300 Race Log : 31st March

Date: 31th March
Venue : ESC
Race : 3 race series, approx 20-30 mins each
Tide : 1 hour after the start
Conditions : E f3-4, flat water
Result : 2nd of 15 boats

Positives:
- Got into the mix of the starts with mixed results.  Excellent starts on races 1 and 2, three poor starts on race 3 (two general recalls and one black flag).  Need to have a think about where I was going wrong on the poor starts, but I'm pretty sure that starting sandwiched between two faster boats wasn't helpful.  Much happier with the port-tack approach than judging a starboard approach for 1min+.
- Really pleased with offwind and downwind speed, I was able to keep the boat planing when going dead downwind using angles, very pleasing.
- Generally OK with boat handling and mark roundings (there was lots of that today).  Made the practice worthwhile.

Points for reflection:
- If I'm going to keep getting into tight spots on the start, I need to practice close quarter handling and learn what the boat will tolerate.  Not easy, but something I've not put much time into practicing yet.
- In the first race the majority of 200 fleet and a 400 went up the right hand side of the beat and clearly made good gains on the overall fleet.  The Merlin and ISO did the same in race 2, with the same result.  Yet despite recognising this I kept plugging the left hand side, largely because the start dictated this (I couldn't tack).  Far better would have been to hold back and ensure an ability to get onto port quickly.    Speaking with Matt after the race we wondered whether there was a persistent shift due to the geography of the land alongside the channel.
- Not pleased with speed upwind.  Spent too long sailing with max vang/downhaul in stupid winds, and appear to have lost the touch with medium winds, both in terms of rig setup and technique - needs practice.

But all in all, Good Racing, its all about having fun on the water and everyone seemed to enjoy the racing today.  Lots of smiles on the shore.