Audi Sunshine Girls

Another Oceanburo program to develop Women's sailing in Australia , the AUDI SUNSHINE GIRLS have been privileged to have the experience of racing in the SB3 worlds in Cascais, Portugal in September 2009. This program is jointly supported by AUDI CENTRE SUNSHINE COAST and OCEANBURO.

We arrived in Portugal with fairly high expectations but the event and experience surpassed everything we imagined.  Cascais was a great place to sail, the Portuguese really turned on an impressive event, the pastries were delicious, the coffee addictive and the sightseeing practically non-existent for us beyond the yacht club.

The racing was intense and competitive.  We raced 22 races in 8 days, and we loved every minute of it.  The class is highly competitive on the water but renown for its friendliness off the water.

All I can say is – do everything you can to get to Italy in 2010, and start dreaming about the worlds here in Australia in 2012!

Here’s a few observations I made – bearing in mind we finished mid fleet, and I certainly DON’T have any answers!

Rig tension – the general consensus seemed to be 36 on the caps, 33 on the middle, two turns tighter than hand tight on the lowers.  BUT we used what we’ve been using for sometime now – 31, 24, 12 and I believe we had good height and speed.

As you’ve probably realised, everything on the SB3 is inter-related so our different rig setting meant many of our settings differed as well.  For example, we crank the backstay when we’re overpowered, whereas the Europeans seem to use less, which would tie in with increased pre-bend the higher rig settings would give them.

From the few glimpses I caught they seemed to have their travellers more centred than we did – again this would tie in with increased pre-bend resulting in a more open leech.

Conditions were similar (not as bad!) as Mooloolaba with respect to chop so outhauls were eased a few inches off the boom.

The South Africans (finished 2nd & 3rd and a very impressive team) told us they work the vang upwind – on in the gusts. (You should be sailing downwind with someone holding it, or able to quickly realise it in the event of a broach).

Jib heights and luff tensions were similar to what we do at home – getting lower as pressure increases, til on the deck when powered up.  We kept our cars on two holes from in, but Jordan reckons you should move them out as the main overpowers.
 
Cunninghams varied from off a lot with big bags along the mast to tensioned.

They did have an international juror on the water to arbitrate rule 44 – “illegal propulsion” and many yachts (including us) were penalised as a result.  Something to keep in mind as you’re pumping again to keep surfing when you’re already planing downwind!

I got told something about using the speeds from the Tacktick for downwind.  It went something like don’t bother trying to plane or go high until about 7.5 knots, then sail high until you get to about 9-10 knots, then start trying to get low again??? This was all new to me, as we've never had a speedo that works so I strongly advise trying it all for yourself and not taking my word.

I stress these are just my personal observations – I’m sure Quirky, Mike & Jordan – the Aussie boys, will give you a completely different picture.

Overall I really enjoyed the chance to race in a big fleet.  All the caveats of yacht racing generally played out – i.e. pick the shifts and pressures and clear air – upwind and downwind, and you’ll do well, rather than in a small fleet where someone will beat you from taking a flyer, getting a fluky gust, or slamming the start.

So lets work together to build & improve the Aussie fleet and aim for the 2012 worlds!

See you out there,
Lauren
Audi Sunshine Girls SB3

Calling all girls...!!

 
The Audi Sunshine Girls sailing team is looking for new members to enhance its sailing program.
 
The Mooloolaba based  team , sponsored by Audi Centre Sunshine Coast with the support of Oceanburo , invites girls/women over 16 to get in touch and come and sail our great SB3.
 
The girls team will again target the next SB3 World Championships in Lake Garda , Italy in July 2010 , following their great result in the recent Cascais , Portugal Worlds where they finished 36th overall.
 
The SB3 is an ideal class for women to sail as it creates equal opportunity on the race course due to its non hiking class rules and the ability to sail with up to 4 team members.
 
Girls , if you can sail ( you don’t have to be a world champion , just know the basics or better ) and want to have a look at the program , please contact Lauren Calder ( team skipper ) at twiggyl@mac.com or Rod Jones at rodneyjones@oceanburo.com.au