Annapolis NOOD Regatta started on Friday May 4th, 2012. Competitors began to arrive on Wednesday evening, and the first warning signal was at 11:00 Am Friday morning.
The forecast was for winds to be light and variable out of the North, north east. The Race Committee attempted to start a race on time but with a dying breeze and a big shift the RC abandoned the race . Another two hours went by and a bit of breeze came in from the east.
My tactician and I discussed what to do with the rig knowing it was going to be a very light wind race. We decided to leave the upper shrouds a 20 and that we would loosen our lower shrouds from 15 to 12. This enables us to power our main up but keep the head stay somewhat tight so that it will not bounce to much in the chop.
The start of the race was a big left shift so as soon as the gun went off it was very important to get onto port tack. Unfortunately it was one tack and in. We figured out about half way up the second beat the in really light and choppy conditions it is key to ease the 3DL genoa all the way to the lifelines in order to be very powered up. This was a very frustrating race, and in the end it was Chris Stone who won the race. This was the only race of the day and at the end it was Chris stone in 1st, John Mollicone in 2nd, Travis Odenbach in 3rd, Jeffrey Ford in 4th, and Pat Fitzgerald in 5th.
Saturday’s start time was the same. It was a very long day of really light wind. But the RC did a great job at getting four decent races off. Each race the course was favored left due to the current and better breeze coming off the shore. It was a frustrating day on the starting line dodging crab pots, and finding breeze. On a positive not the last race was about 14 knots and it was a pleasure to be on the water then. At the end of Saturday the top five were Travis Odenbach in 1st, Robbie Brown in 2nd,John Mollicone in 3rd, Tony Parker in fourth,(who had an excellent day), and Chris Stone in 5th.
The last day we had one race and the points in the top 3 were tight. It was all about starting at the pin and going left. This was a very light race where all the crew were down below except one. The weight needs to be over the keel as much as possible,( and possibly less windage, if that matters on a j24). The race ended and the scores stayed the same. This was the final race of the event.
1.Travis Odenbach 3DL Genoa
2. Robbie Brown
3. John Mollicone
4. Tony Parker 3DL Genoa
5. Chris Stone 3DL Genoa
Learn more about the North fast J/24 sails.
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