From: Dick King
Sent: Thursday, September 4, 2003
To: c22@catalinadirect.com
Subject: RE: Prep for Race
[editor's note: This is meant as a prep for the BIG races, on the level of "The Nationals"]
If you don't do anything else, clean and polish (sand very smooth) the bottom. DO NOT WAX THE BOTTOM!!! You want to eliminate surface tension not create it. I don't know if you are a trailer sailor or not. If not, you are already at a disadvantage with bottom paint. Most of the really fast boats are trailer sailed. The bottoms are polished to a mirror finish. Gel coat sanded with 600 grit is an absolute minimum. No digs, chips or scratches. When parked in the grass, you should be able to look at the bottom and count the blades of grass under the boat. It goes with out saying that your keel should be finished the same way. I am not saying change the shape, but make sure it has no dents, gouges or rust.
If you don't already own a small (4/5 Hp) outboard, see if you can borrow one. Our tail draggers don't need a 70 pound OB hanging off the motor mount. Just make sure the motor and empty gas can weigh at least forty lbs.
New sails help, if you know how to use them. Just make sure they are not too new. When I went to Jackson Ms. in 1992, one of the skippers had brand new North Sails. However, he had brand new Waters sails at the Midwinters, four months before. Check the rules. One new main not more than once every year and one new genoa not more than once every year. He loaned his new sails to me. With a perfectly prepared, chartered boat (the owner could not attend because of business commitments) we finished second in the practice race in a fifty boat fleet and third overall in the Silver Fleet. We were moved to the Silver Fleet because of the screwy way the fleets were divided up. I hope that system is dead forever.
Know the rules; especially the parts about when boats meet. You will meet a lot of boats in a Nationals race. The start is amazing; there are boats everywhere you look. Get an early commitment for a crew. Practice, practice, practice with them, preferably in races with other Catalina 22s. You should be able to worry only about steering the boat and making it go fast. If you have to divert your attention to ask about other boats, request sail trim changes, look for hung up genoas on spreaders, watch 12 foot pole gybes, etc, you are not going to be able to concentrate on making the boat go fast. Come to the Midwinters in February and the Regionals in April. Boat and sail handling are at a premium when sailing in large fleets. There will be a large crowd in Atlanta, unless the &^$%&#& gas companies keep raising their prices.
Got to go and start taking my own advice.
PS You asked about upgrades.
- 12 part backstay adjuster (not the squeeze-the-backstay-bridle kind.)
- Two inch diameter whisker pole. (The one inch pole gets too whippy in any winds over 10 kts.)
- Twings for the genoa sheets or very easily moved genoa sheet cars
- Absolutely maximum weight loss on the boat (including the crew) The winds in June on inland lakes are light and fluky. Any excess weight means more power to get the boat moving.
- Make sure you have a set of light air sheets (1/8 parachute cord or 1/4 inch line.
- Mid cockpit mainsheeting. (Barney post, or head knocker). The last thing you want to be doing is looking aft for the mainsheet.
- Cabin top winches or sheeting controls. It keeps the crew weight out of the cockpit and helps eliminate tail dragging.
- A set of levels on each side of the cockpit so you can tell at a glance when the stern is NOT dragging.
That should get you started.
Dick King
7976 Jagged Edge
A bad day sailing beats almost anything else worth doing