Once in my life, maybe 1000 races ago, I actually got lapped. It was at a major regatta with 75 boats or so. The wind was light and shifty and I just did not get off the line then sailed into a hole by the top mark. About 40 minutes later around the bottom mark 6 or 8 lead boats passed me. It was a very low point in my sailing career almost making me quit.
Yesterday, in a 4 boat fleet we alomost got lapped, and we are the fastest boat on the lake. We were competing for the lead and sailed maybe 50 feet farther East than the others near us coming into the bottom mark. Last place scooted inside and around the mark getting the last of the dying breeze to take them West again to the freshening breeze. The rest of us stopped. One little puff 10 minutes later freed another boat, but we still sat. We watched the leader go all the way up to the top mark, round it and come most of the way back before we essentiall drifted into a small puff. We were release from our hold just as the leader passed us heading into the mark.
In my youth I would have been utterly frustrated ruining the day, family dinner - everything. Today we laughed about it as it was happening. Age puts everything in perspective.
We ended up winning the next race. And in the afternoon I finished 1, 2, 1 in the MC Scows out of 9 boats. Overall it was a great sailing day. Today is forecast to be light so we'll see what happens.
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That's the kind of air that kept your dad and me smokers...so we could hold up the cigarette and see any wisp of breeze invisible on the water. (Such a sacrifice for the sport.)
ReplyDeleteGlad you've learned to laugh it off. If it's not fun, it's not worth doing.
Mom