The end: Not with a bang, but with a wimper

Sunday night heavy rains, cold air, and strong winds moved into the Deep Creek Lake area.  Our club hosted the traditional "Commodores' Reception" in honor or the Commodores of both the Deerhaven and Turkeyneck clubs.  In a non-traditional fashion, the theme was Caribbean.  It was a great party with wonderful food (and rum), but ended early as nasty weather came through.

 The club house, decorated for the party.

 

A crane visits our dock during the festivities.

   Labor Day came with cool temperatures, light rains, and little wind.  Race Committee, up against a 1pm deadline for starting a race, canceled due to light and unpredictable wind.  Several boats, mostly from Turkyneck, had already come out, so they held an unofficial race, with Joanie Palmer offering instruction to some of the less experienced sailors.
   
     Steph and I took one last sail.  Connor came along, and took some instruction in sail trim, spinnaker work, and docking.

     Now the Flying Scot, the Laser, the kid's Opti, and two kayaks have been put away for the winter.  The kids fall sports are the order of the day.  I am less sailor an more soccer coach.  The weekend's rain caused an explosion of growth in my lawn, and mowing has taken on some urgency.

   Just wait 'til next year.

Labor Day Weekend, Commodore's cup pt 2.

            Noon on Sunday came with very light south winds.  Race Committee wisely decided to delay in the hope of better wind later in the afternoon.  By 1:30 an five knot east wind had come up, RC signaled for a race, and we set off in our boats.  RC set a Windward-leeward twice around course.

            With wind from the east, the entire race would be in the slot.  We sailed in the race area to develop a feel for the shifts and changes we would experience while racing.  The five minute starting sequence commenced, and we sailed around the starting area, developing our starting plan.  At two and a half minutes before that start I was in the middle of the starting line, contemplating whether I should make a final approach from above the line, or in the more traditional manner, from starboard and behind the committee boat.  The wind died.  I looked over my shoulder and saw that the sailors near the race committee boat were stuck.  The light breeze was diverted by the committee boat, and the sails of other racing boats.  I abandon plans to circle around again.  We let our sails loose, and sat on the line for the remaining two-plus minutes until the starting gun.   With about ten seconds left to the start, we trimmed our sails and began to accelerate.  At the gun we were moving well, and started cleanly.  Several boats were still trapped below the committee boat, and took nearly a minute to cross the starting line. I made several poor tactical choices, and we quickly move to the back of the pack, while Ben Corson and Joanie Palmer broke away early.  We rounded the windward mark near the back of the fleet, hoisted our Spinnaker, and headed downwind.   Most of the fleet move to the right side of the course.  I moved left and quickly gained ground.  We appeared to have an excellent chance of catching both David Mahan (Stephanies father) and David Meehan (Stephanie’s cousin.)  Lee Coraor, however attempted to sail to windward of me.  That would blanket my air, slow me down, and hurt my chances of passing boats.  I turned upwind to hold Coraor off, and he turned back down wind.  A minute later, he tried again, and again I held him off.  Lee persisted, until we had sailed so far off course that our chance of catching anyone had gone.  Rather than lose the rest of the fleet, I turned downwind let Lee go.  As we approached the mark Lee established an inside overlap, and was able to pass me at the rounding.   In the front of the pack, Palmer, Corson and Bruce Spinnenwebber battle for the lead.  On the second downwind leg, Spinnenwebber took the lead, and held it.  Spinnenweber finished first, with Corson second, and Palmer third. 

            We finished last, or nearly so. 

            Storms came on the east wind, and prior the the Challenger Fleet finish, lighting strikes were detected in the area.  The Challenger race was abandon, and no further racing was held.

Labor Day Weekend, Commodore's cup pt 1.

            Labor Day weekend is the final weekend of racing on Deep Creek Lake.  By tradition, the Commodores of the Yacht Clubs at Deerhaven and Turkeyneck server as race Commander.  This year Deerhaven Commodore Spencer Deakin and Turkeyneck Commodore took those roles as usual.

            In the morning winds were light, and from the south.  As noon approached, winds increased a bit, and shifted to the Northwest.  We looked to have a good, moderate to light wind race ahead. 

            Race committee set a Windward-Leeward-twice around course.  The start and finish was between Turkeyneck point, and Holycross point, with the windward mark in the slot, and the leeward mark near the Turkeyneck Yacht Club. 

            The geometry of the course set the pin (or port side) of the starting line nearer the windward mark.  The line was port-tack favored, so that sailing away from the line on port tack would put a boat on a course closer to the windward mark than the a boat sailing away from the line on starboard tack.

            There are five races in the Commodores’ Cup, and rules state that the same person must drive the boat in all five races.  It was my turn to drive, so I would be skipper for the whole regatta, and Steph would be my crew. 

            Given the light air, and angle of the line, I chose to approach the starting line from the race course side, allowing me to sail at a faster, more downwind angle.  As always, the risk in this approach is that boats on the correct side of the line will be able to box me out, and leave me on the course side of the line at the start.  I am then judged “Over Early” (or OCS, On Course Side,) and have to sail cross the line completely before I am officially racing. 

            In the light air, I overestimated my potential speed.  I expected to cross the line near the pin end, but instead approached the line on the less-favored boat end.  Sally Erricon was able to block my out, and the gun sounded before I had crossed to the correct side of the line.   I expected to hear our number, 4468, called by race committee, indicating that we were over early. Instead, RC announced a General Recall, meaning the entire start is thrown out, and repeated.  I looked to my left, and saw a cloud of sails that had been fighting for space at the favored pin-end.  Many were over the starting line.  Race Committee could not tell which boats were over because my sail blocked their view. 

            Race Committee took a few minutes to lengthen the start line, and change the position of the windward mark.  In those few minutes the wind fell off, and RC changed the course from two laps to one. 

            We started again.  Now my timing was better. I found a hole in the middle of the line, and applied boat speed to pass Lee Coraor, and sail into it.  I still carried my speed as the gun sounded, and sailed quickly off the line as we turned up wind. 

            Dick Gregory was called over early, but no general recall sounded.  The race was on.  On the pin  end Wolf and Corson broke away early. On the boat end, Joanie Palmer broke away, and tacked quickly to port. 

            The entire fleet shifted quickly to port, and the race became a tense contest, all about speed, and there was no advantage to be gained by changing tacks.  Crews sat stock still in whatever place best balanced the boat, while drivers intently watch the jib, and adjusted the tiller and mainsail to capitalize on each tiny wind shift.  As the right side of the fleet, lead by Palmer, reached the North shore of the lake, tacking became a necessity.  Those boat had right of way, so as the fleet approached the windward mark, the tactical game was on. 

            Palmer, Corson, Spinnenweber, and John Meredith, ace sailors all, rounded the windward mark in the lead.  We turned downwind, and flew our spinnakers.  

            A hot, still day on a holiday weekend brings plenty of powerboat traffic to Deep Creek.  Large waves dominated the downwind leg.  It’s no small task keeping a spinnaker full, but in a bouncing boat in light air its downright difficult and frustrating.  We stayed right, keeping the straightest line to the leeward mark.  Several boat broke left hoping to find clear air, but were left behind.  We made up ground on several boats, and shifted the middle of the course as we approached the mark. 

            Spinnenwebber rounded first, with Corson and Palmer in pursuit. 

The wind shifted west, and in the shadow of Holycross point, dropped to nearly nothing.  Several boats, including Dave Meehan and Ryan Schubert moved left, heading on a less favored tack, but sailing towards a more open area of the lake.  We went right, gaining ground toward the finish more quickly. 

            We initially passed the boats on the left, but when they reached to open air, the accelerated, and turned to the finish ahead of us. 

            In the narrow arm of the lake, motorboat wakes became a major issue. In several cases we encountered wakes large enough to move us backwards.  When a sailboat shifts from moving very slowly backward to very slowly forward, its almost impossible to tell the difference.  One thing makes it obvious:  The tiller suddenly works backwards.  When you find the tiller working backwards, there is nothing to do but push it away (which would normally point you into the wind, but now moves you off the wind) and wait for the sails to fill.  When they fill, you will start to move forward, and then the turned tiller will bring back to the wind. 

             In the final drift the finish Corson pulled ahead to win, Meredith moved into second, and Palmer held on for third.

The second race of the day was cancelled due to light air, so we took the kids tubing instead.

Not enough wind to sail? We can still play.

The Weekend of August 28th

The weekend of August 27 was the final week of the July-August series racing for the 2011 season. We will race on Labor day weekend, but those races will be part of the annual “Commodores’’ Cup” Regatta. In the Gold fleet, Bruce Spinnenwebber had a solid lock on first place going into the weekend. Joan and Lee Coraor, Mark Schaefer and Dave Mahan stood in second third and fourth respectively, with only three points separating second from fourth place. Other sailors, such as Dave Meehan, Tom Wolf and Ray Gauthier were one or two races short of qualifying, and had a chance of moving into the money positions with a weekend of solid racing.

The weather for the weekend was very much under sway of Hurricane Irene, making her way up the Eastern seaboard. By noon on Saturday Deep Creek Lake was experiencing winds from the North East at 8-12 knots, with strong gusts, and very sharp shifts. 8-12 knots is generally moderate to marginally heavy wind for a Flying Scot, but the gust and shifts can make moderate wind seem like heavy air. Substantial Northeast winds are very rare at Deep Creek during racing season. The North shore of our racing area is dominated by Little Snaggy Mt. The mountain casts a large wind shadow in the slot, and causes difficult swirls and eddies through much of the racing area. To avoid these difficulties, Race Committee Keith Spinnewebber and Mike Gellar set a short windward-leeward course, three lap course in the Green Glade area of the lake. The combination of difficult winds, a narrow racing area, and a large number of mark roundings meant boat handling ability would be the key to success for the day.

Stephanie took the helm for the first race, and I took the crew spot. We set up for a boat-end start, held a good position at the gun, and started fairly well. Joan Caraor broke away on the boat-end of the start, while Dick Gregory took an early lead on the pin end. Despite having had a good start, we found ourselves crossing behind the boats we started with after only a few tacks. Stephanie said that she could feel that the boat was not accelerating well. Even from the front, I could tell that it felt as if our sailboat was pulling a trailer. After a brief discussion of our options, Stephanie pulled up the centerboard for a moment. Sailing upwind with the centerboard raised will cause the boat to slide sideways in a downwind direction (the literal meaning of the often metaphorical term “leeway”.) We suspected that we had a clump of weeds on the centerboard, and felt we needed to risk the brief loss of upwind progress to remove it. Sure enough, a veritable jungle slid out from under our stern as the board came up. Our boat was now moving as well as she usually does, but we had already dropped far to the back of the fleet.

Gregory reached the windward mark first, followed closely by Gauthier and Coraor. We turned downwind, and started making up ground on the fleet. We turned back up wind, and passed by the starting line just as the Master fleet was starting. We were now mixed in with the Masters boats. We now had to adjust our tactics to account for other boats. This would make catching the other boats in our fleet more difficult. At the second windward rounding, Bruce Spinnenwebber had moved into the lead, with Dick Gregory and Joan Coraor close behind. We remained near the back of the fleet. As we sailed back downwind, I focused my attention on keeping the spinnaker full. I glanced away for a moment, and noticed that John Frank had his mainsail down. That is typically a signal of a boat in distress. After adjusting my sail again, I glance back and noticed that John Frank had not, in fact dropped his mainsail: his entire mast had fallen over. The mast of a Flying Scott rests on the deck, and is supported by a tripod of cables, the forestay and two side stays. One of the Franks’s stays had been broken as he sailed upwind and the boom of Tom Wolf’s boat, sailing downwind, had struck the stay. Wolf dropped his spinnaker, and sailed back to make sure that Frank and his crew were unhurt. Wolf then withdrew from the race, since a foul that causes damage to another boat cannot be exonerated. In the last two legs of the race we made ground on Mahan, but could not catch him. Spinnenwebber held on to first place, with Gregory second, and Coraor in third.

The second race of the day used the same course, but winds were slightly higher. It was my turn to drive. My boat handling skills are not as sharp as Stephanie’s I was much more focused on keeping our boat upright and moving than on the events of the race. I started in the center of the line, and had a solid start with good speed. Mahan was pushed over early, and had to restart. John Frank had borrowed a boat, and returned for the second race. We sailed the boat well and rounded the windward mark in third with Gregory is first and Coraor in second. Dave Meehan was close on my heels. On the downwind leg, most boats stayed to the right side of the course. Tom Wolf move to the middle of the course and passed by us. On the second upwind leg, I found myself fighting too hard to keep the boat flat, and lost speed. I found myself toward the back of the pack by the second windward rounding. David Meehan passed the second upwind mark first, closely pursed by Spinnenwebber.

Heading back downwind, Spinnenwebber took the lead back from Meehan. I took a page from Wolf’s book, and sailed away from shore, to the middle of the course. Stronger winds there allowed me to slip passed Schaefer, and move away from Mahan behind me.

I sailed my third upwind leg in more control of the boat, and held of Schaefer and Mahan. Again I sailed for strong winds in the middle of the lake, but this time Schaefer followed. He was able to blanket my wind, catch up, and hold even with us. He broke ahead just before the final leeward rounding, and earned the right to the inside lane at the rounding. The finish line was a close reach from the mark, so we had little chance to catch Schaefer. He held us off, as we stayed ahead of Mahan, who had rounded behind us. Spinnenwebber finished first, with Meehan in second, and Coraor in third.

By Sunday morning, strong winds from Irene had moved into Garrett County. Winds were from the Northwest, at 15-20 knots with gusts well over 20 knots. This made for true big air sailing. A small Gold Fleet came out to race, with many racers choosing not to risk equipment failures and capsizes that can occur under such conditions. The Gold Fleet was joined by only three Silver Fleet boats. The Master’s and Challenger Fleets stayed home en masse. Race committee Charles Buffington and Mark Schaefer set a long triangle course, twice around. Stephanie took the driver’s seat of our boat once again.

We started in the front row with good speed, near the middle of the line. Gregory pulled away early from the pin-end of the line, while Tom Wolf broke out on the boat-end. Stephanie sailed the boat flat and fast on the upwind leg. We rounded the windward mark in third, with Gregory first, and Palmer second. Joan Coraor followed us closely in fourth. As the first four boats turned downwind, a strong westerly shift brought us on a fast close reach. This separated the leaders from the rest of the pack. In the heavy winds, the bows of our boats lifted up to a planning attitude. As a boat lifts up onto a plane, the drag of the hull is dramatically reduced. There is a sudden, increase in speed. The handling characteristics of the boat change quickly. The boat becomes more sensitive, and reacts dramatically to movements of the tiller, changes in sail trim and evens shifting of crew weight. It’s an exhilarating and slightly scary experience. Ray Gauthier typically whoops and howls as when his boat starts to plane.

an old photo of 4468 planning downwind in a heavy breeze.

Palmer, with crew Gauthier (whooping and howling) and Gregory remained ahead, while we drag- raced, neck and neck with Coraor. Our boats took turns nosing ahead, with neither gaining a long term advantage. Coraor, however had the inside position at the leeward rounding, and so entered the second windward ahead of us. We sailed back up wind, often crossing tacks closely with Coraor and Gregory, but never quite catching them. Palmer opened a larger lead. We turned downwind, again on a reaching plane. As we approached the jibe mark, the wind shifted to the west, and lighted considerably. The angle to the jibe mark for Gregory, Coraor and ourselves a close reach. While Gregory and Coraor struggled to keep their spinnakers drawing, we dropped ours, and sailed past them. Once clear of the jibe mark, we put the sail back up. The winds filled back in, and again our boat came up on a plane. Coraor gained ground on us, but remained on our starboard side. This would leave her on the outside at the leeward rounding. As we approached the mark, we dropped our spinnaker early; a conservative move to avoid any tangles at the mark rounding. Coroar risked keeping her chute up for a bit longer, and was able to get clear ahead of us. This gave her right of way at the rounding. She rounded ahead of us. The finish was again a close reach away. Coroar held us off. Palmer took first, with Coroar in second. We took third, with Gregory in fourth.

After several weeks of lighter air racing, it was a thrill to have a weekend of big air sailing to complete the July-August Series.

The weekend of August 21st

On Saturday my wife and sailing partner Stephanie was away from the lake, so I resigned myself to a day of Laser sailing. My young son, Connor, sailed with his grandfather, Dave Mahan, so I asked for his help in reporting on the action in the Gold Fleet. Tom Wolf served as Race Commander, assisted by his father, Frank Wolf, and nephew Josh Bullock. Winds were light and from the South, with some shifts to the west.

Before noon race committee was not able to find a consistent four knots of wind, so they postponed until after lunch. Around 1:30 the committee sounded a “gather” horn, signaling their intention to start a race one half hour later. The course was set as a port triangle, twice around, with the entire course laid out in view of the Turkey Neck club. That can be a tough area to sail in, prone to strange periodic shifts. Often those with many years of experience on Deep Creek will profit when racing in the South wind off Turkey Neck.

Not long after 1:30 race committee finally had enough wind to start a race, and began sending off the fleets.

In the Gold fleet, Bruce Spinnewebber won the start and broke away early. Mahan was pushed up over the starting line early, but had room to drop back quickly, over the starting line, and begin racing. The wind faded, and the fleet moved up on Spinnewebber. Mahan sailed to right side on the lifted port tack, and reached the windward mark near the front of the pack. The course to the jibe mark was a fairly close reach, so Mahan elected to continue without his spinnaker. Schaefer was able keep his chute full, and eased past Mahan to reach the jib mark first.

The fleet jibe onto port tack at the second mark, and turned down wind. Mahan put the spinnaker up on the downwind leg, while Connor took the tiller. Light wind expert Dick Gregory snuck past Mahan, as did Joan and Lee Coraor. Mahan turned back up wind, and again stayed to the favored right side and worked back up into the fleet before reaching the windward mark. Mahan left the spinnaker on the deck for the second downwind sections, giving up power, but gaining flexibility to sail at the best angles in strange shifts. As the wind shifted briefly to the Northwest during the downwind leg, Mahan again gained ground before turning up wind toward the finish. The wind faded again, and the dash to the finish deteriorated into a slow, tense crawl, with sailors trying to detect small breaths of air before their competitors, and turn the smallest puff into some slight advantage. Grandfather and Grandson plied more that fifty-one years of experience on Deep Creek Lake (more than fifty from Grandfather, more than one from Grandson) to eke out a solid fourth place.

As the Silver, Masters and Challenger fleets closed on the finish, the winds filled back in, and shifted a bit to the west. To make up for the delay in starting the first race, the Race Committee chose to start a second race as soon as possible after the completion of the first. The course layout would be the same, but the second race would be one time around, rather than two.

At the Gold fleet start the shift west made the pin the favored end of the starting line. In a short race there is little time to recover from errors, so boats that start well tend to finish well. The Gold fleet racers with competitive dispositions fought for space to start at the pin. The Gold fleet racers without competitive dispositions had left the Gold fleet long ago. Mahan defended his place on the line well, and accelerated quickly away from the pack at the gun. He found space to quickly break away to the favor port tack, and broke away again for the right side. They reached the windward mark in fourth place, trailing Schaefer, Spinnenwebber, and Gregory. Again Mahan declined to fly a spinnaker, and still made ground on the leaders. He worked his way past Spinnenwebber and Schaefer, leaving only Gregory ahead. Mahan and Gregory rounded the final mark, and set out for the finish. Mahan gave chase, but Gregory is a master of light air sailing, and his crew, daughter Allison Felix is an expert in her own right. The pair defended their position to take the win, with Mahan following in second.

Sunday morning brought rain and brisk west winds. We race in the rain on Deep Creek, but by race time we had scattered lightening. Lightening and sailboats don’t mix, so Race Commander Jon Skoog delayed the races until the rain and thunder passed by. The fleet gathered near the mouth of Poland Run, where Skoog had set the starting line. He had laid out a triangle course between Poland Run and Bull Run. Gust shifted to the south, so that half of the course was sheltered by Turkey Neck point, and half was exposed to the stronger gusts. The preferred triangle for a sailboat race has boats rounding marks with the bouys to the port side of the boat. In a west wind, that would put the jibe mark somewhere in the vicinity of Tom Garwin’s back porch on Turkey Neck point. Therefore, Skoog had laid out a “backwards” triangle windward-leeward, with boats passing marks to starboard, with the jibe mark near the Deerhaven Yacht club. Stephanie was back in the boat, and took the helm. I was in the front seat, serving as crew. As start time approached, the sun came out, and the wind shifted increasingly to the south, exaggerating the difference in wind between the windward end of the course in the slot, and the leeward end behind Turkey Neck Point. The pin end of the line was favored, and it appeared that a boat could nearly reach the windward mark on one port tack leg. Again, most of the Gold Fleet fought or space at the pin. Steph took a risky port tack approach to the time, and came in a few seconds after the gun. In that short space of time, most of the fleet had moved away from the pin, giving Steph a hole to start in. Despite being late, she capitalized on the windward position and eased to the front quickly. Mahan and Schaefer also started in the front of the pack, and quickly broke away. We focused on keeping the boat moving fast through a strange maze of shifts and lulls, and broke out into the slot near the front of the pack. Dick Gregory was closest to leeward of us, with Schafer and Mahan in the hunt. Ace sailors Joni Palmer and Ray Gauthier quickly worked their way to the top of the pack as well. We rounded the windward mark first, with Dick Gregory and Dave Mahan (again sailing with our son Connor) on our heels. We turned toward the jibe mark on a reach, drawing as much speed as possible from out Spinnaker. As we neared sailed to the jib mark the wind faded. The top six boats were now on a fast reaching course, while the remainder of the fleet was left beating in light air. That caused the top pack to separate from the rest of the fleet, give those boats an advantage that the others were unlikely to reverse. We turned to an even tighter reach at the “jibe” mark and held our position. Mahan, unwilling to risk a close spinnaker reach with a light crew faded a bit, but stayed close. On the second beat, the wind shifted back to the west, leaving a more even beat. With another tangle of shifts and puffs, we lost Gregory and Schaefer to round the windward mark third. This time around there was no jibe mark, and we sailed directly to the windward mark. The starboard mark rounding left us in position to attempt to pass Schaefer to windward (without being blanketed by his sails) and still gaining inside position at the mark (normally you must pick one or the other.) We gained ground, and, as we approached the mark, established an overlap. We passed Schafer and turned for the finish. Gregory was on his game, sailing again with Allison Felix. He had no trouble securing the win, leaving us with second, and Schafer third.

The weekend of August 14th

Race time on Saturday arrived with Moderate winds from the south. Race committee Frank Meehan and John Frank set a fairly long windward-leeward two lap course running upwind past the Turkey Neck club, and downwind to the middle of the “slot”, the large open area from the Thousand Acres shore across to Turkey Neck and Holy Cross points. I took the helm in the first race, with my wife Stephanie as my crew. I planned to start by sailing on port tack, and tacking to reach the pin end shortly before the start. I timed my turns poorly, and found myself blanketed by boats on the starting line. The result was that I was late to the line, and started well behind the fleet. Tuel and Corson timed their starts perfectly, however, and ran out to an early lead.

I planned to sail to the right side of the course looking for clear air, while most of the fleet chose the left side because the winds were stronger there. I came to the first windward rounding near the back of the pack. Several boats rounded just ahead of us, and I sailed to windward as we approached the offset mark. I gained an advantage in clear air, but conceded the advantage of right of way to the boats inside at the offset mark. It would have been a small price to pay if I did not make any errors, but sadly I fouled Schaffer in the rounding, and had two sail in two circles as a penalty.

After completing the turns we hoisted our spinnaker, only to find a twist in the middle of the sail. Normally such a twist will come out with a few solid tugs on the sheets. Our Spinnaker, however, remained steadfastly twisted for several minutes. Finally Steph had to pull the sail down and untangle it by hand. We hauled it back up, and sailed for the left side of the downwind leg on a fairly close reach. Dunham behind us made for the right side on a more downwind course. We held position with most of the fleet on the left side, but as we came into the slot the wind shifted more to the west. Dunham now had a faster close reach, and sailed by several boats, including ours. We turned back upwind and sailed a solid leg, holding with most of the fleet and passing Schaffer. Corson and Tuel stayed in the lead, and with no close competitors to tangle with, extended their leads dramatically. After the second upwind rounding, I tried to take a page from Duham’s playbook and stayed right, hoping to catch the late lift in the slot. We were close with Mahan, (with my nine year old son as his crew) and Vance. Mahan went far left, so close to the wind that he could not fly his spinnaker. Vance chose the middle. The wind died. We drifted on a long, slow leg, until we reached the slot. Tuel and Corson found new wind, and extended their lead even further. When we reached the slot, the wind freshened a bit, but this time the wind had shifted further to the west, and we had to drop our spinnaker to make progress to the mark. Mahan, to our west, still had wind behind him, and reached the downwind mark well ahead of us. Vance withdrew and sailed home.

We were, at long last, sailing to the finish. Mahan and Ericson, the nearest boats ahead, sailed to the right side, looking to set up a long tack to the finish. But with the shift to the west, it looked like we could tack at the mark and sail straight to the finish. With the shifty winds a Deep Creek, it was a fair bet that the wind would shift back, but with nothing to lose, we pointed straight to the finish. The wind shifted more to the west, and we passed Ericson, and made ground on Mahan. A few hundred yards short of the finish, the wind weakened again, and shifted back to the south. This erased our lead on Ericson, and we crept to the finish behind her. Tuel finished first and Corson second. Spinnenwebber broke out of the pack late in the race to collect third.

With the winds dying, and storms predicted, the race committee postponed the second Saturday race until Sunday.

On Sunday, winds were light again, now from the West. Tom and Heidi Kammer served as Race Committee, and set a windward leeward one lap course, with the hope of running two races with no break in between. Again I took the driver’s spot with Steph as crew.

Prior to the starting line was “port tack favored”. A boat sailing close hauled on Starboard tack would converge slowly with the starting line, while a boat on port tack could approach the line very quickly. However, since boats on starboard tack have right of way over boats on port tack, most boats would try to start by sailing along the line on starboard tack, and take the first opportunity to cross to port tack after the start. The race committee had set an amply long line. These factors, combined with light wind, worked to reduce the risk of our favored “dip start” approach. As the timer counted down to the start, I approached the line from the race course side. About thirty seconds prior to the start I found a space in the line near the pin end, and “dipped” into it. The gun sounded, and we turned into the wind. Scott Parry had been lining up a risky port tack, using the hole I had just taken. Parry was left with few options, and his bow struck our stern quarter just after the start. Bumps and bangs happen in racing. Parry acknowledged the foul, took a penalty, and later apologized. No damage was done, and there were no hard feelings. Meanwhile Melanie Dunham found the front line spot on the pin end of the line, and took an early lead. Dave Mahan, again with our son Connor, started in the second rank, but quickly found clear air on port tack. As the mass of the fleet moved up the left side of the course, battling each other for clear air, Mahan moved freely up the right side alone, and rounded the windward mark well ahead, with Duham in second, and Meehan and Vance giving chase. We rounded toward the back of the pack. A one lap race offers few chances to recover from a poor first leg.

Dunham has outstanding downwind speed, and passed Mahan on the downwind leg. We were able to make up some ground downwind. We turned upwind, and began making our way to the finish on the right side of the course. As we approached the finish, the wind lightened, and turned more to the south. That lifted our port tack course so that we had a clear line to the finish. Steph and I positioned ourselves carefully to balance our boat, held perfectly still, and, very tensely, eased our way past much of the fleet.

I like to say that racing sailboats in light air is like playing chess against a lunatic who turns the board around at whim. The board had just quickly to our favor. As we approached the line, the wind turned back to the west. The board turned back, and much of our advantage evaporated as quickly as it had materialized. We managed to capitalize on our luck enough to hold an advantage on a few boats, most notably frequent Gold Fleet champ, Bruce Spinnenwebber.

Ahead of us Dunham crossed the line to win, with Meehan in second, Vance in third and Mahan holding on for fourth.

Spinnewebber was now behind me, and to leeward. Bruce tacked to starboard, and with a short sail to the finish, I decided my best option was to “cover”, matching him tack for tack to stay upwind, and between his boat and the finish. A good cover makes it very difficult for the boat behind to catch up. I followed Bruce’s lead, and tacked to Starboard. Bruce shortly tacked back to port, and again I matched his move. It was now clear to Bruce that I was attempting cover. He immediately tacked again, in an effort to break my cover by tacking as often as possible. Bruce is a better boat handler than I, so he hoped that he would gain a bit of ground on each tack. His plan seemed to be working, so I let him go the next time he tacked to the less favored port tack. We both tacked again to reach the finish. This time we crossed with Bruce on starboard, and a bit ahead. We ducked below him, giving him an advantage. To tack with him would have allowed Bruce to cover us. Bruce’s course would take him just to the wrong side of the committee boat, so he tacked once more to port, this time on course to cross the line. We tacked once more to starboard. A lucky shift lifted us just enough so that our bow would reach Bruce’s stern quarter if we both held course. Just yards from the finish line Bruce tacked to starboard, about ¾ of a boat-length ahead of us. Our advantage was that we were already moving, but Bruce’s position to our lee-bow swirled the light wind, and decreased our speed. Bruce worked to accelerate on his new tack, while we held dead still to keep our slight speed. We eased past Bruce, with nothing to do but watch as Tom Kammer stood on the committee boat judging the line. We waited for Tom’s verdict, not sure if we could pass Bruce before he crossed the finish line. With inches to spare, Tom called our number first, then Bruce’s, salvaging 6^th place after a poor start.

In the second race we changed things up. Stephanie sailed our boat with her father, Dave Mahan as crew, while nine year old Connor took the helm in Mahan’s boat, and sailed in the Silver fleet with me as crew.

The winds continued to fade. Steph set up again for a dip start, but didn’t have enough wind to make the start in time for the gun. She was called over early, and started a few minutes late. With a short course in light air, she had no chance to catch the fleet. David Meehan repeated his strategies from the first race, this time taking first, while Bruce Spinnenwebber returned to his usual good form to take second. Dick Gregory, Deep Creek’s consummate light air sailor finished third.

Connor and I had a fine race in the silver fleet. We finished last, but we were in the middle of the pack until the final leg, and only a few boat lengths back at the finish. A combination of poor tactical “suggestions” on my part, and Connor’s tendency to steer the boat too far up wind at the finish line (a common error among new racers) made room for Bertsch and Deakin passed us on the final leg. Still, it was great fun, and Connor’s love of sailing and racing continues to grow.