A great race with a great result

That was quite a race! I am very happy to have participated, proud to have completed it, and overjoyed with the results: the 1st place in TCF3 class (among 26 registered boats) 🤩🤩

Competing this solo, long-distance (80 nautical miles) regatta is a very demanding challenge. It was especially tricky this year, in conditions we had on Saturday - major weather front passing (temperatures dropped by 15 degrees within a day or so), with showers and heavy rains, medium to strong wind from changing directions and two storms (one at noon, one at midnight). 

Leaving the port for the race

We had a nice SW breeze from the start, so everyone hoisted spinnakers directly at the start. I started from the port end of the starting line, gybed right away to port tack towards Vengeron and Versoix to have more space and fresh air, and kept closer to Swiss coast most of the Petit Lac. Within just two hours, most of the fleet has passed Yvoire and entered the Grand Lac. I then went closer to the French coast. 

Right after the start

By the time I was passing Thonon, a storm developed and hit the fleet. I tried to be cautious, and I was already dropping my spinnaker, but just a moment too late - when very strong gusts and the rain arrived, the spi was still out, which resulted in a massive broach. The boat was nearly capsized for a few minutes, the cockpit was quite vertical, and I had to hold to a stanchion which suddenly appeared above my head (I also had my harness on, and connected to the central lifeline). A safety boat appeared nearby, to make sure I recover, which was reassuring. After easing the main sheets, the vang, the barber-hauler (which was under water), and releasing a few meters of the spi halyard, I tried to pull the spi sheet with a winch, but it was still very hard. Finally, I decided to completely let go the tackline, which helped and allowed me to collect most of the spi. In the meantime, the boat tacked which in fact helped too - some of the spi was in the water, but a big part was already collected, and the rest was leaning against the bow and the mainsail. As the strong gusts were also mostly over, I managed to clean up the situation quickly, get back on the racing course, and actually prepare the tackline and the spi for another hoist. The spi was intact (!), but I later realised that the wind indicator (windex) at the top of the mast got damaged. There were other boats broaching nearby, and I also saw - later on - a bigger boat with a broken carbon mast. This broach and the recovery costed me 15 minutes of racing, and was a good reminder of the obvious: that keeping the spi too long doesn't necessarily pay off! 

This is not me, but another boat broaching.

From "Translémanique en Solitaire" FB profile.

The rain was on and off but the sky cleared a bit towards the end of the afternoon, which allowed me to dry my clothes and enjoy some beautiful views of the mountains surrounding the lake. I was sailing closer to the French coast, initially very fast under the spinnaker with speeds over 12 knots. Later on, I unfortunately got stuck for half an hour in a no-wind zone. Seeing boats slowly moving on the Swiss side was very frustrating - should I have chosen that side, too? Finally, the wind picked up again, I continued sailing under the spinnaker, and I rounded the Vieux Rhone buoy just before 5pm. Half of the race completed in still in daylight!

Approaching the Vieux Rhone mark on the other side of the lake

The way back was a bit more laborious, upwind in rather low winds. Again a hard choice: should I stay in the middle of the lake where wind shifts and the VMG are more favourable, or should I go close to the Swiss coast where some boats decided to head. I decided the former, then regretted a bit, but overall it may have been a good call. The wind was quite weak most of the return on the Grand Lac, but I somehow managed to find patches of better wind and sail efficiently towards the sunset over the Jura. When the night came, the wind gradually picked up, another storm came from the west with lightnings over the Jura. I went for the direct route towards  Yvoire, which I passed precisely at midnight - it seemed 12 clock bells greeted my return to Petit Lac. Wind strength increased even more, and from an unusual SE direction. By the time I reached Nernier, I was on a close-reach port-tack course. Strong wind came from the nearby French shore, so there were no waves, and the boat cruised so smoothly at 6-7 knots. It was a truly amazing ride straight towards the finishing line, overtaking some boats on the Swiss side and in the middle of the lake. However, there was also heavy rain - I felt wet, cold and actually very sleepy. With no wind indicator at the top of the mast, wet telltales, and limited visibility, I was more guessing and feeling than seeing the exact wind direction and the correct sail trim. I pushed the boat to go as fast as possible on this last spring towards the finishing line in Geneva - and finally crossed it at 2:43 am. Race completed!

The sunset over the Jura mountains

That was not over, though. After the finishing line, there were many boats going in all directions, putting down their sails, under the command(?) of very tired skippers. With still strong winds, dark water and blinding city lights around, this was likely the most risky moment of the race - I am actually surprised there were no collisions! I hesitated about coming back to Versoix, but after 18 hours on the water was tired, and decided to seek shelter directly into SNG's Port Noir. My sister picked me up (thanks!), and eventually at 5am I was back home. That was a long day...

In a long race with compensated time, and finishing at night (so not seeing when other boats finish), it's impossible to know how well I did. I honestly assumed I'm in the middle or perhaps one-third of my class (TCF3). There were still no results online when I checked on Sunday morning, and only sometime later a friend sent me the freshly published results, and congratulations. I was so happy to see that Jedi was ranked 2nd in TCF3 class! An even better surprise came at the prize-giving ceremony in the afternoon - it turned out that the first boat was wrongly classified (in fact, it has finished a few hours later than Jedi). As the result, I have finished first, compensated time, in TCF3 class - just ahead of a good friend (and a great sailor) Hans-Peter on his Melges 24. What a joy!

TCF3 class podium - with Hans-Peter

The boat I sailed - J/80 "Jedi" - is great. Very strong, stable and still reasonably easy to handle single-handed and sail fast. Very grateful to my sailing club, Yachting Club CERN, for the opportunity to take her for this unforgettable race!

Observations

Here are some fresh observations from the race:

• The steering mechanisms that I put in place worked very well. In particular, the tiller lock at the end of the tiller was very handy - easy to reach and lock/unlock as necessary. When locked, the boat is quite stable on an upwind course (if there are no gusts) - at some point I went into the cabin for a few minutes to change wet clothes, I was looking outside to check the course but didn't need to correct it. Under the spinnaker, the boat is less stable, unless you first sail too much downwind and partially hide the spi behind the mainsail (at the risk of accidental gybing). In addition, it was very useful to have the circular steering rope around the boat, allowing to adjust the course even from the bow. It may have been useful to have an autopilot, but it certainly wasn't a must, and given this experience, I probably wouldn't bother installing it.
• It really requires full focus, and holding the tiller, to keep full speed. Each distraction (e.g. looking at the phone to check the weather forecast update, selecting another waypoint on the GPS, grabbing food, changing clothes etc.) had an impact on sail trim or boat heading, affecting the boat speed. To avoid these effects, it's important to have everything at hand (e.g. food and drinks, spare clothing etc.), ready and easy to use (e.g. know how to find and use the weather and application apps, have sandwiches ready to unpack and eat). Also, don't count on being able to study the weather or or navigation choices during the race - the more prepared in advance (e.g. navigation cheat-sheet, forecast and route scenarios), the better.
• Constantly work on boat speed. Look at the speed and VMG, sail trim. Look at similar boats (e.g. Surprises) around you, to look for good wind. Perfecting individual manoeuvres is perhaps less important, as there are not so many of them. And obviously, it's important to avoid major issues that cost a lot of time. A slower spi douce is much better than a fast one but with getting the spi in the water under the boat, or even worse, damaging it!

Forecasts and weather routing

The boat is prepared, and I hope I am ready too - but what about the wind?

After weeks of a major heat wave, the weather is changing tonight! It will be much cooler (a welcome change). However, this is not a trivial situation for forecasts models - they don't all agree with each other. I am leaning towards trusting the French AROME model with is a high-resolution one (mesh size 1.3km), but also to compare various forecasts to what I really see on the water tomorrow morning before the start.

AROME vs. UKMO for Saturday 10am

I've discussed these topics with Michał at several occasions - already back in January, but also in the recent days. He recommends studying part tracks of winning boats on previous Translemanique and Bol d'Or regatta (which is always a good idea). He suggested comparing a few high resolution models like French AROME and German Icon (to this list, I'm adding the UKMO model, and PredictWind's PWE/PWG models). Finally, he proposed to actually do weather routing, and to try different software packages. This last point is tricky - such weather routing makes perfect sense for offshore sailing/racing. However, I've tried a few solutions (Squid X/mobile, qtVlm, PredictWind/Offshore) for Lac Leman, using  J/80 polar, and so far none was overly convincing. I'll try again tonight to see if they suggest anything interesting. Big thanks also to Michał for analysing the situation, and testing various models and different software on hist side, and sharing the results with me!

The last point is that RRS (Racing Rules of Sailing) rule 41 forbids competitors to use external help and non-public communication once the race starts (which means the preparatory -5 minutes signal). NoR (Notice of Race) point 3.3 reminds about it, too. And Michał pointed be to RRS case 120 which clarifies how "information freely available" should be interpreted. An interesting read!

Follow me live!

It will be possible to follow my live position during the race at https://www.suiviregate.ch/race/TLM23. 

It's possible to filter by boat name (mine is Jedi), or boat class (I am in TCF3 class). Note that in that class, most boats are faster than mine, however what will eventually count for the results is so-called "compensated time", not real time - so it's entirely possible that some bigger TCF3 boats will finish in front of me, but I still win against them. Fingers crossed 🤞😀

From suiviregate.ch
A screenshot from some previous race

The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions

I'm just having another read of the Notice of Race (fr. Avis de course) and Sailing Instructions (fr. Instruction de course), to remember well all details, and make sure all is in order. There are some interesting points worth noting - see below! I've also prepared a single page with most important navigation details:

Notice of Race:

• NOR 1.3.1 to 1.3.3 - as on Bol d'Or, boats crossing the starting line in the 5 minutes before the departure cannot come back to the pre-start zone and start again, but are instead penalised with 60 minutes added to their real time. Such cases will be marked as ASP (Altenative Starting Penalty - an interesting name 🙂) or SCP (Scoring Penalty). There is no general or individual recall (RSS 29).
• NoR 1.3.4 - starting procedure is:
• warning signal -10 minutes (SYZ white/yellow flag up)
• preparatory signal -5 minutes (P flag up)
• starting signal (both flags down)
• NoR 1.3.5: "RCV 45: Pendant un orage et pour des raisons de sécurité, un bateau peut s’amarrer ou s’abriter dans le port le plus proche jusqu’à ce que l’orage soit passé, puis reprendre la course." - so in a storm, I can seek shelter in a harbour, and continue the race afterwards. No details on the use of motor and a possible unfair advantage etc. - I guess this boils down to sportsmanship and fair play (RRS 2).
• NoR 1.4.4 - autopilots and other automatic helming systems are allowed.
• NoR 3.3 - a reminder to not use external help, private communication, and non-public information. 
• NoR 8 and 9 - various equipment and safety requirements, including navigation lights. 
• NoR 9.3 - a strong recommendation to put light on the front sail (to be visible to other boats) - also makes sense to be able to see how the sail (jib or spinnaker) works
• NoR 9.5 - put light on the mainsail SRS number when passing the marks
• NoR 13 - one-turn penalty (360)

Sailing Instructions

• SI 5.2 - AP flag on land means 60 minutes, not 1 minute
• SI 6 - time limits
• to round the Vieux Rhône mark: Sunday 7am
• to finish: Sunday 4pm
• SI 9.2 - port rounding of the Vieux Rhone mark (different than on Bol d'Or!)

Repairs and adaptations

Preparing for Translemanique is a good occasion to check the boat and do some general maintenance. Here are some of the things I've done in the recent days. Special thanks to Tim Foster for his precious help and suggestions!

• Prepared the two missing barber-haulers (the single old one is now a spare one)
• Installed a new main traveller (the old rope really didn't look trustworthy). The final length of the new one is still to be decided.
  
  

• Added a missing spi halyard pulley
  
• Fixed a system to hang the spinnaker bag (perhaps still to be improved)
  
• Replaced a broken emergency blinking light
  
  
  
• Fixed (partially) a pin to hold the normal (non-regatta) mainsail in the mast
• Checked navigation lights
• Charged the battery
• Added tell-tales on shrouds and the backstay
• Marked the lines: bowsprit (fully out), tackline (prefeed position), spi sheets, spi halyard

And then of course, there were many adaptations for single-handed sailing:

• Prepared lifelines: one across the cockpit (red rope on the picture below) and the other to the bow and back
  

• Fixed without drilling (not permanently) a tiller lock - I will remove it after the race. For the tiller extension not to be disturbed, I added pads to lift it.
  
• Installed the steering rope with elastics using that tiller lock (red and black on the picture below)
• Installed another steering rope, going via pulleys to the bow and then back (white rope on the picture below) - it allows adjusting the course from anywhere on the boat!
  

146 participants confirmed

I got an email today confirming my inscription! This was important, as according to the Notice of Race (NoR 4.6), the first 100 are allowed to race without further constraints, the rest up (including me) to a maximum of 150 participants would be informed a week before if they are allowed to participate, I guess depending also on the weather forecast. The lesson for the future: register early, to be sure to get a place.

There are 146 confirmed participants. Among them, two fellow YCC members - Jean Vasic and Hans-Peter Bichelmeier - who will take part in this very demanding race on their private boats. Another name on the list of participants is Justine Mettraux - a professional offshore sailor, originally from Versoix, a recent winner of The Ocean Race.

Looking at the classes and numbers, from slowest to fastest boats:

• TCF4 - 13 entries (this is where I'd be, had I sailed on a smaller J/70 instead)
• Surprise - 46 entries (boats comparable to my J/80)
• TCF3 - 25 entries (this is where I compete)
• Grand Surprise - 11 entries (those are faster boats, but I hope to keep up with some of them)
• TCF2 - 37 entries
• TCF1 - 6 entries
• TCFX - 8 entries (those are monster boats)

Cleaning the boat

It's important to have a clean hull for the race - it not for anything else, then just not to have an excuse afterwards ("I was slower because my boat was dirty") 😉

This late afternoon, we took out Jedi, moored it to one of the buoys outside the port, jumped into the water (what a relief in this heat!!), and together with my sister - an accomplished offshore sailor herself! - cleaned with (fairly) soft sponges the hull, the keel and the rudder. Actually, the boat seemed quite clean already. The whole operation was quite fast. And seating on the bulb under the hull was fun!

Why J/80?

A question I get often asked is about the boat choice. Why take J/80 for the Translemanique, if other YCC members in the past have all sailed a Surprise? Club Surprises (Mamma Mia and Mic Mac) are already equipped for single-handed sailing, and there is quite some experience in the club on solo sailing a Surprise. In addition, any regatta on Lake Geneva will feature a large number of Surprises, and it's always more interesting to race among other boats in the same competitive class.

All this is true. I’m aware that so far only YCC Surprises were used by YCC members in this regatta. I have also considered taking a Surprise, as I am a great fun of this class and of a symmetric spinnaker. 

From jboats.com

However, J/80 has many advantages, too. It's a modern design, fast boat with a very big cockpit, comfortable to sail. J/80 boats are very seaworthy - class B: offshore, for winds up to 40 knots / 8 Beaufort scale and waves up to 4 meters - certainly enough for Lake Geneva :-). (As a comparison, Surprise is class C: up to 6 Bft wind and 2 meter waves). J/80s are very stable, having nearly half of its weight (1315 kg) in the ballast (635 kg) - which means that the boat absorbs gusts and stronger winds better without the whole crew on the rail, and keeps its course ignoring (minor) weight moves from one side of the boat to the other. A relatively small jib is very easy to handle, and doesn't obstruct the view. Asymmetric spinnaker makes it so much easier to hoist, gybe, and douce (though means I cannot sail too much downwind). See J/80 technical specifications here: https://jboats.com/j80-tech-specs

As Andrin has suggested to me, it's also interesting to have a look at SRS ratings, which are used to calculate the compensated time (and therefore, race result) based on the real time of completing the race:

• Surprise (TCF3 class): SRS standard 1.000, solo: 1.030 (ratings for YCC's Mamma Mia, SRS number 982)
• J/80 (TCF3 class): SRS standard 1.003, solo: 1.029 (ratings for YCC's Jedi, SUI 1523, SRS number 1788)
• as a comparison, J/70 (TCF4 class): SRS standard 0.987, solo: 1.026 (ratings for YCC's Padawan, SRS number 2314)

So interestingly, while a Surprise is normally considered slightly slower than J/80, for solo sailing it's considered faster than J/80. I don't know why - but it's actually good news for me 🙂

(For the record, I also considered taking J/70 - but I'm happy I have decided otherwise. Compared to J/80, J/70 is less seaworthy, much less stable, harder to handle in gusts and heavy wind - more heeling and no reef on the mainsail - and just plain slower, which means a longer race.)

Damages to Jedi

This week, Jedi was in Founex for the Semaine du Soir regatta - and clearly had bad luck, suffering three separate damages!! 😱

First, YCC colleagues have noticed a damage around the regatta mainsail's bolt rope (the thick luff - front edge of the mainsail - that goes into the groove in the mast). That's bad! I really want to use that sail for the Translemanique - it's much better and newer than the everyday mainsail! Since I happened to be in Founex (where the boat was this week) on Wednesday, I picked up the damaged mainsail and brought it for repair to North Sails - were I was assured by a colleague working there that the sail will be ready before the race. A big relief! 😅

Second, Jedi's gelcoat on top of the hull was quite severely damaged overnight by another boat moored longside. No structural damage, but the fiberglass is exposed in several places, and it looks quite bad. Repair to follow, though unlikely to happen before Translemanique. 😢

Finally, I've just learned that in a small accident this morning, the outboard engine's kill switch broke off. Pieter and Tim managed to bring this engine (and at the same time, the broken Mic Mac's outboard) to a mechanic who will look into it next week. Whether Jedi's engine will be ready for Friday, to be seen 🙁. I need, or at least I certainly want, to have a working outboard engine with me for the Translemanique! In the worst case, I hope I will be able to borrow an engine from some other YCC keelboat...

Let's at least hope that with these three problems in just a couple of days, Jedi's bad luck is over! 🤞

The lake is big!

Enjoying a sunny Saturday in Lavaux and Montreux with my family - a great occasion to admire the mighty Lake Geneva / Lac Leman from the shore. I will be back here very soon! 🤩

Boat preparations

Focusing on boat preparations, I met with Tim - very likely our best expert of J/80 and her maintenance. Thanks Tim for your time - and especially for coming by bike, in the worst mid-day heat!

We discussed so many things! Here is just a subset of the conclusions and decisions:

Steering / tiller:

• Fixing the tiller lock (steering line cleat) on the tiller is indeed not ideal - while great for solo sailing, it will go in the way of regular sailors. But there is no need to fix it permanently! The cleat can be attached with a strong double-side tape, and wrapped around together with the tiller with a duct tape - this will more than strong enough, and can be removed after the Translemanique, thus not affecting normal boat users.
• For the tiller extension not to be disturbed by the cleat, let's lift the extension base by adding below an old base (bracket), and fixing with longer screws (currently ~32mm long, 4mm wide). Same below the extension holder, if needed (to be able to put the extension on top of the tiller when not used).

Spinnaker:

• Add a pulley for the spi halyard, at the bottom of the mast (currently the spi just goes through a metal loop).
• Before doucing the spi, first fix the spi halyard on the starboard jib winch and take it off the cleat on the mast - so that I don't need to go to the mast in the middle of the doucing manoeuvre.
• Spinnaker bag - if possible, it's better to fix it hanging in the gangway - we discussed how to fix it.
• Wind conditions for various spinnakers we have. No particular restriction for our J80. The regatta spi is a safe bet in most conditions. The "big" spi (J80SpiBig16) is very big - not for strong wind, and also not for very light wind either (it goes into the water and becomes wet and heavy!) - best for low/medium wind. BTW in low wind, flying the spi "butterfly" way (on the windward) could be a nice option, quite efficient VMG-wise to really go downwind.

Other:

• RaceMaster device just uses the solar power (+ internal rechargeable battery). However, it reads data from the speed sonde - which requires power to be on (key turned as marked - but apparently, "instruments" don't need to be turn on on the switchboard). If the RaceMaster says "no power", it actually mean that the speed sonde doesn't get the power.
• Cleaning the hull - same as Michel and Pierre-Yves recommended before, the easiest in this weather is to take the boat out to a buoy and then clean it while swimming / snorkling around.
• It's best to have the engine on board, but to take it off the transom for the race itself, and store it inside the cabin (in the correct position - handle up)
• Buy a new emergency blinking light floating beacon (the one that should work in the vertical position). The one we have is broken - it works even upside down.

Learning from others, continued

For a change, today (Tuesday) evening I sailed on a different boat: I was crewing on Hans-Peter's Melges 24 in the Tuesday regatta at SNG. Hans-Peter - also a YCC member - has participated in the Translemanique on his private boat a couple of times already. So obviously, I've used this opportunity to ask him a lot of questions about single-handed manoeuvres and boat preparations, as well as routing strategies for different parts of the lake (Petit Lac, Grand Lac, Haut Lac). 

Photo by Anne-Laure Lamure
"Stealing info from a fellow club member 😄"

Hans-Peter explain to me his system for holding the tiller. It's composed of fairly thin elastics, one on each side of the boat. Each elastic can be wrapped one or more times around the tiller end, thus allowing fine-tuning the tension (and therefore, rudder position). In addition, he installs a rope also attached to the tiller, that goes all around the boat using a few pulleys. This rope is accessible from anywhere on the boat, and allows the skipper to adjust the course even during working on the bow. The rope could have loops or just knots in a few places, to facilitate using it - but it's not really necessary. (See the pictures taken last year by Kate Robertson.) I like this system a lot, and will prepare something similar on Jedi!

Hans-Peter has also shared other experiences and ideas - thanks a lot for all of them!

• While tacking, first release the mainsail traveller to the middle, and then pull it to the new upwind after the tack. If the wind is strong, release it all the way, and fix it in the new position already before the tack.
• Reminder of basic routing ideas: Petit Lac - see other boats and look for the wind (but not too big waves). Grand Lac - don't go into the Thonon bay, keep in the middle or max 2/3 towards the Swiss coast. Haut Lac - not too close to the mountains on the south side.
• Keep food and drinks in the rope bags in the cockpit so that they are easily accessible. Clothing in the cabin - perhaps at the bottom of the spi bag, if this bag is hanging in the gangway.

Low wind racing in Founex

Yesterday I had another training on J80, this time it was a race, part of Semaine du Soir de Founex regatta. Sure, I was not alone on board - I had Natalie, Krzysztof, Lajos and Franklin as crew members (thanks for sailing together!). We had an excellent race, and we have finished first among the green group (TCF3 and TCF4), both real and compensated time. :-)

There was almost no wind at the beginning. We did a beautiful squeezing into a gap at the committee end of the starting line, but then one bad tack that costed us a few places (with our YCC friends on J70 in front of us!). We caught up nicely thought, and had a very tricky, no-wind passage at the upwind buoy (that included tacking with no course change, just moving the weight and the sails to the other side of the boat - the wind was so light and confusing!). The wind then turned 180 degrees but fortunately pick up. The race was shortened for the green group, which we've noticed and realised (thanks Krzysztof!), but very few others did - so we went for the finishing line while boats behind us and a few bigger in front of us continued racing to another mark :-). A fun race with an excellent crew!

For me, this race was a very useful refresh on J80 low wind sailing and sail trim. We did roll tacks, and that helped a lot - it's something I will not be able to do efficiently alone. Overall, J80 behaved very well in low wind, was more responsive than I had remembered from the past, and the regatta mainsail battens flipped easily. The mainsail often gets stuck with the the backstay, but a simple pull/shake of the backstay fixes it.

Boom kicker, or YCC spirit

The great part of preparing for the Translemanique is the chance to learn many things, and benefit of experiences of the others. Many YCC members have already helped me one way or another - here is just one example.

When sailing with Andrin, we discussed reefing the mainsail, and he mentioned that a rigid kicker could be useful to support the boom while the mainsail is lowered. I haven't yet reefed the mainsail as part of my Translemanique preparations, but that sounds like a very good idea.

Kicker on Mic Mac

Checking our keelboats, I see that only Mic Mac has a rigid kicker. Both Mamma Mia and Jedi have the kicker fittings on the boom and at the foot of the mast - but no kicker itself. Could I borrow the kicker from Mic Mac? Not really, because the fittings are different... a dead end. 

Kicker fittings on Jedi

Talking to Tim and François - our experts of J/80 - I've learned that the kickers got broken due to repeated overtensioning, and were not replaced as they also obstructed ropes from deck to boom level, and tend to damage the mast and boom tracks. François also added that changing the boom kicker is a quite tricky operation as parts tend to not really collaborate. I could try to get a new kicker, but the supply and delays aren't guaranteed.. so, dead end too. 

However, when I mentioned this to Genrich who was taking Jedi from me, he reassured me that the kicker is not really needed for reefing - it's enough to ease the vang, trim the reefline (thus lifting the boom), and only then ease the main halyard and fix the tack. Genrich has then actually tested it during his outing, and confirmed reefing works fine without a kicker - it's just important not to pull the reefline too hard (fully), as it would pull the whole sail too much like an outhaul, and it wouldn't be possible to lower the mainsail to the reefed position. So I guess a kicker would be nice to have, but it's not really necessary - excellent!

Thanks to all for your suggestions and help. Great YCC spirit!

PS: I will try reefing the mainsail myself tonight, so will see firsthand how it can be done single-handed. 

Sails for the race

Today I brought the J/80 regatta sails from BA5. They will be used at the Semaine du Soir de Founex the whole week - and I will actually use them on Monday (tomorrow). 

Rolled sails don't like being folded, but just rolled they are long - especially the mainsail (360 cm) but also the jib (290 cm). They hardly fit into even a big van!

Our J/80 has regatta sails from late 2020 which I plan to use:

• J80Main20 (North Sails) - regatta mainsail - I double-checked and yes, it can be reefed
• J80Jib20 (dark, North Sails)- regatta jib
• J80Spi20 (grey, North Sails "One Design J-0 A2 Asymmetric Superkote 75") - regatta spinnaker

In addition, for the race I will take:

• J80StormJib19 - can be very useful if a storm comes, and apparently works also well partially, or mostly rolled
• J80SpiBig16 (light blue, Top Voiles) - bigger and also deeper (?) that the standard spi, so a bigger surface (to be confirmed)
• (?) J80SpiJauge19 (dark blue, North Sails) - standard everyday sail, rather flat - as a reserve or for stronger wind?

To be left onshore:

• J80SpiSpare00 (green? in a red bag) - a very old spi, useless for such a race
• ... and the usual every-day mainsail and jib

I can't hold the helm all the time!

Time to focus on what will keep the tiller, and helm the boat, when I cannot! The long tiller extension allows me to do most manoeuvres from the cockpit while still holding the extension, or at least having it nearby. However, in stronger winds, when the boat despite its great stability will want to luff up (or bear away), I expect this to be harder. Also, there will be situations when I will be away from the tiller - e.g. changing the front sail to a storm jib, reefing the mainsail, correcting a spinnaker stuck in the forestay, fixing any issue, or just changing clothes. 

There are basically two solutions: a rope that holds the rudder in a fixed position, and an electronic autopilot.

I like the first solution for its simplicity - a rope to hold the tiller (perhaps with elastics at both end to allow for some minor course corrections). This rope can be easily fixed on both sides of the boat aft, and then attached when needed to the tiller, for example with a clove hitch knot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch). This knot, when made loose, allows moving the tiller along the rope, to adjust the course. There is much better solution though, the one used in the past by my fellow Translemanique sailors on one of YCC's Surprises, Mic Mac. This special cleat with a pulley, when open, allows the rope to move freely either way - and when locked with a special switch, blocks the rope completely. I took this cleat from Mic Mac and plan to install it at the very end of Jedi's tiller. Either on top of the tiller - which would be the most convenient to use and better for rope angles, but perhaps (to be checked) disturbing the tiller extension. Or from below - but it's trickier to fix, and there is a risk that the rope slips out of the cleat too easily. To be decided... noting that either way, this cleat goes at the end of the tiller, which is where some sailors may want to hold the tiller when they don't use the extension. Perhaps the cleat should only be installed for Translemanique practice and participation, but then removed until the next Translemanique? In any case, I will certainly use this system.

The other solution is the old Raymarine (Raytheon) ST1000+ electronic autopilot (https://www.raymarine.com/en-us/our-products/boat-autopilots/autopilot-packs/st1000-st2000, SKU A12004), that the club purchased together with Gibsea. This autopilot is fixed to the side of the hull on one side, and to the tiller on the other side, and extends or retracts to move the tiller left and right. Its has an internal compass, and in the Auto mode, helms the boat to keep it on a given course. The course cane be adjusted with the usual +1, -1, +10 and -10 buttons. This sounds great - and actually, Luigi used this autopilot on Mamma Mia in 2019, and fitted that boat for the autopilot. However Jedi is not yet prepared for this autopilot. To install it, I'd need to fix:

• a mounting socket (fr. tolet de fixation pour pilote de barre franche Raymarine, ref. D002) on the side of the boat (ideally, starboard)
• a tiller pin on the tiller (fr. rotule standard ref. D001), or a short/long threaded tiller pin (fr. rotule tige filetée courte 27mm ref. D014 / longue 60mm ref. D021) 
• a 6-pin electric cockpit socket (fr. prise cockpit ref. D338), and cables (up to 4 m, 2.5mm2, protected with a 12A fuse) to the switchboard / battery, to connect the autopilot to the power

Preparing for that installation, I've purchased online the necessary items. However, when studying it further and preparing for the installation yesterday at the boat, I've noticed a number of issues and difficulties - which I list here for future reference (in case I or someone else does it in the following years):

• The tiller at the place where the pin needs to go (460mm from the rudder axis) is too low by some 8.5-9cm, so I'd need to add a tiller bracket (ref. D011). Luckily we have this bracket on Gibsea under the tiller - I imagine it could be moved to Jedi. However it's not the most beautiful thing to have installed permanently on Jedi, on top of the tiller (so very visible).
• The place where the mounting socket is fixed would need to be reinforced with plywood glued on the inside of the boat. Not a major problem, but not an easy access there.
• Both the mounting socket and the electric socket would need to be installed (=holes drilled) in the watertight buoyancy compartment at the aft of the boat.  While the mounting socket can be easily made watertight, it would be harder to do so for the electric socket in the cockpit, and the cable pulled inside the boat between the socket and the switchboard / battery. 
• The electric cable would need to be longer than 4m, which is the maximum length recommended in the manual.
• I tried the autopilot on Mamma Mia, and when I enable Auto mode, it seems to work for a bit but then displays "1000" and switches back to Stand-by mode. User manual doesn't mention this, and online research on this issue was inconclusive... 
• Electric consumption on Auto mode is 0.5A to 1.5A, which is not negligible. I'm a bit worried that in any case I won't be able to use it much.
• Last but not least, it's a sophisticated device that can fail for a number of reasons, so not something I can entirely rely on - I would in any case need the rope solution described above.  

It would be great to have an autopilot, on top of a rope system - but given all these points, I think I will not install on Jedi and use the autopilot this year, and use only the rope solution. However, it could be interesting to prepare Jedi for the autopilot in the future.

Self-recommendations for a long race

I've dug out some notes I took in the past for the usual longer races on lake Geneva, such as Bol d'Or or Geneve-Rolle-Geneve. Let's see how much they are relevant for solo-racing - I imagine they are!

• Work constantly on the boat speed (and VMG!): gentle helm, sail trim, heading/course/angle to the wind, balance windward/leeward + front/back, general boat handling; compare frequently your speed and course to similar boats around (but don't engage in match racing); worry less about "perfect" manoeuvres especially if few and far between.
• Stay in fresh (non-disturbed) air as much as possible; look around and at the boats in front for better wind; plan ahead and discuss options (e.g. Swiss or French coast, what the rest of the fleet does and why, the risks and possible gains for possible choices etc.).
• Keep focus until the very end (or when relaxing, eating etc., give helm and sheets to others on board), as every second counts. (For the anecdote, in Geneve-Rolle-Geneve 2021, we were 10th overall compensated time, and the 11th boat was just three seconds behind us in compensated time!!)

... well ... all this is certainly still true for single-handed racing, except for two tiny details :-) I will have no one to "discuss tactical options", and "when relaxing, eating etc., give helm and sheets to others on board" 🙂

Jedi inventory

A could of days ago I spent several hours checking Jedi's equipment, doing the inventory, removing trash (yes...), and cleaning her inside (a bit). 

Let the pictures say it all:

The useful ropes, from left to right:

• jib sheets (dark blue) - quite thick and heavy but easy to pull and use with the winches
• one barber hauler (blue) - I need to replace the missing second one
• a possible rope for the second barber hauler (violet) though probably a bit too thick
• spi sheets (blue and white) - good quality and thickness, length also seem right (to be confirmed)
• spare spi sheet? (green, with a spi carabiner) - it's good to have a spare!

... and then I've also found a huge number of ropes of random thickness, length and state. Some are mooring lines, sure. What are the others, I truly don't know! Did people leave them onboard, just to confuse others? :-) No idea. Still, I decided to coil them nicely...

Some other findings: