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Race #2:
course: from 2 –
3-1-2-1-2
winds SW 10-15,
gusting to 20 knots; sunny, warm
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.....
You’d
think
Uncle Al would know better by now: he and Frank had
discussed the game plan for the first beat. The plan
was to stick to the west shore for most of the first
beat. But somehow, when the port end became favoured
just before the “gun”, Uncle Al allowed himself to be
carried away – carried away from the starboard end
where a good start would have allowed him to tack
right away and grab that coveted west shore. Alas,
Peter and Scott got that part of the course while Al
once more underscored his feeling that the left side
never pays when you’re starting out from #2 and going
upwind to #3.
Thus
it was Peter holding a nice lead over Scott at #3 with
Al a fairly distant 3rd just ahead of Brian Jeffs (below).
.....
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A view from the
Committee Boat anchored near mark #2: Fine
form for the leaders, Peter and Alex Rahn,
returning from #3 at the dam down the first
run with the three nearest pursuers spread
out across the lake. You can tell Scott Town
(right) is 2nd from the size of his
boat while it's a toss-up for 3rd between
Uncle Al (left) and Brian Jeffs.
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.....
Could
things
get worse? Yes! But first, some good spinnaker work
from Frank, and some extra wind along the shore
between #2 and #1, got Al back a little closer to the
leaders as they rounded onto the beat from #1 to
#2.
Here,
Al gave it all away again as he insisted on trying for
that starboard lift that occasionally comes around the
point east of #2, and it was left to Frank to try to
recoup the SHADES losses on the short run from 2 to 1.
After an early gybe, the SHADES brain trust decided to
try for a wind streak along the shore once more. They
waited for a gust visible just behind them to pass
through but it didn’t seem to be getting appreciably
closer. So we gybed. As Frank pulled the boom over,
the gust hit with a big veer and before we knew what
hit us, the boom was in the water, the rudder mostly
out of the (warm!) water and the spinnaker was flying
up near the top of the mast. It was a gentle, sedate
capsize – and despite the presence of Wayfarer Man,
took some time to recover from as Al insisted on
trying to right with spi still up (didn’t work!) and
then got into the boat too early twice more to rescue
items which were threatening to float away: 1. his
Birkenstocks, and 2. his prized bailing bucket which
is the only reminder left from the earliest days of
Al’s first Wayfarer which still bears traces of the
W116 SNOOPY done in the same yellow paint used on the
hull in 1964. (see photos below)
....
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Uncle Al and Frank hoist
the spi just after rounding mark 2 with the
"cliff" where Al less than successfully
searched for a wind bend, in the background.
A spinnaker-less Y-Flyer is also on the run
to #1. Interesting possibilities for 3
Wayfarers for the rounding at #2: left
to right - Al Nichols, Roger Shepherd and
Bob Kennedy whose rounding was captured by
Rick Goldt:
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The gust finally got
there just as Frank was winging the boom
over. Failure to tighten the starboard
barber hauler has unfortunately allowed
the spi to fill up near the top of the
mast and the result is already beyond
doubt.
.....
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And of course,
the RC and the camera were right there to
get it all!
.....
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..........
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You don't suppose one Al swimming
kept another Al from trying the spi?.....
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John and Dolores deBoer approach the
finish line in a lovely breeze......
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........
By
the time SHADES was upright again and Wayfarer Man was
using his prodigious bailing talents, Peter and Alex
Rahn were well on their way to confirming their win
over Scott and Grant Town while Brian Jeffs and Scott
Bamford had moved into a good-looking 3rd. Robert
Kennedy continued to look great with a 4th ahead of
Roger Shepherd who rounded out the top 5.
.....
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Jens and Sharon Biskaborn hit a nice
puff during their approach to the finish
line.
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