how to train your dragon
The Schock 40 was both one of the more adventuresome production 40 footers and one of the worst. Canting keel, forward rudder, sketchy build, As famously said in punk rock documentary, the Decline of Western Civilization, "it was fucked, but it was great." Anarchist Pete just bought one and below he describes the joys of learning how to sail such a creature during Ullman Sails Long Beach Race Week…
As for us, well this is a learning experience with the new boat in our first regatta. We had five new people on board including two dinghy sailors from UCLA. While talented they quickly found that handling a 1,650sf A2, the size of a large 2 bedroom apartment is little different than a 29’er. The twin foil, canting keel Schock 40 is different than any boat I have ever sailed. If there is anything we have taken away is how to tack the boat in heavy air. The twin foils on this boat are narrow and deep and when you tack if the main is on hard the boat wants to round up. When it does, you lose flow and the boat immediately goes in irons and literally starts going backwards.
This happened to us three times in day 1. Note to self, back wind a few seconds on the jib to bring the bow around and ease the main to keep the boat on its feet. And broaching is a wild experience. With the keel at a 60 degree cant the boat rolls and you bury the weather rail and getting the boat to come out of it can be quite tricky. We sheared off the clutch handle on the tack line in one wild one. Fortunately we have a spare. We went 4-4-4 for a total of 16 points. There are two boats tied for 2nd with 15 points so 2nd place is within striking distance if we have a good day Sunday. I would consider a second a very successful first regatta.
