. We saw Anahita, Ballad and Regina catch us and pass us closer to land. When we finally tack back we have Anahita about 1.5nm ahead and Ballad a few hundred yards ahead. During the remaining time up to Almagrundet we managed to pass Ballad but didn't really change our position vis-a-vis Anahita and Regina. The rounding at Almagrundet allowed us to hoist our assymetric spinnakers (main and mizzen) for the final reach to the finish. The preliminary results have Anahita ahead of Regina followed by us (on corrected time). In the end the race provided competition at the highest levels with all boats being extremely well sailed. That the boats are a feast for the eyes only improves the experience.



I would finally like to congratulate the race committee on an extremely enjoyable event and we look forward to the next time.

Official news from the event can be found here. Pictures from the start in Sandhamn can be found here and from the finish in Sandhamn, here.