10 replies to this topic

[Reto]

I'm thinking of trying to organize a winter frostbite series in the learn-to-sail dinghies at my YC. Once or twice a month on weekends, short courses, lots of starts, heavy on tactics, light on boatspeed, etc. etc. I'm in PNW so not THAT cold.

Anyone got any advice/comments/snarky remarks about what to do and what not to do?

[505er]

I frosbite in Annapolis. Apart from the leadmine frostbite (no kites, have to sit in the cockpit, no legs over the rail, nothing to keep you warm except alcohol), there are Interclubs and Lasers racing Sundays at SSA, and Jet 14s, sometimes 505s, Vanguard 15s frostbiting some Saturdays.

The two most serious frosbiting classes in Annapolis are the IC and Laser. I did the ICs for awhile, but for my taste, the boats are too slow, you don't move enough to generate warmth, so you get cold. The only good thing was that they roll tack and roll gybe nicely. I much prefer frostbiting the Laser. Easy to right when you capsize, you work hard enough to generate some warmth, and you can feel the difference in boat speed when you do something right.

Short courses, make it fun, have social time after racing, don't spend too long on the water, help the newcomers. Keep it simple, use a 2 or 3 minute sequence with a noisemaker that counts down. No one has to have a watch that way (every try to find your watch under three layers of clothing?).

If you do pick boats that are not easy to right and self rescue (the ICs are not), have a powerboat with a gas-engine-powered pump to pump out boats.

[WestCoast]

in Portland, we just keep sailing as normal. Fall/Winter series for Laser, V-15, etc on Sunday afternoons.

where are you sailing out of?

[BlowTheGuy!!!]

one word.
fuck IC's

[Hammer]

if you want to spice it up a little, try some team racing....you can invite other YC's to compete against you... 15 minute racing... great fun... it happens at Rochester in the winter (and it gets cold!)

[Alden Bugly]

"Once or twice a month"

Pick one or the other and never miss. Always start on time. Same time every time. Try and have the same r/c not an alternating thing with racers. Keep at it. May take years, but the rewards are huge.

[Debos]

Talk about it constantly with your sailing aquaintances, for a couple of months - try to judge how many you might get based on their interest - then set a date, write the SI's and go for it.

[TeamFugu]

Hey does any one recomend wearing just a wet suit when frostbiteing. i have got a 3-4mm short arm and i was wondering it that might be enought with a long sleave rash gaurd and a spray jacket n bib on top.

Any ideas on how this would work out?

My brother and I used to take the 505 out durring the winter. He wore a wet suit, sweaters, and foulies, I had a sweatsuit and a dry suit. He froze his ass off and I was a bit hot if I had to work hard on the wire. You'll be fine if you don't get wet. The wet suit will save your bacon in the water but they are not that good wet and out of the water.

How bad it gets will depend on the air and water temp. Great Salt Lake will get below freezing in the winter because of the salt and how shallow the lake is.

[505er]

Hey does any one recomend wearing just a wet suit when frostbiteing. i have got a 3-4mm short arm and i was wondering it that might be enought with a long sleave rash gaurd and a spray jacket n bib on top.

Any ideas on how this would work out?

Depends where you are/how cold it is.

In Annapolis, Laser frostbiting, if it is windy and below about 34 degrees air temperature, I go with a drysuit. I sail better in the wetsuit, but at some point the wetsuit does not do it for you anymore. But I wear more over my torso when wearing the wetsuit (mine is the Gill short sleeve). I wear a base layer under the wetsuit, another base layer over the wetsuit, and some mid layer, either a vest or a long sleeve and a vest, then the spray top.

When you capsize in January/February in a wetsuit, you get this incredible rush of cold. Each time it happens I wonder if I am going to have a heart attack; so far so good. You are VERY motivated to get back in the boat. Somehow, the times I have capsized wearing a wetsuit (so it was above about 34 degrees), I have managed to finish the race and warm up enough to continue. But just getting yourself back in the boat is exhausting. You always feel it took everything out of you to get the boat upright and get back in it.

I do not wear spray pants over the wetsuit. I would almost certainly be warmer if I did, but I hate the feel of wet spray pants over my wetsuit in the Laser. I feel my knee movement is constrained, and that feels slow in a Laser.

[Jesse Falsone]

one word.
fuck IC's

I always find it amusing that some people can be so beligerent about the IC. I also find that those that are generally suck in the boat. ; )

Regardless, each to his own.

[couchsurfer]

..back to topic,,,I'd suggest you get a couple of others to build a core-group with a solid commitment--the rest may or may not fall together,but you've got what you're looking for without losing your head to organizing!.....actually you'd have MUCH better training value to keep it small and work each other hard,it's not like the score-keeping makes you better ........it's your choice-get lost in organizing,or just......shaddap'nSAIL!!!!

....one other suggestion,wether big or small,it's good to keep some form of 'check-in' a couple of hours before start time where 2-3 people look at the weather,make a descision.A spare line on someone's answer machine proves very useful for organizing if/when you get some #'s...if the acess # is given in the outgoing message,then everyone can both leave a message AND hear who's coming-out.