NACRA NAs Photos

Great photos!

Is this what people mean when they talk about footing?

Photo

no, THIS is footing. We're the boat on the left... A second or two after the first photo, Wick says to me;

full speed ahead!

as he put the bow down and we footed over Alex and Nigel coming into A mark. We were all running our mouths screaming at each other about mammas and UP! Down!, COMING THROUGH!... having a great time! (we're all good friends). Later, several competitors came up to us and quietly asked what all the ruckus was about during that mark rounding.

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no, THIS is footing.

Nope doze be red X's.

wus yo mama doin'..?..!

apparently that picasa account does not allow hot-linking. try these:

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Looks more like overstanding the lay line to me <img src=

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YOu don't get to

A

before Nigel & Alex by overstanding.

Nigel and Alex had banged the right corner and took a knock that left them pinching to the mark. We had just come in from the left side, crossed comfortably in front of A&N, and had just completed our tack on the starboard layline when that first picture was taken. With the shifty breeze and given our position, we played the safe play and overstood a little....that, or Wick just wanted an opportunity to foot and roll.

Naturally, they got around us by the next mark and Alex and Nigel went on to win that race too.

Nice pass.. What do you guys prefer: pinching or footing? and which one in which conditions.

One thing that I noticed is that no one had their boards pulled up, upwind, even in the heavier air.

On the N20?

Foot.

Actually most did - we certainly did. When it was 18 or so, we had nearly 12 inches of board up (may have been a little much).

The 20 likes to foot and go...it's not an efficient machine and relies on raw power to go uphill. Put a little weight on it and that is ever more important. You really have to work hard when you foot with the 20 but it pays off.

Describe

work hard

? Not sure why footing is considered harder than pinching...

Sawing the main. If I'm pinching, I'm reacting more to gusts with steering higher
into the wind and with very little sail adjustment (which requires very little effort
but means you lose a bit of forward speed). If I'm in footing mode, I'm reacting
to gusts by working the main and downhaul and mostly maintaining heading to keep
the bow down and speed high - it takes more effort to move the sails in this mode. I'm
beginning to discover that the really fast guys live in a zone that is between my
footing and pinching zones but is more transitional with a little more heading up / down
than my footing mode and a little more sail adjustment than my pinching mode. It's this
kind of stuff that takes years to discover and learn.

This is my opinion, but the only time I pinch is if I'm in a tactical position to try and keep
from being sucked into a competitor's bad wind from ahead (and it's not going to penalize
me with the rest of the fleet or tacking away is certain death), trying to keep another
competitor in my bad wind (again, if a little slower progress isn't going to cost
me too much), trying to keep a competitor from getting a good read on my height or angle
up the course, or if I've made an error or tactical gamble finding myself slightly shy of
a layline ... and in that case, pinching only if I'm relatively sure I'll make it by
pinching and the loss in speed/progress is going to be less than the speed and distance
lost with two tacks.

Good thing I'm coming to Catapalooza cause this stuffs way over my head!
Kent

Patience grasshopper...in due time. <img src=

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Kent, get

Catamaran Racing for the 90's

available at the Cat Sailor store on this site. It goes in to great detail on the finer points of cat racing, main trimming, spin. work, etc. and has a whole chapter on the Hobie 16.

Rick if you are reading this, is there going to be a

Volume II, Catamaran Racing the Spnnaker Cat, A cat, F-18

etc. coming out any time soon?

I would love to get all of the accumulated knowledge of Spin cats and A cats, from Randy, Alex, Nigel, John, Charly, Mitch, Haken, Melvin, etc. (today's spinnaker cat and A cat top tallent) , down on paper for the rest of us.

Thanks, I've got it but have not read it in awhile. I'll have to reread it.

As I learn more, I learn that I know less. <img src=

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You could build a campaign on that principle... or the examined life, anyway.