300 Log: Chiller 6

Date: 24th March
Venue : TISC
Race : 50 minute handicap
Tide : 30 mins after the start
Conditions : NE f4-6, some chop but nothing significant 
Result : Probably 3rd of 12ish boats

Another reasonable race, there was a spike of 20-25 knots at the start which was interesting, but otherwise a pleasant force 4-5.  Not a good course for the 300, the reaches were all either too tight or (much worse) too broad.  But thats fine, its all good practice.

Positives:
- Good start, first off the line and managed to keep clear air for the 1.5 mile first leg.
- Very pleasing downwind work today.  I've been reading more 'psychology of sailing' books, and they are universal in two recommendations : (i) sometimes its better to just trust your unconscious mind to sail the boat (rather than consciously trying to impose technique), and (ii) a way to do this is to focus on something else important.  So my approach today was to focus on angles and tide downwind, and just take it for granted that I had the skills required to sail.  The peculiar thing is that it seems to work.  The natural reaction is to find other reasons for the performance: perhaps the wind wasn't particularly strong, or the water state especially forgiving.  But it could just be that practice is starting to pay some dividends - green shoots of hope anyway.
- Gybing is getting to be less of a problem than it used to be.  The key rules are (i) gybe reach-to-reach, (ii) drop mainsheet to initiate, (iii) force the main across with a correction of the rudder, and (iv) don't faff changing hands on the new tack.  2x good gybes today, one dicey one where I lost the sheet mid-gybe (but survived without being close to capsize).
- Not tired at all following the race, may even go for a run later.


Points for reflection:
- I seemed to find a sweetspot for vang tension downwind today - '8' on my scale.  I'm starting to take the view that the rig is surprisingly sensitive to vang offwind.  The leech needs enough tension to stay behind the mast, but not so much that the boat always wants to round up.  A tricky balance.
- There were times today where I really should have been 'changing gear' in the gusts/lulls.  The instinct when it is gusty is to set up for the gusts, thereby minimising the chances of a disastrous capsize.  But the lulls today were significant.  Maybe a bit more head-out-the-boat would help.
- Loss of concentration.  Without a couple of boats in close proximity I found it difficult to keep focus, especially upwind and crosswind (there is plenty to focus on downwind!).  Not usually a problem, so just an observation really.

Overall, today was a Good Race, and I move the love-of-sailing measure to 7/10.