Hoovers Regatta Report

I traveled to Columbus, Ohio, for the first regatta of the year with my own boat. It is about 6 1/2 hours away. I had checked out the satellite photos of the lake to find it is TINY. Winds with West or East components would mean very short courses.

Day 1 had just such a wind, East Southeast blowing 2-8, very light and very shifty. My goal for the 22-boat regatta was top 3, specifically beating Chris Craig who spanked me out of the lead in the last regatta we met at.

The first race was a near disaster for me. After starting very poorly I found I was way behind and falling out of touch with the leaders. The course was 3 1/2 times around a short course, a total of 7 legs. Mistakes were costly. Repeatedly I found myself in traffic that I simply could not get around. Back in the pack they tend to sail against the boat next to them rather than try to gain distance on the boats ahead. After 4 legs I was in 12th place and not really moving up.

I tactically picked up 4 boats on leg 5, found a great lucky puff on leg 6 to pass 4 more and close the distance. I picked up 2 more at the bottom mark to find myself in second place. I finished in third happy to have avoided disaster.

Race 2 was next. A 40-degree left shift with a minute to go meant a crowd at the pin. I had a great start planned, in a crowd on port at the pin. My timing was off, I had to circle around with seconds to go and ended up deep. I struggled for a second race, this time only recovering from 16th to 12th at the finish. There were 6 races scheduled with no throwouts. I could not afford any more races like this.

Race three after lunch was more of the same. The pin end this time was the obviously favored end. I had a great start, and approached the first mark in the top 5. I ducked another boat hard, the boat flattened and our masts hit. I had to do penalty turns which put me deep again. I started taking chances I should not have, which didn't help. For the third time that day I counted only 6 boats behind me. I clawed back to 9th place.

At this point I assumed I was out of it. It is not usually possible to win a regatta on the first day, but you definitely can lose it. I sailed off by myself to pout and argue with myself. I decided to sell the boat.

In race 4, the line was good with a bit of a boat favor. I hung out right of the boat pouting more, feeling very sorry for myself. Ted, the leader of the regatta, was over with me. With 30 seconds to go I moved into position to find a hole opening up at the boat. I won the boat, went right and was leading at the top mark. The boat was no longer for sale.

I lost the lead on leg three. Someone snuck past me when I wasn't paying attention. The two of us then battled for the entire rest of the race, at one point extending 1/2 a leg on the rest of the fleet. In the end I was unable to execute the pass and finished second.

When the results finally were posted I realized a lot of other people had bad races too. I was in a pack of boats between second and 9th that all were within 8 points. The leader, Ted Keller (ranked #3 last year) had locked it up pretty solidly with a ten point lead over second. There was hope. A second place was feasible if the chips fell right.

HOWEVER Chris Craig was just ahead of me in points and decided he and Captain Morgan would try to slow me down. A great dinner and most of a bottle later we called it a night.

Breakfast the next day consisted of 2 Tums, an allergy pill, Prilosec, 2 Excedrine Migraine and a Diet Pepsi. I am feeling old.

The wind had changed direction to blow from the South, and it was now blowing harder. Many people were excited to have their favorite conditions. All I saw was a lot of hard work.

Race 5 was a longer leg race only 2 1/2 times around. With 25 seconds to go I found myself near the boat with a crowd of all my competition around me. I dove for speed and tried to outrun them. Only Chris Craig followed. In the back of my head I also thought left was the way to go but the line was right favored. I found a hole, dove through it and hit the line going fast with a gap below me. I immediately trimmed for depowering and went bow down. About a minute later I was clear to tack, did so, and found I was left and higher than most. At the top mark I led by about 10 lengths.

Downwind I blew that lead and had both Richard Blake and Chris Craig on my tail as I rounded. I stayed on Starboard. They split right. I only went maybe 10 lengths and got a nice header. I tacked. When we crossed again I was well in the lead. I extended on each leg after that as other got caught up in traffic and won by a couple minutes.

In terms of score, others in the crowd stayed up front with me. Ted locked up the regatta with a 3. I was tied with a couple others for second r third range. I never am good at that math on the water.

Race 6 was still windy. I had an OK start, and worked hard on a short first leg. I stayed left, got good shifts and rounded in the lead. The wind built behind me bringing the fleet down on me. I lost three boats by the bottom mark. I quickly cleared my wind and set up for speed. It took half a leg to regain the lead followed by one other boat. We rounded close. Downwind I worked hard to stay between him and the next mark. He closed the distance but I maintained the lead. On the final leg, I let him split right, got a great left shift and pulled away. I extended after that and won by about a minute.

I locked up second, and Chris Craig finished tied with 2 other for 4th, ending up 6th (YES!). Sorry Chris but this is officially a rivalry now.

So three bad races and two bad finishes almost took me out of the running. Essentially it did. But it was a good experience, a good result. and I'm sure I'll go back.