Wow, what a nice day for sailing. Sunny, windy, and glorious with a fresh coat of snow on the mountains looming over the Sound. And the racing wasn't bad either.
We had a bit of a scare before the start. Our spinnaker got loose as we were just about to hoist and it ended up going under the boat rather than up in the air. Got some pretty good wraps around the keel, rudder and sail drive. Luckily it was banded, and didn't get shredded. And really lucky that it was our heaviest kite. I think anything else would have vaporized under the pressure we exerted on it as a sea anchor. But finally we wrestled it aboard, with everyone fishing, pulling, and praying. With a big sigh of relief we headed back to the starting area in time for a nice start, right where we wanted to be at the boat end of the line. Way to focus, team!
The run down to Three Tree Point was interesting, with pretty much our entire fleet lined up around us. Except for Dos, that is. The little 26' 400lb boat got up on plane and was gone. I wouldn't be surprised if they were the first boat to round. And just after crossing under our bow, Karma (the well sailed Dash 34 from Port Madison) lost her mast. Not sure exactly what happened but it looked like the backstay let go and the mast slowly went forward before landing in a heap on deck.
Adding insult to injury, Wasabi blasted down to Three Tree Point and plowed into the sand bar just inside of the mark. This left a narrow, constricted path for the other 50 boats to squeeze through while changing sails. We powered past Invader, who glared at us and said "you shouldn't go in there" but they had their hands full with their own sailing and we were by before they could tell us why. Our kite came down, a bit slower than we would have liked, and we held a thin lane on the uphill beat until we were clear of the point and could tack in. Elusive was right there with us, as was Different Drummer. Familiar faces, with both boats near the top of our class and with Drummer in the hunt for the overall win as well. Let the battle begin!
Kotuku rips uphill in a breeze. With our short, squatty rig and good sails, we don't need to reef until the wind gets up to 25 knots or so. Drummer was reefed, and still flogging the main. It took a few tacks, but we put her in the rear view mirror. After that we focused on Elusive.
We stuck a lee bow on her, and had a number of close crossings. Ultimately they got a tack and a shift and slipped by us, but what fun! Well sailed boat that also gets up and goes in a breeze. Thankfully they owe us time, and on a 30 mile course we were able to stay close enough that we ended up beating them by a minute on corrected time. At some point during our tacking duels, we also noticed Eye Candy motoring north. Apparently their jib cars had pulled off the tracks. Too much power in the new sails, I guess. Tough day on the race course.
We ended up finishing a couple of boat lengths behind Dos, who beat us handily on corrected time. 2nd place for the race, but good enough for 1st in our class for the series.
What a great accomplishment. How did we manage to do it? We were lucky with weather, but in the end it is the crew and the boat that wins races. Start with good people who are fun to sail with. Work hard as a team on improving the boat and on being consistent. Put yourself in a position to be competitive. Easy to say, but hard to do. A big thanks to Nick, Kenyon, Scott, Joe, Charlie, Christian, Ashley, Trent, Eli, Emily and Al for the hard work, focus, and commitment that allowed us to win! And a big thanks to Alex as well--week in, week out he is working on the boat, the sails, and the master plan. Thanks again everyone!
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