For the third week in a row terrific sailing and conditions. Saturday, Long Island Sound had a building breeze that started in the high teens and ended up with gusts into the high twenties. The TP52 is a real handful on a short course with high wind speeds. The 1.75 mile leg is real short when you ride a 28 knot gust downwind at 23 knots of boat speed.  Almost more surprising then the boat speed was that at speed the boat is in total control. We had a few new players onboard in key spots so I was a bit conservative, which may of cost a bit in hind site as we logged two second place finishes on Saturday. I had also taken over the tactician role and without the owner Stephen Murray onboard, it was my first goal to get the boat around the course safe, with no breakdowns. 

 

Two Second place finishes put us two points out of first place for the fall series. Sunday the crew was ready to improve and give themselves a chance to win the series. We sailed a very sound race on Sunday in 10 to 15 knots of breeze. The Transpac 52 is like a large planning dinghy. So part of our improvement from Saturday was keeping our crew weight in the right position so Jeremy Wilmont our helmsmen could maneuver the boat effectively. We also focused on trimming our sails more effectively around the corners of the course. Making these adjustments combined with some good chute sets and take downs and we had our first place finish for the only race run on Sunday.

 

There were a lot of positives but most gratifying to me is the improvement the whole team made from Saturday to Sunday. On board Decision they debrief after every race day. This is a very good habit to be in if you are trying to improve performance. Each position onboard is allowed time to express what went well and areas they feel could be improved. This usually leads to some discussion and a solution for a better practice.

 

One simple item that I was able to improve upon was speaking louder going into maneuvers, so the whole crew could hear me. Simple items like that add up to a lot of time saved around the course. We ended the series in 2nd place one point out of first. We sailed very consistent.  Without the drop race we would have been tied for first place for the series.

 

Jack Jennings

Pied Piper Racing