Uncle Al's
Pictorial Pearls of Wisdom
 from the Ontarios - 2
a potpourri of educational items suggested by the photos
A number of incidents have ingrained into Uncle Al, the need to keep a good lookout, and he does so, even though there can't be any Wayfarers where he's looking.
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Marc has told Al he wants to tack and now waits while ...
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... his crew makes sure his feet are inside the triangle formed by the continuous jib sheet, uncleats the "old" jib sheet with his forward hand, and takes up the slack in the "new" jib sheet with his aft hand. As soon as Al tells Marc he is ready ...
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... Marc uncleats the mainsheet, eases it about a foot, and puts the helm down. We then remain in position until ...
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... the boat has turned far enough that the main starts to fill and heel the boat.  Marc - still learning the helm's role in the roll tack - should now straighten the tiller and take a step straight across the boat. A freeze frame at that moment would show Marc's body facing straight out the windward side of the boat with the tiller in his aft hand and the mainsheet in his forward hand, ready for any necessary adjustment (like easing the main should the boat start to heel too far).


At this point, the helm turns 90° towards the bow and transfers the tiller to his mainsheet hand which will briefly hold both tiller and sheet (see photo insert above). The helm then turns another 90°, grabs the mainsheet with his free (forward) hand and sits down (when there's enough wind to allow sitting on the windward deck!)  When I do this I leave the mainsheet undersheeted until this process is complete, at which point I can crank the main in a suitable amount and give the boat's speed a nice shot in the arm, just when she needs it the most!
As the crew, I learned a neat trick that morning: At the moment shown above, I just tilt my body forward until I can grab the windward side bench with my forward hand which leaves me in a nice stable position to shove my aft arm that is holding "new" jib sheet across towards the high side until I feel a reasonable amount of pressure from the sheet. With a bit of practice, I can always ensure that I am somewhat undersheeted at this point, since oversheeting is always a speed killer, and would be especially costly during a tack! I then take my step across the boat, turn to face aft and complete my 180°  turn. Once I sit back down, I fine tune the jib sheet tension if necessary!
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Marc and Al smile with pleasure at a manoeuvre well done!  And so near the finish line where people will be watching, too!!
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If Jamie (4594) and Tim (r) should be on a collision course, who would have right of way?
Right! Jamie is on starboard, Tim is on port and so has to keep clear!
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A luff by Lori gets 3140 across the fine just that half a second faster. Well done, Lori and Jason! 
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Reverse angle of the same sequence as seen by the camera at the RC boat end. The start flag has just come down. Al (3854) is safe here. He is not entitled to "buoy room" since Rule 18 does not apply at this start mark which is surrounded by "navigable water", but now that Al is overlapped with the RC boat, the leeward boats are no longer permitted to alter course (not even to come up to proper course!!!) to cut Al off (Rule 16) because Al will have no room to keep clear due to the proximity of the RC boat. If Leeward wants to change course to cut Windward off, she must do so while Windward still has room to keep clear. Of course, if the boats are on a converging course already, Leeward may hold her course and if that cuts Al off, that's his tough luck.
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Al is where he likes to be, at the windward end of the start line, where he is free to tack should the need arise.
Which it often does on small lakes like this with their typically oscillating breezes.
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This is no time for Robin (2nd from right) to pinch. With most of the fleet poised to sail over his wind, he needs to trim for speed by easing his sails and footing off some. Looks like he has his main vanged, judging by the overly straight-looking mainsail leech.
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Look at the knock that Bill and Al (l) have, as compared to Jamie (4594). If the starboard knock holds, Al (l) is in the enviable position of having the freedom to tack unlike Bill (yellow hull).
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Now that he has a lead, Al can afford to keep life simple by more or less staying between Bill (937) and the windward mark. With a pair of 2nds, Bill is clearly the main threat at this time, and if we can beat him again in this race, we'll be in good shape for the series, even if we lose to one or two other boats.
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Bill has tacked on the port lay line. The boats are very close, so Al has to choose between tacking to leeward and ahead or windward and behind. And he wisely chooses the former course of action and ...
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... tacks to leeward and ahead of Bill, a position from which he should have enough time to backwind Bill and then pinch over him. By being to leeward and ahead, Al will also gain from a knock, yet lose nothing from a lift since both boats are already laying the mark.
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Guarding against Bill has left Al in a less than ideal rounding situation which will require ...
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... a tack following by an immediate bear-away plus spinnaker hoist. Al won't be leaving this mark at optimum speed!
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Here, helm Al has just switched the tiller from his right hand to his left which is now holding both mainsheet and tiller. In far less time than it takes to describe this, Al will now reach around in front and take the mainsheet in his forward hand and sit down to complete the roll tack.
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Note how Al has radically eased his mainsheet already and heeled to windward to take the pressure off the rudder. This is especially helpful in this rounding where SHADES came in just to leeward of this mark on port and has now turned through 180°, which bleeds away momentum and leaves the boat needing all the help she can get.
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Robin (l) should be smelling a rat here: When Andrew (4610) is pointing this much higher, Robin needs to check that he is pointing as high as he effectively can. If he is, Robin should throw in a short hitch to port until he can tack into the starboard lift being enjoyed by Andrew.
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I believe that this is more of a roll than Bill and Frank had in mind after ...
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... the mainsheet was not uncleated, which forced Wayfarer Man ...
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... rise to ...
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... the occasion!!    
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And still, the main remains cleated!
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Relief at last!!
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A nice hoist for Jamie and Ben - briefly easing the spi halyard a few inches will let the twist at the top undo itself.
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Rounding the gybe mark: Since the overlap line is drawn at right angles to the centreline of all four outside boats here, Brian (l) is entitled to room from all of them.
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Brian does  arrive in time to claim room from Jamie (4594) and Andrew. Jamie should have prepared this turn of events by staying high. Here he has come too close to Brian and will now end up taking ...
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... costly evasive action!!
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