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See also: 2000/2001/2002/2003/2004/2005 Regatta Reports Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell
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Report by Snipe expert Brian Bissell and North One Design Designer Garth Reynolds
Upon arriving in Tokyo, Garth and I were immediately inspected by quarantine officers to make sure we weren’t bringing in any diseases. They take this very seriously. I believe they escorted one guy off the plane because he started coughing. If you pass their series of questions, you get a facemask and a yellow card that I think said something like “disease-free”. So much for first impressions!
Getting down to business, Garth was in charge of learning the NS Japan Two-Boat Testing Program, while I was responsible for getting our AP-5+ main and BR1DH jib set-up and tuned right to test against the Japanese quiver of sails. What was to happen in the next 5 days was mind blowing. Definitely the coolest, most educational sail test I’ve ever been a part of. Garth’s TECHNICAL NOTE: The basic principle of the Japanese two-boat testing system is:
This is a simple principle with a complex solution utilizing five different programs developed by NS Japan to give the coach boat operators the real time view.
Photo: Upwind testing in progress. LEFT: System engineer and Team NZL engineer, Masanobu Katori. DRIVING: Makoto Kikuchi. FORWARD: Extra crew.
Garth’s TECHNICAL NOTE: We conducted the sail test as one would without the GPS tracking tools. If the boat to leeward felt they could tack and cross, they were allowed to do so. If the windward boat fell into the leeward boat, the windward boat would tack and we would reset. We also switched windward-leeward positions, which gave us a clear understanding that the AP5+ was a “pointing sail” with less twist and more leech return in the bottom, and the PR2 was a “fast forward sail” with more twist, less leech return, and more shape in the top of the sail. The Two-Boat Testing System was not needed to see these trends; however the system provides a quantitative and objective view of the testing. After each sailing session, the data can be broken into segments, analyzed and “scored”. Test runs are evaluated with “Advanced Performance Analyzer” and scored with a “gain rate” of [meters-per-minute]. Another advantage to using the system, is that each one-minute run starts the boats at an even position, and calculates the gain at the end of the run; nearly eliminating the need for a perfect line up for each run. This helps streamline the testing, and allows for more efficient use of the time on-the-water. At the end of each day, in our debrief sessions, we would pick apart each upwind leg. The two boats’ GPS tracks show up on the screen in seemingly parallel lines; one in red, one in blue. Looking closer, you can see the lines aren’t exactly parallel and at times one boat may have been going higher and faster, higher and slower, lower and faster, or lower and slower. To get an accurate account, the one-mile beats were sliced into one-minute long segments (usually covering 250-meters). Let’s say for instance, in the one minute test section of sailing upwind, my boat made big gains. I sailed higher and faster. The first thing we would do is look at the wind strength and direction. Were we in a puff? Were we lifted? If the gains were caused by a wind shift, it can be noted and marked as a “gain due to wind shift”. Next, we’d take a look at the bird’s-eye-view of the two boats sailing upwind. This is where you can see the difference in technique. Who’s hiking harder? Who is steering the boat more aggressively through the waves? Were the sails eased the same amount in the puff? Finally, we use “Advanced Sail Analyzer” a software developed by NS Japan, to analyze both sail shapes (draft position, camber, exit and entry angles, twist). Garth’s TECHNICAL NOTE: Advanced Sail Analyzer takes “sail scan” to a new level. Masthead photos along with photos taken from the chase boat are synced using a timestamp, so when a photo is taken from aft of the test boat, it can be matched to the corresponding masthead photo. See following example.
The final step in comparing the flying shapes is to convert the ASA-measured photos into an IGS file, providing a 3D “wire frame” view. These IGS files may be viewed in an overlay so the similarities and differences are shown in a natural “boom up” view as the skipper and crew would see the sails. The 3D IGS viewer can display the sail(s) from any angle, similar to Spiral. The 3D view below is an overlay comparison of the same photos.
At different times in the day, one boat might try something new. I’d tell Garth, “Hey, I’m going to add a little more jib halyard tension, or I just dropped shroud pins ½ hole, or I am going to try a little mast ram forward. He would mark the time of day and note what change was made. Then at the end of the day we could check how those changes affected performance and what affect they had on 1) sail shape and 2) performance. Again, removing the subjectivity from the equation! I have always debated vang sheeting vs. traveler sheeting in the Snipe. The Japanese swear by traveler sheeting and I am a little more comfortable vang sheeting. It was really interesting to see how the sails reacted differently to both variations.
Overall, vang sheeting was favorable in an offshore, shifty and gusty breeze condition with a high variance in the gusts and lulls. In this condition, traveler sheeting did not allow one to ease/trim the mainsheet fast enough to keep up as the breeze changed. Traveler sheeting was favorable in a steadier, onshore breeze condition as the transitions from gust-to-lull were smoother. What an amazing experience!
Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell
Doug Hart mentioned before the skippers meeting that this was the deepest fleet he’s seen at a local event in a long time. This had a lot to do with some very talented junior teams that made an appearance. The hot shot juniors included newly crowned collegiate All-American Tyler Sinks, the high school sailing standout with a strong sailing pedigree Nevin Snow, and a top Snipe sailor from the Biscayne Bay fleet who will compete in both the junior and senior World Championship this year Nick Voss. The racing schedule called for 4 races on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. If all six races were completed a throw-out would take effect. Both days were picture perfect sailing conditions. Saturday was sunny and probably averaged about 7 knots. There were some big rolling swells but not much chop. These standard San Diego conditions were ideal for the AP-5+ and BR1DH and it showed as we went 1,1,1,3. My crew Blaire Herron did an excellent job working the boat downwind and clearing the dagger board of seaweed. The Seaweed was actually a huge factor In the racing since it was everywhere and just a little bit on either board would drastically slow you down. I sailed on Sunday with my world’s crew Kate Sheahan who had flown in late Saturday night from Bermuda. The breeze picked up a bit and averaged around 10 knots on the day. Don Bedford, who missed day 1, came out of the gates hot and took the bullet in the first race. Nick Voss charged ahead early and stayed there to win the final race of the regatta. We finished 2nd in both races to hang on to win the championship by 9 points over George Szabo. Overall North Sails were 1,3,5,7,8 and 10 with the new AP-5+ main taking 1st and 3rd. Top 5:
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Report by Brian Bissell This weekend was the Snipe Herb Shear regatta hosted by Mission Bay Yacht Club. There were 18 boats competing and some good teams made for some great racing. The first day was light and shifty; around 5-6 knots. The second day was more like 6-8 with up to 10-11 in the final race. I sailed with Kate Sheahan who did an excellent job telling me where the next puffs were coming from. It was all about connecting the dots since the holes were serious showstoppers. We sailed with the new AP-5+ and a BR1DH. We had great speed and point in every race. I was sailing at 21’7” on the rake and 21 on the PT-1 tension gauge. I believe this is a really good set-up for the flat water we had on the bay. Kate and I had sealed the deal after race six, so I asked her to take the tiller for the final race so I could check things out from the front of the boat. The combination of Kate’s driving skills, the wide groove of the AP-5+, and a monster lefty on the final beat, we finished 3rd in the final race. North Sails were 1,3 on top 5 with Doug Hart and Matt Morris in 3rd.. For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts.
Snipe Sails
Interview by Brian Bissell
It was nice meeting you during the snipe winter championship in Nassau this year. You guys really sailed well and it was a joy to see some young teams out there making a strong effort. The Snipe is a challenging boat and your team seemed to be learning new tricks each day. You have some highly competitive regattas off the island coming up and I was hoping to ask you a few questions about your preparation. What got you into the sport of sailing? How old are you? How many years have you been sailing? Which sport is more competitive Basketball or Sailing? What do you like the most about sailing the snipe? What part of sailing do you find to be the toughest? What is your long term goal in sailing? Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!
Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell Mission Bay Yacht Club hosted Short Course Sunday on the weekend (3-29-09) which consisted of 5 races. The courses were windward/leeward the length of Mission Bay. There were 14 boats in attendance with some new faces in the crowd. Steve Hunt borrowed Chuck Sinks boat, used a set of North Sails and was instantly fast, winning the first race. I was able to help them get up to speed quickly with their tuning and boat set-up. The windward mark was set really close to shore in front of the yacht club which provided a very shifty and puffy final approach to the mark and would really mix things up. Overall Steve Hunt finished in 3rd with an AP-4 main and BR1DH jib. Rick Arneson finished 2nd and I was lucky enough to win by 3 points. I was using an North R&D main and a the ZS-1 Mylar jib. I sailed with a high school freshman named Matt Hecht who had only sailed the snipe once before. He picked things up really quick and actually gave some really good input that improved our performance. He noticed that our jib telltales were breaking unevenly in the first race. He noticed that the top tell tales would break first. This meant that the top of our jib was under trimmed and the leads needed to be moved forward. When we made this adjustment, our scores improved dramatically from a 5th in the first race to a 1,1,2,3. Garth Reynolds sailing with his special lady friend made his Snipe Debut. Garth was using an R&D jib that was probably better suited for heavy air and chop, which is the opposite of what we experienced. It was good to have such a strong North presence there and the fleet really took notice. For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell Snipe Winter Circuit wrap up… Midwinters 3rd Place North Sails (AP-5+/BR1DH)… Brian Bissell/Genoa Fedyszyn Don Q 3rd Place North Sails…(AP-5+/BR1DH) Enrico Solerio/Paulo Lambertenghi Bacardi Cup 3rd Place North Sails…(AP-5+/BR1DH) Brian Bissell/Watt Duffy Gamblin 3rd Place North Sails…(AP-5+/BR1DH) Brian Bissell/Watt Duffy Nassau Overall 2nd Place North Sails…(AP-5+/BR1DH) Brian Bissell/Watt Duffy Zimmerman Trophy for Winter Circuit Overall…. 2nd Place North Sails…(AP-5+/BR1DH) Brian Bissell/Genoa/Watt Nassau was the last leg of the winter circuit and it was the most competitive regatta they have seen there in many years. Ernesto Rodriguez, Augie Diaz and Alejandre Tinoco from Brazil all made the trip out to the island to battle it out for four straight days. It was a great four days to test out different rig settings and fine tune our boat set-up. Ernesto, Augie and Tinoco ( who finished 3rd at Brazillian Nationals and 2nd at Don Q) are among the best Snipe sailors in the world right now so there is no better measuring stick than racing against those guys. Ernesto was on the top of his game all circuit long and continued his streak in Nassau. In the overall, we finished behind him in 2nd, Tinoco was 3rd and Augie was 4th. Every race was tight and had many lead changes. Tuning-wise for most of the regatta Watt and I used mast rake 21’7 inches with 20 on the tension gauge and in light and choppy spots we would ease jib halyard to a specified mark that would give us a rake of 21’6.5” and a tension of 18. The eased tension enabled us to make it through the chop a lot better since we were sailing with a heavy combined weight around 330. Our other method of changing gears was fore and aft jib lead position. We rigged up a system that would let us move the leeward jib cars from the windward rail. Moving the cars aft a bit in the windy spots seemed to give us an extra gear. I was really happy with how the AP-5+ looked through the full wind range.
Snipe Midwinters - Clearwater, Florida 23 boats - Ernesto Rodriguez sailing with his light weight “super crew,” Megan Place won the regatta and Hernan Peralta (Optimist World Champion and Snipe Junior World Champion) sailing with the reigning Snipe World Champion crew, Enrique Quintero, edged by us right at the finish line of the last and passed us overall. We finished third. I was sailing with Genoa Fedyszyn who did an amazing job in the front of the boat for her first Snipe regatta. I knew she’d be able to pick it up quick since she is just coming off a laser radial Olympic campaign and is a really good skipper in her own right. Peter Commette, sailing with his wife Connie, was 4th and Hal Gilreath and Clayton Dixon rounded out the top 5. The real story from Midwinters, though, was the impressive speed from first time sniper Mike Danish sailing with his wife Duffy. They just bought a full set of North Sails for the Winter Circuit and went with the new AP-5+ Main and BR1DH jib. Mike is a good friend of mine from college sailing and is one of the few All-Americans to come out of the Coast Guard Academy. It was mutually beneficial having him there as a tuning partner because we were able to get him up to speed quickly while getting our own boat fine tuned in the process. Mike rounded the first windward mark in 1st place in 3 out of 6 races. He struggled on the downwind legs and lost some boats which is understandable because downwind sailing in the Snipe is the toughest part of the game and takes a bit of time to learn the different modes. I’m confident I will be able to help get him going better on the downwind legs soon since he’s a fast learner. It also won’t hurt that he is a member of the Biscayne Bay fleet and will be able to practice against the best in the world. Nice job Mike and Duffy and welcome to the class!
The Don Q Regatta - Miami, Florida There were 41 boats from 7 countries participating. Historically, the Don Q has great breeze, so I decided to go with a heavier crew for the event. Luckily enough, the legendary Watt Duffy agreed to fly in with his bag of snipe tricks to teach me a few lessons. Unfortunately, however, we started off the event a little slow. Looking back, I think it was a combination of us never having sailed together before, the increase in crew weight from 285 to 325 to go along with light and lumpy conditions and having our jib leads not quite right for those conditions. But enough of the excuses. After going 16, 10 on Day 1, we immediately went to work on the boat on land to find out what our problem was. We rechecked all of our numbers and even hoisted the jib to check the lead positions. Right away we noticed that it appeared our jib leads were too far forward and too far outboard. We went out on Day 2 having only changed our lead position and went upwind with Peter Commette, one of the fasted guys from Day 1, and the boat felt amazingly different. We had any mode we wanted; higher and same speed or lower and faster. The better boatspeed made us look smart tactically and we finished right on Augie’s transom to notch a 3rd place finish. Had the beat been another 100 yds, we would have ground him down. Right after race # 1, a large cruising sailboat crashed into our Race Committee boat, injuring the owner of the boat (she had to be rushed to the hospital), and they called off racing for the day. Reports are that the owner was shaken up and almost had a cardiac arrest, but is doing fine now. With our new found boatspeed, we made our way through the fleet in race 4 after a mediocre start and rounded the top mark in 5th. We started to work really hard to grind down the people in front of us upwind, but we got a little too aggressive and accidentally dipped our whisker pole in the water while surfing down a wave. This ripped our jib a foot and a half up the luff tape. Watt was able to lash the panel back to the luff tape on the downwind leg for a temporary fix. We still had to sail one more mile and a half beat and then finish downwind. We held on to a 9th place finish that put us into 3rd place overall. However, we still had a ripped jib with one more race to go. Henning and Heinz Balzer were dropping out of the final race and lent us their jib so we could race the final race. We didn’t have enough time to tune the sail or check our settings enough before the last race started and we had a horrible final race that dropped us to 8th overall. Watt and I have one more event to redeem ourselves and Augie and Ernesto are both competing in Nassau. It will be a great opportunity to race against those guys and fine tune our settings. Keep tuned for more infor from the Bacardi Cup. For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by John Fretwell
I caught up with Aine after the racing for a few comments (and to hand off some kids!). “In the puffy conditions, changing gears was key. The North AP-5 main and BR1-DH jib both responded well to all of our adjustments and helped us have nice speed all the time. It was also really important to understand the current as it picked up later in the day.” Aine and Mallory sailed North’s Persson 29222 with rake at 21’7” and 250 lbs. of shroud tension. For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts.
Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell There was a small but competitive Snipe fleet competing in the 80th annual SCYA Midwinters in San Diego this weekend. The SDYC race committee sailed us out in the ocean near where the 09 Worlds will be sailed this summer. The conditions were predominantly light with some big rolling swells. Two-thirds of the fleet were using North Sails and a team using North Sails won 5 out of 6 races. Going into the last day of racing, Don Bedford was winning by a point, I was in second, and Doug Hart was a close third. We came out of the gates hot in the morning and won the first race, Doug Hart finished right behind us and Don placed 5th. This put us in the lead over Doug by one point with a nice cushion on third place. Going into the last race we knew we had to beat Doug to win the regatta. We started just to windward of Doug and were able to extend to windward and a little forward. He eventually tacked to duck us and we tacked to put on a loose cover. In hindsight, it should have been a tighter cover . We were bow to bow with about 2 boatlenghts of windward separation and drag racing for the right. We eventually started to get headed and began to fall into Doug a bit. When I looked over my shoulder, it appeared that we were far enough right on the course to finally tack in the header. So, we tacked and Doug continued on for another 15 boatlengths. Coming across from the right I realized we had tacked too soon. Doug had sailed deeper into the righty and was sheering off of us. He barely made it across a pack of boats coming from the left whereas we were forced to take some sterns. Since he was now winning the race, we felt we needed to take a few risks to try and get back into it. Unfortunately, none of the risks paid off. Doug and crew sailed very well to win regatta. They showed great downwind boatspeed at all times and were among the fastest upwind. After speaking with Doug after the event he said that after making some small adjustments to his jib lead, he started going much better. He felt his leads were a bit too far inboard, and when he moved them out about 1”, he went much better. Doug was sailing a Jibe Tech Snipe with the AP-4 main and BR1-D+ jib. We sailed our Persson 29222 and used an old AP-5 with a BR1-DH jib. Congratulations Doug! For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by Dave Hughes North Wins 2008 Tag Heuer Snipe Winter Championship For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell If there was one job you were really grateful you didn't have it was being the PRO at Snipe Nationals on Lake Dillon, CO. I've never sailed in a place more difficult to run good races. 180 degree windshifts were common. Wind velocity would go from 18 to 0 and back to 18 on the same leg. The lake is so deep in some spots that anchoring marks is near impossible. Nevertheless, Frank Keisling with the help of Brainard Cooper did the absolute best with what they were given. For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell We are excited to report that the new AP-4 Snipe main powered Chad Coberly to win the 2007 Midwest Districts this past weekend!!!! See below Chad's comments about the new sails... "I am happy to report that the new sails paid off- we Won the Districts this weekend! We felt pretty fast- it was blowing 12-17 - we won 3 out of 4 races - a couple in pretty convincing style- that new main definitely worked well in that medium breeze- It flattend and twisted off nicely and I just played the vang as you have been saying and we were trucking upwind and down for that matter- It was a pretty good fleet of 24 boats and we felt we had speed even on Mike Blackwood who is usually faster than us especially when it starts to blow given our light weight- we were pretty much pulling away from everyone on all points of sail!" For more information about our Snipe sails, please contact our Snipe Experts. Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell . Photo/content source Scuttlebutt.
The young team from Mexico of Jorge Murrieta and Andres Akle dominated the action on the water. Their Pan Am training program is strict and they are rounding into excellent form. Snipe sailing around the world is undergoing a resurgence based on the participation of top caliber youth sailors and these young gentlemen are emblematic of that process.
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Snipe Sails
Report by Robby Brown We sailed the Dead of Winter regatta last weekend in very light breeze on Saturday and the sailing had to be cancelled on Sunday due to very big breeze. In the end Colin and Karen Park sailed an excellent regatta wining with a comfortable lead exhibiting superior sailing and great boat speed followed by David Mendelblatt also comfortably in second. Third, fourth and fifth were hotly contested between Jim Richter, Chris Klotz and Robby Brown with the three positions being decided by a point. Robby wanted to get some sailing in on Sunday really looking forward to the breezier conditions and needing two more races to allow him to drop an OCS. As it were, Jim Richter beat Chris on a tie breaker and Robby by a point. Congratulations to everyone on a nice regatta and especially to the North Sailors on their strong showing.
Snipe Sails
Interview by Brian Bissell
PD: Three important points to make these three championships were: 1. To sail consistently,2. to run equally in the whole championship, and 3. to never give up the objetive! I think that we have also a great group of friends and sailors in Uruguay that support us all the time, and it's very important. As the North Sails representative in Uruguay, which designs did you sail with for each of your three latest victories?
PD: We use the AP-4 Main with a BR1D+ Jib in the Pre Panamerican Games and in the Western Hemispheres. I believe you saw a wide range of wind and wave conditions throught those three regattas. Which is your favorite condition to sail in? PD: My Favorite conditions to sails are between 10 and 14 knots and we have really good results in these conditions. Do you practice very much in the snipe or do you mainly just race these days? What does your training consist of? PD: I've been sailing with Eduardo for 3 years. We had a year of hard training that was the first year. And then we compete in all the championships that we could, national and international as Hemisphere 2004, World 2005, South Americans Champinship and other regatas in the last 3 years. Last year we sailed all the championships, but due to work we didn't have time to practice much. In these days the training only consist in sailing and add hours in the boat What is your favorite thing to do besides sailing? PD: I don`t have any other favorite thing to do, only sailing, It's my hobbie. I enjoy so much! Also, I was looking over your tuning notes and I noticed that your spreader length measurements are a little longer than what we are used to. Just to make sure we are comparing apples to apples, where are measuring from to get 44cm. That measure is from the side of the mast, to the centre of the hole of the spreader top. Thanks a lot Pablo and one more time congratulations for winning the 2006 Western Hemispheres!
Snipe Sails
Report by Brian Bissell The 2006 Snipe North Americans took place this past weekend on Gull Lake in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was a very well organized event thanks to Chad and Michelle Coberly as they complimented the seriously tough lake sailing with seriously fun on-land activities. The first day of racing was very light. The race committee was only able to get one race off before the breeze completely shut off. Day two had medium to heavy breeze with the true wind direction coming down the lake lengthwise. We remained consistent but were only able to break the top 5 in one race. This put us in 7th overall but the top 10 were all very close. On the last day, the wind direction switched so that windward and leeward marks were very close to shore. This made for some very puffy and shifty conditions. It was the type of sailing where two boats could almost be sailing the same angle on opposite tacks. This meant that you were never out of a race, but you were never securely in it either. One bad shift or sailing into a hole could cost you 10 boats. My crew, Bryan Stout, a local high school sailor from Annapolis and very good Snipe skipper himself, did an excellent job of finding the puffs on the lake. The combination of good boat speed, connecting the puffs and staying in the pressure enabled us to win both races on Sunday. This jumped us up to 3rd place overall and qualifies us for the Snipe World Championship in Portugal, September '07. The real story of the regatta was that all 4 of the Stout family were crewing on different boats and all ended up in the top 10. When Augie Diaz, in his trophy acceptance speech, mentioned that he thought it was great that the youngest Stout won the family award by half a point, Bryan's dad Alex promptly shouted "He's so grounded!" We were using the AP-5 main and a BRD1H jib. Henry Filter, who finished in 5th, used the AP-5 main, the mylar jib and a BRD1H+ jib. Top 5: For more information about our Snipe sails, contact the North's Snipe Experts!To order your fast Snipe sails online, click here. Snipe Sails
Tyler Sinks and Ben Todter, both of San Diego Yacht Club, won the 2006 Snipe Jr. Nationals held last weekend at Erie Yacht Club in Erie, PA.. Tyler and Ben are two hot, upcoming junior sailors and are just off a second place finish in the 420 division of the 2006 US Sailing Youth Championships. This win qualified Ben and Tyler to sail in the 2007 Snipe Junior Worlds. Tyler and Ben used the North AP-3+ main and BR-1D+ jib to power their boat to the win. Look for more good news from this team in the near future. Nice going guys!
Snipe Sails
The 2006 Colonial Cup took place this weekend in Annapolis at the Severn Sailing Association. People came from as far away as New Jersey, Georgia and Florida for the event. There were 21 boats in attendance. It was close racing the whole time with the exception of the free clinic provided by Augie Diaz on Saturday in the 18-25 knot breeze and triangle, windward, leeward courses. He won all 4 races!! Saturday was medium to light air and shifty. My crew Alexis Rubin and I, both sailing our first Snipe regatta, were able to hit a few shifts correctly and put a few good races together. We climbed from 4th overall on Saturday to 2nd by the end. We used the new AP-5 Main and felt fast in every range of breeze. In the 18-25, the flatter bottom section and twist up top let us depower just enough. In the lighter wind, it was nice having a twistier main as well to keep from stalling the leech. As a newcomer to the Snipe fleet, I was impressed with how friendly everyone was. Peter Commette led a debrief at the end of Saturday's racing where everyone asked Augie and Peter questions about how they went so fast. There weren't any secrets and I think everyone walked away from it a better snipe sailor. Thank you to Principal Race Officer, Steve Podlich and his crew for running a great regatta.
For more information on Snipe sails, contact the North Snipe experts |
Congratulations Chris Sands skipper (wearing Team BLUE hat!) and Donico Brown! They won all three races at the Bahamians Nationals that were sailed. A couple of the races were won by almost an entire leg!
We recently completed a week-long Snipe sail testing session with North Sails Japan. The goals for the trip were two-fold. First, pit our AP5+/BR1DH against the Japanese counterparts the PR2 and SW3 mainsails and the R2-LM jib; second, to learn how to build, use and analyze NS Japan’s “America’s Cup” style Two Boat Testing System. The following report combines our individual perspectives of the week, a brief analysis of the sails, and an explanation of system functions and advantages it will provide to North Sails One Design. 
After getting through customs and finding our bags and box of snipe sails, we rented a cell phone and hopped on a bus for Yokohama where we were met by Takumi. Takumi is a sales rep for NS Japan and will be representing Japan and North Sails at the Snipe World Championship this year. He drove us to Kamakura which is a small beach town that used to be the capital of Japan 750 years ago. Untouched by the war, there were some really old temples and big Buddha statues everywhere you looked. This 13.3 meter-tall, 93 ton cast bronze Buddha sculpture is the second largest in Japan, and was cast in 1252!
Lastly, the IGS file of the flying shape may be input directly into Membrain, allowing the designers to compare the measured flying shape (from sailing) to the theoretical flying shape determined from the CFD/FEA tools Flow and Membrain.
This weekend was the Snipe District 6 Championship hosted by San Diego Yacht Club. The race committee, along with a few of the participants, used this event to gear up for the World Championship that will take place in the same spot this September. 
This year’s fleet contained representatives from six countries and was sailed by the current SCIRA Commodore and four past SCIRA Commodores. The wind was a steady 18 knots the whole time.
You just won the 2006 Snipe Western Hemispheres, Snipe Argentinian Nationals, and the Snipe Pre PanAm Games. Can you name three common factors that have helped you in your recent winning streak?
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