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You’ve
seen the pictures, heard the stories, viewed the results. But these 18’
Skiffs are beyond the comprehension of most of us. Sailing Anarchy reader
Pete M. did what most of us did not – he sailed on one of these bad
boys in the 18’ Skiff International Regatta in ‘Frisco. Here
is his rather incredible report. The Ed
1. Stream of conscious summary. Ok here we go. I've been off the water for 44 hours now and I still hurt. What a blast, how terrifying, what pain. Man, I'm exhausted. My brain is filled with unbelievable images. Planing up wind at 13+ knots, jumping the waves downwind at 20 kts, and I mean crew on the wire and full air. The adrenaline rush of crossing situations both downwind and upwind. Spray in my face off the boat 18 feet from the hull. Lots of girls interested in the dinghy park as well. A strategic place near the jogging path meant that almost no work was done. Later we moved closer to the shore and only got old guys asking questions, but at least the carry was shorter and we got our work done quicker. Six days of racing, plus a practice day is quite enough on these boats, thank you very much. Those skiffs are amazing, I don't know which is more amazing, the up wind speed or the big air down wind. Still shots and videos don't do justice to the awesome power and speed of these big skiffs. All the other boats on the water are just stationary targets. Most are magnetic as well and seemed to have a powerful attraction for our bow. 2. What it's like straight line? Upwind rocks, the forward hand is the balance and lulls are as important ant the puffs. A lull can roll you to weather and it is important to keep the boat on it's feet. It is also important to not go too fast, you can follow the apparent down till you are reaching all over the course. Going fast, just the wrong way. But all out on the wire skipping upwind, it's great. The first impression out on the trapeze on an 18 is it feels like you are miles from the boat, it's way over there. In 15 kts wind with the number 1 rig up these boats are a joy to sail, in 22 with the number 2 up the straight parts are fun it's the corners that are hard. Down wind is pretty cool too, the boat just flies and a cool part is with two on the wire you can send someone in to the boat to straighten sheets or fix something and it is smooth and stable. You could even drink a beer downwind, if you happened to come across somebody in a protector to toss you one, just finish it before you need to make that corner. Apparent wind is well forward of the beam, maybe 70 degrees, I guess, less in the lighter stuff. The main is sheeted in to support the mast and to counter the big lee helm developed by that big kite way forward. 3. Why does it hurt? First off on shore you rig the boats on their sides and put the sails on, no halyards except for the kite, you know. Then you roll it upright, put on the rack and lift the boats on your shoulders and carry them into the water, head to wind, crabbing sidewise. We had to go about 150 feet. The boats aren't all that light either, 370 lbs. all up for a newer boat, our older one was at least 80+ lbs. more. Three guys can do it, just barely, six is much better. I'll never complain about having to lift a little ole I14 ever again. So now my back is compressed Then while sailing the kite is so loaded I needed two ratchet blocks in series to hold it, so now my arms are longer. Also the forward hand (me) sprints from trapeze to trapeze (14 feet) each tack and jibe, usually uphill, some times very uphill if it is going wrong. I'm tired of climbing. The sheet hand has it no better as the mainsheet leads straight from the boom and is highly loaded as well. Oh yea, no cleats either. Once the day is done you still have to carry the boat out of the water and get it back to the cradle. The driver helps launch the boat, then while sailing, usually sits out in the trapeze, yelling encouraging words like "hurry up!" and "sheet in!" He doesn't have any strings to pull you see, so he thinks he is helping. Sometimes those of us in front hear other words coming from the driver, like "oops" or "whoa". These are a bit unnerving, as those words usually precede a swim. 4. Important Stats, 18 foot League boats: Hull length, 18 feet. Hull width, 6 feet. Weight all up about 370 lbs. Rack width, 14 feet. Spinnaker pole, 12 feet off stem. Distance racks go aft of stern, about 3 feet. Number 2 rig, 33 feet. Number 1 rig, 35 feet. Size of number 2 kite, way too big. Size of number 1 kite, 50% larger.
5. Racing summary: Three boats in the lead pack, Howie Hamlin on GE (USA), John Winning on Yandoo (AUS) and Rob Greenlaugh on RMW (GBR), then a middle pack and then the back markers (us included). Some mast breakage early on probably cost Yandoo the title. It seemed that Yandoo and GE were fast all round and RMW was fastest downwind. RMW would get all three on the wire, all the way aft on the racks, the sheet hand would hand the mainsheet to the driver and lower his trap wire so he was below the other two. Then the forward hand would slide aft until he was right next to the driver and the sheet hand would grab them both from below and hold them all locked together. RMW had the most nose high attitude downwind and when they jumped waves you could see the florescent stripe on the leading edge on their rudder. Going into the second to last day the top are separated by one point. The race officer delays one hour to wait for real wind. We are not happy as it is blowing 12 right then and have no intention of changing up to the number 1 rig. We can race in 15 kts, it's all about survival for us backmarkers in 20+. The whole fleet has had up the number 2 rig the entire week. RMW rolls the dice and goes to the number 1 rig. RMW is looking good with the big rig and then pitches it in at the last bottom mark, game over. Going into the last day Yandoo has a chance to catch GE. The RC delays an hour, then another. The first race is fresh and GE has a good race. Yandoo takes a third and still has a chance. The second race is very fresh, puffs over 25, and all go down hard. GE goes down after overcooking the bottom mark on the starboard layline, 2 sail reaching in and attempting a 2 sail jibe at the mark. Impossible in a big breeze, down they go. Yandoo is leading but does a spectacular cartwheel in front of the club and just sorts it out and gets it up as GE flies by downwind. It's over and GE wins the title. 6. The course: Very spectator friendly, launch off Crissy field, start off the St. Francis YC, top mark up toward the bridge off the old CG pier, downwind and upwind gate off the club, bottom mark off Fort Mason, finish at the gate off the club. 2 or 3 laps, 1 hour races. About 12 minutes for an up wind leg and 5 for a downwind leg, 17minutes a lap for the leaders, 1 or 2 more for us Special rules: Spinnakers and tiller extensions don't count for contact between boats and marks can be hit without penalty. 7. Damage control: At least five busted masts, all fixed by the next day, lots of fittings and stuff busted. It seemed too much stuff was breaking, but then it was mostly ebb tide and very wavy. Many cuts and contusions, one guy wrecked his knee and another guy got stitches in his forehead. We broke a vang one race and a trapeze wire another. 8. Boathandling: How to tack properly in a breeze. Tacking is harder than jibing. The boat comes to nearly a full stop. Three are on the wire, all agree it's time to go and the driver counts from three. At two the forward hand comes in and sprints straight across, the driver and sheet hand follow him in and the driver puts the tiller right over, spinning the boat. The forward hand has hopefully gotten the other wire by now keeping the boat flat, the jib fills and the other two jump on the wire and off you go. The worst is to tack into irons, then you back up at 3 knots and mostly flail around until you either save it or capsize. Capsizing is worse, but both are slow. How to Jibe in a breeze: Three are on the wire, the driver goes in for safety, at least ours does. Then the sheet hand goes in and holds the old sheet and gathers the new sheet. When he is ready the forward hand jumps off the wire and scrambles across the boat and straight out on the other wire as the boat is turning through. The sheet hand has overtrimed the kite and waits for the driver to head up, plastering the kite against the rig. When he is happy he sheets in the kite on the new side and hands the sheet out to the forward hand and jumps out on the wire, very winded. Caution: don't ever let it go wing and wing in a breeze. Guaranteed capsize. Kite sets: Sets are not a problem after you get through the zone of death. Get to the top mark, let off some vang and cunningham, pick a safe spot to turn down, get well aft and blow the jib while turning down. If you survive, the forward hand scrambles in and starts pulling the kite up. The driver should call the spreaders and at the second spreader sheet hand starts to pull the tack line out. When the kite is up the forward hand jumps out on the wire and the sheet hand sheets the kite, hands it to the winded forward hand and jump out himself. Take downs: On our boat it was all the forward hand. Go in, pull on the lazy sheet till it loads, blow the tack, gather the foot. Blow the halyard gather the kite and stuff it away. Easy, right? Well the sheet hand and driver seem to think so, judging from the helpful suggestions I keep getting from them. Special hint: Start the take down way earlier than you think. That mark is coming at 15 kts with the kite up and at 9 with it down. It looks bad and is slow to sail past the mark gathering the kite in. Extra special hint: Perform all maneuvers at speed. Do not attempt any down speed turns or it will all end in tears. 9. Swimming issues: We tipped over a few times, but tried to minimize it, as it is both slow and tiring. Once you are tired everything gets harder. When we broke our trap wire, that was a different kind of swimming. We had just set the kite and I was on the wire, the middle hand reached out to hand me the kite and he hooked up to get out aft of me. We are doing 15 - 18 here when his trap wire breaks and down he goes. Now what? We are sailing away at 15 kts and his head is getting smaller and smaller. We think about capsizing the boat to stop it but we get the attention of a photo boat and they go pick him up. I take down the kite and we meet him on the beach.
10. Thrilling moments: Jumping the boat down wind was great. We left the driver in on the racks for safety and the sheet hand and I would get all the way aft in the foot straps, my aft leg crossed over the top of his forward leg. At this point we are aft of the hull and the nose comes up and the boat starts ripping. Now is when we are suggesting that it might be a good idea for the driver to get the boat flat, 'cause we don't want to die. Just off Golden Gate YC there was a stack up of waves and we hit them in a puff. Nose high we went jump, jump, jump. It was great. Done right the stern sort slides in and hits the water first and the bow stays up, done wrong the bow comes down and it stuffs and stops and it might end in disaster. The GPS had us only doing 20-21 kts, RMW might have done a few knots more at times, but it was too wavy to go any faster. One exciting bit of this jumping thing is if you have your centerboard up a bit and you jump real nose high, the centerboard can come completely out of the water. Then the boat will jump to the side leaving three surprised crew floating weightless and wondering what will happen when they get back to earth. 7. Even more thrilling moments We had a close one upwind, Omega Smeg was leaving the top mark three wired about 20 kts on Stbd and we are on the port layline at about 13 kts. Nose to nose. We couldn't tack, because we'd stop and be a target 33 feet wide, we can only head up or down 5 degrees or so, and they can only head up or down 5 degrees or so. Plus it all changes with wind pressure changes. 33 knots closing speed, two boats 14 feet wide, nose to nose. A hundred yards out we are trying to pinch above them and it is looking good, then they get a lull-lift and come up 15 deg. we get the same as a header. Damn! Main out, jib out, turn down as much as we can with out getting in the zone of death (a sure capsize). Their big purple kite brushes the two guys on the wire and then they are gone. Our sheet hand didn't like that episode one bit 8. Fun to pain ratio Our sheet hand suggested that the fun to pain ratio for 18s on the bay was about the same as J105 in a dying breeze in Santa Barbara. J105 fun factor 1, Pain factor 1, ratio of fun over pain = 1. 18's fun factor 100, pain factor 100, ratio of fun over pain = 1 That being said, the images in my brain are not fading, even as the pain goes away. In a week I'll probably say I'm ready to sail another regatta. I know that at least three of the drivers are 50, several of the others are in the mid to high 40's and only the 49er guys were in their 20s. If they can keep up, so can I. I want to jump further. |
