Dave (282) looks like he could use more vang to point better: Compare his main leech (falling off) with Mark's (7673) (vertical). Meanwhile, 7372 has only thought one move ahead: his tack for clear air. Ideally, he should have thought one step further: What will we do if we cannot cross Dave R (4782)? If 7372 had a good reason to hit port tack (clear air, lift or even better breeze on the right side), he should have decided before making his first tack, that if necessary, he would sacrifice a boatlength or two and bear away for Dave (starboard) but end up achieving priority one, clear air. Instead, he has a possible panic reaction at the last second, and he ...

... tacks - right back into dirty air and with very little speed after two consecutive tacks. Now he is set up to be the meat in the sandwich between the two Daves, Hansman off his bow and Richardson to windward. Ideally, this outcome should have been foreseen when planning ahead before the first tack. Unless 7372 is very lucky, he'll soon be far worse off than if he had tacked and instantly borne away behind 4782 in the first place. I look at this and realize that this very same mistake is one I make far too regularly, and I tend to think we all do. I certainly will try to remember this sequence for next time, and will work on thinking two moves ahead, and thus be ready to make the wiser choice when fast decisions have to be made.

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At first glance, it looks like 7372 has lucked in since Dave Hansman (282) has tacked away, but just imagine how well used/disturbed the wind is that 7372 will be getting for the next while. And another factor - often overlooked - is the surprising amount of wake that even Wayfarers produce so that 7372 will - for the next while at least - be sailing in very chopped up wind and water. None of which would be the case if he had bitten the bullet and borne away for the orange boat!

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Ross and John have held starboard since the start and are now well off to the left of the fleet, a position where this starboard lift is exactly what they do not want as the time when they will absolutely have to tack draws ever closer. A big knock on the other hand, might let them tack and cross a bunch of boats!!

Near the gybe mark, Sue and Steph (ratty, old spinnaker and all) have very successfully fought off the challenge from the Ryder-Turners who have gybed early and appear set to douse. And note how well Andrew and Lori have hung in there without a chute! There is a lesson here: Too many people believe that racing without the newest and best gear is hopeless. That may be true with real performance dinghies, but throughout this entire weekend, our fleet showed again and again that in Wayfarers, it's far more a matter of what you do than what you do it with (It's not the size of the wand that brings the rabbit out of the hat, but the wizardry of the magician, as we guys used to console ourselves in the 60s while speaking of another matter entirely ...) Not that it isn't nice to have decent gear which makes it easier to do well. I am all for decent gear, but there are many times when for one reason or another, we get reduced to second-rate equipment, at which time, the biggest drag on one's performance is not the lack of good gear but the conviction that this lack will be a major handicap!!!

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Wow! The gang knows how to entertain the fans watching from the club: Three boats within two lengths all fighting for the lead. Here, Sue clings to her lead while Andrew looks set to pass Alastair (and maybe Sue??) to windward. And here come Mark and Paul flying along under spinnaker on a lovely reach. They have passed Dave and Carol already. Well, I didn't say, above, that lack of gear was no handicap at all, just that such a lack need not make your race hopeless!!   - for full-size pic, click here

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