JJ Giltinan Trophy - Conservative sailing pays big dividend for Yamaha

by Richard Gladwell on 16 Feb 2016 After two races in the JJ Giltinan Trophy, the New Zealand champion, Yamaha, is tied on fifth overall with four other boats.

They are just seven points behind the series leader Thurlow Fisher (Michael Coxon) on 5pts. 'It's very tight on points, which is pleasing for us, at this stage of the series,' Yamaha skipper, David McDiarmid told Sail-World on Monday.

At that stage, the outcome of protests against two boats was not known.

The race on Sunday gave the crews a very difficult choice on rig selection and that factor dominated the race as the crews had to decide whether to rig for the current light sea breeze or believe the forecast and opt for a smaller rig for the expected fresh southerly, later in the day.

The conditions asked plenty of questions of the now 29 strong fleet from three countries - Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain.

'We went out in a 10kt NE breeze, with big rigs. We pottered around for about 90 minutes before it was decided to shift the course. The southerly came through two hours after we left and built to 20kts within a minute of the start.

'The whole fleet except for three boats had their big rigs on.'

'The boats with the smaller rigs on were a lot faster', McDiarmid says, 'but two of them broke, and the other finished just ahead of us in fourth place.'

'There was a lot of two sail reaching in the course, but in conditions like that, and depending on the course angles, the big rigs actually two-sail better than the #2 rigs. '

The extra sail area makes the boats easier to keep on their feet in the lulls, and if a spinnaker is carried then the crews have to sail a lower angle, he explained.

'That was the only thing that saved us - the fact that the course was straight up and down - otherwise, the #2 rigs would have been a lot quicker.'

'All the top boats had #1 rigs on as well, so that worked out, too. '

'We were struggling for speed, but there were only five boats that made it around the course without tipping over - and we were one of them.

'We got beaten by one boat with a #2 rig who had flipped twice, and the first three didn't capsize, neither did the boat that just finished behind us.

Reflecting on the weekend, McDiarmid says he is pleased to get through the first two races without having a place outside the top ten.

'Due to the traffic on Sydney Harbour anything can happen, and it is key to get through that first weekend without having a shocker. During the week days, there is a lot less traffic on the harbour and we can try to really get into it.'

Yamaha did capsize on the first race when in the top three, after getting caught in a ferry wake and gybing, but recovered well to finish seventh in that race.

For the next three days, McDiarmid is expecting a #2 rig on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then back to the #1 rig for the race on Friday.

'It's looking like a breezy regatta,' he commented. A prophecy which will be music to the ears of heavy air specialist, David Witt, currently lying in second overall after winning Race 2 at a canter.

'He went around the course at full pace, while we decided to sail conservatively and not to tip over. We got deep in the fleet on the first work, but we decided to sail conservatively and just keep the boat upright, and we would come right - and that's what happened. '

'I was one of the hardest races I have done, our mainsheet hand had his arms pulled down to his hips by the time we had finished!

'It was so puffy, which was the hardest part of the race. Yiu would be trying to sail with the big rig on in 25kts. Then it would drop to 15kts, and then there would be another bullet up at 25kts. Trying to two-sail with all that going on is the hard part.

'Tacking and gybing and keeping everything upright is the next most difficult part. The rig just takes over.'

After rounding the first mark in 20th place, Yamaha did a good rounding and picked a good line for the notorious bear-away manoeuvre where the 18ft skiff accelerates at a tremendous rate. Yamaha tiptoed through the casualties at the top of the course and to be handily placed and in contact with the race leaders. From there it was a matter of hitting singles instead of sixes, sailing conservatively and staying upright, to be eight at the bottom mark.

'We picked up 15-16 boats on that first run,' McDiarmid chuckled.

'We were very conservative, just taking our time, and two-sailing. We only set the spinnaker once.'

The rest of the Kiwi team sailed well. C-Tech (Alex Vallings) capsized once and finished ninth, and is level with Yamaha on points after two races (protests pending). As the only 18fter for many years that has sailed with four crew, C-Tech is now starting to get their crew work together, and if the prediction of a breezy regatta holds good, then they should be an interesting proposition with the extra leverage and righting moment.

Graham Catley in Maersk was also doing well - sailing in ninth place until capsizing on the final run, after hitting a light spot and a wave, which snapped off a wing.

Only two-thirds of the fleet finished the race which started at 5.00pm and was sailed in very gloomy conditions.

One boat drifted close to Sydney Heads. Their bow man hit his head on the boom and had to be taken off after they drifted to a nearby beach.

A couple of other boats were missing well into the evening.

Veteran 18ft skiff sailor John Winning achieved a remarkable first in a long skiff sailing career by righting his 18fter Yandoo, with the top mark attached to the top of his mast - making life interesting for his competitors trying to get around the airborne mark!

'It is very satisfying to finish a race like that without capsizing - a really good feeling when you are ashore and it is over.'

Yamaha has no real damage, just maintenance ahead of Race 3 which gets underway in Sydney at 3.00pm local time on Tuesday.