New 4000 mainsail aired at the Weston Grand Slam
by Fran Howell 24 Apr 2014 16:12 BST
18-20 April 2014
Although not an official event, four 4000's arrived at Weston S. C. over the Easter weekend, all eager to see how the latest prototype mainsail #2 (newly arrived from Hyde Sails) would perform at the Grand Slam event.
Good Friday brought sunshine and a chance to catch up with old friends while waiting for the 1 o'clock start. The forecast north-easterly F3 duly arrived, but it was anything but constant, coming offshore over trees and some large blocks of flats, further destabilized by some building cumulus clouds as the afternoon wore on. We were in the second start, along with a motley assortment of other fast asymmetric boats. The race officer set a reaching start in the style of the America's Cup, with a short dash along the shore, followed by a long downwind leg out towards the deep water channel. We then turned for home up the long beat with increasing nasty surprises in the shifty/gusty conditions as we approached the shore, with several boats being unwittingly tacked by some huge wind shifts. This tested the helms' reactions and the crews' agility to the limit. It was a "snakes and ladders" afternoon, as we all tried to find the best patches of wind, but Steve & Sarah Cockerill managed to come out on top amongst the 4000's in all three races, giving the rest of us an excellent view of just how good the new mainsail leech was looking! Richard & Jo de Fleury (4572) had been looking great at the start of race 2, only to capsize while gybing in a wind shift just after rounding the hitch mark, allowing John Reynolds & Fran Howell (4682) to claim second 4000 spot in all that afternoon's races.
Saturday began with a similar wind direction to Friday, and it was John & Fran's turn to try out the new prototype main. They found it set beautifully, with no need to adjust their normal settings. It was a real advantage at times on the racecourse to have a good view through the sail. The performance seemed similar to their normal best racing main, although it may be that the new square top design does indeed give slightly better gust response. In the first two races, Jason & Scott (4532) built a significant lead and held it to the finish. By the start of race three, the wind had swung right round to south-easterly, but for some strange reason the race officer didn't alter the course. After a running start, John & Fran managed to get inside at the hitch mark and immediately gybed onto port for the next leg which was by now a tight three sail reach. The rest of this race was then processional, with a long starboard fetch back inshore for all laps, allowing them to keep their lead over Jason and Scott.
Easter Sunday arrived, in total contrast to the previous days. The rain bucketing down, and we could barely make out the far side of Southampton Water through the mist. The early-morning wind had been totally killed by now, forcing a 45 minute postponement, so it was only possible to run two races. This time it was Richard & Jo's chance to try the new sail. Yet more confusion for the race office, who despite our clear written request with the approval of the race officer, had allocated the results to the wrong boat the day before! Eventually a south-easterly force 3 - 4 arrived, accompanied by a short chop. Twice Richard & Jo pushed John & Fran onto a mark (once legally, and once illegally – they were very apologetic!) But this allowed Jason and Scott to build a comfortable lead. In the final race the wind was lighter yet the course was made longer, another "interesting" decision by the race team. This time John & Fran were closer, but Jason and Scott managed to hold them off until the finish.
The overall winner of our start was the local 49er, which we have often seen do well in the past at this venue. But Richard and Jo did manage to earn a spot prize of T-shirts and Easter eggs, for travelling the furthest to the event, from North Yorkshire.
Two main conclusions from the event:
- The latest prototype main, with the square top and new material, appears to work brilliantly in a variety of conditions. We all loved it, and there are no major differences in performance, so new and old sails should be able to compete well together on a level playing field. Hopefully the Steering Committee will reach a favourable decision very soon.
- Both Steve & Sarah and Jason & Scott are going to be hard to beat this season! This should lead to some great racing for our newly rejuvenated class.