Holes in the Cheese

Since you are only as good as your last race, the Swiss nationals created plenty of scope for improvement for the rest of the season. Swiss cheese is famous for its holes and that's what I found in abundance in Ascona. The breeze was wildly random and I hit a log which took out the gantry after two and a half races - not the best circumstances for assessing racing strengths and weaknesses of a new boat. By definition the best and most consistent sailor wins and Matthias was impressively cool and fast so congratulations to him. It was also nice to be back on Lago Maggiore which is as beautiful as it is fickle - qualities I appreciate not just of sailing venues.

Last weekend I was up in another country famous for its cheese (no holes here however) to do some more time in the boat. Four of us braved the chop and breeze but before long I was alone as attrition took out prodders, pushrod terminations, and vang strops. My makeshift repairs on the gantry made some impressive noises but it all held together which is testament to the fact that Mike is now building a pretty solid boat. I sailed enough before going solo to find the low and fast upwind mode and that's nice as it has been a persistent and annoying gap (or is it a hole?) in the performance envelope. Left to my own resorts I invested some effort in learning to tack with the 16. I figured I needed to be completely level going into the tack as the top of the sail is so flat and feathered that it immediately backed and threw the boat on top of me if I started turning up with any amouint of windward heel. Usually I'm OK if I'm level when head to wind but with the 16, in a stiff breeze, I felt I had to anticipate that.