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.
No comments:
Post a Comment