The Bird Likes the Breeze

Well, it was a battle.  I finished the race tired, wrung out, and not happy about the way I drove.  Despite my best efforts to throw the race in the last few tacks, the crew and the boat did great.  We had a good start, wanted the boat end and got it with clear air and a nice lane.  Off the wind we sailed deep.  Maybe too deep, according to some of our competition (that'd be Chris Winnard, who beat us to the leeward mark.)  We worked hard to catch waves and surf ahead of Tahlequah, and then boat speed picked up a little.  But it was hard work and boats were wiping out all around us.  No panic on Kotuku, and even a few smiles.  Pretty stoic bunch.  GPS speeds were 9-12 knots for most of the ride down, and we still rounded the halfway point 4th in our class of 15.  These are fast boats we race against, and Dos, Different Drummer, and Karma were all flying downwind.

As we got close to the buoy at Whidbey we could see chaos everywhere.  Flash blew up a kite, and a minute or two later Neptune's Car lost theirs.  Now each one of those colorful football fields of nylon costs about $15000.  Ouch.  Moment of silence please.  Ok, nice mark rounding, let's beat back home, shall we?

Upwind in a blow, Kotuku doesn't get beat much.  Still takes a lot of focus from main trimmer (Matt) and the job trimmers were active too.  Al once again put us in the safe, favored place.  We were able to get back to the east side of the sound and we began to march away from the competition.  We lost a tacking duel at the end to Elusive but they owed us time.  So we were pretty sure we won our class.  Turns out we did, and finished we 2nd overall to boot.  Some tired happy folks when we got back to the dock.

Thanks everyone for joining us!

Photos are here:
http://janpix.smugmug.com/Boats/Scatchet-Head-2012/21884571_gbtWT2#!i=1745064893&k=JPtc8Vj

Results here:
http://www.cycseattle.org/racing/results-and-registrants/