3-25-2008  Dave Bargar had these comments to his fleet (CH) about Charleston

All good !!!! The rig is tight giving it a higher performance feel with the addition of the diamond stays up top. This seems to be true up wind as well as down with the added dimension of the main vanged for performance and inversion protection. Once we hit the windward mark and the pole was set the fun really began. A crew that coordinates well will have a strong advantage, so Marc, your group training idea is excellent. We were very awkward the first day getting the chute up as well as down. We sat in the wrong place on the boat. It seemed natural to sail "hot" with four on the high side in the big air, but we learned the fastest way down hill was to drop two crew into the boat, bear off and ease the chute. This made for speed and shortened the legs. We learned to keep the lines and chute out of the water - definitely slow. Lines easily jammed under board and if chute even contacts the water surface, it seems to get ugly quick. The crew has to keep this stuff cleaned up. The bow man has to be quick on the halyard (about 6 feet more distance too) and then move right to the tack line to pull the chute forward. Then damn, it is a great ride! To quote crew Chad, "that was the best near-death sailing I've done in a long time". I think he was talking about the speed, but now that I think about it, it could have been a skipper commentary. The gybes are fine. The crew again just needs practice and timing. The occasional twist Chris mentioned is preventable if we practice line handling and timing with the rotation of the boat. Still getting used to boards way down off the wind. Overall, it's a gas. You'll be glad you made the investment.

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3-24-2008  

More comments from Chris Creighton in an email to his Chautauqua fleet:

I will throw in a few comments from a novice perspective!

WHAT A BLAST!

Winds were blowing steady 12-18 (puffs to 20)……all weekend.
(Note for those that left Sat afternoon…winds picked up on Sunday to 18+ and this morning
when we picked up our boat to head south………..22+ (3-4 rollers w/ample white caps!)….we caught a nice couple
of days, all things being equal.

Jib man gets the big break….after he rips a muscle  in his back raising that big ass sail!
Setting the Tack Line is a workout as well…..

Middle guy better have some pipes in 15+……the load on the sail is incredible…..
Gybing the chute is pretty simple (Dave and I both had an hourglass episode….do not know if that is typical or due to the big air).

We delayed releasing the sheet until we were into the turn…blew off the sheet and snapped it around to the leeward side.
Worked relatively easy everytime.

The boat absolutely smokes downwind……need to smooth driving the boat off the wind during puffs..else
you can literally jerk someone right out the boat.  At times you felt that a seat belt would have been helpful!
1.5-2 mile legs only took about 4-5 minutes…before you knew it…you were bearing off to douse the chute.

The ASYM is all of 20% faster in comparable air over 12 (we didn’t sail in less than that all weekend).
Guarantee all who have yet to sail will love the new rig.

It would have been nice to warm to the nuances of the asym in lighter AIR……as we tipped within 5 seconds of
popping the chute (I know….DA of the weekend award!)……but once we set the chute and had a chance to gybe a few times.

The tip about keeping the chute out of the water ……is not to be taken lightly……the asym chute absolutely will auto fill with water.
Windward take downs were smooth……MEXICAN will work good…in lighter air…but in 15+, we did not attempt!  From my perspective…do not take down to leeward unless you absolutely have to…it is light and the boat is flat.

I would be nice to have Dave/Marc weigh in with their comments/tips…….

To quote Dave….the first time out with the ASYM…..he felt like he was sailing with all thumbs…..IT IS THAT different from the old rig.

Enjoy!

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Here is the top five 12:39 PM CDT

1.       Augie Barkow

2.       Robby Wilkins

3.       Walter Prause

4.       Will Demand

      5.       Carl Horrocks

3-24-2008 9:53 AM CDT
Another couple of quotes from Commodore Rick Turner:
“ sailing the boat in a blow (+20) is very easy”  “jibes are no problem”
“getting the  da big sail up ……..and down ……..is hair-raising……  if you have any hair leftJ”
“Catching shrimp is a bummer”  …..  if there were any shrimp in Charleston Harbor before we started the regatta…….there are none left”
Angles are different sailing downwind.
EVERYBODY is still learning……………..!

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3-24-2008 8:17 AM

When asked how the asymmetrical went in Charleston, this was the first response I received. It was from Chris Creighton (CH-1 ), a first time asymmetrical user:

"To answer your question in a word……….PHENOMENAL!

The Asym rig was under-sold!  We had an absolute blast!  In 12-17 knots…at least 25% faster….my personal opinion.

 More to follow!

 I can tell you that Augie Barkow (V37) won the event, followed by Rob Wilkins and another SC boat."

(Hopefully I can get a copy of the results soon to post)

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3-22-2008 9:45 AM CDT

Local boats lead the 27 boat fleet. All boats are sailing asymmetrical spinnakers.

SC-27   Rob Wilkins          4,2,1

SC-22   Will Hanckel         1,3,4

SC-3     Crayton Walters   2,9,3

The first day of racing on Friday was in the high 60s with winds 10-15 from the East. Saturday it supposed to be in the 70s with 10-12 mph winds from the SSW. Confusion about the course in the third race caused a problem for many. Many missed a course change before the start from a 2 times around to 3 times around. This caused a majority of the fleet to sail home after twice around and getting a DNF. In an effort to correct the situation the judges decided to allow a throw out race for the series. They hope to get 3 more races in on Saturday. V-37 Augie Barkow had a 1,3 in the first two races but dropped out of the third race  because of a broken main halyard.

The report is that everyone is sharing notes about how to set and douse the asymmetrical spinnaker which is proving to be a little bit of a challenge for some crews. The sharing of information about spinnaker techniques, mast tuning, and rig tension could be considered the biggest benefits for the participants.