the 2007 Pumpkin Regatta
Fanshawe YC * Sept. 29-30
race pics: Saturday - Race 3.2
by Mary Abel, Sue Goldt and John de Boer
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Our breeze wasn't anything to write home about, and we now faced the unappealing prospect of another drifting run.
Still and all, as I observed to Dave, "I'd rather be here than ...
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... there!" (l to r) Dwight, Dave, Steve, Mike - followed by ...
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... Doug (with Harold to windward?) and the first of the Lasers, Steve Carroll
(who is now in serious mode and no longer standing on his deck).
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Good news for Dave and Al (r) who have sailed into a bit of a headwind as confirmed by the sail angle on 2nd-place 4606,
but are sailing low of the lay line to #4 to stay well off the windward shore and as much as possible ...
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... out of the disturbed air of the boats still approaching the mark. Gotta love those headwinds which give you twice the apparent wind that the guys still running away from them towards the mark are getting. This is how ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... big leads are built!! While Al (l) and Dwight who has just rounded are now enjoying
the at least tangible breeze created by sailing closehauled ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... the others are stuck with this!! (l to r) Steve, Mike, Dave, Doug (1366), Sue
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Dave (orange hull) has rounded 3rd, followed by Steve (5625). Doesn't look too promising for more wind any time soon!
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Seeing ripples off to windward, Dave and Al (3rd from left) have decided to tack towards them, but ...
- for full-size pic, click here
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... alas, any wind there may have been there, is now gone. So, other things - like the wind - being even ...
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... Al and Dave tack back onto port which will at least let them drift more or less straight towards the next mark.
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Among the spectators, there was doubtless a marked lack of envy for those out sailing!!
- for full-size pic, click here
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Back to a ...    - for full-size pic, click here
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... broad reach for ...
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... Uncle Al who ...
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... is now casting anxious glances astern at Sue who has been riding a lovely puff off to leeward.
All Al can do here is to make the most of what he's getting, and one way to accomplish this is to ...
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... heel the boat significantly to reduce wetted surface,
which at this speed is the major component of resistance to forward motion.
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Just to be on the safe side, Al is aiming to cross the start/finish line on the off chance that the RC has had enough.
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What goes around, comes around: Al (3854) now has a bit of breeze on a nice beam reach (note the wake left by his rudder) while Sue seems to have sailed out of her puff. (Al's note: Many - I dare say most of you - won't know that "Puff" is German slang for "brothel": in case you should need to pronounce it when asking for directions, the "u" has the same sound value as the "u" in the English word "push".)
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Sue (2nd from right) tacks - perhaps unwisely since it rarely pays to tack when you've just hit a dead spot and since there's wind to be seen on the water where Sue was going until this tack - while Al continues to sail into a strengthening breeze ...
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... not to mention across the start/finish line.
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Sue (2nd from left) illustrates the expression "dead in the water"
while Al (l) sails off, and boats astern begin to close in on Sue. (l to r) Steve, Dave, Doug
- for full-size pic, click here
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Sue (2nd from left) now has some wind potential off her bow, but if she had held port like Kevin Biskaborn (l) did, she would now have wind, not to mention that she would be protecting against Steve (5625) and Dave (4782), her nearest Wayfarer pursuers.
- for full-size pic, click here
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Kevin happily sails on while ...
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... Sue (2nd from left) is finally getting some wind, but she has opened the door for Steve and Tiffany (l).
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