AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Day 1 of the first 2011 US A-Class Winter Circuit Regatta is done with three races completed and 36 boats racing. We have a very deep fleet that includes current North American Champion Matt Struble, top ten finisher at the last A-Class Worlds and multihull rock star Randy Smyth, Ben Hall, Bob Curry, keelboat and dinghy world champion Jeff Linton, and other top US A-Class sailors. But the big news is the participation of sailors from two America's Cup syndicates Artemis and Mascalzone Latino that include: Terry Hutchison Morgan Larson And Francesco with ML (sorry can't remember last name but this guy is also a world class Italian 49er sailor) Charlie Ogeltree - coaching all three of the above The breeze started out promising today out of the southeast at 12-14 knots, a lot of lump, and a lot of weed in the water but at least the weed was short in length and did not seem to be "sticking" to boards and rudders initially. In race 1, the breeze held at 12 knots on the first beat but died quickly to 5-6 knots halfway down the first run. With the boats now sailing with both hulls in the water and slower boatspeeds, suddenly the weeds became a more significant problem. The light air continued for the remaining two races and while I cannot report on results I am fairly sure of the top three: Matt Struble 1-1-4 (EVO HT, Fiberfoam, Glaser) Terry Hutchison 6-3-1 (A3, Hall, Glaser) Rush Bird 3-5-2 (Bim XJ, Riba,Glaser) The sailor of the day is Rush Bird. Rush is a recent cancer survivor and he is truly the Lance Armstrong of our class. Before he was diagnosed, Rush weighed around 190 lbs. His treatment for the disease resulted in his losing nearly 50 lbs. Rush has gotten his weight back up to 164 lbs and is getting his strength back but at his new fighting weight has become one of our faster light air downwind sailors. It was great to see the BIG smile on his face this afternoon after the racing was over. I normally don't talk about my own race results when I do these posts but some of you have been following the modifications I did to my ASG3 on other posts in this forum. I had finishes of 12-8-5 today and I think I am around 8th overall. I was 2nd around the weather mark in the first race right on Struble's heels and was doing well until I got on the wrong side of the breeze dropping and backing on the first run. In the 2nd race, after a great pin end start, I got too distracted by the weeds and should have gotten a top five finish but hung in for an 8th. In the last race, I again went for the pin, got it and was able to get a lane from the left to round the weather mark in 1st overlapped with T. Hutch. I made a couple of mistakes and dropped T. Hutch, Morgan, Rush, but hung on to finish just behind Struble, an improvement over the previous race. So the bottom line is the boat has a much better pace in light air which was the toughest condition for me with it previously. I'm pretty happy with the performance so far and hope the learning curve will continue with more racing. Finally, Randy Smyth tried a new A-Class rig today that consisted of a smaller (110 ft2) high aspect mainsail coupled with a high aspect 40 ft2 square top jib. He shortened his mast 12" and had to add some lightweight rigging innovation to accomodate the jib including a clever self-tacking jib track that was secured to the front beam with Dyneema line and a central bolted connection. It's a really cool looking rig but unfortunately it only had a short test today. The center portion of the jib track was not secured and it bent during a tack on the first beat of race 1 forcing Randy to retire for the day. He had it repaired this evening and will be back on the water tomorrow. What a game changer this could be if this rig works! Stay tuned. I'll try to post an update each evening. Bob Hodges USA 230 Link to post Share on other sites
Wandering Geo 62 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 AU2, Thanks for the update. Incredible talent rolling around in this class at the moment. Top ten at the Oz nats had something like 7 Olympians. US situation seems very similar. Any pics of RS's two sail rig? Is there a regatta website? Links? Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 AU2, Thanks for the update. Incredible talent rolling around in this class at the moment. Top ten at the Oz nats had something like 7 Olympians. US situation seems very similar. Any pics of RS's two sail rig? Is there a regatta website? Links? Go to www.usaca.info for regatta website link but unfortunately we don't have our act together to update it during the event so stay tuned to this thread and I'll try to update each evening. Ben Moon may chime in later this week also but he was out of the racing today with a stomach bug, hope to have him back on the water tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites
dingram 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Bob, that's for taking the time to file a report. Link to post Share on other sites
Bang Zoom 0 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Hey Bob Thanks for taking the time durring a reggatta to post an update. Question on your boat. What angle of attact are you now running on your dagger boards? Jim Link to post Share on other sites
SimonN 380 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You guys are killing me. Where are the photos of Randy's rig! How did it go today? I am sitting here desparate for more info! HELP!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Glaser 0 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You guys are killing me. Where are the photos of Randy's rig! How did it go today? I am sitting here desparate for more info! HELP!!!! photo credit Charlie O Link to post Share on other sites
SimonN 380 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You guys are killing me. Where are the photos of Randy's rig! How did it go today? I am sitting here desparate for more info! HELP!!!! photo credit Charlie O Thanks, Jay. Is this the future........... Link to post Share on other sites
WetnWild 48 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You guys are killing me. Where are the photos of Randy's rig! How did it go today? I am sitting here desparate for more info! HELP!!!! photo credit Charlie O Mmmmm very interesting - sloop rig was tried here in the late 70's. But the technology was very different then. General opinion was that with extra strings to pull, changing gears was slower and also it didn't point as high. With a self tacker and higher tech materials maybe it'll do the job! I'd be interested to know where the anticipated performance gain is. Link to post Share on other sites
Lowgroove 36 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You guys are killing me. Where are the photos of Randy's rig! How did it go today? I am sitting here desparate for more info! HELP!!!! photo credit Charlie O That is an interesting one!It is awesome that guys like Randy and whoevrer else is invlolved just go for it and try such different set ups! The latest brewin/Ashby sails with the new bendy rigs coupled with the DNA's at the Aus nats just look so right but if it wasn't for these types of experimentation the learning curve just takes so many more years! Does anyone have a verdict on the V1R Platform as of yet? How many are in the US? They seem very well priced! Link to post Share on other sites
Catfan 0 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Does anyone have a verdict on the V1R Platform as of yet? How many are in the US? They seem very well priced! According to BIMARE (see website) no 3 V1Rs landed recently in Florida. A "standard" V1R sailed by an A class newcomer (Luis Gonzales) is among the registered boats at the Tradewind Regatta scheduled for next week-end. The third is owned by Matt McDonald of FalconMarine. The V1R made fairly well at the 2010 A class Worlds (2 boats in the top 10) and better at the following Italian Championship (2,3,6 and 7) fitted with a newer more flexible mast section. Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 We only sailed one race yesterday. The race started barely at the class wind minimum and by the weather mark had dropped to no more than 3 knots. The PRO shortened the course at the end of the first downwind leg and the fleet finished but after a review of the class championship rules the decision was made to drop the race because the class rules stipulate the race shall be abandoned if the wind drops below the class wind minimum for 15 minutes or more. Since the race had been completed this made some sailors happy and some not so happy (the ones who did well in the race) but was the best decision overall since it was consistent with the class rules. Forecast this morning is for 17-19 knots from the NNE this afternoon for two scheduled races. Oh, how did the Smyth sloop rig do yesterday? Well Randy was first to the beach yesterday and rinsed and put away by the time we got back..................... Bang Zoom - I changed the rake of my boards to 2 degrees like nearly all of the other curved foil boats and it seems to be working well. Will get a better test today in the heavier breeze. Link to post Share on other sites
cfarrah 1 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the writeup Bob. Was he back first because he won, or because something broke? (My money is on won...) C. Link to post Share on other sites
nacraj 0 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Soooooooo anyone know how the A sloop faired today? Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Two races sailed today in very tough conditions. Put it this way, I helped Matt Struble pull his boat out of the water at the end of the day and he felt it was at or over the class wind max (22 knots) often and wasn't really enjoyable sailing. Out of 36 boats entered, only 12 sailed both races. A big problem was the wave direction was from the north and the breeze direction was NW which made sailing on port tack upwind directly into the waves very difficult. The chop was steep and boats (and sailors) were getting very airborne. I sailed out for the racing but decided once I got out there to go back to shore, I did not want to break the boat. Kudos to the guys who did the racing for sure. It's forecast to be even windier tomorrow but we hope it actually moderates. The first regatta was completed today and here is the top five: 1. Matt Struble (EVO HT/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 2. Terry Hutchison (A3/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 3. Morgan Larson (EVO HT/Hall/Glaser) 4. Rush Bird (XJ/Riba/Glaser) 5. Andy Kolb (EVO HT/Hall/Glaser) There was some carnage including a Fiberfoam mast that exploded on an upwind leg into two pieces, a sailor getting launched into a sail on a capsize (sail blown in half), a sailor breaking a tiller crossbar on a pitchpole, and a lot of capsizes. Rush Bird told me he capsized five times in one race. For you sloop fans, Randy did sail today and he was happy with the performance of the rig. Still a lot of bugs to work out but easy to handle upwind and downwind. Hope the breeze drops a bit, at least it's above freezing! Bob Hodges USA 230 Link to post Share on other sites
nacraj 0 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Thanks for the update, those of us still sailing antique beach cats like our N20 are secretly hoping that the two sailed A cat will somehow justify all the sails we haul around. Link to post Share on other sites
JMac 0 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Sloop rig may divide the class as it is doing the F16's, when it gets dialed in. F-16 sloop kills over 8 knots, uni rules under 8 knots. Think a spin is around the corner? Link to post Share on other sites
WetnWild 48 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Sloop rig may divide the class as it is doing the F16's, when it gets dialed in. F-16 sloop kills over 8 knots, uni rules under 8 knots. Think a spin is around the corner? Don't think so. Developments are the norm in A's. People are always trying things to see if they are faster and we already have boats set up in many different ways. Sloop rigs have been tried before and dissappeared like the dodo because they weren't faster. This time around who knows. There are new materials and techniques, and very smart people having a go. That's what we do in this class - have a go. As far as kites go, a small number of people have added kites just for recreation. But as soon as you add a kite it's not an A Class. The sail area limitation for the ISAF category rules that out unless the total sail are remains with 13.94sq metres. There are plenty of great boats around designed for kites for those who prefer to use them. We revel in the challenge of going fast downwind without adding large amounts of sail. It's about efficiency and rig adjustment and technique for us. Each to their own. Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 As far as kites go, a small number of people have added kites just for recreation. But as soon as you add a kite it's not an A Class. The sail area limitation for the ISAF category rules that out unless the total sail are remains with 13.94sq metres. There are plenty of great boats around designed for kites for those who prefer to use them. We revel in the challenge of going fast downwind without adding large amounts of sail. It's about efficiency and rig adjustment and technique for us. Each to their own. +1000 - making an A-Class go downwind is an art and great skill to develop (just as it was on 18 squares). No doubt a chute is fun but the class will never go to a chute on the boat. A-Class sailors also like simplicity and its exciting that the recent sail and hull design developments are keeping the boat very entertaining to sail. Frick, we need the wind and seas to die down a bit here in Islamorada this morning. It's blowing high teens to mid 20's and temps in the low 50's this AM. The big problem for a lot of sailors yesterday was the nasty sea state upwind. That probably won't change for a couple of days but we're keeping our fingers crossed the wind will moderate down to the mid to high teens. Stay tuned for update this evening. Bob Hodges USA 230 Link to post Share on other sites
Waynemarlow 138 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Sloop rig may divide the class as it is doing the F16's, when it gets dialed in. F-16 sloop kills over 8 knots, uni rules under 8 knots. Think a spin is around the corner? Not quite so, the sloop is used for any body with two jockeys on board, Uni is reserved for the solo jockey. Dems the class rules. Do I think the dual sail setup is better, mmmmm there has been some debate on this within the class as the sloop with more weight on will out perform the lighter Uni on identical boats in most conditions ( I think its easier for most people to get better performance out of the main with a jib on, I would suspect a blade jib would do the same for the solo if class rules allows ), how much of this is also down to having more hands on board to hoist and reset sails also has to be considered as it can get a bit busy as a solo with spinny and the likes whilst racing. What a buzz though when out on the wire with spinny up and doing high teens speeds. Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 Here's the wrapup of this event. Yesterday, the PRO cancelled racing for the day when the wind was blowing at 22-28 knots on the stations just offshore. However, shortly after lunch, the readings dropped to less than 20 knots offshore so a group of 10 sailors got on the water for a great 2 hour training session. Today was a "Chamber of Commerce" day and we got off 4 races in 12-18 knots of breeze with 30 boats racing. Matt Struble dominated with downwind speed no one was able to match. Morgan Larson was at times close as both he and Matt were trapezing downwind but Matt still won three races by over 200 yards. The top five for the day were: 1. Matt Struble (EVO HT/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 2. Morgan Larson (EVO HT/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 3. Ben Hall (Barracuda (version 3)/Hall/Cogan) 4. Bob Hodges (ASG3 (version 2)/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 5. Jeff Linton (XJ/Riba/Glaser) The next event in this series will take place in mid-February. I think we'll see more sailors show up with footstraps on their boats! Bob Hodges USA 230 Link to post Share on other sites
glowmaster 0 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 congratulations Bob on being named sailor of the week at US sailing. Your work with the A class as evident by this promotional (good) thread is one of the reasons why. A corsair sprint and and an A class, nice quiver........ good onya ed Link to post Share on other sites
Lipgloss & Latex 0 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Any more pictures of Randy's boat from anyone? and how did he fair in the rest of the races? Link to post Share on other sites
TracyO 0 Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 Bob, Let's not forget to KINDLY ask Marco to allow us to post the great video/pics on USACA.info or at least on Mascalone Latino's web site if possible. The week went too fast. See you in February. Here's the wrapup of this event. Yesterday, the PRO cancelled racing for the day when the wind was blowing at 22-28 knots on the stations just offshore. However, shortly after lunch, the readings dropped to less than 20 knots offshore so a group of 10 sailors got on the water for a great 2 hour training session. Today was a "Chamber of Commerce" day and we got off 4 races in 12-18 knots of breeze with 30 boats racing. Matt Struble dominated with downwind speed no one was able to match. Morgan Larson was at times close as both he and Matt were trapezing downwind but Matt still won three races by over 200 yards. The top five for the day were: 1. Matt Struble (EVO HT/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 2. Morgan Larson (EVO HT/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 3. Ben Hall (Barracuda (version 3)/Hall/Cogan) 4. Bob Hodges (ASG3 (version 2)/Fiberfoam/Glaser) 5. Jeff Linton (XJ/Riba/Glaser) The next event in this series will take place in mid-February. I think we'll see more sailors show up with footstraps on their boats! Bob Hodges USA 230 Link to post Share on other sites
cobee 1 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 anyone have complete results beyond the top five? Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 anyone have complete results beyond the top five? Here's the results of Friday's racing, the second event of the week. Note the 2 point spread from 5th to 10th overall. RESULTS INTERGALACTICA 1-11-11.pdf Link to post Share on other sites
Catfan 0 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I bet on Matt Struble sailing Peter Cogan's Barracuda 2 as the 2011 A class World Champion. Link to post Share on other sites
SimonN 380 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Looking at the photos by Martin hamilton, what strikes me straight away is the different rig philosophies between the US rigs and what we are using in Oz. The Fiberfoam/Glazer rigs look to have very little mast bend compared with what I am used to seeing and the sails look a lot flatter. I think they are also less big in the head (the sails, not the sailors ) Link to post Share on other sites
AClass USA 230 48 Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 Looking at the photos by Martin hamilton, what strikes me straight away is the different rig philosophies between the US rigs and what we are using in Oz. The Fiberfoam/Glazer rigs look to have very little mast bend compared with what I am used to seeing and the sails look a lot flatter. I think they are also less big in the head (the sails, not the sailors ) Simon, Where did you see Martin's photos? I'd like to see them too! Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
Wardhaines 0 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 http://gallery.me.com/martinhamilton/100261 Link to post Share on other sites
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