Two weeks to go

In the last week I managed to have three more trainings. The first one bringing Mic Mac to Founex, one in Founex and finally a night training, sailing Mic Mac back to Versoix.

Bringing the boat to Founex and training outside of Founex

Training at night, bringing MM back to Versoix

It is now also time to start about thinking how to get Mic Mac in to shape for a probably long and if there is a lot of wind, demanding race.

I should have a close look at the boat and start improving what I can. If I go through my head there are already following things coming to my mind:

-Someone made a remark on our e-log that a screw is missing on one of the winches (better I check     that soon)
-The headsail sheets are too short and I need to prolong them
-someone made e remark about the racing headsail, there should be a small hole( I better have a look soon, just in case it needs professional repair
-the haljard for the small spi is to thin and slips in the cleat in lot of wind
-the compass light is not working
-ne spinnaker sheet is way too big and heavy, I will get a proper one from Bucher and Walt
- I need to remove all additional wheight on friday before the race (for ex. cushions in the bow, old sheets that are stored in the boat)
-lubricate all pullies and blocks
-what about installing an electric autopilot, just in case I find myself somehere close to Lausanne on Sunday, without wind? This could make my way home a lot more comfortable:)
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Dying bise

For this outing I was lucky to have Rob and Denise with me. Thank you for coming! They followed me on the Qboat, which allowed me to simulate real singlehanded conditions. The training was from 9.30am till 12.30pm.

The bise from Sunday was still blowing, after it had dropped during the night, but already less strong than the day before.

I was on the water from10am to 12pm

I started with a full main and the Jib, soon I felt like it would be better to use the Genoa to get more speed and better balance. I managed to change to the bigger Genoa, but it took me quite some time and I also did a involunarily tack at the end, which cost me lots of height and probably some places during a race.

Groundloss due to involuntary tack at the end of the sailchange

I also practised tacking, still room for improvement:

Steering with weight shifting
Rob also showed me how to steer the Surprise by changing the bodyweight, a technique that comes in very handy in case I have to work on the foredeck and the boat starts to turn....

It is pretty simple:

If you want to luff up the boat, you have to put your weight downwind
If you want to bear away, you have to move your weight upwind


Sounds easy. No?
The problem with this is that you have to react very fast (as soon as the boat starts to turn in a bad direction), if you wait to long, you wont be able to do anything anymore with your weight and you have to rush back to the tiller. A good reason to be very focused and check the bearing all the time while working on the foredeck.

I also practised more gybing and hoisting and lowering the spinnaker several times

A windy outing

Today's third outing was a very windy business. With gusts reaching up to 5bf it was challenging to keep controll of Mic Mac singleahanded.

Todays training

For today's training I was accompanied by Denise, who did a great job as a passive crew and back up if things would have gone wrong. While we rigged up the boat, the predicted Bise started to build up and by the time we left the harbour and put up the sails, the Bise had reached full force.

I decided to put in the reef to deepower the boat.
After this, we went upwind and I practised a few tacks. The strong wind made it hard for me to keep a steady course. Often I had to deepower the main by easing the sails. While I adjusted the headsails, the boat often wanted to turn in to the wind and I had to be carfull not to let the tiller go for too long.

Going downwind, I was first afraid to use the spinnaker. I then practised some heavy weather gybes, by sheeting in the main before the gybe. During the gybe I controlled the tiller with my legs, so I could gybe the jib with my hands.

My confidence grew and I decided to put up the small spi.
The hoist went well and after some flapping and noise the boat accelerated under spinnaker. I soon learned that the downhaul becomes very important in this kind of wind, because the spinnaker rises up and needs to be held down to controll it.
Coming closer to the shore, I either had to take the spinnaker down or gybe away from the coast. I went for the gybe.
Going on a deep run, I eased the spi sheet and pulled back the brace/tangoon. It took me several attempts to adjust the spi the way I wanted it. Once this was done I went to the front and changed the tangoon on to the new side. Then, I went back to the cockpit and gybed the main.
One gybe was enough and I took the spi down and we sailed back to the port.
It was a great outing!!

Gybe from stb to port and spinnaker drop before going upwind again

Second training part two

After tacking upwind, it was time to prepare the launch of the spinnaker. For this I locked the tiller, put the tangoon in position and then started to prefeed the tack. Once this was done I beared away on  to a broad reach and pulled up the spinnaker.

Once the spinnaker was up, I practised several gybes with the spinnaker.

My first two attemps didnt go very smooth. I gybed the main first and then went to the foredeck to get the tangoon on to the other side. I then had to find out that I didnt release the downhaul and I also had the sheet to tight. The result was that I could not attach the pole on the new side and had to release the downhaul before clipping in the pole. You can see this in my video (the difficulties with the pole start around 42 sec):

We then tried a second approach that worked better:
This time I went on a dead run and eased the sheet much more. I also didnt forget to release the downhaul this time:) After locking the tiller, I went to the foredeck and changed the tangoon.
On the way back, I tightened the downhaul again and adjusted the sails. Once this was done, I could  gybe the mainsail. Here is a video of this too:

 Too soon it was time to get the spinnaker down and head home to the port.

For dropping the spinnaker I unfurled the Genoa and started to ease the foreguy/line that controlles the tangoon, so I could start taking in the foot of the spinnaker. Once I had the foot, I  released the haliyard and packed the spinnaker in its bag. For the next time, I would release the haliyard a bit before the drop, so it would not require that much force to pull it down (you can see this in the video at 40sec).

Second training part 1

Today I managed to have a second training session for the Translemanique. After yesterday's training with almost no wind, the forecast looked much more promising. When we arrived at the port the wind had built up to a steady 2 Bf from north.
As my crew and advisors I had Magnus and Tim F. Thank you guys for coming along and helping me achieving this adventure.

We left under sail alone, wich was a bit challenging as the wind was coming from the north and we had to rock the boat out of the channel before we could set the sails. A good excersise in boat handling and very useful in case I want to do the race without taking the motor.

Briefing before the tack

First we sailed upwind and I performed some singlehanded tacks.
For the tacks I used the following technique:

-Cleating the rope at the autopilot, so I could start preparing the sheets
-Putting 2 turns on the lazy whinch/ 'soon to be' working whinch
-Preparing the working sheet, so I later can grab it easely
-Lowering the travaller, so it would be in the right possition after the tack= dont forgett to cleat it on the new position
- Grabbing the two genoa sheets
-tacking with the tiller between my legs, this allowes me to have both hands free for the sheets
-working the sheets during the tack
-sailing the new course, adjusting sails, vola!

Conclusions:
Practise makes perfect, I am glad I will have some more trainings:)
The headsail sheets need to be longer
It is good to prepare the sheets before lowering the traveller, otherwise I will loose too much power in the mainsail

Checking the winches after the tack

Part two to follow soon....

First singlehanded training

Today I finally had the chance to go out for a first singlehanded training. As Mic Mac was reserved by someone else, we weren't sure if it was even at the harbour (in our club people often book a boat and then dont go out). We arrived an hour into the booking period and to our delight the boat was not taken out.
The conditions were very light. Most of the time, the wind was so light that it was just enough to keep the sails from flapping. My main objectiv was to find out how the very simple autopilot works and how to put up the spinnaker and gybe it.
I managed to do two spinnaker hoists and drops plus four gybes. After a good hour of practise the wind dropped to zero, so we decided to call it a day. After a refreshing swim in the lake we motored back to the port.

My conclusions from today:

If the wind is very light, it is hard to fill the spi. It might help to roll up the genoa beforehand to make sure it doesnt block the wind.

Before the gybe, it is important to make sure all the lines are running free.

The line for the autopilot needs to be longer.

It is more fun to train if there is wind to fill the sails:)

The autopilot
The autopilot is made out of a rope that leads from one side of the cockpit to the other, this rope is than held by a little cleat under the tiller. This way it is possible to block the tiller and prevent the boat from turning, while adjusting sails or doing work on the foredeck