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Salon Nautique de
Paris 2006
No J80
displayed!
Every year I look forward to the Salon Nautique de Paris
because of the great sailing spirit the boatshow is
known for and I must say it was a great experience
again. It was highly enjoyable to walk through the whole
Bénéteau's First fleet to compare the yachts. Lot's of
sailboats in the main hall. The 'palais d'accastillage'
which was the second half of our visit is very
interesting although I didn't notice a revolution in go
faster gear.
Although it wasn't all super great for some reasons: J
Europe decided not to promote one of the biggest one
design fleets in Europe and sometimes the lack of
knowledge and passion some salesman had was truly
amazing. I had a detailed list of items I wanted
to be solved. Only three out of my ten questions were
answered.
But it's nevertheless always very enjoyable to be in
Paris. I'd take the trip just for one meal in one of the
exquisite brasseries.
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Long Distance Race
Mentaquilibrium is highly enjoyable to sail with, watch
the video.
See
how the crew is having a great time. You can see Thomas
at the helm, Wouter doing a good job at the main sail
trim (klaar om te wenden....REE), Stolio on head sail
trim/navigation/strategy and Pieter behind the
camcorder.
We won the
race last year, we knew it would not be easy to do the
same this year. The aim is to sail als many nautical
miles as possible on a track you can choose yourself,
without using any leg between two buoys more than twice
and all this within a fixed time frame. The strategy
must take the tide and the wind direction into
consideration.
Still,
with less wind and less gennaker racks than last year we
accumulated as much as 38,2 nm. Considering the 38,4 nm
of the Sun Fast 40 Sail Force we think the result is not
too bad. The 8 boats before us in the standings must
have found better wind and tide than we did,
unfortunately we couldn't catch any of their secrets
during the great mussel supper in the evening in our new
club house. Next year we'll try a slow start...
Results on
www.wsvo.nl |
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Antwerp Race 2006
Mentaquilibrium sails 2nd in a thrilling Antwerp Race
A
lot of wind was blowing from the west when we left
the harbour of Terneuzen. We had some miles to go to get
to the starting line. Beating against a force 7 wind
with a 4 hp outboard is not what we call a pleasure
ride. Once near the starting ship we set a part of the
head sail waiting with the main to see what the wind was
going to do. There was a delay because security wanted
less than gale 8 in Breskens befor allowing the race to
start. When finally the starting procedures for all
different classes began we decided to hoist the main
sail to the top. Unfortunately the hoisting didn't go as
smoothly as planned and we crossed the starting line
with a delay of at least one minute.
On main and jib down wind we easily reached 10 knots an
decided again to wait before hoisting the gen.
At the first mark we went for a gibe. When the boom
reached starboard side it made a loud bang. The cable
that fixes the sheet to the boom ruptured! A temporary
repair with the core of a spare halyard was made by the
very experienced and efficacious crew of the day: Thomas
at helm, Yorick at main sail trim, Stolio at head sail
trim, Paul at mast and boom vang and Lieven on gennaker
hoisting and dousing.
Once the repair was done we could fully concentrate on
navigation, tactics and boatspeed in a gusty but
diminishing wind.
After the next mark we hoisted the gen in the second
down wind leg, gaining a lot of speed while passing many
competitors. After another spectacular reaching leg,
gliding down the big waves, we could hoist the gen
again, this time for the run of the day! Gibing to and
away of the red buoyes at speeds constantly over 10
knots. At one mark we had to squeeze ourselves with
another boat between a capsized 11-meter OD and the huge
red buoy. Less than 50 meters width at those speeds...
we immediately gibed away and continued our search for
untroubled air.
Speed was uptempo constantly now, 13 to 14 knots surfing
and a phantastic top speed of 15.65 kts.
Water was everywhere. At one time we nosedived a big
wave and the deck dissappeared under buckets of water.
This thrilling piece of sailing lasted until we had to
turn another mark for a next reaching leg. As we were
getting closer to Antwerp and more inland the wind
diminished and became very irregular, demanding every
second of concentration for trimming. We crossed the
finishline...
Results:
http://www.antwerprace.be/ |
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WSVO Clubkampioenschap
Mentaquilibrium looses 10 minutes in a 3 mile upwind leg
Crew
of the day was composed of the usual duo, this time
accompanied by Jared. It was Jared's first time ever on
a sailing boat but he finely enjoyed it.
This local championship took place in
exciting conditions, the wind coming from SSW varying
from 3 to 5 Bft and gusty at times. Partly cloudy sky
and a fine temperature of 21°. We started at the coast
side of the line for the best angle towards the first
mark. Close contact sailing is pure fun, but not the way
the helmsman of CAP, a First 31.7, is doing it. He very
agressively forced his luffing right and thought that
touching us was a good idea. With a more intelligent
helmsman this boat might have ended in the top 3.
Mentaquilibrium kept very good pace as long as the
apparent wind didn't get under 50°. In the very short
and only spinnaker leg we managed a 11.6 knots top
speed. But then in the following upwind leg of only 3
miles we lost 10 minutes to our direct oponents. Pure
frustration. We had good speed, a good angle but too
much heeling, despite maximum flattening of the cloth
and maximum tension on the backstay. Two more crew could
probably have reduced the problem but maybe not
completely. In fact we experienced the same loss on both
upwind legs during Sundays's race of the Goese Sas
Trophy (see underneath). We think it's time for a new
investment, a new mainsail which allows more flattening
and real twisting for more upwind speed. To be
continued...
On
corrected time we were 19th out of 21 competitors.
Results on
www.wsvo.nl |
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Goese
Sas Trophy 2006
Mentaquilibrium sails a 4th place in the Racing
Class
Saturday's crew: Thomas and Stolio at their
regular positions and Jaak as guest sailor. The
weatherforecast for Saturday's race was 1-2Bft
decreasing to O Bft. To sail well in these
conditions it's very important to have a smooth
bottom so Thomas decided to jump in the water
for 45 minutes equipped with a spunge! Our
downwind start was not badly timed and clear of
the pack. We chose the port side of the line to
be able to make the next mark with the Gen
without pinching. We made a clean and clear
start but minutes after the start the wind
started to move aft and thus giving an advantage
to the boats who chose the port side of the
line. We realized it was important to reduce the
seperation between competitors to a minimum to
avoid being trapped in a local Doldrum on our
own. After a long period of ghosting the fleet
regrouped around the top mark. During two short
upwind downwind leg we managed to consolidate
our position just behind the big guys with good
speed and roundings, very importan with nearly
no wind and a strong tidal current. We finished
only 6 minutes behind the Melges 24, 4 minutes
behind the two X99 and only 2 minute behind the
J105. We were 2nd on corrected time.
Sunday's crew: Thomas and Stolio at their
regular positions and Wouter as guest sailor.
The weatherforecast predicted a light wind of
2-3Bft. Our start was almost perfect, we started
above and ahead of the competition and at the
favoured end of the line. How we did it? Sorry,
that's classified! Anyway it was only half way
the upwind leg that the Mumm 30, First 34,7 and
other bigger and faster yachts managed to
overtake us. During the long downwind leg we
managed to hang on to the Elan 333 while
overtaking the J105. We rounded the downwind
mark just behind the Elan 333 and several
boatlengths ahead of the 105. During the final
upwind leg we were slower due to larger waves
having more impact on our speed being 7ft
smaller. We finished 2 minutes behind the Elan
and the 105 but 9 minutes behind the X99. We
were 9th on corrected time.
Mentaquilibrum finished 4th out of 13
competitors. What's interesting about this event
is that we sail in the same class with boats
that usually sail in IMS. This makes the Racing
class highly competitive.
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2007 J80 Worlds anouncement
July 1-7 in La Trinité sur Mer
The 2007 J/80 World Championship will
take place July 1-7 in La Trinite sur
mer on the northwest coast of France. La
Trinite, famous for the start of many
ocean races and the home of the annual
Spi Ouest Regatta, is one of the top
sailing venues in France, and is in the
heart of J/80 action in France.
More details to follow.
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Delta Week 2006
Windward Leeward racing on Saturday 8th
July
If you
like close contact racing, you must go for windward
leeward. Very frustating at times when you blow it. But
so exciting when you catch up with the right shift. 3
races today. Very light breeze and great crew: Stolio,
Marc, Alexis and Thomas.
Race 1: we were right on the line at the gun but
didn't manage to make enough speed. Then we we went far
deep to the left hoping to avoid the strong current but had much less pressure
than the right side of the track so the gamble didn't
pay off and we found
ourselves trailing the pack at the first mark. Boathandling was very smooth and we closed some of the
gap.
Race 2: better speed at the start, we decided to
go for the right side, the wind was diminishing to 1 -2
Bft and it was dificult to keep the good pace at the
helm. The strong current against and the light wind
made the rounding of the marks hard to judge.
Race 3: For unclear reasons this start was
postponed for almost 1 hour. The ORC1 fleet made it
worse with 3 consecutive general recalls. At last we
could start but with a dying wind, for the last leg
there was no wind at all, the gennaker was hanging like
a slack rag. We managed to make advantage of this
condition and finished 5th.
For unclear
races our results have been added to ORC1. But the race
committee sent me the results
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Van Uden Reco regatta 2006
 Windward
Leeward racing..
This was
our first experience with windward leeward racing. 3
races on Saturday, 3 on Sunday. Again great sailing
conditions. Light breeze with some puffs and great
shifts. Not all in our advantage though. The crew this
time: Stolio, Marc and first time racer Alexis joined us
on Saturday. At helm Thomas enjoying the scene an
especially how well the crew was performing with the
gennaker.
At the first start we decided to take the boat end of
the line, but got luffed over too early by Stille Wilde.
We had to round the starting boat to restart again,
minutes after the pack. No early starts for the next 5.
But looking for the best starting spot with enough speed
among the many bigger boats is a real challenge.
Race after race we learned a lot and managed to get a
6th place on the last one.
We'll be back for more!!
For
results see
www.vanudenreco.nl |
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Goofy March 4th 2006:
Mentaquilibrium races again
Though not on the
right speed track yet..
Yet another
beautiful winter sailing day it was! Blue sky, sun shining all
over, a 12 to 16 knot north westerly wind and... cold
temperatures again. On the crew this race: Stolio coordinating
both trimmers Bram and Luk. Bram was performing great at mid
front and mast position and taking the time for some nice
pictures. Luk was joining us for the first time and helped at
mid aft position with the main sail during tacking and gybing.
As usual we found Thomas helming this fine sailing machine.
Okay, we took a late start, crossing the line three and a half
minutes after the gun. But we made good speed and managed to
overtake some of the competitors before the first upwind mark.
At the beginning of the first down wind leg we were engaged in a
close duel with Escapade, a First 27.7 with very nice sails and
excellent boat speed. We were in the leeward position and we
wanted to luff to go for speed, but they wanted to go straight
to the next mark. We slowed down the boat to pass behind them
and got into a nice surf of more than 10 knots, passing them in
no time. Because the course to the mark was not completely down
wind, we hesitated between gybing for speed or the smallest
distance. We went for the latter, which we repeated at the
second down wind leg, but this is not the right way to go, it's
simply not fast enough. On average we need half a knot of extra
boat speed to climb in the rankings. We know what to do, it's
time for TPP: our tuning perfection program. More on this in a
later news report.
For results see
Clubracer.be |
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Goofy January 7th 2006: Mentaquilibrium does not
compete
Thomas crews on Wet&Wild!!
What a beautiful winter sailing day it was! Blue
sky, low sun, a 8 to 10 knot easterly wind
and... cold, some 4° Celsius. Not enough crew
was available to sail our J-80. But when you can
join the crew of a superb X-43 you don't
hesitate. This boat sails in the IMS1 class and
this means starting together with other gorgeous
40-45ft sailing yachts. As boat and crew are
still relatively new to each other, their
programme is essentially about learning and
searching for best handling and fine tuning. Oh
no! I won't reveal their secrets!
Still we managed not to end last and I would be
very happy to be sailing with them again. For
results see
Clubracer.be |
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