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Darlene
Poosch and pooch: Marc and I remember Darlene
very fondly - not only because she's good-looking and
has a lovely smile - but because before the racing
started, she volunteered to lead us to the garage
where Mike Murto thought they might be willing and
able to fix a VW heater core on a Saturday, and then
gave us a ride back to the club. Many thanks, Darlene!
Marc and I very much appreciate your kindness!
The car saga, part 1: We never did find the garage Mike intended but did get a nice tour of downtown Eustis before trying Mike's second choice, a downtown gas station. The lads chatting out front made it quite clear that they weren't interested, especially not on a Saturday, but did condescend to point us down the road towards a Tires Plus where they allowed that someone might be able to help us. The very
helpful manager at Tires Plus thought that
something might be done and that we should leave the
car. They would phone Darlene on her cell phone. So,
back we went to the club for race #3. It wasn't until
we were out on the water that it occurred to Uncle Al,
he should have given Darlene the "power of attorney"
to accept the estimate and get the job done no matter
what. In the end Tires Plus phoned Darlene
with an estimate of $634 US to replace the heater core
which would have to be delivered from Orlando.
Naturally he wanted our OK to proceed with the job,
but Darlene had no way of getting in touch with Al who
was on the water, so Darlene said that we would phone
back as soon as possible.
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Not much
wind in evidence near the windward shore, as Mike
Murto (2945) and Butch Minson (2959) leave their
overnight moorings. And is that Hank Van Twyver's boat
on the right, being delivered to the dock by a safety
boat? What service!!!
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Further
offshore, there was in fact, a nice little breeze.
Richard and Michele will want to add some jib halyard
tension before the race starts. This tension was fine
when they left shore in almost no wind, but now they
have what looks like excessive jib luff sag and a very
full jib entry to match. On the relatively waveless
waters of Lake Eustis, they should be able to get away
with a considerably flatter entry and thus be able to
point higher. In this situation, we tend to crank on
what we think is a bit too much tension for the
conditions. We then see if the entry is too flat by
sailing close-hauled and checking that the jib luff
tickers are not too jumpy - i.e. the windward and
leeward ones lift at almost the same moment. If that is
the case, we ease off the jib halyard a bit and try
close-hauled again, and repeat as necessary until the
jumpiness disappears (which indicates that our
steering groove is not too narrow!)
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Lucky the
race hasn't started yet. With the jib luff entry too
full and causing the leech to hook in, the slot is
further closed off by an under-vanged main which
allows too much twist in the upper half of the main.
This is not intended as criticism of Richard and
Michele's sailing. After all, if we can't relax before
the race, when can we???!!! But these pictures
are too good a teaching opportunity for Uncle Al to
pass up!!
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cool, damp breeze for the moment while SHADES is hove to - a fine picture-taking position! .. |
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A pic of
horrible quality - extreme zoom supplemented by
digital zoom - not enough light to give it any chance. But we need this pic to remember, that
Nick and Frank (pink & blue spi) did
eventually show up, and made it out to the race on
time since there was a brief postponement as I recall.
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And now the
wind has backed slightly, he's looking even better. A
quick check of the Scow results shows that LF-1, Chris
Craig, actually won this race. Well done!
Wayfarer race #3: Uncle Al misjudged the start by choosing a port end start. The wind veered just before the start and Al was well down in the pack for most of the first beat. As I recall, it was Jim Higgins who rounded first with Butch Minson and Hubert Dauch close behind (below). |
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advantage and by half-way down the run had made inroads on the 2-3-4 boats, Butch, Hubert and Gale (l to r). .. |
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of the spinnaker masters, Frank Goulay (864) and Marc Bennett ending in a draw. |