We finally got in the water.

The one-design fleets have suffered cabin fever long enough.  On Saturday, May 12^th, the weather gods smiled down on us and we got in five good races on what was simply a gorgeous day.  And it was a day that beat the odds because the winds were forecasted by just about every weather service (including Predict-Wind) to die off at noon.  This made sense to me as the front that come through with a hard blow on Thursday eventually had to run out of air.  The thinking on Friday was that the most we could hope for would be a seabreeze, which was actually going to be a good possibility as the land was going to warm up above 80 and the waters are still pretty cool.   Didn’t need it.   We started racing in a soft WNW breeze at around 5 knots or so, and as the day wore on, the winds backed to WSW and BUILT.  The last two races were sailed in winds up around 13 knots.  The RC did a fine job of giving us W2 courses and throwing in an H course to finish.  I love H courses (even though yesterday it didn’t pan out for me).  But there simply is nothing like having that final mark rounding to put a move on a boat and then a beat to windward for the finish – where you also have a shot at gaining a position or two if the fleet is tight.  Does this sound like a spiel for more H courses?  You bet it is.

The Scot fleet had a good showing with 12 registered and 10 boats on the line.  At the last moment, John Wake found out his crew was not going to show, and he was unsuccessful in getting a replacement.  So he jumped in Paul Almany’s boat.  It was great to see Le Geezer out there fully crewed and racing hard.  (Jim, I hope your back holds up this year.)   And I guess Noel just couldn’t stand seeing all those Scots being launched, so he took DouBloon out for one more spin around the course.  I happened to be breaking in a brand new crew on this day, Chad Hollenbeck.  He had one day on Friday to find out whether hooking up with me was a mistake – LOL.   For some reason on Saturday, we sailed the first race very smartly and won it!   Talk about a confidence builder for Chad, I couldn’t have scripted it better.  Perhaps a good omen for the future?

If my math is correct, I counted at least three sets of new sails, so there was quite a bit of noise on the starting line.  I think we got in three races (before the big wind shift) during which the pin was favored, as was the left side.  After the wind shift and moving of the marks, the line was very square.  And the left side became a loser, to my detriment.   Len and Barbara got their kinks out and took command of the day with three firsts.  Phil Webb and Jere Dennison sailed very consistently with high finishes and took a solid second place.  Jere’s son Clark rounded out the trophy group in third.   

KUDOS to the new pier and those that got it done!  What a difference.  We race again next Saturday, and at this time, the weather forecast looks good.   Several of our fleet members will be attending the Districts.  (I could have sworn we planned our events so as not to conflict – but alas, it happened anyway.)   So good luck to the Guenthers, John Wake, and Rob Whittemore.   Bring home the silver folks.  And for everyone else, please try to show up for another good day of Fishing Bay racing.   This is what we waited for all winter.