Racing record for 2022

 This was my first year with the Wilderness 21.  I used a rented Capri 22 the previous fall for racing.  That ended a long gap in racing for me.  A gap of around 20 years!

Spring Regatta 2022:  3rd out of 4 (3/4), 3/4, 2/4, 2/4, 1/4.

Spring Series (Wed nite):  3/4, 3/4, 4/4, 3/4, 3/4, 1/4.

Summer Series: 4/5, 4/4, 1/4, 3/5 (missed a few of these)

Fall Series:  2/6, 3/4, 2/3, 1/4, 1/4, 1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

Fall Regatta:   2/3, 1/3, 2/3, 2/3, 1/3, 2/3, 3/3

The 2022 season was so much fun.  We improved our skills and the boat setup.  Our regular competition is a Merit 25 and a Capri 25.  The little Wilderness 21 has to run to keep up.  The rating helps with the placement.

Weaknesses for us are downwind.  The small foredeck and cramped boat gives us trouble with the spinnaker.  We are lucky to get one launch during a race and frequently won’t bother if the leg isn’t long.  If there are two downwind legs or other races that day we end up only getting one launch.  The spin rigging is too thrashed to recover.  I put that on our inexperience.  At the start of the 2023 season I have been looking to the Santana 20 fleet for ideas.  We are trying a bag hanging in the companionway hatch and putting the spin pole on a trolley on the boom.   We are also trying a spinnaker snuffer sock.  My goal is for spinnaker on downwind to be a given.

Another weakness has been the start.  Inexperience is #1 there.  Using the large 150% genoa has also made it pretty difficult.  Low visibility and less control.  It gives good speed but is a bit of a hazard in a really cluttered start.   The good thing about the large genoa has been downwind without the spinnaker.  We can just about keep up with the other boats on some angles. 

In 2023 I am trying a new jib, a 100% with battens.  My hope is to improve pointing angle, maintain upwind speed and improve handling and visibility.  This means that for downwind we will absolutely need the spinnaker.  At the spring regatta (2023) this was proven because we aren’t ready with the spinnaker yet and got left behind consistently on downwind.