Crewing the Mooredale Way:

By Laurie Harrison

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The Big Three Most Important Things to Remember:

1. Trim your sail
2. Balance the boat
3. Watch for boats that will cross your path (Especially when you are on Port tack.)

Around The Race Course:

The Start Sequence:

5 minutes - Warning	Class flag up,	1 sound
4 minutes - Preparatory	Blue flag with white centre (usually) up	1 sound
1 minutes	Blue flag with white centre down	1 sound
Go!	Class flag down	1 sound

Some flags to know:

Preparatory Flag
Individual Recall 1 sound signal after the start
General Recall 2 sound signals after the start

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The Upwind Leg:

• The centre board should be all the way down before you start the race.
• Sheet the jib for close hauled and cleat. This generally means inside the outside tip of the spreaders, unless the wind is very light.
• If it is very windy, hike as hard as you can off the start line.
• Watch for crossing boats on both tacks, but especially when you are on port tack. Give your helm plenty of warning.
• Immediately after tacking, organize your jib sheets for the next tack.
• Ignore pain in legs.

Around the Windward Mark:

• If you are approaching on port tack, help your helm find a hole in the line of starboard tacking boats, and be prepared to take sterns.
• As you round the mark, heel the boat to windward slightly, to help the boat to turn around the mark.
• Ease your sail and move toward the centre of the boat for the reaching leg.
• Make soothing remarks to your helm.

The Reaching Leg:

• Keep the boat flat, but if possible, fly the jib by hand. Reach around the outside of the leeward shroud and take both jib sheets in your hand about 12 inches from the clew of the jib.
• Meanwhile, centre board should be half out.
• Keep both ticklers flying at all times. If the outside ticklers are flopping, ease sail out. If the inside ticklers are flopping, pull in. This may be a matter of a inch or two. Constant adjustments are required.
• Should planing conditions arise, you will need to be up on the rail with your helm. Be prepared to hike out and back very hard, very quickly.
• Practice juggling in your spare time.
  
  
• 2006 Note: Many of our boats are now equipped with poles that are attached to the mast and deployed using a system comprised of blocks, bungee cord and line. The deployment line is generally located at deck level beside or to the aft side of the mast. You may use the pole to hold the jib farther outboard on a reach or a broad reach. Simply pull the line to deploy the pole. The broader the reach, the farther out it should be. Use the tell tails on the jib to check your setting and expect to adjust frequently. Tip – if you’re not sure about your pole set, look at boats around you. They may know what they are doing (or not).

The Gybe Mark:

• Help your helm by throwing the boom across the boat on the gybe. Put your backmost hand around the boom, with your fingers into the cloth at the foot of the mainsail. Put your forward hand on the blocks at the top of the boom vang. Keep the jib flying until the last possible moment.
• Stand up and throw the boom across when you are running dead down wind. The helm should say "gybing" and you can also notice that tell tales on the shroud are flying straight ahead towards the bow of the boat. Duck.
• Sheet the jib on the new side - but not too tightly.
• Centre board should be ¾ to fully in the boat.
• Sit far enough to leeward to balance the boat, holding the boom out. Be ready to launch the pole.
• Piece of cake.

The Run + Launching and Gybing the Pole:

• When the helm calls for a pole launch, step toward the middle of the boat, keeping your weight as far back as possible. Lean forward and grab the clew of the jib on the opposite side of the mast from where the main is flying. Get it flying by hand.
• Your helm will pass you the pole along the boom/mast side. Hold your free hand up ready to receive it, then insert the point in the cringle of the jib. Move the pole to the jib, not the jib to the pole, to keep the sail driving as much as possible.
• Helm should put pressure on the jib sheet. Communicate – "Ready?" Push the pole out fully.
• Hook the pole on the front of the mast. Turn and take the jib sheet from the helm. Sit down slowly, under the boom, holding the boom out, keeping the boat balanced.
• When the helm calls for a pole gybe, first gybe the boom across, as described above.
• Then, move to the centre of the boat, and communicate with helm to ensure they have pressure on the new jib sheet.
• Lean forward and punch/pop the pole up of the ring with the heel of your hand (Don’t drop it!)
• Raise the back of the pole upwards, while pointing the front of the pole down and inside the forestay, in order to keep constant pressure on the sheets, and avoid dropping the pole out of the cringle of the jib. Move the pole through and out to the new side, and clip on the ring on the mast.
• Turn and take the jib sheet from helm, etc.
• Wasn’t that easy?
  
  
• 2006 Note: This move is much easier in boats that feature the auto-deploying pole. In this case, set the mainsail/boom to the appropriate position, then pull the line to launch the pole to windward. The helm may help with pulling the jib sheet through the fair lead as in a traditional pole set. Release the whisker pole control line before gybing, and re-set once on the new windward side. Sometimes you may feel you need an extra hand. Practice juggling once again.

Round Up to Windward Again:

• Prepare for the windward leg in advance of reaching the mark. With a couple of boat lengths to go, put the centre board down fully again.
• To take the pole down, punch/pop it up quickly, stow it along the buoyancy tank or on the floor of the hull along the centreboard trunk while at the same time sheeting the jib on the same side as the mainsail (not too tight.)
• As you round up the boat will heel to leeward. Pull in the main sail gradually as you round and move across to flatten the boat for the upwind leg. Pull on boom vang and rig tension as needed.

Friday Night Races are generally 2 triangles and a final windward leg:

 Other Stuff to Remember:

• If you get to the club early, help your helm by rigging the boat.
• Get an LCD watch with a timer.
• Don’t wear jackets that are loose and apt to catch in the main blocks. Or at least tuck the back and hood in.
• Watch for starboard boats (I know I already mentioned that, but it can’t be said enough J .
• Practice gybing before the race.

Learn which boats "matter". The most important ones are those that are going to cross close to your boat. Here is how to tell who is about "even" with you. Get help from your helm practicing this before the race too.