Just some pictures...

[Nigel Barron]

Here are some pictures I was sent from our last Monday night race of the season.

Nigel

[Nigel Barron]

Downwind..

[Nigel Barron]

last one...

[Roger Ware]

Nigel - these are huge and beautiful images, and they make you want to know - where were they taken? Thanks, Roger (Kingston, Ontario)

[Seth]

Hi Roger!

Nigel,

This is hard for me to say, but those are some very pretty sails you are flying!

You may get me started on my A-sail rant (I am a HUGE fan-always)-looks like you are using the pole when called for and going without at other times-perfect!

All things being equal, an A-sail is always faster on any point of sail than a conventional spinnaker-as long as you have a pole to square back when the breeze is aft, and the sail is designed as an "AP" sail. The myth that they are mostly for reaching comes from the fact that sprit boats can't square the pole back when sailing deeper angles, so they can't run as deep. This has nothing to do with the nature of A-sails, though.
The only potential limittion is in close buoy racing, where gybing an A-sail may be a tad slower-since it must collapse in the gybes and in theory a conventional kite can stay full-if the crew is good. But I'll take the A-sail anyday!

There-I said it. I feel better-do you?

[sailingdeacon]

E34 Archangel racing

[Seth]

Nice shot as well! See the little wake coming off the transom? Too much junk in the trunk! Get some weight forward and you will smooth that out and go faster. That turbulence is water molecules you are dragging around the race course... Set them free!! You don't need their help! Move the weight a bit forward!

[sailingdeacon]

Could be those four guys in the trunk..... got to get these old guys on the rail! This old crew is too laid back! Then again there is a bunch of stuff in the cockpit locker areas. Thanks for the tip.

[Nigel Barron]

All of the pictures I posted were taken off of Shilshole Bay Marina, in Seattle. The lighthouse in the final picture is the West Point Lighthouse (http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=wpow1).

I really like the current sail combination I am using. The main in the pictures was from a friends Olson 911 (hence the number) that I had cut down to a maximum code 6 main. The idea was to get a bigger main, and then be able to more easily sail to the 9 second advantage of only using jibs. As for the A-Sails, love them! As mentioned, I have the advantage of being able to sail high with the pole forward, or really deep when I pole back. It is a really great all around sail. The white A-Sail in the picture is a .6.

Nigel