| Race #4:
course: start near #6 - 5-4-3-6-5-4 - finish at 3 winds: NW to N 5-10 knots weather: mostly cloudy, cooler - about 12C |
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I do believe
this was
the race where
the other five boats all bunched near the RC boat
despite the fact that
the line was barely crossable on starboard tack. So,
given the tiny
size
of the fleet, Roger and I decided to risk a port tack
start since we
wanted
to get out from behind Eagle Point in any case. We
hung around in
mid-line
until the final 30 seconds at which time we goosed it
for the pin end,
gybed around, sat for 5 seconds or so and then goosed
it for the line
just
as Roger said: "You do remember that the
gun was three
seconds
late for the Rebel start, don't you?" Too late
to worry about that
now - as Roger reached "Go!", we were at full speed
and our bow was
only
a foot from the mark. Silence from the RC boat. By the
time the beep
went,
we were already gybing to go back and re-start. Even
crossing the line
behind all but one boat, we were not in such bad shape
as we sailed
into
more pressure and a port tack knock in short
order. A quick
tack
put SHADES into the lead along with ...
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Going for the
port lay
line
where there seemed to be more wind, Al and Roger
rounded first onto a
reach
that seemed to be fairly close for spinnakers so
they thought about the
matter for a bit.
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... Al
did end up
going for the spinnaker on the assumption it would
keep him from giving
in to the temptation of going to close to the
windward shore. Running
down
with the puffs while Bob, George and John pushed
each other closer to
the
shore's wind shadow, SHADES opened a
comfortable lead. After a
short
beat from 4 to 3, Al tried to sail a low close reach
towards #6 to get
away from the land but was becalmed as both George
and John almost got
by on either side of Al. When Al got the wind again,
it seemed worth it
to try the spi and we did. Although we sometimes
briefly had to sail
straight
for the far shore to keep the spi drawing, we gained
in the end and
rounded
#6 with a substantial lead.
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