Xenon Handicap and others

In a sop to the search engines I am going to put in a post that covers the PY Handicaps of the Topper Xenon and others who I race against.....


Topper Zenon - 1070 (with Trapeze??)

Laser - 1078

Wayfarer - 1099

Topaz - 1212

Mirror - 1365

Wivenhoe One Design - ????

A list of the most popular fleet boats can be found here thanks to the RYA. What is not clear to me is how the Trapeze option impacts the handicap. I think that the handicap above is with the Trapeze operating. I don't have a harness yet so I believe that I am probably getting penalised with a too high a handicap at club races.....hmmm very interesting I must find out more as this could make some big changes to my race results..!

Laser Blogger ?

I'm not the only one that blogs about trying to sail. This chap is interesting, he's 60+ and it appears be sails one of those pesky lasers that I am always trying to beat ...

Actually I have been a little cruel and linked his entry about hating Laser sailors... I don't really I promise!

http://propercourse.blogspot.com/2006/07/seven-reasons-to-hate-laser-sailors.html

Dinghy Racing - Long Distance Race

We had the long distance dinghy race last weekend; the Barman my usual crew was not able to make it due to work commitments but his very experienced father volunteered to replace him; Father of the Barman now known as FB.

I thought it was going to be a walk-over but 4 other boats did eventually enter into the long-distance dinghy race. End result we came 3rd and that includes with the handicap. The 2 boats we left way way back were a Wivenhoe One and a Mirror.

What was slightly disappointing was the margin by which we were beaten by another Wivenhoe One and a pesky Laser. We did expect to do much better and were slightly disappointed. FB did have some good sailing tips. The issue we have is that there is very little knowledge within the club about how to sail a boat like the Topper Xenon.

Being the observant helmsman and having had a few crew on board, I have noticed a couple of things where the manual differs (see http://zambezishark.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-sail-topper-xenon.html) from the habits of experienced crew used to sailing other types of boat.

These are (when going upwind)

• tension tight on jib
• lots tension on cunningham

I also notice that there are a number of opinions as to where the telltales should go. Some say both fly horizontally across, others having the inside flicking upwards (as per http://zambezishark.blogspot.com/2009/07/where-should-telltails-go.html)

We were a new team and areas that we could have improved were around handling of the spinnaker. We struggled at times and perhaps should have borne away from a straight run to build up speed on more of a reach angle. This will come with practice I am sure. What is not certain either is whether the jib should furl when the spinnaker is up? Marketing pictures from Topper all show it up - I'll have to check some more neutral snaps but I reckon the jib can stay up.

Finally disappointing as it was, there are a whole host of other reasons why we did not do as well...

• other helmsman was a previous national champion on Enterprises (apparently)
• there is a tidal channel through the course of River Colne which I don't know very well yet
• we grounded on the mud
• my first season
• luck

Anyway if there are other sailors of Topper Xenons please add your top tips in the comments section below.

Laser Vago Planning

There is a dire lack of videos out there of what a Topper Xenon looks like when it is planning. To give a clue of how the Barman and I looked (albeit briefly) before we capsized I found this video with a reasonably similar looking boat. It does take a bit of skill to do this and they are not out for their first sail.

The Xenon is slightly larger and I believe has a slightly lower handicap (just) - it starts getting picky when you try to decide whether it is with or without trapeze.

Have a look....

How to sail the Topper Xenon

Here is some useful information for me and my crew to remember when sailing the Zambezi Shark (aka Topper Xenon) - particularly the Barman, as we were definitely rusty during Friday evening's pursuit race er....or was it just me??

The aim this course is of course to beat those pesky Lasers. BTW everything below comes from the Topper manual so must be true..

Upwind
For a medium wind (crew sitting out hard, but able to sheet the mainsail to the centreline) you should be able to use maximum power. Use very little or no cunningham. The outhaul should be set so that there is about a 3in (7-8cm) gap between mainsail foot and boom at the point of maximum chord. Try to keep the boom on the centreline, provided that the boat remains flat.

The jib can be eased about 1-2in (5-10cm) from maximum tightness for optimum performance. As the wind increases, reduce the power in the mainsail by pulling down on the cunningham progressively until the boat feels comfortable and balanced again. If you have tell tales on the leech, use enough gnav to keep them flying.

For very windy conditions flatten the main by tightening the outhaul, tensioning the cunningham further (with a fully-battened sail this has the effect of flattening the sail without pulling the fullness forward and can therefore be used much more than with a conventional mainsail). Sit out hard and sail free.

In light airs, use little or no gnav to allow the leech to open.

Tacking
Be aware that with a fully-battened sail the power comes on very fast after the tack. Do not over steer with the rudder as you will find yourself on a reach. Do not sheet in hard immediately, with either main or jib, until the boat has picked up speed after the tack. Whenever the boat slows down it pays to ease sheets, bear off a couple of degrees and then oint up again once the boat has regained speed. In light winds, when about to tack, make sure that there is some gnav tension, as this will help the battens to flick across. Ease the sheet a few inches before tacking. A sharp pull when you reach the new tack will also help the battens across.

Downwind
With an asymmetric Spinnaker, large distances can be gained (and lost!) very quickly. It is essential to keep the boat traveling at the optimum speed and direction towards the next mark. This direction will vary according to the wind strength. In light airs, at displacement speeds, where sailing higher will not result in a great increase in speed, it pays to sail low towards the mark. In marginal planing conditions, sailing higher will allow the boat to plane and the consequent increase in speed help to offset the extra distance traveled. The boat can be sailed progressively lower as the wind strength increases.

Just when to sail high or low and at what precise angles will come only with experience, so keep practicing. The crew can have a better idea of the correct angle to sail by feeling the power in the spinnaker sheet. Allow the crew to call the pressure. Sail as low as possible, keeping the pressure on, unless there are overriding tactical considerations.

Gybing
An asymmetric Spinnaker is far easier to gybe than a conventional spinnaker and takes no longer than tacking. Ideally you should always gybe when the boat is traveling at maximum speed as there is less pressure on the sails. It therefore pays to gybe 'reachto- run'.

If you try to slow down and gybe 'run-to-run' the spinnaker pulls the top of the mast forward, making the boat unstable and less controllable. The additional air pressure will make the mainsail harder to pull across. So be positive and gybe smoothly and at speed.

In strong winds you will probably have borne off so that, although the apparent wind still shows a broad reach, you are in fact running directly before the true wind. If you then try to gybe through your normal angle you will gybe on to a reach and be overpowered! So in strong conditions remember to gybe through a smaller angle. As with tacking, apply some gnav tension and Cunningham when gybing in light airs to help the battens flick across.

Where should the Telltails go?

It is some time since I completed my RYA 1 & 2 dinghy sailing course. It is on these courses that you learn and prompty forget what things like the telltales should be doing to get you going as fast as possible. To prove my point, when last out on the River Colne, just short of Bateman Tower, even the Bar Man, my experienced crew could not remember.

After a few months of sailing I have now mastered the ability to look up at my sails and make a vague judgement as to their worth. Having spotted the telltales I felt it was the next thing to master in my quest to beat the Lasers.

Once you have the jib trimmed correctly, you can start steering the boat, using the telltales as guides. If the outside telltale "piddles," this means the sail is overtrimmed for the direction of the wind on the boat. You don't want to let the sail out, so you must head up. This, in effect, retrims the sails, except instead of bringing the sails in, you "brought the whole boat in."

If the inside telltale piddles constantly, or if the sail luffs (actual luffing, or just an inversion at the front edge of the sail), the jib is undertrimmed. You don't want to crank in more on the sheet, so you must retrim by bearing off.

Your goal is to make the outside tale flow straight back and the inside tale "lift" occasionally, meaning some air is getting to it, but not all the time. If you don't know how often the inside tale should be lifting, err on the side of too often. It's better to have too much air flowing along the inside edge of the sail, than not enough.

So Lasers, with this and the Roll Tack, you had better watch out.

The next intreguing issue about the sails is to understand what the telltales on the leech-edge of the mainsail are meant to do...

2x Races 1x Weekend

This weekend, with much anticipation, the Zambezi Shark was entered into her first race. To start the picture on the right is not us (but could be!).
Becalmed in the scorching sun we took 20 minutes to cross the start line. So far so good 'cos we were actually in front. However it appears I need to work harder on my tacking as a couple of those pesky little Laser boats got away when we reached this part of the course.

On the return leg we popped open the spinnaker for the first time and it was AWESOME - had we had another 1000 yards would have pipped those Lasers. We came 3rd out of about 8(?). My spinnaker is black btw.

Monday (today) we came 2nd but perhaps because of the effect of the previous day, the 4am feed of King Alfred and the drinking at the-night-before-BBQ I was a little knackered. No spinnaker this time as we were being overpowered by the main - my race buddy and I now want a harness for the trapeze.

During a long weekend, racing twice is a sure way to appear absent from the family; future weekends like this will need to require negotiation with the Wife,