| ||||||||||||||
|
M16 Scow News Sail Information || M16 Scow News|| Tuning Guide || Contact M16 Scow Experts || Order
Report by Eric Hood 2001 I.L.Y.A. M16 Invitational Championship The first M16 event of the year was held on Little Muskego Lake, Wisconsin. Dan Fink and Jay Pede from Little Muskego hosted the event. Some other great volunteers were involved in making this a socially fun and comfortable event. The regatta was actually held at Jay Pede's home . Jay erected a large tent for the group, which was nice for all of the good meals served. The new format this year was a two-day event instead of a three-day event. This was done in hopes of bringing more boats to the Invite. Unfortunately, I think the Weather Channel must have scared a few boats off with the news of a huge high-pressure system, hot temperatures and no wind predictions. 13 boats from four lakes made it to the event. Lakes represented were Pewaukee, Wisconsin Long Lake, Lake Geneva and Little Muskego. Pewaukee did a great job bringing five boats and a large entourage' of spectators. They won the fun award for sure and showed everyone how cool the M16 program can be when everyone signs up. No Minnesota boats made and some key players of the M16 class were not in attendance, which was a little disappointing. Those of us who made it though had a great time. The sailing was very tough. Between the weeds, which have overrun Little Muskego this year, and no wind, it really presented some tough challenges. But you know what, we were all in the same boat dealing with the same conditions. So it was even one-design racing. 12 of the 13 boats were of the old design and Lauren Neal had the only new boat at the event. I crewed with Lauren and our new boat actually in these conditions presented us with a new problem. Our long single rudder was hooking weeds much more often than the smaller rudders. But Lauren with pool cue bridge in hand became an expert at de-weeding the rudder. This regatta along with the two we sailed last year just re-enforced my feelings about the new M16 and the old style M16. In 0-5 mph the old hull shape has a little edge downwind, the same speed upwind. 5-15mph about the same upwind and downwind. 15 mph and up the new boat has the edge upwind and downwind. The biggest difference and reason to get a new boat though is that the gear just works better and there is no rear traveler, which is great. Everyone who cares about the class needs to sail the new boat to see and feel the difference. All three races were tough light air, drifter type races. All three starts big wind shifts came through at the last minute causing some starting problems. All three races we could not lay the line on starboard tack. The group dealt with this pretty well but we did have some premature starters each race because everyone was flopping to port just before the starting signal exposing their bows to be caught by the judges who had clear view on the short starting lines. One disappointment was using the old starting system from the 97-2000 rules. Hopefully the ILYA will revisit this internal ruling of theirs and try the new shorter, quicker system. I have used it in many regattas now and it is awesome. Saves a ton of time, keeps everyone near the line and just simply works better. The races, all three had on and off wind. Glassy spots and dark spots where we actually would get in the straps for a few seconds. So the key the whole weekend on this small circular lake was to anticipate the puffs coming down and try to be in position to intercept the puffs. The problem with the smaller lakes is that sometime the wind never quite drops down to the water level thus never showing as a puff. The pre-race practice beat usually will show this but sometimes it is hard in the drifter situations to do a practice beat so you just really have to stay focused on the breeze coming at you. One other thing, which is true for all, boats but really true in the M16 is too move the tiller as little as possible. I saw an awful lot of tiller movement out there. Slow down the tiller movement, never go beyond 45 degrees off centerline and you will sail much faster. During all three races we had several leaders. I think almost everyone at the event led at one time or another during the regatta. North Sails tied for first and also finished fourth during this event. The North AP Main and Jib both on V46 and I24 showed great speed all the time throughout the event. North offers two mains and one AP jib. The two mains have different luff curves for both the old and new mast designs. Call Eric Hood today in Zenda for more information. Here are the final results: WL 111 Jan Gill 1,4,2 = 7 Remember, to make this class successful you have to participate. We need to sell new boats and grow the class. Find the boats in the garages and get them back out racing. This is one of coolest classes the Inlands has ever had and to let it go by the wayside would be a real shame. Call Zenda today to try out the new M16. See you at the Inlands
2000 MILLENNIUM M16 INLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS The class truly seems to be headed in the right direction now. We had four of the new style boats in attendance. There is no question that the old boats can compete with the new boats. The only real difference is that the new boats just work nicer with more modern rigging and controls. The new style M16 won three races while the older design won three races. The new style boats finished 1st, 8th, 12th and 15th. With these kind of results I feel it proves that it all gets back to practicing, being prepared for the event and that it really is not a boat issue. The class can re-build! If your sailing budget is small you can get the older design, if your sailing budget allows for a new boat then we grow the fleet. During the event we had a great class meeting chaired by Paul Reinicke from Pewaukee. Attendance at the two big events ( Invite and Inlands ) was our key concern and discussion. After much discussion it was agreed that we need to get the numbers up to 30 boats for both events, that the Invite should be a two-day event to encourage better participation. Clinics by the builder will be available during the 2001 season so all lakes can see the new style M16 and sail the boat. We will be seeking sponsorship for the Invite so that we can have a really nice competitors package given to those who attend. Also, prospects for new boats for 2001 are very good. Prospects include 4 or 5 boats each at Minnetonka, Lake Geneva and Pewaukee. Also, we know that 1 to 3 new boats are possible up at Oshkosh. Melges built seven boats during 2000 and hopes to build somewhere between 10 and 20 new boats for the 2001 season. Now on to the racing at Lake Geneva. Day one saw two races completed with Jane Pegel off to a quick start by winning race #1 followed by Jamie Baker of Pewaukee and John Harkrader of New Jersey in 3rd. Race # 2 saw Eric Hood and Lauren Neal of Lake Geneva as the race winners followed by Paul Reinicke and Kate Tornehl of Pewaukee with Jane Pegel and Shari Wicks of Lake Geneva in third. Day two brought more wind and hiking conditions for two of the three races. Paul Reinicke sailed a great third race winning over 2nd Place Eric Hood and third place Michael O'Brien and Cathy Cassidy. After lunch with the breeze up the afternoon belonged to Eric Hood and Lauren Neal who showed solid boat speed and tactics for two big wins. David and Charlie Harrison who sailed fast throughout the whole regatta had a 2nd and fourth on this afternoon of breezy sailing. Also, Michael O'Brien and Cathy Cassidy had a good afternoon with a fourth and a second. Jamie Baker picked up a third, as did John Harkrader during the afternoon races. Day three looked like it was going to be a breezy day for race six. Eric Hood and Lauren Neal had clinched the series, did not have to race but instead elected to have Lauren steer and Eric crew. The breeze was up at about 12-15 during the start and actually died minutes into the race becoming a long light air race with huge shifts. Lauren Neal won the start down at the leeward end with Jim Young during very well coming out of a mid-line start. As the final race progressed it became a survival match at the front and in the back of the fleet. Paul Reinicke and Jane Pegel dueled for several legs exchanging the lead. David Harrison showed signs of sneaking up to the lead. Lauren and Eric fell back but fought their way back. Michael O'Brien was probably the fastest boat in the end coming from way back to finish fourth. In the end Jane Pegel won, Paul was second, Michael was fourth and Lauren was fifth. Final complete results are posted at www.ilya.org . Eric Hood and Lauren Neal were crowned the M16 Inland Champions for the year 2000. Paul Reinicke and Kate Tornehl were second, Jane Pegel and Shari Wicks were third, Michael O'Brien and Cathy Cassidy were fourth, David and Charlie Harrison finished fifth. Looking back on the series I believe that our new North Mylar Ap Jib and new North Contender AP Dacron Main designed by Harry Melges gave us a boat speed edge that allowed us to win this event. We certainly made some starting mistakes being over and having to restart one race plus some tactical mistakes along the way. Even with our mistakes our boat speed was clearly one step ahead of the pack. Our fourth generation new rig North Sails were great. We used a soft untapered top full batten for light air and a stiffer untapered top full batten for light air. Throughout the series we had the same mast rake but did soften our side stay setting one full turn for the really light air races, that is one full turn off our base setting. Please feel free to call or email me at 262-275-9728 or email at eric@od.northsails.com for more details. To see the new boat or schedule clinics or demonstrations please call Eric Hood at Melges Boat Works or email at eric@od.northsails.com. Also, you can see pictures of the new boat at www.melges.com.
For more information on M16 Scow sails, contact the North M16 Scow experts.
|
One
Design Classes | Tuning Guides
| One Design News |
Order | Contact Us | Home
|
© 1995-2008 North Sails One
Design. All Rights Reserved.
|