Season Finale

Keuka's season was very short this year with a lot of windless weekends followed by hurricane Irene. There was no season racing between week 2 and Labor Day. The result was a lot of creaky bones and not much muscle memory on racing.

Sunday I sailed 2 E-Scow races in the morning. I sailed the second race in the jib man position for the first time on an asymmetrical boat. It was different. It used to be that sitting in first seat was the second most involved person after the skipper. Upwind jib handling drove speed and handling (small rudder era). Downwind working the pole on jibes was physically challenging.

Nowadays, first seat does far less. Downwind was downright boring. I think I'll stick to middle man.

We lost the first race when we tacked away from a trawling fisherman on leg one. We had the right people covered until then. We slipped to second and never got around Bob Cole after that.

Race 2 we were over early but didn't know it was us until 1-2 minutes after the start. We started very far behind. We ended up third after significant catching up.

On shore after sailing we found out the start for MC Scows was moved to 1:30 rather than 2:00. It was tight but I got back to the cottage, ate, launched, and sailed to the course in time. Only 6 boats made the start, and the sequence was messed up. I led off the line and cruised to a 2-lap win.

Race 2 was the first competitive 2-lap race of the year. 10 boats started in 5-15 wind from the South. I started right next to Bob Cole, and simply was faster upwind leading at the top mark by about 5-6 boat lengths. I held that lead and extended a bit on the next 2 legs. The last downwind leg had the pack close up on a puff. I still led but not by as much. I extended a bit on the finish leg to win by about 20 seconds.

Race 3 was time pressured due to the annual meeting. We did a one-lap in lighter air. I led at the top mark again. But I lost that lead downwind when Brent Penwarden simply sailed past me. Around the bottom mark I was right on his transom. But upwind the air got real messy with holes and shifts. I didn't quite pick it right and lost to Brent by 5-6 boat lengths.

Finishes of 1-1-2 meant I ended the season losing 3 races and not sailing one when I took Emily to college. I won the season with half the score of second place.