Virtual Nacra 17 Racing

Here's a handfull of cool thoughts and hot shots from the first Tradewinds race with the fantastic virtual Nacra 17 from Dutch Kain. Tadah. This took place yesterday at 2pm SLT at Tradewinds, and I was there as part of my on going cat therapy.

Waiting for  the clock to start ticking

Here we are, beautiful boat, beautiful sailing day, right south of Tradewinds, waiting for the clock to start ticking. None of us felt very confident sailing the Nacra, and one even capsized before we got started. Ofcourse Dutch was smiling from ear to ear. He's had way more hours in this boat than any of us.

Windcheck

The wind was 15 knots from a northly direction, and that usually means nice, flat water south of Tradewinds. The wind had a tendency to favour a port side start. I couldn't feel it because my hairdryer driver failed to work on 64bits windows, but pointing the cat told me 12 degrees.

Measuring wind angles

I sailed around the starting area and took notes of the angles on port and starboard upwinds. This is not a WWC boat; There's no shadowing, no current and no wave simulation, but it does come with some sort of global wind variations.

Racing

So off we went. For some reason Dutch had chosen a five minute starting sequence, so I was struggling with my watch. It was preset to three minutes. That's what we usually use in SL, or at least that's what I had used last. Timing the start is pretty important here, since the boat picks up speed like a rocket. If you're not at the line when the gun goes off, then you'll never catch the leaders.

Landed

Now! There are certain rules to take into account. For instance, you always let the designer win the first race in a new boat. That didn't make Dutch smile any less, when he came first. I came second, and I swiftly switched to relaxation mode, so that the third boat could "see just how long we had waited. Like 20 seconds, teehee. You can see the clock there, saying 09:27 for third place.

Different BWinds

That's when Becca sailed by in her BWind 2.0 Baby Sloop. In the back, to the right. The Baby Sloop is the  basis for many virtual boats in SL, - including the Nacra 17. The BWind must have been tweaked quite a bit by Dutch to make it work in a cat with two people on board.

Tasha and me

We sailed another race, and Dutch won again. This time he was just plain lucky. Ok, so maybe he knows in details at what angles the boat can carry the genn and I don't. So maybe he was just a bit faster at hoisting that genn. Still, I got off to a better start, but this boat is so fast the virtual world has trouble appearing in due time. I saw nothing but water and boom! I was in the middle of a building. Talk about a set back. I needed help, so Tasha hopped on board.

Last race

We did good, and here we are, - landing in a little over seven minutes. Not too bad, but Dutch did better with Ana on bord; Probably because she is so skinny. As you can see above, - Tasha and I could easily lift one of the hulls out of the water, but it was the wrong hull, the lee hull. Duh! The daggerboards work much better, when lifting the windward hull, so no more icecream for me...

Finally, on top of Dutch

As you can see, there's lots to work with; Genn, trim, balance, timing, steering, and the crew can help trimming via the hud. This calls for coordination. More than once both Tasha and I typed genn almost simultaneously resulting in the genn flipping up and down, hehe. We had huge fun. Don't miss out when the gun goes off on friday for another few rounds of Nacra action. More Nacra 17 racing tips...

My cat therapy? I just stopped sneezing whenever I see a cat.

Fairy tale boat

There was a fairy tale leaf boat posted on slboatporn once. We discussed if it should be there or not, and we ended up keeping it there, because it was inspiring. See it via this link to slboatporn.

A leaf boat...

Yesterday I found this little leaf boat at Tradewinds. It seems the post on slboatporn was indeed inspirational. At least it inspired the builder, Lucy Afarensis.

... from some fairy tale

As you can see, it is also able to sail. Perhaps it is not fast like those crazy carbon cats, but it does generate quite a wake. It almost feels like planing.

Who'd sail a boat like this?

Maybe, just maybe, the builder overdid the wake a bit, but that's not important. We're way off the path of realism anyway. This is fun. Pure fun... It is probably the most co2 neutral boat I ever saw.

Tinkerbell?

There is a BWind sailing engine inside, so it does kinda feel like sailing, and on this shot you can see  that beside the jib and the main there is also a keel and a rudder. Want one? It sits on the pier, and you can get a copy for free and go feel like Tinkerbell or something. It's definately a fun toy.

Cat Nutters Disease

carbon cats set sail

get your mousie by the tail

black cat bone for sale

cats looking to win 

fighting for that starboard pin 

gun, sheet in, sheet in

racing knife in teeth

two people in the trapeze 

cat nutters disease

...

Is the cat therapy working? You tell me...

Wildcat therapy

I never really cared much for cats. Somehow they don't fit into the category of real boats. However, this whole AC craze is putting giant cats on my radar like never before. Like it or not, those cats are now everywhere. Jane Fosset once wrote: Weird plastic critters skittering across the water. Gotta love that description.

A weird plastic bug...

However, windsurfers don't fit in the real boat category either, and windsurfing is huge fun. Sadly, virtual windsurfing is far from being an interesting simulation. It's a very physical thing, and the physical aspects are hard to replicate into a virtual world. Besides, the waves in SL are - uhm - wavesurfing isn't really there. Not a problem for cats though. They prefer flat waters...

...skittering across the flat waters of SL

Now, where was I going with this? Ahh! Cat sailing can be fun too. If you've followed my scriblings, I suppose you knew that. I had great fun with the Hepcat; I kinda liked the Wildcat35, and lately the Nacra17 has gotten a lot of attention. In fact, I've received complaints that the Nacra17 gets too much attention.

The Wildcat 45

This here is the Wildcat 45. It's a pretty wild thing. It is big, it is detailed, it is fast and it is fun. It might not have totally realistic sailing engine, but it is much better than the predecessor 35er, which had a somewhat strange interpretation of apparent wind. However, the most interesting thing about it is the trimmable wing and the adjustable flap. That's pretty close to the real thing:

The wing and the flap

If you wanna go wing sailing, the Wildcat 45 is probably one of the best options if not the best available on the virtual sailing scene. It is not just a toy. Work must be done to sail it well. Besides the steering, there's a flap to adjust, and it is also possible to move around to optimize the heeling angle, i.e. lift the windward hull out of the water. 

Steering and trimming...

Here's the virtual sailors: Me trimming and Erasmus deeply fokused on the steering. At least that's what he said :-D 

... to maintain high speed

Looks pretty good, right? There's a lotta detail on this boat. Sheets and lines run everywhere, and the wake is pretty good too. Scroll back a few shots and you see there is also a genakker. The speed sensation is there too, but the steering appeared a littlebit too computergamish to me. It felt like shifting directions in small abrubt moves, - not a smooth linear curve. Perhaps it was just Erasmus being new to the boat, I dunno.

More trimming

One thing I noticed though. It seems the AC45 is relatively slow at turning, almost like a real cat, and that's a nice touch. Again, I really cannot tell if it was Erasmus being new to the boat, but it seemed to be a good and realistic implementation of the turning angle versus sailing speed. For details on the performance, polars and stuff see Janes take on the Wildcat.

Cat-ch a bird?

Overall this is a fun & wild cat and it loves to sail at high speeds. I won't compare it to the Nacra17, because they are very different. However, they're both huge fun to sail. They both require work to sail fast, and they both require the crew to work a bit; Also, they both seem to miss out on WWC features such as currents, windshadows and local variations. That aside, I think it is a fun virtual sailboat. Maybe, just maybe, I could learn to like cats better; I just need more virtual cat therapy...  

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year !!

Happy Sailing Year !!

Happy Sailing !!

(more fireworks)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all friends, sailors, boatbuilders, commodores, club managers, racers, cruisers, bloggers and everybody else, virtual and unvirtual, digital and analog - and a happy New Year with lots of love and good sailing.

Late Christmas update: Go get a Glögg at Mid-Atlantic Musings, and - when you've had a strong Glögg, scroll down and see the Christmas decorated boats. You won't believe your eyes...

Nacra 17, racing tips

It happens on friday the 21st: The very first virtual Nacra 17 race. Virtual sailing for cat nutters. It's in Tschotcke at 2pm SLT, that's around 2300CET, and the sweet and lovely Scubabear (ask for a bear hug) will be your RD. It's gonna be a blast...

Inshore cat on the loose

Loads of boats with untrained crews and a weather forecast that says 21 knots from the south east! Wanna bet how many capsizes we will see? I'd say a handfull. Maybe more. Racing a cat like the Nacra 17 in 21 knots of wind is all about finding that sweet-spot just before the boat is overpowered.

Reaching 

Looking for the sweet spot means continuously powering up until it is just a bit too much, then powering down a bit. Miss that last bit and you are fish food. Forget tactics; Being faster is key. Find that sweet-spot, and you're on your way to the  podium. Don't waste energy looking for windshifts. Find the speed. The Nacra does not support windshifts anyway.

When you've found the speed, be aware that there is a slight lee helm to compensate for. The lee helm makes it difficult to stay on optimum trim and direction. It also makes it much harder to see headers and lifts, so better stay alert there...

Looking for that sweet spot

There's other stuff to learn too. Timing. The Nacra 17 is so much faster than a dinghy. The starting tactics is much different from the usual approach. Timing is crucial in order to hit the line right at the gun. Trust me. With these boats you don't wanna be late for start.

On a downwind leg you'll need to pay close attention to the polar. Genakker sailing will enable planing on one hull. Once you get up there, you can send a smile to the rest of the pack. Via the rear mirror.

Have a break, have a...

Another thing to look out for is the tacking and gybing. Cats are way slower at turning; However, it seems that Dutch (the builder) has cheated a bit here. The Nacra turns pretty much like a monohull. Slam and you're over. Hopefully, there will be an update to fix this. And the lee helm.

... Nacra cat

Still, too many tacks will set you back. If not because of the turning, then because of the balance. Getting the balance right, right after a tack also requires timing. In 21 knots of wind two people need to unhook the trapeze, run or crawl over to the other side, hook up and get out at just the right time, when the wind hits the sails. Better hurry out there and do a few tacks...

Update: Orca posted a handfull of nice shots from the event...