Australian Nats 2015: Preparations & Practice Race
Pity on the scheduled days matching the Moth Worlds with Ashby & Nathan missing the A Nats. But with Brewin, Collet, Brayshaw and many other top talented Aussie A-Class sailors we will surely see some good racing. Report sent below by Tracey Johnstone.
Practice Race Results sent by John Dowling:
PR 1: http://results.lcsc.org.au/aclass/2015/01RGrp1.htm
PR 2: http://results.lcsc.org.au/aclass/2015/02RGrp1.htm
Official Website Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club: http://www.lcsc.org.au/
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A Class Australian Championships 2015
By Tracey Johnstone
4 January 2015
Level and flat, that’s the foiling secret
Lake Cootharaba Sailing Club is playing host this week to 50 A Class Catamarans competing in the class national championships.
The fleet number is slightly down as some skippers have opted to go to Victoria to prepare for the Moth class world championships which start immediately the A Class nationals finish. However, Lake Macquarie based skipper Steve Brewin believes he can successfully compete in both events. The A Class dual world champion and multiple national champion has set himself a demanding program.
“I drove my Moth to Melbourne two days ago. I had planned to sail it for two days, but there was no wind and then there was too much. So I jumped on a plane and flew up here and a mate bought the boat up here for me.
“I will leave here after the last race on Friday and go into my first Moth race ever with Heat 1 of the worlds. I won’t have got any practice,” Brewin said.
His focus this week is totally on the A Class and achieving another national title, this time with a foiling boat.
This is the first national event where the boats will be using foils. While a third of the fleet carry the new foils, only four skippers – Brewin, Brad Collett, Adam Beatty and Steve Brayshaw - are expected to successfully manage this adaption to the speedy A Class boats.
“I bought the Moth to learn on the foils because the foils were still developing on this class and the Moths are quite developed. When I bought the Moth I didn’t even know the Moths worlds were on. I just bought it to learn for this class. I only got my boat’s foils about three months ago.
“Doing the Moths worlds will help my A Class program. My priority is still the A Class. My main focus is the Italian worlds in the middle of this year.”
With his new foils in place and plenty of active interest from the other national championship competitors as they check out his boat and some of Brewin’s innovations, all within the rule, he still has to learn how to work the new configuration.
“Upwind it will be challenging to race the boat. Downwind I will be one of the fastest as I know what the boat is doing. I am now getting high speeds out of the boat, doing double the speed I was doing a year ago. We get a lot of depth and we get to the mark quicker as we are going more straighter downwind whereas in the older boats the angles are higher and we are not getting as deep. We have more speed, but we also have a lot more depth. Our VMG is like double what it used to be.
“It is really, really more physical downwind than ever because you are constantly trimming the boat. You must keep the boat dead level. If you fly a hull now, you dip your leeward hull and the boat will then come off the foils. If you let the sheet out too much and drop the windward hull in, then the windward hull will dip. So you just have to keep the boat dead level now. The catamaran is not flying a hull anymore, it’s now dead level downwind.
“It’s a combination of trimming and steering. You must keep the boat level and flat and then it will foil. That’s the secret.” Brewin said.
Boat set-up is also a key factor. With the only a small amount of rudder in the water, Brewin said it is easy to over-steer, cavitate and wipe-out. “I have spent a lot of time on getting the rudders right,” Brewin added.
Today saw the sailors and race management on the water for a shake-down practice race. The12-race series starts tomorrow from 10am.
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PHOTO – Caption - Brad Collett and Adam Beattie check out the modifications on Steve Brewin’s before the fleet headed out for yesterday’s practice races.
Photographer – Tracey Johnstone
Tracey Johnstone
m: 0438 644557
o: (61) 07 5478 3738
skype: traceyjohnstone
www.windwardwomen.com
