Wednesday 21 March 2012

Woman Skiff Evaluation Day 4

Today did not look promising when we woke up this morning. There is a sand bar in the middle of the bay that was fully exposed do to low tide. The bay was also glass. Sailing was postponed for the morning, and we got an opportunity to sit down with the ISAF women on the evaluation panel, as well as all the sailors, and discuss the boats. The women on the panel are very experienced sailors, and the three of them have a few Olympic Campaigns under their belt. It was an amazing opportunity to talk with them. There are also many experienced and talented sailors here; it was great to hear their thoughts on the boats as well. Most have a similar skiff background as us, a number of years in the 29er, and a year or two in the 29erXX. Some of the women are also coming from a 470 background and have more technical opinions. We only made it through three boats in the time we had, the ARUP, the Aura, and the 29erXX. In general there were a lot of similar comments. The Aura was a fun boat to sail, but there are some potential modifications that may need to be considered, such as the location of the crew’s trap wire. The ARUP is new technology that is exciting, but the boat is a bit small (12ft) and there are concerns about progression from youth classes. The XX is a challenge in the light wind, which can be exciting, but there are potential concerns that the combined weight will drop considerably over the next 8 years. There were a few contradictions amongst teams, but in general major factors seemed to be agreed upon. Light wind is in the forecast over the next couple of days and I look forward to discussing the rest of the boats.

View of the Harbour first thing in the morning

This afternoon the breeze filled in nicely. It started around 8 knots and built to about 12. We got to sail the Mackay FX first. This is a rig modification from the 49er. The same hull, spin pole, boards, and even spreaders. All that is different is the rig and sails. We found the hull big, especially during the launch. When we got it going we had a good time, and seemed to pick up maneuvering rather quickly. We had a few great gybes and tacks. Unfortunately, we had an awful tack that was caught on film! We are definitely getting more use to double trapping, and adapting our styles to each boat.
Mackay FX

The second boat we sailed was the Aura. This was the same boat that we sailed on the first day. We were a bit nervous getting in after a bad experience on the first day. However, we were able to handle it much more easily today. We got it going upwind and downwind really well. It is light and gets going quite quickly. This boat has racks rather then wings (which we are used to), and it was a bit difficult figuring the racks out. Especially through the tacks and gybes. We capsized twice in the Aura. The first time the spinnaker retrieval line got caught under the hull, and the capsize was on purpose to sort it out. Our capsize recovery was much easier then the first day. The second tip was on a hoist. The centerboard is very narrow, and the light boat was pitching in the waves (even though they were quite small) and Danielle fell off the centerboard once (not fun, the water is cold). But afterward we got it going again quickly. The sail was much more positive then our initial sail.
Aura

We are not sure what we are going to do tonight. We discovered last night not many places serve food until before 8. We just had a large snack to tie us over until then. We want to try something new! 
Let us know if there is anything you want to hear about more in depth! We will do our best to answer any questions. 
Emily and Danielle

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