2012 Keuka MC Nor'Easterns

For the twelfth year running Keuka Yacht Club in the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York host the Nor’Easterns MC Regatta. 20 Boats competed in moderate, no strike that, let’s call it “interesting” winds.

Friday night rains prevented much of anything other than drinking and playing cards and such. Everyone found their hosts and was tucked into bed pretty early. Saturday morning sailors arrived at the club to see SSW winds at a nice 8-10. Race 1 was scheduled for 10:15. It didn’t quite make that time.

Race 1 – After a delay while the RC chased the clocking breeze to the west, The race got off with Scott Norris and Chris Hawk quickly jumping out to a good lead. The 5-12 mph winds were shifty with 30 degree shifts. It didn’t much matter what kind of boat you sailed as long as you picked the right shifts and sailed toward the next puff. Doing so would make you more gains than subtle boat speed differences. At mark 1, Norris and Hawk had a 15 length lead on the pack chasing them down. Both extended on the leeward making it a 2-boat race. On the windward leg large holes appeared and shift got even wilder. Norris broke cover on Hawk to go another 100 feet or so before tacking which let him extend dramatically and left Hawk in a hole. Stuart Strother  hit the right corner and closed the distance on Hawk eventually narrowly missing third lace at the finish. Norris however had checked out and won by a couple hundred yards. Will Hendershot from Montreal and Matt Newman from Hoovers rounded out the top 5.

Race 2 – The wind continued its clocking to the NW and North but picked up to a good moderate breeze. Race 2 started out eerily similar to race one with Norris and Hawk rounding the top mark in 1, 2. But the fleet was right their heels. On the second windward the wind did a Crazy Ivan splitting the fleet a bit. Norris and Hawk split with Norris right. The right came in and Norris, led the parade of Sean Treacy, Stuart Strother, Chris Craig, Devon Howe and other past all those on the left. Hawk rounded 14th. Norris went on to win again followed by Treacy, Strother, Andre Marcotte, and Hendershot.

But the real story of race 2 was the seamanship of Chris Craig, DNF for the race. We experimented a bit with the course this weekend doing a 2 lap center line course with the line set close to the leeward mark. This limited the need to move the RC boat and pull the 250 feet of anchor line. But this also allowed for almost two full windward legs and a windward finish. It worked out okay. Chris rounded the bottom mark in fifth place with a very very short windward leg to the finish. He had struggled with his borrowed boat getting it tuned right with the bent mast (not possible) and a 5th place would be very good. He trimmed in around the mark, heard a bang, and the boom hit the deck. The forestay shackle broke. But the mast was still standing! The heavily trimmed main forced the boom onto the deck holding up the mast! He was sailing still…sort of. He may still pull out a good finish. But he was below the layline. He lay in the bottom of the boat as much as he could and tried to tack. But the handling was so poor he couldn’t quite pull it. So with the mainsheet cleated he tried to find a replacement shackle and reattach the forestay while “sailing.” The effort was valiant but too late. While holding up the mast with one hand he lowered the sail, repaired the forestay, raised the sail and sailed in for lunch.

At lunch everyone had the same question. Who the heck in Scott “Chuck” Norris?

Race 3 – During the day the wind clocked 180 degrees to the right, then back 60 degrees, all the while oscillating 30 degrees left and right as it clocked. The poor RC continued to struggle. At the start pin end boats could lay the mark on port while boat end boats were 20 degrees lower than that. Norris, Wynkoop, and Bob Cole started at the pin end with Craig and Hawk at the unfavored boat end. Craig banged the right corner, Hawk played the middle and the pin boats layed the mark. Strother and Craig followed. At the top mark Norris rounded first followed by the gang of Hawk, Strother, Craig, Newman, in some unremembered order. These boats battled the whole race with Norris extending a bit, Hawk and Strother picking up on the long windward, and eventually catching Norris. Matt Newman also made large gains. Going into the last mark rounding Norris, Hawk, and Strother were nose to tail. Strother made a great move toward a skewed line to almost win the race but didn’t quite catch Norris. Hawk dropped to 3rd followed by Chris Craig and Matt Newman.

Race 4 – By 4:15 the RC had set and moved more marks than practically the whole season. The course had to yet again be completely moved. The race had a familiar feel. At the top mark Norris rounded first with Wynkoop, Cole and Hawk overlapped behind him.  Treacy, and Craig were close behind. Cole quickly jumped up to second and started chasing Norris. Two legs later he was able to roll over Norris and held on for the win closely followed by Hawk. Bob Wynkoop held off Sean Treacy to round out the top 5.

At the end of day 1 Norris had a seemingly insurmountable lead. The battle was for second with Strother 16 points, Hawk 17, and Treacy 20. Cole was 5th with 31.

Saturday night’s turkey dinner with all the trimmings was spectacular. Sunday with only 2 scheduled races the start was set at 10:00.

Race 5 - At 9:00 there was a beautiful 10-12 South wind. At 10:00 after one recall the entire course had to be moved yet again as the wind shifted. Race 5 was started after the RC decided close enough was fine. The pin end was favored to where boats could lay the mark on port. At the boat you had different wind headed perfectly down the course. The fleet and anyone with any sense started at the pin. Locals Cole, Penwarden, Hawk, and Jenkins among others started at the boat. Hawk took the most extreme angle nearly reaching away from the line of boats streaming off the pin. Local knowledge paid off a bit. The wind did another Crazy Ivan dying out and shifting way right. Cole led at the mark with Hawk, Penwarden, and Strother close behind.  The wind dropped to almost nothing and got weird, or technically weirder. Cole rode a puff and checked out. The fleet scattered all over the lake looking for zephyrs. Chris Craig went and got a miracle puff to pass a dozen or so boats, almost catch Cole and roll into second. Hawk, who rounded mark 1 in 2nd, rounded mark 2 in 16th. Leg 3 had the fleet reaching in East wind. Cole held off Craig to round mark 3 first followed by Strother, and I’m not sure who else because I (Hawk) was now 19th and quite a ways away. A following puff closed up a lot of the fleet into a giant jumble at mark. With 15 boats 4 and 5 wide beating to the short offset many rules were bent and words were had, all in slow motion.

Leg 4 had Cole and Craig battling for the lead. The tight reach had other boats strung out all looking for that puff or clean air. The advantage went to the boats in back who climbed high off the mark, found a building breeze and rolled over those below. The biggest recipient was a trio of Penwarden, Jenkins, and Hawk who went from 16, 17, and 19th place at mark 3 to 3rd, 4th, and 5th at mark 4. On the tiny final leg, Cole parked up at the line, and Craig creeped closer. The miracle trio closed the gap quickly with Hawk catching Jenkins and Penwarden just as Cole found a puff to win with Craig second.

Hawk went from 2nd, to 19th to 3rd to ensure a win over Cole. But the overall places were still up for grabs. Norris and Treacy were deep, drifting along in the pack. But Norris was able to pull out an 11th place to clinch the regatta with Hawk second, 4 points back. Treacy’s 13th put Cole in 4th place overall.

At the awards ceremony I asked for a show of hands. Who was in 5th place or better at some point in race 5? 15 hands went up. Who was in the last 5 places at some point? 12 hands. Who was in BOTH top five and bottom five during the race? 8 Hands went up. As crazy as that is, it was exciting!

So who is Scott Norris? I asked him on the way in from the last race. He was in the area for personal reasons and thought it was time to try an MC-Scow. He borrowed boat 1856, had 4 hours sailing Friday and some phone advice as his preparations. He led every mark for 3 ¾ races and dominated the regatta. He said he has done some Melges 32 sailing, Melges 24, has a J24 and a Laser.

Well I googled Scott. “Some” Melges 32 sailing includes crewing with Harry to take the 2010 Worlds, and crewing for Jason Carroll in his 2012 Nationals win. He got 2nd in the 2008 Melges 24 regatta in Newport, and sailed the worlds in 2008 as crew. In the J24, he crewed to a worlds win in 2005 and is active today. There’s probably a whole lot more out there. These were just the first few hits on Google.  We had fun sailing against him and certainly hope to see him back here again.

Fenton Follies

Two regattas within driving distance this weekend made it a tough decision on what to do. Early this week I looked at the weather forecasts, my wallet, and my to-do list and decided it didn't make sense to go to any regatta this weekend. That lasted about 4 hours. Choosing to do chores versus sail was just plain silly. So I went to get the boat one weeknight and then off to Lake Fenton, Michigan, just south of Flint. I was making good on a promise I made to Chris Craig 2 years ago that I would come.

I drove 7+ hours through driving wind and rain. The furious forecast for the weekend was for LOTS of wind and not much sun or heat. Most forecasts had the wind over 15 and into the 20's at times during the weekend. I packed heavy. I took everything I owned except shorts.

Friday night I arrived about 10:15. I was met by Chris Craig and Richard Blake who immediately put a drink in my hand and kept me up late. The wind howled all night.

Saturday we awoke to 10-18 West. Five skippers didn't show. Let's just say Cam McNeil and Ted Keller tied for 18th place. Boats were rigged and nerves were checked. The skippers meeting was dominated with a giant chalk board showing the Fenton "figure eight" race course. After a few explanations I think I understood it. Yes it is a total of three windward legs and two reaches. I raised my hand and asked how to reach. Welcome to Fenton. Chris offered to lead the way if I liked.

So let me describe this lake. It is short course racing on a lake that has some sticky outy bits that get in the way of the race course. So there may be a leg where there is land between the mark you are going from and the mark you are going to. And there is no downwind. Local knowledge pays big.

I premedicated knowing pain killers were going to be the old man "vitamin" for the weekend. We launched boats and set off to the first race, my first race with any wind this year.

Race 1 - course 14521 (Ovid, NY zip code)

The RC measured a puff of 25 before the start. But it settled down and we sailed. The line was a bit pin favored but the lake was mostly right side favored. With 20 seconds to go I still hadn't decided where to start. The pin was blocked. I screamed across on port below people, found a hole, tacked with like 5 seconds to go and started about 5 boats up from the pin, second row but with clear air. Company around me included the people I wanted to keep an eye on. I dropped the traveller and settled in for a heavy air race. That lasted a minute or so, which I later found was one of the longer puffs.

People started tacking off the the right. I had no clear lane that way so I stayed left. Lucky me got a great left shift and led at the top mark by 30 seconds or so. Where do I go now? How do I reach? I know the basics but how much vang, where should the boards be, boat balance, rudder handling, and pretty much every setting on the boat was all a learning experience.

I wasted most of the lead on leg 2 trying to figure out how to sail. Leg 2 included my first eye opening blasting reach planed off pretty good for 10 seconds or so. Sail number 2524 started passing people and gaining on me. Leg 3 upwind put us up along and under an island and the windward shore. Puffs appear 10 seconds before they hit you. I had no idea what I was doing still, so I followed from in front and somehow held on. Then at mark #5 I had to again figure out how to sail. The leg starts with a deep dive low in a puff, out away from the high trees, then up high through the tree lull, down low again, then hot sailing across the face of the clubhouse point, then down low again to the mark that you can't see until you pass the club. Mysterious 2524 dude had cleared the fleet and was gaining again. He sails like Ted Keller.

At the last mark I rounded and pulled the windward board to see the outer cover of the board release line had broken. It was now only hanging on the inner core, and only part of that. I picked enough shifts right on the last leg to hold on for a win. Really? First? Nowhere to go but down from there. Stuart Strother finished third and Madman Mike Keenan fourth.

I was not the fastest boat. 2524 was (Who IS that man?).

Race 2 - Ovid course again but twice around

I nailed a pin start, caught some good shifts and led at mark 1. I carried that for 3 legs and let Clark slip inside me at the bottom mark at the end of leg 4. Upwind I had to clear my wind left and took it too far. I lost Chris and Pete on that leg to round fourth. Then I lost another on leg 6. I rounded the island mark with Clark and Richard.

I messed with Clark and Richard that leg eventually getting by Clark. I closed some of the distance to Richard just to see him sail this mysterious secret local knowledge path past some tree at the club and scoot below and through me. I was 4 lengths behind him at the last mark. Upwind I split with him and stayed split. At our first cross I ducked, then crossing 2 he ducked, then I ducked. Very close sailing. Then I got out to the right of him and a nice right shift came from nowhere. I ended up fifth. Pete Comfort on 2524 won the race followed closely by Chris Craig, Clark Wade, and Stuart Strother.

The wind had started building again. At lunch I met Pete Comfort (2524), we laughed at Chris with his head bump and watched some real big puffs roll through. After the RC started to leave the dock and had second thoughts we were under postponement. Then a nice rain cell formed north of the lake. I along with others pulled our boats out of the lake just to protect them. I was 10 minutes from sailing if need be. At this point I turned on the weather radio to hear the forecast of 20-30 with gusts to 40.

After the rain cell passed the wind settled down. We scrutinized weather forecasts and models and hatched various plans. One quickly dismissed called for 5:00 dinner with a 7:00 start that night. We came to our senses and the decision was made about 3:00 to cancel for the day. The next start was 9:00 Sunday.

So at the end of day 1, Pete Comfort led with 3 points, I was second with 6, and Chris Craig and Stuart Strother tied with 7.

That afternoon we measured lulls in the 17-18 range with consistent 22-23 wind. During a great steak dinner put on by the Fenton folks, a particularly impressive line of wind came through. It blew over a boat on a lift. It blew over my 1/2 full rum and coke. The RC measured 35 on the upper deck of the clubhouse protected by trees.  It was windy.

Day 2

The early night led to an early morning. I showed up at the club just after 7 to find Chris Craig and Richard Blake already ready to launch. Motivations were high. I didn't have any line to repair my board release. So I prayed and sailed with it.

The wind blew all night. We woke up to 15-17 still from the West. The forecasts were for another building wind day.

Race 3 - Ovid course again, once around

Most of us put on good sails. Right on time we started race 3. The pin end was wide open so I took it. Unfortunately the left did not pay. I was fifth at the top mark. I started my recovery at that point. With just a one-lap race it had to be quick. I was thinking if I could just pick up one or two boats I'm still in this regatta. I was fourth at the next two marks.

I rounded the last mark third but in touch with Pete and Chris. I nailed two tacks and got to the right of the leaders. I picked up a right shift and held it all the way up the lake slipping into the lead. Chris Craig ducked below me and went farther right. It was a very close top three but split with Pete following me on my hip out to the left of the line and Chris to the right. It came down to the last puff and its direction to determine if it was going to be me or Chris winning the race. I got my header and tacked to the line. Chris looked like he had me. Then he lost his mainsheet. I won. Chris crossed just behind me on Starboard to pick off Pete for second. And Pete dropped into third. Richard Blake made it back to fourth after a bad start, and Stuart Strother was fifth.

So now I'm one behind Pete overall, and two ahead of Chris. With two races to go it is anyone's game. The board release is holding, mostly because I'm releasing the board from below deck whenever I can.

Race 4 - Same course

In the prestart I kept tight tabs on Pete and Chris. I ended up lee bowing Chris at the start mid line. He local knowledged it and immediately tacked to go way right. I couldn't follow due to traffic. When I could, it took me awhile to get right. Chris was well ahead of me. I stayed right of the lead pack and slowly picked up distance. At the mark I had to short tack it but ended up still able to just round in the lead. I extended a bit on the next leg as the guys behind jostled a bit.

Then came the island leg. I swore nobody was going to get to my left. And they didn't. Four boats passed me on the right. I dropped one more to sit in sixth for a crossing or two. I picked up two before the mark and ended up rounding with Richard battling for fourth. He won that battle and sailed away taking Clark Wade with him. now I'm in fifth. It takes me most of the leg but I catch Clark. After that there was no getting around Richard. He sat on me until the finish.

Stuart wins the race, Pete second, Richard Blake third, then me, then Clark Wade.

Now with one race to go Pete has a 3 point lead. I also have a 2 point buffer on Stuart who is suddenly a threat, and Chris actually dropped to fourth behind Stuart.

Race 5 - TWICE around Ovid course.

At the start I plow down the starting pin. Richard Blake is also over and follows me around the pin - last place or close to it. We duck 8-10 boats with him still on my tail. I find a tiny gap and shoot through the middle of the line crossing a handful of boats. Richard doesn't make it and has to tack in traffic. I'm all a mess from the fire drill. By the time I'm cleaned up I'm on the right shore. I tack, get lifted, and lay the mark. I round first just ahead of Chris Craig, who tells me he also had to restart! We have a good laugh and we drag race leg 2. I hold him off to round first. On leg 3 I dust off Chris but Clark catches up to me. We round together. I catch a shot that somehow misses him and off I go. I put quite some distance on the pack right behind me. I hold them off for what seems like forever. On leg 8 of 9, I cramp up - no arms left. Constant sheeting has taken its toll. I have 30 seconds or so over Pete in second place. That goes away pretty fast after the last mark as I struggle to trim in the freshening 15-20. I manage to hold him off and win by a very small margin.

I won 3 of 5 races, but lost on points. Pete sailed consistently. Chris dropped to fourth letting Stuart in for third overall.

 1st Pete Comfort     2  1  3  2  2 10.0

 2nd Chris Hawk       1  5  1  4  1 12.0

 3rd Stuart Strother  3  4  5  1  4 17.0

 4th Chris Craig      5  2  2  6  6 21.0

 5th Clark Wade       6  3  6  5  3 23.0

 6th Richard Blake    7  6  4  3  5 25.0

 7th Mike Keenan      4  8  8  7  7 34.0

 8th James Bingham    8  7  7 13  9 44.0

 9th Urs Geiger      11  9  9  8  8 45.0

10th Rick Cyrul      10 11 11  9 11 52.0

11th Doug Wyrwicki    9 13 10 10 12 56.0

12th Mike Casler     13 12 12 11 10 58.0

13th Jack Coleman    15 14 14 10 13 66.0

14th Mike Farney     14 15 13 14dns 74.0

15th Julie Craig     12 10dnsdnsdns 76.0

16th Bill McInnes   D nsDNS 15 15DNF84.0

17th Gerry Fischer  DNSDNS 16 16DNS 86.0

As we are packing up, the wind pipes up even more. Timing was great.

Fenton sailing in a West wind is a mess. There is no rest, no way to catch a breather, no way to take off a sweat shirt. My neck is sore from constantly looking at the sail, the wind, the other boats, back to the wind, the sail, etc. Constant trimming and easing ate up my biceps. For a bunch of old men it was a tough 5 races.

I can check off another place I have seen. The club is great, the people wonderful, and the event should improve with time. I'll be back.

Nationals Review

Day 3 of the national regatta started like the others, a little rain, cold air, and a bit of a hangover. I repeated the prior day's breakfast of champions: Excedrin Migraine, Prilosec, Sudafed, Immodium, and and allergy pill. I threw a diet Pepsi on top of that for good measure.

Race 5 was scheduled at 9:00 AM....really it was. So at 7:45 we crossed the lake to the club by motor boat. The wind was south 5-8 with the typical thermal band in the middle. I stopped and showed Jeff and Zack the "dust devil" type funnels of fog, and explained the thermal and how to sail it.

As race time approached, the thermal started to die. The Race Committee sent us out late after a last gasp of wind tried to show up. It fizzled out to nothing and the regatta was over.

I had a good regatta. I could have had a great regatta with another couple races. I firmly believe I could have picked up another 4 or 5 places overall with even one race. The door was open.

My goal going into the regatta was top 10. My stretch goal was top 5. A few of the names did not show up so finishing 7th was just about right where I expected. I had a really bad race, a bad start with a good race, and two good races all around.

The other goal I had was to become known in this fleet. I think I did that with a couple of the big names now knowing that I was in it to win, not just a local blaze of glory. I won a crap shoot race, but I was also 2nd in a hard fought grind of a race in race 3.

My goal for the year was to end up top 10 in the national rankings. Unfortunately that did not happen. It looks like I am 13th now and may slip a couple more. That is a bummer. I can place that entirely on two races: the last race of Horserace, and the last race of Train Wreck. Those two lost opportunities cost me about 8 places on the overall standings.

This coming weekend I travel to Spring Lake, MI, for the Blue Chip invitational regatta. There should be about 25 of the better sailors in the country there for this one. It will be my 6th regatta of the year, probably be my last regatta of the year.

Crewing

I'm a skipper at heart. I have a competitive streak on the water that is brutal. Not driving drives me crazy.

As many of you know I've sailed with others on E-Scows for the past 10 years or so. The reason is simple - money. To be successful in scows you need to be able to sail the race without concern for equipment, crew, or sails. Money is needed to deal with equipment and sails. I simply had to choose between the priorities of family and sailing.

So I started crewing. First I crewed with someone who needed the help a lot, assuming I would get the satisfaction from helping him win. Driving from the crew spot doesn't work. We had fun but neither of us was satisfied.

Then I chose to crew with the rock star, George Welch, the guy that didn't need my help. I could learn from him. I did too. But I also think he benefited from my help. I got more trophies in the few years with him than all my years on my own. Now he is running into the family/sailing choice and our days are fewer.

Recently I sailed with William Hudson at Keuka for a race. I've sailed with him before. It's always fun. He has a new boat and sails taking that aspect out of the equation. So he can get to the top tier of sailing by building a crew and working on his own game. He's not natural on the sticks but a real hard worker, smart, and motivated. It's a family boat too with wife and kids sailing.

In the one race we sailed, the competition was limited and we did the horizon job on the fleet. It was close for 1 1/2 legs though. William is a typical sailor who over thinks the race. He seems to believe that when he gets close to another boat he has to out sail them. It is a common misconception. The race is not won through moves, but through perseverance. The guy who wins makes the fewest mistakes. Simply keep your eyes on the wind, make good calls and you will end up where you should. It really is as easy as that.

But to get there you need to practice, not tactics, but boat handling. Both the crew and skipper need to understand the skills and limits of the crew. You can't sail these thing anywhere you want. Only when skipper and crew are in synch can you succeed in getting down to the business of tactics.

William will do fine, with moments of glory. His boys will grow into the role. In fact, William, I suspect you will be kicked off your own boat by your boys in less than 5 years.

Crewing has its own rewards. I'm thinking of it as a coaching opportunity now. We'll see how that goes. I'm thinking of it as a caddie for a golf pro. I'm not hitting the shots but I like to think I have something to do with the win.

Of course in MC Scows there is no crew. It's all on my shoulders: boat, sails, and tactics are all on me.

In It To Win It

Successful results are a matter of expectations. Twenty years ago sailing E-scows with no money, intermittent crew, and an old boat meant I had significantly lower expectations. If I could put together a good race, or a couple races in a regatta, I was happy.

In the two yeas and few regattas I have attended I have realized there are not that many guys sailing that I can’t beat. My biggest competitor is myself. If I could stay in a regatta mentally, sail each race to be consistently in the top and not have a bad race I will do very well.

Saratoga is a new stop on the regatta circuit. It is a beautiful lake just North of Albany, NY. Devon Howe and his wife put on a great regatta (i.e. free beer). Looking at the list of entrants going into the event, I was pretty confident this was a winnable regatta. The only person I did not know anything about was Zack Clayton. He used to be a professional for the Melges team. He isn’t a past National Champion but close to that for many years. He was there to put on a clinic Friday for the early attendees, then sail the regatta. My scout told me he was beatable.

The only real downside going into the event was the weather forecast – “calm.” I don’t do as well in the light and variable stuff as many think I do. I can get lucky like anybody else. But it is not my preferred wind.

Race 1 was late Saturday afternoon after waiting for hours for wind. And yes, we started drinking about 1:00, well before sailing. The wind dropped from 3 to 0 at the first start and I was caught well below the line. Luckily the half dozen or so boats at the pin end got caught with a big right shift 30 seconds before and pushed over the skewed line. The general recall was very much welcome.

On the restart I wasn’t going to make the same mistake and ended up touching the line with 30 seconds to go, was called over and had to round the end. The last place start was particularly difficult because this was a short course 1-lap race intended to at least get one in the books. I was 9th at the top mark, 7th at the bottom mark, and climbed to 5th at the finish, less than 20 minutes after the start (someone claimed 11 minutes). Although it was a poor finish in a regatta this size, it was a race I could be proud of.

Race 2 was much better. The wind came up a bit but it was still very light. I port tacked the fleet to win the start and led at the top mark. Brent Gillette passed me downwind, and I lost another boat on the last windward to finish 3rd.

In race 3 the wind finally came up to a tolerable level, maybe 6 to 8. The course was longer and square. I hit the line nicely at the start and rolled the boat below me. Unfortunately that boat decided to tack behind me. He went bow down to separate, then tacked. Unfortunately he misjudged. I was sitting on the low side when his bow hit me squarely in the back.

I stayed on the boat, recovered, and found myself in the lee of Zack Clayton. I tacked away to clear. By the time I was back in phase of the shifts I was about 4th at the top mark. Downwind I picked up a boat. On the next leg I picked up another and Zack and I pulled away from the fleet a bit. The last 2 legs were fun. Zack sailed the leg like a C Scow reaching more than running. I sailed right at the mark and close the gap to zero. He had the inside at the mark. I rounded up behind him and pinched to get above and behind him losing 3 lengths in the process. But I was on a layline for the boat and he had to tack. When he came across I was close enough to just duck his stern. He flopped onto port a second later just above me and accelerated just enough to beat me at the line by a foot.

At the end of day 1 I was tied for second with 10 points, 3 points out of first.

Dinner was great. I’ll have to tell you about the euchre games that night later. Let’s say it was raucous.

Day 2 8:00 in the morning had winds bordering on white caps. I was psyched. This was my wind. I could handle this fleet in this.

Race 4 start was clean. I didn’t lead at the top mark. I was behind Zack. But downwind I closed that gap and gained the inside overlap at the bottom mark to pass him there. Upwind he tacked left and I went right. I gained a lot of distance there and went on to cruise to a win.

So going into the final race, I had 3 points on Brent Gillette and 4 points on Will Hendershot. All I had to do was just do a reasonable race to win the regatta, probably 5th or better.
Race 5 was delayed a bit to adjust the course. During the delay I watched the wind slowly fade. The start was light. I started fine, and was in the lead pack at the top mark. Downwind I held my own and took the lead on the next leg. Half way up that leg I saw that Will Hendershot was way left. I still had a long distance over him but decided Zack wasn’t my race, Will was. I tacked to go cover him. That tack put me out of phase, in lighter air and lost me a couple places. I rounded the top mark right between the two boats I was competing against.

Downwind the air got really light. Will went way right and I stayed with the fleet left. Will rounded the bottom mark second behind Zack. Brent rounded 3rd and I was 5th. If it stayed this was I won the tie breaker and won the regatta. But the boat right on top of me stayed right on top of me. Getting free took half the leg and put me on the unfavored side. I watched as I slipped to 6th, then 7th. Will beat Zack to the line to win the race and the regatta. Brent finished 3rd putting him in 2nd overall and I slipped to 3rd.

The frustration level was high. I sailed myself out of a win. I blew it. Yes it was light and not my conditions. But I had it won and made the bad choice.

The 4 hour drive home, and the hour and a half cleaning and repacking the boat were spent stewing. Even today I’m kicking myself. It was not a major regatta. But I still really wanted to win. My perspective is skewed heavily now to winning and losing as opposed to placing well. Do I need to adjust that perspective? Or did I never win in the past because I was resigned to being happy with “good” results? I’ll have to mull that over for a few days.

Brent Gillette sailed a great regatta, the best he has so far. Will did well winning his first ever regatta. As bad as I felt, he was flying high with a great come back. Even Zack did well to get 4th in a borrowed boat with a spent sail.

Camaraderie was good. I made friends (I hope). The lake was a great lake to sail.

I’ll be back.

Season Opener

Ten boats on the line! It was a delayed start while the fleet had a meeting. We only got in three races. Before the first race in South 5-10 winds, I did some speed testing with Brent Gillette. We did essentially one lap. I can tell you he is fast.

Race 1 started well enough. Off the line I went left with Brent Gillette. We rounded first and second. I picked him up downwind and went on to win.

Race 2 was more challenging. The wind was getting light and spotty. My start was lame but ok. I went left again, contrary to typical local conditions. I rounded something like fifth, picked up a couple downwind, and charged on the final leg to just miss getting second, ending up third. Brent Penwarden with his son on board won the race.

Race 3 showed an obvious right favor. I won the boat and immediately tacked. then was called over. I restarted by looping around the boat and stuck with my plan to go right. I got lucky that others wanting to go right got forced left. I rounded second just behind Sean Tracey. Going into the top mark I decided I wanted the West side going downwind so I set up to jibe the windward mark. I spun hard to get inside Sean. I picked him up downwind rounding the bottom mark first. I went way West and actually overstood the finish badly due to a shift. Regardless I won the race.

Monday the wind never came up so there were no races. I finished putting a roof on the porch.

So the coolest part of the day Sunday was that there were a number of crews out there. We also had a newbie, E-Scow sailor William Hudson. He did well for his first races in the boat. I certainly do look forward to more crowded starts.

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.

Leading After Day 1

It has been many years since I led a regatta after day 1. I have 5 points in three races, finishes of 3, 1, 1. Second place is the guy that beat me in the first race. He has 10 points. Behind him there are a few people within a point or two.

The wind was 5 to 18 with more 5 and 18 than 10 to 12. It was a challenge with a small shifty lake.

Tomorrow I need to have one good race out of two. One finish in the top 3 should put the regatta away.

What a weird feeling. With a throwout there may be no need for me to sail the last race.

Although I won 2 races today, it was not easy. There are a bunch of people that could win races here. But I won the pin in each of 4 starts (including a racall) and stayed up front a lot. It helps avoid the crowds when you start well. In the first race I even tried to port tack the fleet. I had to duck 3 boats but made a good move with the start.

Tomorrow I just need to stay agressive and finish what I started.

Nor'Easterns - Third Overall

All I had to do today was pick up one point to capture third. I ended up with finishes of 3, 1, and who cares. I'll explain in a minute.

The forecast was bad again, zero to nothing from nowhere. So the powers decided to have a 7:00 harbor gun and an 8:00 start to take advantage of the morning thermal breeze. The roosters weren't up yet at 6:30 when I rolled out of bed. Let's just say the rum was barely worn off. And my migraine I got Friday afternoon was still lingering around too.

We dragged the boat over to the club about 7:15 and hit the starting area about 7:45. The wind was a perfect thermal with hints of East in the 8-12 South. The course was short so starts were going to be key.

Race 4 was my tone setter. I needed a good race to solidify third. I started left center in clear air rolling over Bob Cole with the tracks down and bow down. I banged a left corner and came back to the top mark third, I think. Downwind I tried all the new tricks I teased out of people the night before. I lost a boat. Progress. On the long upwind I moved up to third about 45 seconds out of first and about three boat lengths over fourth.

So downwind I'm in third covering fourth with the two hotshots battling for the regatta win battling for the race win. I find the person I have to beat to get third overall is deep in the pack. I start doing score calculations and realize there is not much chance at getting second for the regatta. So I cover. I lose 3 of the 4 boat lengths lead over 4th and round 3rd with control over the guy behind me. He tacks to clear. I wait until I get a shift then tack to cover. I gained 10 lengths on him, and closed some on the leaders. So I decide to sail for the win. I break right playing the shifts while the leaders play with each other. I ended up cutting the gap in half and extending significantly over 4th.

Now I'm comfortable in my score, pretty well locked in third place. So I decide to be a bit more conservative at the start. The boat is favored and crowded so I opt for the 2/3 down the line. I get buried, second row. The PITS! I blew it. I tacked over to port to clear. Miracles do happen - nobody tacks on top of me. My air clears and I start working the boat not even looking at the fleet behind me. Ten minutes of intense boat speed work squeezing every inch out of the boat later, I round the top mark in third place. Downwind I - wait for it - no seriously you have to wait for it - I mean we need a drum roll here - I lose one boat but PICK UP TWO BOATS, one of which was the eventual regatta winner Rob Seidelmann. Yes I gained places for the first time in the entire regatta downwind.

I round the bottom mark second. The pass upwind was hard. We both came off the bottom mark headed for the West shore, the best wind on the lake. The first people West would have an advantage, at least that is what I learned over my 30 years sailing this lake. I held my own climbing up on his hip, about 10 feet left of his line and 2 lengths back. I gain speed and close one of those lengths. But with a long ways to go we got headed and I dropped right into his backwind. I tacked and he continued West. I played 2 more shifts and when I finally went back West to meet him I was able to just barely tack under his bow in a safe leeward. That dusted him off me stern for the remainder of the leg. I rounded first.

So now I'm positively giddy! I have 5 or 6 lengths lead on him and a long way on the fleet. The worst case scenario now is second place. This is where my butt starts to pucker, my stomach ties itself up, and for some reason no position I sit in is comfortable. Relax. Breathe. I stare at second place. I don't even care where I'm going. I am parking my boat between him and the mark regardless. OK how do I relax? I need to settle down. I'm in control of a race win but not myself.

Now some of you are saying "Seriously? It's a local 20-boat regatta. Get a grip." Agreed. I was gripless though. I know my sailing skills I know where they fail. Any reader of this blog knows I suck downwind in these overgrown Lasers. Winning a race, beating Skip Moorehouse and Rob Seidelmann in a fair clean race with medium wind is a big deal. It's not a fluke wind, not luck related.

We gybe for the bottom mark. I maintain and even extend a little, then lose a chunk of the lead. I still have three or four lengths at the bottom mark. I lead us both West, tack for a layline to the boat and he tacks 20 seconds later. I get headed but carry on. I make one more tack for the finish crossing his bow by 1 length. I win the race.

Now I have to be cool not to stay in control of the race, but because I am cool.

Race six. I did the math. This race brings in a throwout. So I have a 7 to dispose of. If I do better than 7 I gain the difference between that and my finish. Fourth place can't beat me I have third locked. Now Skip Moorehouse is in second. He is six points ahead. If I win the race and he does worse than his worst race of 4th then his 4 counts and we tie. But he wins on tie breakers. So I can't win and can't lose. I could do like Rob Seidelmann did and sail to shore. He locked up the regatta after 5 races. But I decided to sail.

I started middle. Brent tried to roll over the top of me at the start. I should have hit him and made him do circles. But the gun went off and I was second row, stopped. Race 5 start was bad, this was worse. I tack to port to clear and yet again nobody covers me. This time I am first to the top mark but overlapped. Bob Cole rolls me at the offset so I jibe out to get rolled by Brent Gillette. Incidentally, Keuka had all top five positions in the race for that mark rounding.

Brent G and I go West. He is a tiny thing, maybe 150 pounds wet. He rolls me and keeps going. I pace him but can't keep up. When we gybe for the bottom mark I am 1 length behind him. The pack though is bearing down on us. He scoots off on some personal puff and I get rolled by the fleet. Seriously almost the whole fleet. I went from first to 11th on one leg. At the bottom mark I get pinwheeled on the outside, buried in between boats and stuck. I also was hit by Brent P on the outside. He went on to take 5th in the race without me making him do circles AGAIN.

The fleet marches West. There standing on the end of the main dock with a beer in one hand yelling at us is Rob Seidelmann. It was funny. We all overstand the layline and it is just a follow-the-leader all the way. Brent Gillette, who was right with me before I got rolled is leading the race. I round 9th. There is no chance of winning and no chance of losing. I kick my feet up sail straight down the lake, whistle, stand up, stretch, watch motor boats, fart, scratch..... From the guy passing me a couple hundred feet to my left I hear "Oh how the mighty have fallen." Whatever.

At the bottom mark I was 11th. The West is obviously the way to go. The leaders are on a big right. I go East. I don't hike, don't do much of anything. I picked up two boats, almost picked up two more. Final race finish was ninth. Regatta finish was third, all alone, solidly, with nobody in striking distance in front or behind me.

Overall I did as I expected, probably my best. If I had done a few things differently I could have scored lower. But I don't think I could have caught Rob or Skip. I have lots of learning still to do.

I helped people pack, ate lunch, got my trophy and bottle of wine, shook lots of hands with my new friends and towed my boat home. It felt good. Really good. When the scores are posted at www.mcscow.org I'll post a link.

Next regatta is Cowan Lake, OH, the first weekend in October. No Blue Chips for me this year.

OK, off to work on my sore legs, back, knees, and band aid my flesh wounds.

Nor'Easterns Regatta Day 1

The forecasts was bad. Most forecasts showed 3-5 Southwest. On this lake that means no wind. But this morning at 3:30 I awoke to waves lapping the shore. By 8:00 there were white caps. At race time there was still a pretty good breeze.

Julie towed the boat over to the club. I registered and met the sailors. Let's say I feel thinner and younger now. This is not the young fit crowd.

On the way out to the start my vang shackle fails. I replace it with the crew hiking strap shackle.

Twenty boats on the line. I get a middle line start, clean and fast. In minutes I am looking back at the boats around me. Wow! Pretty cool! In fact with the exception of one boat, there is nobody near me. I cross that boat. Rob Seidelmann. I looked him up. He won the Midwinters, and always places high. He is the hotshot. I cross him but he's on a layline. After my tack he has the inside at the mark. But wow! We have maybe 200 feet on the rest of the fleet.

Downwind he walks away from me. We round the bottom mark still with quite a lead over the fleet but I am 6 or 7 lengths back. We start the long port tack to the West shore. I hold my own. He bails out early and I go deep West. When we reconverge he is 1 length ahead. Then he walks away from me on the layline to the mark.

Downwind he walks away from me. Around the bottom mark he is 8 or 9 lengths ahead. He covers, I cover Skip Moorehouse. Race over.

Race 2 I nail the start, third to the top mark.

Downwind they walk away from me. I lose 4 boats. (A theme is developing)

Upwind I regain them all and close the gap. Downwind they walk away from me. I regain them and close the gap picking off a few boats on the last leg to get fourth. Skip Moorehouse wins, Rob third.

At lunch Rob tells me I am very fast upwind, higher and faster than him. OK I can go home now. I got my $60 registration's worth.

Race 3 after lunch is in a LOT more boat chop and a LOT less wind. I nail the start, but so did Rob. Skip and I go left, Rob right. At one point I thought I had the leg won but Rob recovers and leads the fleet on a big right shift to the top mark. I am coming into the pack on port. Not goo. I flop early, bow down for speed to get left for maybe 30 seconds, then tack on a header to reapproach the pack. I made up 3 lengths, just enough to lee bow the lead boat. I rounded third.

The person who was in 4th or 5th just behind me unfortunately got hosed. He ended up hitting the mark and fouling a number of people eventually rounding near last. If I were 1/2 boat length farther back I too would have not been able to make the mark and lost the entire pack. As it was I cleared the mark by inches.

Downwind they walked away from me. I lost 4 or 6 boats.

Upwind I go right, make it all the way to shore, play the shore breeze (hiking out) and pick up enough boats to round 4th. I round the bottom mark 9th. I pick up three boats then break a board line. On the last tack to consolidate 6th I can't lose my speed and lose the place by inches.

Brent Gillette went from fatal deep at the first mark to second place in that race.

I an in fourth place, one point out of third and five points ahead of fifth.

Really Big Wow

Yesterday was a perfect wind blowing stink from the South. The graph here shows the story with gusts into the low 20's. Reaching hard for a speed run, the outhaul let go.

Unfortunately that is not my story, it is that of my lovely wife sailing her Sunfish. I took the day to build a 12X20 section of dock to extend our pier out into the lake. Julie thoroughly enjoyed her day lounging in the sun and yes, sailing the Sunfish. It's good, because if she went the full year without sailing it, I was going to sell it.

Today is scheduled sailing. We have light winds from the South, rain, and a scheduled family gully climb. So who knows if I will even sail.

Friday evening I went to the yacht club to attend a memorial service for Brent Penwarden II, father of one of my best friends. It was my kind of ceremony, 3 hours of drinking with a 5 minute ceremony. While I was there I checked out the season standings. Through16 races I have 18 points after three throw-out races. Second place has 42 points. There are only three weeks left in the season with a regatta in the middle.

Between pre-season's racing with about a dozen races, and the 16 I have sailed season to date, I have sailed more races this year than any year previously. Very cool.

I also got a confirmation from another person that he will be purchasing an MC Scow. A couple more and hopefully we hit the critical mass where it becomes the fleet to join. I'd love to see a dozen on the line each Sunday.

A Question to Answer

There must be more than just my family reading this now. I got a question.

Q: Where are you in the standings now?

A: I'm not keeping track specifically. But last weekend I saw standings that were stale by a week or so. In that I was 5 points ahead after throw outs. Since then I have extended some. But I don't have anything locked up or anything.

The real question is how I would stack up outside out fleet. And that I still do not know. And it looks like schedules simply won't permit me to find out this year.

No Excuses Anymore - But I Can Find A Few More

Finishes today of 1, 1, 2, 3, 2. Nine points in 5 races with only 5 boats is not really a good day.

Race one was a charm. The wind was up, maybe 12-18 mph. Knowing I needed to crack off hard to stay upright, I chose to be the left most boat. I think I have the heavy wind dialed in now. I sailed it like a finn, tracked WAY down (loose at times), over trimmed, no vang. The boom drive the mast forward hard making the sail flatten right out. Outhaul and cunningham are still a mystery. I took the outhaul to the tape (max) and cunningham about half the cloth. It looked like there was a reef in the sail with a whole lot folded up at the base. But it was fast. I walked up, got room to tack first, actually overstood the mark. I was first by a load and just cruised the rest of the race.

Race 2 was starting to show holes in the wind. I did the exact same start and first leg to lead again. It wasn't as much of a lead but it was enough. So after two races I'm feeling pretty good. But every time I think about seeing a sweep day (my gaol now) I blow it. This was no different.

Next race I led to the leeward mark with only Brent right behind me after Sean did a spectacular death roll half way down the leg. Brent tacked left upwind on the last leg. I covered. We both sailed the wrong way, but had plenty of distance to burn. Unfortunately we burned too much. I finished second when Brent G went right and caught a nice shift.

I screwed up the start of race 4 and was 5 seconds late at the boat. Brent P split right and found a nice wind. I tacked under him on the layline, but had to tack 2 lengths short of him to stay in clear air. I didn't make the mark. I rounded 2nd, then lost Steve downwind. I closed to 20 seconds at the bottom mark still saying to myself the race wasn't over. They went left to play with each other, I went right and proceeded to turn the 20 seconds into 2 minutes. Oh well.

Last race was time to redeem myself. I went left off the start, tacked quickly on a header and crossed the others. But Brent P went right off the start. We came together with me ducking him this time and tacking after I crossed. We got to the top mark 1 length ahead of me. Downwind I lost ground on him, frustratingly. Trying anything at the bottom didn't help. Finishes were set.

I won the day, but there were lots of issues. I replayed everything in my head on the long sail downwind to the cottage. Weeds on the rudder for 2 races - CHECK OFTEN you loser (me). The sail...when the air lightened up it was miserable. Shape was impossible to get. It is now off the b oat. I think I will switch to the new sail for the next couple weeks. Tell tales - they were useless. The bailing twine lasted a couple months but it is dead now. I need to load up the sail and the stays with real tell tales.

But the real issue was between my ears. Sail the wind. Stop pulling moves that are stupid. Extend. Close the gap. Whatever. Quit pulling a Spear move when losing.

I also took a chunk out of the deck today when I had to run back inside for my watch. The dock was merciless.

The family was at Buffalo Bills Stadium watching DCA competition. I could be there with friends and family. Why do I sail?

Too Hot to Sail

Monday was miserable. Due to conflicts George did not sail the morning. It took every motivation I had to get off the hammock and rig the MC. Temps were in the mid 90's, winds were in the 0-5 range with moments of 10 and 60 degree shifts. Fouth of July boat traffic created a chop tank too. Luckily the race course was TINY. I'd measure the windward leg in yards not miles. It was typical of a Jr. Sialing Laser course from years gone by.

After the long miserable sail out to the first start I had drained all my water. Start 1 was right favored at 3 minutes to go but heavily left favored at the start. I started at the boat and tacked quickly but still found myself in fourth at the top mark. While they sailed high to stay East I sailed low straight at the mark. I rounded 1 boat length in front while all four other boats rounded together behind me. Their mess allowed me to scoot away for the win.

Race 2 was even lighter. I found tiny slivers of wind to get around the top first. As soon as I rounded the wind died. We drifted in 0-1 from nowhere for a leg plus a bit. When the wind filled in I was stil ahead and got it first. After the win we decided to use what little wind was left to sail home.

Final finished for the weekend: last, first, first, second, first, first, first. I wish it were like figure skating where the high and low scores were dropped. Oh well.

I drank most of the lake, used half a bottle of sunscreen, and still feel like I was cooked all weekend. Not too much fun.

Pleasant Sailing

Sunday racing turned out to be some of the most pleasant sailing there could be. Morning rains and afternoon clouds kept all but the most foolish motor boats off the lake. The wind was North blowing 8-10 with gusts to 12, shifting only slightly, maybe 5 degree shifts as the big ones.

I was late to the start because I was giving away my E-Scow. I actually still get a bit choked up thinking about it. But the family that got it will use it a whole lot more than I do now.

There were 4 races but I had to leave after 3 due to time constraints. For the first time I started to feel the boat perform a little bit for me. It takes a lot of concentration but I'm getting there. It's not habit like in a laser where I can sail by feel while I concentrated on other things. But I could get the speed when I needed to.

In the first two races I tried to mix it up at the start. With only 4 boats it is hard to create a crowded line. But I was able to do it a bit and got a couple nice clean starts. Only a couple bad tacks, one of which forced me to protect the layline to keep the lead. Downwind I tried a few things. I'm not comfortable with where my safe wind lines are yet, where the shadow is from trailing boats. I played a bit trying to put myself in a shadow and feel it on my neck. The wind was so steady that there wasn't going to be much other opportunity ever to do this. I learned some.

Race 1 last windward Brent P tacking dueled me. But he wasn't close enough to really impact the result. Race 2 I won by a clear margin, maybe a minute.

Race 3 I started on the unfavored end alone, and concentrated only on boat speed, decided to one-tack the mark and actually tacked slightly late. I learned that centered traveller is slow, but small movements in it make a big difference. The speed was enough to get me to the top mark first and I held that to the finish.

Leaving race 4 to the other three boats was tough. But I had an extra kid that I had to take home by dinner time. If my mental calculations are good, I'm still in front from a scoring standpoint. but I really need to sail against a few other people to know if I am making progress.

I sure do enjoy this boat though. Downwind is hot and slow, but also my biggest challenge.

Priorities - Screwing Over Sailing

It's not often that you get to write about how proud as a parent I am of my teenage children's screwing abilities. But this weekend they and many other friends and family screwed 1300 or so deck screws to create our new deck on the cottage. The deck is done. Now we have to see about the roof for it. But that's another story.

The lumber was delivered Friday afternoon and by Saturday we had most of the deck done. Many hands make light work. Of course there were many other saying this weekend like "It's all fun and games until somebody loses a testicle." An building the deck was not the only thing I had to do.

The lake is something like 70 degrees, as long as you stay right at the surface. The air was into the 80's, but unfortunately not really moving. Sailing was scheduled for Sunday and Monday mornings for E-Scows, and afternoons for MC-Scows. In order to screw as much as possible (the pun never gets old), I bailed on the mornings and just sailed afternoons. This was also the first test of the plan to take the MC straight from the lift to the race.

Sunday morning I ate breakfast out with the family (new concept when not sailing in the morning), drove 90 minutes round trip to Lowes for the last deck bits, went to a birthday party until Noon, and then started the MC launch. Having not been sailed since Florida I suspected I needed time to rig and launch. Sure enough launch included pulling out covers and trailing gear from the boat, and tipping it over at the dock to attach a halyard. It was blowing a nice 6-8 from the Northeast and I was itching to go sailing, an itch I hadn't yet been able to properly scratch yet this year.

So off I go sailing for the starting area. Nobody was out so I sailed toward the club. I got half way across the lake and the wind collapsed totally. A quick tow from a friend to the club revealed no sailing due to no wind. I ate, drank, and did the non-sailing part of being a sailor for an hour or so, then sailed home in the late afternoon breeze.

On the way home I tried a few roll tacks. The first attempt put the tiller extension into my pocket, knocking me down and nearly capsizing the boat. OK, back to basics. I need boat time to simply do lots of maneuvers. As of right now I feel like the kid that took all the Jr. Sailing lessons, got onto his first Laser and capsized at the dock.

After I got home I put the MC on the lift which promptly broke. I left it precariously perched over night.

Monday I was alone at the cottage. The lift repair took the better part of three hours to remanufacture a leg. It was pushing 1:00 when I finally got the MC under tow (little or no wind) to the club. The 1:30 start was going to be tight. But the morning sailing at the club went long and they delayed the start until 2:00. But it looked like we really were going to have a race! Finally some local racing in my own boat.

2:00 - pre race sailing against Steve. One lap. Steve walked away from me on speed upwind. I caught him downwind by splitting left, got the inside at the mark and pulled away. After circling back to fall behind a bit we started a small tacking duel. This was great because neither of us had much boat time.

Race 1 - 5 boats, 1 lap. Big lefty right before the start. I port tacked the "fleet" starting with a 5-6 boat length lead. I blew that quickly and struggled to lead at the top mark by 1 length over Brent P. He passed me downwind leading at the bottom mark by 2 lengths. I engaged him 1/2 way up the leg with a 8 or 10 tack duel. I got around him, but lost Bob Meyer to the right. A lot of boat speed work later I caught Bob with 100 yards to go. One race, 1 win.

Race 2 - same 5 boats. Still a left favor and lots of room at the pin. But I read my watch wrong and hit my run 10 seconds early. That meant ducking 2 boats to find a hole mid line on Port. The better air was left though. I "Z" legged it left and ended up pretty far back in third at the top mark. Downwind I quickly split West and found a really cool shot. I think I surged pretty far ahead. Time to go consolidate. Then I blew the jibe and lost it all and came back into the fleet in a pack. I had the inside at the mark but was dead slow. Steve scooted around first, then a pack of us (60% of the fleet is a "pack") demolition derbied it around the mark. I proceeded to sail half the leg with both boards down (very slow, like dragging a foot). Still I managed to hold off the pack to follow Steve into the finish. Steve gets his first win in his recently purchased MC.

Race 3 - square line and wind. Starboard start at the boat well timed. Little wind and less patience. I didn't do well settling in and concentrating. Third at the top, well behind. Brent G led, Brent P second, then me. Brent P hates slow light air downwind. I worked on concentration, speed, smooth rudder work and actually passed Brent P on speed. I take Brent G's transom on Starboard, split right staying higher and faster than him. But I over stand the bottom mark losing any gains. Brent G still 3 lengths ahead at the bottom mark. A few tacks in the motor boat chop and I realize I'm too far back to get around him that way. I see new wind WAY off the the left. The only chance is to go left and hope he splits right keeping on the current wind line. We split, he extends. I'm about 15 lengths back when I finally get the new wind on the left. Direction is not what I needed for an easy win. We come back together within inches of each other just 100 feet short of the line. The last 100 feet is intense. I'm doing all I can to drive down over him and he is doing all he can to drive up under me. Whoever has the lead when we get together will backwind the other just enough to win the race. This time it happened to be me. Race 3, win 2.

Analysis of the day was that I would not hold my own in any big fleet. The starts were dodgy at best. Boat speed was good upwind, very poor downwind. Boat handling was a total fail. Wind reading and tactics were OK. When the two or three other hot shots get sailing, it will be even harder to find a win. I'll take them while I can though.

I Need a Bigger Garage

2700 miles for 2 races seems a bit much. After working in Jacksonville for a couple days I made my way home. First was a short hop to see my Dad in South Carolina. Then I tacked to Port on Thursday and banged the left corner in Charleston, West Virginia. This let me avoid the nightmare that was the I-95 corridor in the Northeast. Then Friday morning I tack to Starboard again and sail up through Pittsburgh to home in Victor, NY.

Saturday morning I took the salt-caked boat to the car wash. The hand sprayer thing did a nice job knocking all the crud off the boat and trailer. But at 19 degrees, the remaining water on the boat and spar froze solid pretty quickly. So the boat is in the garage melting and drying now. I figure another week of that before I pack it away for a couple months.

The next job is to get in shape. And I mean some other shape than round. The goal is to drop 15 pounds and regain some stamina in the next 2 months. In the meantime, I will shift my priorities over to the kids and indoor drumline.

Pain

Saturday I sailed for maybe 1 1/2 hours, and SUnday we were on the water for only about 4 1/2 hours. Why do I feel like I just ran a marathon uphill while getting pummelled with rocks?

OK, the three real sore spots on my head I get. Two on top and one sore ear are all good solid whacks in the head with the boom.

The swolen knee, beats me. The sore butt, yeah it hasn't hiked out in awhile. The sore pecs, arms, back, thighs, calves, ankles, definitely a result of a year or so of no workouts. I take that back, I did work out once, sort of.

I'm feeling old.

First Regatta is an Eye Opener

The Train Wreck regatta is in the books. Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't allow us to complete more than 2 races.

The day started with tempatures in the 40's, and winds in the upper teens. The direction had shifted to Northwest making the wind offshore and much more tolerable while on shore. We started drinking early Saturday so the party was over by 9:30 or so. Plenty of sleep still didn't help the aches and pains from the prior day's aborted race. We found out we sailed in 23-25 and it piped up to over 30 as we tried to get boats out of the water. It remained 25-35 all day.

The first race I had a second row start but was able to immediately clear my air. I played the major shifts and struggled to find the groove in this cute little boat. It was an eye-opener when I was able to both pass the hot shots and get passed by not-so-hot shots. Shifting gears was tough. I was working the boat like an E-Scow, over trimming the vang, cunningham, and outhaul. Then over loosening all as well.

I rounded in the top 10, lost a couple downwind (I don't know how to go fast there yet), and pretty much picked up afew upwind and lost them downwind. I finished 10th ahead of a couple people that doubted I would be able to hang with the big boys.

It was so cold my exposed skin was purple with white splotched. I simply do not have the gear for the cold. On the way back down to the finish I relaxed to try to save my energy for two more races. Of course I then got colder. By the start I was uncontrolably shivering at times. But the workout helped.

Unfortunately the start was bad, again. I cleared by was driven where I did not want to go. I rounded the top mark about 15th. At the mark my board did not go down and my mainsheet knotted. I was able to get the board down before I hit the mark. But the knot meant I lost a lot of time and position. Through the entire day, I lost probably 15 boats on simple boat handling issues. Many I could regain when back in control. But I ended up 20th in the second race, a very poor showing. The third and final race was my last chance to break the top ten, which was my goal.

The sun came out, the wind got shifty, the Race Committee did their best but the deadline came and went with no start. So I ended up 13th overall out of something like 32 boats. Not as good as I wanted, but I got noticed.

I have ridiculous aches and pains. I need to lose more weight and do a LOT to get in shape. I met a lot of great people, made some new friends, and now have my new boat in the parking lot of the hotel.

Mile 1490 complete. 1250 miles to go until I'm home. Three days of work here in Jacksonville might allow me to recover enough before hitting the road home Thursday.

pic 1: Who needs a cover!

pic 2 & 3: packed up..

Chicken Jibe

This morning looked quite promising except for the forecast. The wind was definitely blowing hard. The question was if it would stay below thresholds until after racing.

Sailing out to the start I was testing my abilities. It was more wind than I could handle. The only people that seemed to be OK were those that picked up a crew member and were pretty close to the limits on weight, near 300 pounds. Even they were having trouble.

I used an old trick and started on port at the boat. In heavy air boats tend to overshoot and slide down the line. Sure enough there was a good hole. I sailed to the right then tacked on a header to cover the fleet. Sounds like a normal description of a good start.

Really what happened was I was in a good sequence for a mid line start. But when I tacked I smacked my head with the boom so hard I saw stars. Glasses were gone. As I wondered if I was dead, the boat took off. When I recovered I was 20 seconds from the start and third row. I baled on that, circled around and looked for a hole to my right. Off I went to the right.

The race started in 16 to 18 mph wind with gusts higher. Survival was paramount. Don't break the boat, don't break the body, and don't break anyone else's boat or person. I succeeded in that. As I tacked to a layline though I pulled the vang tail through the mainsheet block which successfully uncleated the vang and locked up the mainsheet. I survived but the recovery took me below a layline and out of line. A 10-15 position went to 20 pretty fast. Plus it was easily now blowing 22-24.

Around the top mark I immediately picked up two boat as I launched into a plane. I was flying faster than any darn Laser could go. I was dodging and weaving, keeping the bow up, driving down in the flats. Then I hit a launcher that put me maybe 2/3 airborne. Very cool! Except when I landed I stuffed the bow big time. The wall of water was about 8 inches up my mast. I couldn't see any of the bow. The boat stopped dead.

There are three things that can happen. 1) the boat resurfaces and off you go, 2) the boat pitches forward like going over the handlebars of a bike and flips, 3) the bow shoots out sideways and you flip. There was the looooongest one tenth of a second while the boat decided what to do (no control from my perspective). It couldn't decide to pitch pole or float. So it just stood on its nose. Eventually it settled backwards and I shot off again like a bullet.

I was gaining like mad! Boats were flipping left and right. If I survived I would be about 10th at the bottom mark. Boats ahead were flipping like mad. Each one that tried to jibe ended up in trouble. Only one chicken jibed.

I stuffed it again. Same result. The 8 inches of water in my boat may have kept me from losing it that time. It all sloshed back into the cockpit when the boat took off. Oh look! My glasses. Spray and waves were coming in faster than the bailers would drain them out.

OK, ready to jibe. I make the move. No go. I can't pull hard enough. Chicken jibe. no problem.

"Cancelled! Head in!" shouts from the passing committee boat.

Crap.

On the way in I collect 2 paddles that were lost by capsized boats. After I dock, the wind picks up even more. It is 2 hours before all the capsized boats are recovered. The wind picks up more. Steady 28-30 lasted for the rest of the day.
pic 1: Still a few boats being recovered.

pic 2: Too rough to drag dry.

pic 3: Hold a paddle with 2 fingertips as a wind sock.

pic 4: The only way to come in sometimes.