Sunday was the first club sailing of the year. Memorial Day weekend there was no wind. Last weekend we were away.
The forecast was for diddly squat, something like WNW at 5. Anytime there is a W in the direction at Keuka, drop 5 from the forecast.
The morning South held until Noon when the squat filled in from the WNS. One to 11 knott winds punctuated by 40-70 degree shifts. Somehow 8 boats decided to show up to sail at 2:00. I was sailing my oldest POS sail.
The short one-lap laser-sized course was going to benefit those with good starts and first legs. I nailed the first start in a crowded boat end extending 2-3 lengths right away. The next two 40-degree shifts meant everyone was laying the mark at some point. Being in the right place was critical. I picked them poorly and dropped Bob Cole. We had a cushion on the fleet and played against each other the remainder of the race. On the last leg I dragged him off the wrong way to see if I could escape from below. This let Spencer jenkins in for a well-deserved second place between Cole and me.
With 2 minutes to go in race 2 I was near the boat unable to lay the pin on starboard. I started racing at that point trying to get to the pin. I succeeded in getting almost there, flopped to port with 10 seconds to go and looked to be in great shape. Then the 40-degree shift 10 seconds later knocked me all the way back to reality. I still picked a few shifts cirrectly and approached the top mark ahead. But William Hudson was coming on from the right. I knew I could clear him, right up until another shift and I knew I couldn't clear him. I hate that. I tried to lee bow him but he had tried to duck me. He ran up my transom. I did circles putting me last. I recovered to fourth. William won the race with Cole second.
In race 3 I nailed a boat start, extended, and rounded with a nice lead. The wind went away and the next line of wind brought the fleet down on me. I struggled to stay ahead of the pack winning by only a couple lengths over Bob Cole who recovered from 5th at the last mark.
Finishes of 3, 4, 1 put me a few points behind Cole for the day. I did enjoy the competition. Maybe I sail with this sail all year to be sure to make it interesting!
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I can't say I have too much sympathy for you. You just have one light day with negligible wind. Plus you have a boat that can still leave a wake in 3-5 knots of wind. At least you can friggin' sail. It even sounds like you did well with what you had to work with.
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