Wednesday morning 7/13/16 I will set off from Boston on a singlehanded adventure. It has been my intent to increase the amperage in my sailing and I really enjoy short-handed distance sails. This year’s major goal was to enter the Newport offshore 160 race. Newport here I come. As a warm up I entered the June Moon Classic and had a great experience.
The Newport 160 race is held every other year and can act as a qualifier for the Bermuda 1-2 race. The race is hosted by Newport Yacht Club and has a route shown beneath.
I have made lots of changes to the boat to support solo sailing including adding an extra pair of winches for spinnaker sheets, and have a few more changes before the new season for the 2017 big adventure.
At this point my goal is personal - to challenge myself. Since part of my lab studies sleep regulation and the consequences of sleep derivation on cognition and mood I find it fascinating to internally observe changes in behavior that seem to begin around 3am. This race I will be trying specific sleep/nap strategies (although with the amount of traffic in the area that might not be possible).
In addition to the personal challenge I am using the 2016 season to find the areas that I need to optimize the boat so that I can maximize speed without affecting the PHRF handicap. There are a few areas still to be checked off the list, but I need a few more pay checks first…..
After the 160 I will head back to Boston and work for a few days before the Beringer bowl – Marblehead to Provincetown – which I will enter double-handed with Chuck.
Wednesday evening racing in Boston harbor with the Constitution Yacht Club has been a very satisfying experience (as well as humbling) being able to learn a lot from competing against better boats with more experienced crews. I am sure I will be humbled in this race too, but that’s okay because I am coming up the learning curve and its all about making the necessary changes for 2017.
I may enter some blog entries at http://haydongold.blogspot.com/ and you can follow my journey by pressing “Spot” which is located on the right-hand side of the blog. First start of the race is 12 noon, Friday 7/15/16
Cheers Phil
Best of luck, Phil!
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