We had a good sail on Sunday with mild temperatures at the first Goosebumps Series race on Lake Union in Seattle. This is an informal race with one start for all boats and is just first to finish. There were three Rockets out and a Pocket Rocket. We ended up with a few extra people showing up so we sailed with 6. This
worked out fine and we all had a good time. After we had some problems that got us late to the start we passed most of the other boats that were out but couldn't catch the other well sailed Rockets.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
From the letter I sent out in October to all the owners, I received a few responses that included some good questions. I will begin to respond to these questions as I have the time. First read the question below from Brian, and then my above response. While I have sailed my Rocket 22 a bunch, I certainly do not qualify as an expert or professional sailor. My hope is to get some discussion flowing from all the owners (not just me!) as to your experiences as well. Please feel free to add your thoughts, photos, & videos to this discussion.
In really light air (under 5 kt), I have every line and the rig tension eased. Make sure you concentrate weight around the keel and give the boat a little heel. The sails are full, but not that much twisted off. Traveler/boom down a few inches from center and vang off. In 5 – 8 kt of wind, I keep the rig tension eased, but sheet in, and vang on a little. Try to have the jib luff evenly along the forward telltales. Unless I have lumpy conditions, once I get some speed on, I find I can sail with pretty flat sails in light air. Have a look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paqWs74XhLo&NR=1 for some 5-6 kt wind sailing.
Jonathan
**************************
HI Jonathon,
I haven't been able to get out this year for a variety of reasons. This weekend just past we had a very light air double handed pair of races. While we finished at the line second in both races we got killed on handicap, finishing fourth. Setting aside the tactical blunders I made, the question I have is how are you tuning for very light air? I followed my previous practice of easing everything: rig, halyards, outhaul, cunningham and the sails were quite full. We had the jib twisted open at the top and kept the slot quite open. Nonetheless, the boat felt sluggish. I am now thinking that we would have been better served to keep the sails flatter in order to keep the flow attached. What is your thinking?
Thanks,
Brian Pickton
Hull #11
In really light air (under 5 kt), I have every line and the rig tension eased. Make sure you concentrate weight around the keel and give the boat a little heel. The sails are full, but not that much twisted off. Traveler/boom down a few inches from center and vang off. In 5 – 8 kt of wind, I keep the rig tension eased, but sheet in, and vang on a little. Try to have the jib luff evenly along the forward telltales. Unless I have lumpy conditions, once I get some speed on, I find I can sail with pretty flat sails in light air. Have a look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paqWs74XhLo&NR=1 for some 5-6 kt wind sailing.
Jonathan
**************************
HI Jonathon,
I haven't been able to get out this year for a variety of reasons. This weekend just past we had a very light air double handed pair of races. While we finished at the line second in both races we got killed on handicap, finishing fourth. Setting aside the tactical blunders I made, the question I have is how are you tuning for very light air? I followed my previous practice of easing everything: rig, halyards, outhaul, cunningham and the sails were quite full. We had the jib twisted open at the top and kept the slot quite open. Nonetheless, the boat felt sluggish. I am now thinking that we would have been better served to keep the sails flatter in order to keep the flow attached. What is your thinking?
Thanks,
Brian Pickton
Hull #11
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009 newsletter
Rocket 22 Owners,
Welcome to 2009, and another a year of great sailing is coming up. This past year was a banner year for the Rocket 22; starting in June with the Seattle NOODs one design start with six boats on the line, and national press in several magazines. We did the Delta Ditch down in the SF bay area. In addition, Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW) hosted the 1st ever Rocket 22 North Americans. Excellent weather, perfect wind, and tight racing all around were the order for this great event.
Roman Cooney brought #4 to Calgary; Craig Berg brought #5 to Nelson, BC; Tim Star brought #13 to New Mexico; and John Plut brought #3 to Seattle; and Fred Chadsey brought #14 to Mobile, AL. Sylvana Yachts (builder of the Rocket 22) has begun building-up hull #15. A new Rocket 22 is currently priced at CND$39,995 – which is something like $33K US. Pretty reasonable for a new sportboat!
This coming year, we will again be hosting the Seattle NOODS, but in lieu of not getting our own one design start, we will enter the 20ft sport boat class start. We will for sure be holding the 2nd Rocket 22 NA’s at WIRW. The date of this event is July 13 – 17, 2009. With six months to plan, every one of you should have the ability to make it there. If not for the whole week, then plan to come up just a few days. My hope is that you would bring your boat.
I know that the local Seattle boats will be there (John Plut, myself, and Mike Mechaelis). A few of you with boats on the east coast/south (Jan Arps, Jim Lanter, Brian Picton, Tim Star, and Fred Chasey) are welcome to fly out by yourself or with crew, and we will get you into a boat. The rest of you owners (Troy Parrott, Mike Seth, Roman Cooney, Craig Berg, John Ommen, and Vincent Parkin) should make an effort to get your boat out for this event. Not only will I guarantee that you will learn a lot about sailing/racing your Rocket, but you will have a great time doing so. Please let me know if you need help with this regatta’s logistics. Do not wait to the last minute to make plans for this event!
In addition to the 2009 racing, the Rocket 22 website has a new curator – John Plut will be updating and pimping the site with stories and photos of your boat, which you send him! The site has a regular blog viewable by the public and is the spot for race results and fun Rocket 22 stories (please add yours here). The owner’s blog (http://www.rocket22sailors.blogspot.com/) is only available to owners, and accessible only through invitation. This blog is the spot to post questions, tips, thoughts, and your experience sailing and racing your Rocket. I plan to post to it on a monthly basis, but I hope that you all will contribute to it as well. I would check the blog on a weekly basis. Any questions or thoughts should be directed to John.
Again, for 2009 I hope you will sail your Rockets as much as possible, plan on attending WIRW in July, and contribute to the blogs. See you out there,
Jonathan Little
Welcome to 2009, and another a year of great sailing is coming up. This past year was a banner year for the Rocket 22; starting in June with the Seattle NOODs one design start with six boats on the line, and national press in several magazines. We did the Delta Ditch down in the SF bay area. In addition, Whidbey Island Race Week (WIRW) hosted the 1st ever Rocket 22 North Americans. Excellent weather, perfect wind, and tight racing all around were the order for this great event.
Roman Cooney brought #4 to Calgary; Craig Berg brought #5 to Nelson, BC; Tim Star brought #13 to New Mexico; and John Plut brought #3 to Seattle; and Fred Chadsey brought #14 to Mobile, AL. Sylvana Yachts (builder of the Rocket 22) has begun building-up hull #15. A new Rocket 22 is currently priced at CND$39,995 – which is something like $33K US. Pretty reasonable for a new sportboat!
This coming year, we will again be hosting the Seattle NOODS, but in lieu of not getting our own one design start, we will enter the 20ft sport boat class start. We will for sure be holding the 2nd Rocket 22 NA’s at WIRW. The date of this event is July 13 – 17, 2009. With six months to plan, every one of you should have the ability to make it there. If not for the whole week, then plan to come up just a few days. My hope is that you would bring your boat.
I know that the local Seattle boats will be there (John Plut, myself, and Mike Mechaelis). A few of you with boats on the east coast/south (Jan Arps, Jim Lanter, Brian Picton, Tim Star, and Fred Chasey) are welcome to fly out by yourself or with crew, and we will get you into a boat. The rest of you owners (Troy Parrott, Mike Seth, Roman Cooney, Craig Berg, John Ommen, and Vincent Parkin) should make an effort to get your boat out for this event. Not only will I guarantee that you will learn a lot about sailing/racing your Rocket, but you will have a great time doing so. Please let me know if you need help with this regatta’s logistics. Do not wait to the last minute to make plans for this event!
In addition to the 2009 racing, the Rocket 22 website has a new curator – John Plut will be updating and pimping the site with stories and photos of your boat, which you send him! The site has a regular blog viewable by the public and is the spot for race results and fun Rocket 22 stories (please add yours here). The owner’s blog (http://www.rocket22sailors.blogspot.com/) is only available to owners, and accessible only through invitation. This blog is the spot to post questions, tips, thoughts, and your experience sailing and racing your Rocket. I plan to post to it on a monthly basis, but I hope that you all will contribute to it as well. I would check the blog on a weekly basis. Any questions or thoughts should be directed to John.
Again, for 2009 I hope you will sail your Rockets as much as possible, plan on attending WIRW in July, and contribute to the blogs. See you out there,
Jonathan Little
Monday, November 17, 2008
phrf
OK, here is my first post on this blog. Let's see how proficient I am at posting this. Doesn't look too hard.
I recently purchased Hull #5 and it was brought back from New York to the Northwest (Alan Barnes actually organized this and helped facilitate my purchase - thanks Alan) where I think it will be more appreciated. The boat was hardly used and I am happy to say it is in great shape. I need to update a few things that have worn out more through age than use. I'll have questions on that in a future post.
For now my question regards the boat's rating. I will be sailing mainly Kootenay Lake and Okanagan Lake in BC. I understand that PHRF BC mainly deals with ratings in this area of BC, but PHRF NW handles the rest of BC and the balance of the Northwest. Which PHRF do others use and why? Other than a small $9 difference in cost, should I register with one rather than the other? Will staying with one or the other preclude me from participating in specific regatta's?
Craig
Hull 5
I recently purchased Hull #5 and it was brought back from New York to the Northwest (Alan Barnes actually organized this and helped facilitate my purchase - thanks Alan) where I think it will be more appreciated. The boat was hardly used and I am happy to say it is in great shape. I need to update a few things that have worn out more through age than use. I'll have questions on that in a future post.
For now my question regards the boat's rating. I will be sailing mainly Kootenay Lake and Okanagan Lake in BC. I understand that PHRF BC mainly deals with ratings in this area of BC, but PHRF NW handles the rest of BC and the balance of the Northwest. Which PHRF do others use and why? Other than a small $9 difference in cost, should I register with one rather than the other? Will staying with one or the other preclude me from participating in specific regatta's?
Craig
Hull 5
Monday, June 9, 2008
Well, this past weekend I loaded up the car, hitched up the Rocket, and headed south to the fabulous San Francisco bay to compete in the famous Delta Ditch run. This is one of those competitions that was conceived over a few too many rum and cokes as a sort of “dare to do this” event. The idea is to launch the boat in Richmond and then drive the trailer an hour and a half east to Stockton. Spend the night, and then take a chartered bus back to Richmond in the morning. The race starts just off the breakwater from the Richmond Yacht Club, and then heads north (downwind) into San Pablo bay. At the north end of the bay, the race turns east (also downwind) up the Sacramento River, and then up into the delta of the very narrow San Joaquin River. Total length of the race is 67 miles or so to the Stockton Sailing Club, give or take about 300 jibes -- that extends the race another several miles. Except for one short reaching leg, you basically put up the chute for 8-10 hours, and enjoy the ride and flat water.
We left Seattle where it was raining and in the 50’s. and by the time we got to Richmond it was in the upper 80’s, no clouds to be seen, and it felt like someone had turned on a overheat heat lamp! We started in the second wave with ten Melges 24s, a few Mumm 30s, Cheetah 30s, and other light, downwind roadsters. During the first leg up to Benicia Bridge it was fairly light, and we managed to be ahead of just about everyone in our start except one Melges. Entering the delta, the wind started to come up, and the river began to get narrow. Doing jibe after jibe, we started to lose distance to more polished crews and boats flying symmetrical chutes.
We had a few rookie mistakes and equipment issues, but we managed to stay out of the mud and away from other hazards (there was some major carnage out there). It was a fun race and an event not to miss in one’s sailing career. Have a look the following YouTube videos for a few scenes from the start of the race. Sorry we were too tired at the end of day to pull out the camera for the finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrVx5y-7rE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GBvc3jXt1U
Also go to Peter Lyons site for some great photos of the event.
http://lyonsimaging.smugmug.com/gallery/5119711_5ok4w#309747826_5uKvW
Big thanks to Sandra for crewing in the race and helping drive the 1750 miles down and back. And also to Alan for coming down to the bay to make my boat go fast.
We left Seattle where it was raining and in the 50’s. and by the time we got to Richmond it was in the upper 80’s, no clouds to be seen, and it felt like someone had turned on a overheat heat lamp! We started in the second wave with ten Melges 24s, a few Mumm 30s, Cheetah 30s, and other light, downwind roadsters. During the first leg up to Benicia Bridge it was fairly light, and we managed to be ahead of just about everyone in our start except one Melges. Entering the delta, the wind started to come up, and the river began to get narrow. Doing jibe after jibe, we started to lose distance to more polished crews and boats flying symmetrical chutes.
We had a few rookie mistakes and equipment issues, but we managed to stay out of the mud and away from other hazards (there was some major carnage out there). It was a fun race and an event not to miss in one’s sailing career. Have a look the following YouTube videos for a few scenes from the start of the race. Sorry we were too tired at the end of day to pull out the camera for the finish.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZrVx5y-7rE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GBvc3jXt1U
Also go to Peter Lyons site for some great photos of the event.
http://lyonsimaging.smugmug.com/gallery/5119711_5ok4w#309747826_5uKvW
Big thanks to Sandra for crewing in the race and helping drive the 1750 miles down and back. And also to Alan for coming down to the bay to make my boat go fast.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, July 16, 2007
Summer series racing
Earlier this year I decided to sail our club's summer series with my wife and two kids as crew. Allison raced on our other boat last year, has some experience, and is good with a spinnaker sheet, but this was to be the first real round of racing for the kids. For those that don't know us, Amanda is 11 and Jonathan is 8. While they have both been sailing for the last 5 years, this would involve the kids having real jobs on the boat. After all, that was one of the primary reasons for buying the Rocket - get a fun, fast boat that the entire family could actively sail.
We sail on an inland lake in the Dallas-Fort Worth area out of the Grapevine Sailing Club, a smaller club on Lake Grapevine. You won't see Pyewacket or Trader here, but we do have a bunch of good people who are good sailers, a fairly active program, and even a number of anarchists. We are slotted in our club's Fleet 1 which is comprised of several J80s, two Santana 30/30 GPs, a Wavelength 24, two Olson 30s, an Olson 25, and anything else with a handicap of less than 190. All of the boats in our fleet are fully crewed by adult crews, and most are typically well sailed. We are the only boat with kids as crew!
We are now midway through our series with 4 races run. The first day the winds were averaging 15. During the first race we only flew the chute the last of three downwind legs, but in the second race we flew it on every downwind leg. We were pleased since that was our first real day to race as a team. Our positions were Allison on jib and spinnaker trim, Amanda on foredeck and furler, Jonathan on sprit, tack, and cleanup, and me on helm, main, and spin halyard. Despite some slow points while we went through maneuvers, we scored a third and second.
Our second race day was this past Saturday. Winds were a little calmer at 5 to 10, perfect for us. The first race was a little rocky - we were over early right at the committee boat so we had to find a lane back down, we had some delays at the first chute hoist due to my bad driving while hoisting the spinnaker, we shrimped the chute at a leeward mark during a douse, and made some bad tactical decisions - all of which led to a fourth out of six boats.
Here we sailed through a S30/30 to leeward in the first race, not a good decision, but the little guy got through:
The start of the second race:
The second race started out looking like we would have the same bad luck. During the pre-start we decided to head right after the start because the wind looked better on that side. It was a short W2 with a mid-line finish to weather, so we knew we had to do a good job to get a good finish. At the start, we were last across the line and were behind a Santana 30/30 and getting gassed. Shortly after the start, the S30/30 tacked to head to the right. After getting clear of his air, we tacked to the right as well and rolled him. We played the right side following the puffs, and surprisingly found ourselves at the weather mark first with no other boat close. We rounded, had a good hoist, sailed cleanly downwind with some good jibes, had a clean douse this time, and rounded the leeward mark still in first. The kids were excited, but we had to remind them not to ruin the mojo with talk before the finish. We headed on a short tack to the right, tacked onto starboard, caught a lift and rode it to the finish for our first FIRST!
The battle flag came out, beers and water were popped, and Jonathan helmed as we sailed triumphantly back to the dock.
At the dock, our crew was met by several crew members from other boats asking the kids in disbelief, "Was that you on Shark!?" I could hear my kids respond proudly, "Yeah, and we won!" knowing they beat the big guys.
We sail on an inland lake in the Dallas-Fort Worth area out of the Grapevine Sailing Club, a smaller club on Lake Grapevine. You won't see Pyewacket or Trader here, but we do have a bunch of good people who are good sailers, a fairly active program, and even a number of anarchists. We are slotted in our club's Fleet 1 which is comprised of several J80s, two Santana 30/30 GPs, a Wavelength 24, two Olson 30s, an Olson 25, and anything else with a handicap of less than 190. All of the boats in our fleet are fully crewed by adult crews, and most are typically well sailed. We are the only boat with kids as crew!
We are now midway through our series with 4 races run. The first day the winds were averaging 15. During the first race we only flew the chute the last of three downwind legs, but in the second race we flew it on every downwind leg. We were pleased since that was our first real day to race as a team. Our positions were Allison on jib and spinnaker trim, Amanda on foredeck and furler, Jonathan on sprit, tack, and cleanup, and me on helm, main, and spin halyard. Despite some slow points while we went through maneuvers, we scored a third and second.
Our second race day was this past Saturday. Winds were a little calmer at 5 to 10, perfect for us. The first race was a little rocky - we were over early right at the committee boat so we had to find a lane back down, we had some delays at the first chute hoist due to my bad driving while hoisting the spinnaker, we shrimped the chute at a leeward mark during a douse, and made some bad tactical decisions - all of which led to a fourth out of six boats.
Here we sailed through a S30/30 to leeward in the first race, not a good decision, but the little guy got through:
The start of the second race:
The second race started out looking like we would have the same bad luck. During the pre-start we decided to head right after the start because the wind looked better on that side. It was a short W2 with a mid-line finish to weather, so we knew we had to do a good job to get a good finish. At the start, we were last across the line and were behind a Santana 30/30 and getting gassed. Shortly after the start, the S30/30 tacked to head to the right. After getting clear of his air, we tacked to the right as well and rolled him. We played the right side following the puffs, and surprisingly found ourselves at the weather mark first with no other boat close. We rounded, had a good hoist, sailed cleanly downwind with some good jibes, had a clean douse this time, and rounded the leeward mark still in first. The kids were excited, but we had to remind them not to ruin the mojo with talk before the finish. We headed on a short tack to the right, tacked onto starboard, caught a lift and rode it to the finish for our first FIRST!
The battle flag came out, beers and water were popped, and Jonathan helmed as we sailed triumphantly back to the dock.
At the dock, our crew was met by several crew members from other boats asking the kids in disbelief, "Was that you on Shark!?" I could hear my kids respond proudly, "Yeah, and we won!" knowing they beat the big guys.
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