JJ Giltinan 18fters - 'Magic' levers keep Yamaha competitive in Race 2

by Richard Gladwell | Michael Chittenden on 27 Feb 2017 Dave McDiarmid and the crew of Yamaha NZ had an end to end win in Sunday's Race 2 of the JJ Giltinan Trophy sailed on Sydney harbour.

In contrast to the rain-marred first race, the 26 boat fleet from Australia, New Zealand, and the USA raced under clear skies and a 16-20kt southerly wind.

'At the start, the wind was shifting left and right, but after the first downwind leg we turned around and sailed back in a breeze of 20kts or so,' McDiarmid recalled.

The start was delayed apparently waiting for the breeze to settle down. 'At one stage the wind was coming out of the right from Rushcutters Bay, and at other times it was coming out of the left from Double Bay.'

That shifting wind gave Yamaha the race on a plate.

'There were big shifts on the start line. In one phase you wouldn't be able to lay the pin, and in the next, the boat end would be favoured.'

'About three minutes before the start we were in a massive right-hand phase. We just decided to go for the pin and go for the pressure at the pressure to the left, and got it'.

By 'got it' McDiarmid means the wind swung massively to favour the pin end of the line with Yamaha poised as the most leeward boat.

Yamaha started well at the pin end of the line with the fleet pointing into their transom. When they tacked, they were clear across the front, and the winner of the first race was set up to make it two in a row.

'That was pretty much the race. At the top mark we had 30 seconds on the second boat, and at the bottom mark we had a minute on them.'

'We just had to stay there.'

McDiarmid says they didn't rest on their laurels or sail conservatively to do just enough to win the race.

'We sailed as hard as we could because Rag and Famish were in second and we know they have a much heavier crew weight than us - they're about 290kg compare to our 250kg. Plus they have a height advantage over us. They are super quick when it is windy like that,' noted the diminutive McDiarmid. 'Everyone is taller than me!'

'We had to just keep on pushing as hard as we could.'

Rig choice difficult for some
Yamaha NZ is on her fourth or fifth JJ Giltinan Trophy, 'she was making a few moans and groans, yesterday. But there is nothing broken.'

Their only update over the past year is to buy a couple of new jibs.

Yamaha sailed again with their No. 2 rig which served them so well in the first race, and also scored them a couple of wins in the final two races of last year's JJ Giltinan.

Before the race start, the crews agonised over their rig choice as the breeze was predicted to be only 13-16kts max, which for many is the top end of the crossover from their No. 1 rig to the smaller No. 2.

'There was a bit of debate among the other crews as to whether it was going to be a big rig race. We put our No. 2 rig in really early as we know it has a good range down to 8kts.

'At the start, it was at that strength, but that only lasted a couple of minutes and then the breeze filled in. It was a lot windier than forecast.'

Appliancesonline (David Witt) was the only crew to opt for their big rig. 'They did very well to drag that around the course and finish sixth.'

McDiarmid says Witt and his crew looked good for a while, having the right rig on at the start. 'Down the first run it wasn't that windy, and they just came charging though the fleet. We looked behind and just saw a big spinnaker coming at us. But the wind filled in and that was the end of it. If the breeze hadn't come in Appliancesonline would have had a really good crack at us,' he added.

For the rest of the race, there were plenty of sheep in the paddock, a reference to the myriad of whitecaps that dotted Sydney Harbour in the fresh breeze.

Tension levels earn their keep
Yamaha NZ is one of only two boats to use adjustable rig tension levers. 'They were off for the start and then maxed on for the rest of the race,' says McDiarmid. 'They help us to go through the range for sure.'

'If we didn't have them we would not have been able to hold off Rags and Smeg. We would have been on our light air setting and would have been very slow compared to those two boats.

'Even so we were slow compared to them and had to keep hunting for the shifts to stay ahead,' he explained.

'Rags was significantly quicker than us in those conditions upwind. We still had some of the settings on our boat set up for light winds, which we couldn't really change. Well, we can, but decided not to in case it went light again.'

'They go really well when it is windy and handle their boat very well. At the top end of the No. 2 Rig they are really quick', he added.

Much of the race was punctuated with mid-leg kite sets and drops, asking questions of the crews both as to their tactics and boat handling ability.

'On the last run, we set the chute in Rose Bay as it was quite high and light. We had it on for about 15 seconds when we got a puff. That put us pretty much at 90 degrees to the course, and we had to get the chute off real quick, get back up to Bradley's and then set it again.'

The others two-sailed to about half way down the leg and then set their chutes - avoiding the set-drop-set.

Slick crew work seemed to be a hallmark of Yamaha's race.

'It's been a focus of ours - just to make sure our boat handling is good as it can be - so we are not losing anything there - as we have done in the past.

'I'd say we are up with the top boats in terms of boat-handling.'

So far, Yamaha is level pegging it with the top Australian boats - which doesn't surprise McDiarmid, who points out that they beat Thurlow Fisher in New Zealand in last year's ANZAC Regatta in April.

They also beat Smeg in Fiji as well as Auckland.

'While they probably knew that we were going to come to Sydney and do alright, they are probably a bit surprised that we have won the first two races.'

Traffic and error avoidance
Yamaha's Everest in this regatta is to become the first New Zealand boat to win the JJ Giltinan Trophy in Sydney.

The vagaries of Sydney harbour have been accentuated in the first two races with the wind and heavy rain of the first race making visibility very difficult. Then in the second the increase in wind strength plus the bigs shifts are normally the stuff that throws visiting crews of their stride.

Add to that the weekend traffic issues of a Race 1 course bookended by a 300-metre cruise liner at one end and a fleet of wakas at the other. The second race ran the gauntlet of the Sydney Harbour weekend traffic with large power boats quite happy to go through the middle of the fleet and pulling half of Sydney harbour behind them with their massive wakes.

'Trying to avoid the traffic is a huge part of sailing on the harbour', McDiarmid explains.

The first two days of the JJ Giltinan Trophy have often been the downfall of the New Zealand crews - where fair to poor performances in the first weekend, have seen the Kiwis play catch up for the rest of the series.

'One of our major goals is to get through the first weekend without a major stuff-up - without incurring our drop place. And we have done that, so we are in good shape for the rest of the week.'

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]
According to Predictwind.com, the forecast is for light to moderate easterly winds for the next two days, a light day on Thursday which is Race 5, and then freshening for Friday and the weekend.

McDiarmid says they are confident of their speed if they have to use their No.1 rig, but 90% of their sailing in Auckland over the past year has been in fresh breezes with their No.2 rig which has served them so well in this regatta and their last outing in Sydney, a year ago.

'We are very comfortable with it,' is McDiarmid's parting comment.

Race 3, 4 and 5 will be sailed on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday is another rest day and the final two races are on Saturday and Sunday.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed]