Today's informative post will be on racing in Montague Bay.
Montague Bay is our local sailing area back home in Nassau, definitely not my favorite spot to sail back home (just because I like playing in the ocean swell, haha), but none the less it's a pretty great place to sail, and I'd rather sail there then anywhere else in America. FYI, Nassau, Bahamas is the absolute BEST place in the world to train and compete; but thats for me to explain in another post...
So why exactly write a post on sailing in Montague Bay (considering I won't be on the water there until I come home for Thanksgiving break)? Hmm, well I'll be honest... Laser Nationals and Junior Nationals 2011 are coming up on November 19th and there are a lot of kids coming from other Bahamian Islands who would like some insight on what this sailing area is all about.
Wow, it hurts to think I won't be home to race Nationals this year- Bahamian Laser Nationals are a great event, an event that Chris and I organized (and grew exponentially) last year. It was a great turn out in 2010, and I'm sure with Mr. Dunkley at the helm with organizing the 2011 event, it will be awesome yet again.
Before I begin... Here are my posts on Nationals from last year:
Day 1, Day 2.Alright, so last year Nationals was hosted around the same time... November 20th and 21st. Personally, November is my favorite time of the year for sailing back home because we get awesome conditions for most of the month.
What's cool about November is that we typically get an Easterly breeze that has a good kick to it, and is very stable with oscillating shifts. Expect breeze of 15kts or so (possibly hitting 20) and for it to be coming pretty much straight from the east. It's very rare for the wind to be anywhere from the West or North, as we usually get the North Westerly winds in January/ February.
If the wind does stick with it's typical pattern and comes from the Easterly direction, it is extremely easy to get in groove with the shifts. I'm not 100% sure, but I know that typically, the shifts oscillate every 1.5-3 minutes, and you can figure it out with or without a compass. I always used a compass when racing Lasers just so I can know how much of a lift or header I was on, but in the bay your racing so close to shore that you can use land points if you lack the compass. I also took a pencil on the boat with me and scribbled out my avg headings on my deck- along with 'Tack on +' on the port side, and 'Tack on -' on the starboard side... Just incase I somehow forgot, haha.
So make it a part of your pre-race routine to beat upwind, get your headings, get your shift timing down, and learn to anticipate the shifts before they happen.
In the rare event that the breeze somehow comes from the West- then it's a lot more challenging. You have to keep your head out of the boat, look for windlines, and hit them perfectly. You have to anticipate 40degree shifts, huge velocity swings, and just don't get down on yourself... With a Westerly breeze in Montague bay you can go from being half a leg down to back in the front with a few lucky shifts.
Hopefully it will be East.
Okay, so we established what the wind is like... Let's talk waves. The only time Montague is decent for wave sailing is with a strong Easterly and a half or higher tide (low tides give you more chop than waves). Last year in a 15-20kt breeze we had nice and surfable 2 footers. If I remember correctly, the waves are pretty well stacked and can be hard to hit at times, in fact they can slow you down if you don't play them right. It's hard to explain, but once again just go out early and practice getting in sync with the waves. It's incredible how you can stay surfing the whole leg if you tried, and that's the benefit of having them so close together. Just sail hard by the lee for speed and use the waves to take you back to the rhumb line... Try to stay surfing the entire leg, and you will gain an unreal amount of distance. Definitely try and stick in the deeper water too, as that's where the more consistent and rideable waves are at, there's a point somewhere off the Nassau shore where it goes from being about 12' deep to maybe 6'... Just look for better waves and take that side of the downwind leg- the wind will be consistent over both sides, go for the speed you will gain by surfing.
If the wind is Westerly, there won't be very many waves, but it will be flat instead...
Wind, waves... Current? I still feel as if I never really figured out exactly how the current/tide works around the sailing area. Oh well...
It definitely is important, and you need to make sure and know the tide schedule. When tide is going down, it flows towards downtown and out of the Narrows. When tide is coming up it flows in through the Narrows and East towards the banks (or between Nassau and Athol). Obviously, the tide flow is strongest in the deeper water close to Athol that the mailboats transit through. I doubt you will be racing so close to Athol, but if you are then you want to think about what the tide flow through the Narrows is doing the course and how it can help/hurt you. If your sailing closer to the Nassau side (which I assume you are), then the tide flow will be stronger the closer you get to Athol- once again this is something that can hurt or help you.
So guys, keep your heads out of the boat, read the water, look for shifts and anticipate them. Think about what the wind will be doing- if it's forecasted to clock from the East to the North throughout the day, then you know port tack will more than likely be favored as the wind begins to make it's move. Think about going for the small white clouds you see (if it's a clear day), believe it or not, where there's clouds- there more than likely will be better breeze. However, if it's a cloudy day- go for the clear spots. Also, it isn't uncommon to get squalls run through the corridor between Nassau and Athol- if you see what looks like storm clouds moving in, and let's say it is comeing over Athol island moving East to West (assuming an Easterly breeze), then you can expect the breeze to go left and increase in velocity.
Haha, all of this is so hard to explain... I'm finding it hard to turn thoughts into text.
By the way... Chris says to tell you guys, if the wind has some South in it- you can get some good righties- was this his secret all these years? haha.
Hopefully this helped a little bit guys... that's all I have to offer. Goodluck to everyone racing this year- I wish I was there. I can't wait to hear all about it and see the pics... If you have any more questions, just post them as comments below and I'll be sure to answer them!
P.S. Whoever is borrowing my boat, treat my baby with respect ;)
SailFast, Live Slow!
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