2016 was a disappointing year for Georgia Racing with average results in both the Bay of Islands Race Week and Jack Tar regattas. Our downwind speed was consistently good but against some of the other boats in the 52 fleet we always seemed slightly off the pace upwind. Reducing the weight of the bulb for the typically light summer winds in these regattas and moving to a square top main a couple of years ago assisted but we were still falling short. Our new Doyles gibs, designed by Richard Bouzaid, promised much but didn’t really deliver.
We had our moments in the Coastal Classic in October but getting caught behind the “Hen” didn’t help and, although we made up ground, came in behind 3 of the other 52s.
Back to the drawing board then. Increasing the area and the length of the top of the main (from 1.1m. to 1.9m) has been the next solution tried. Doyles built us a very nice main and we are happy with it. Nevertheless, our performance at Bay Week in January, despite good crew work, remained lacklustre, winning only 1 race out of 9 and finishing 4th overall. We were fortunate to have Stu Bannatyne with us, calling tactics and generally giving good advice to all on the boat. We last sailed with Stu in Wellington a few years back when we won the New Zealand PHRF and IRC Championships.
So now Jack Tar at the end of the month. We do have yet another remedy sorted to deal with the upwind speed problem. Time will tell.