Math question: with two sailboat races with five legs each, what are the chances that each of the six upwind legs saw puffy conditions up to 15 knots, while the downwind legs each took place in 3 knots? Yeah, that’s just odd...
The Real Racing Begins: Flying Scot North American Championships Day 1
(Day 8 of our adventure)
More strange NW conditions, with the breeze both spotty and shifty. We finished with a 4 and a 7th, which puts us 8 points out of the top, Andrew Eagan (of the fleet Eagan clan of New Orleans) is up there, as is Katie and Al Terhune, John and John, the Goughs and Josh Goldman. Most everyone had to battle back to their spot: we got to the first windward mark in about 30th, having gambled on the wrong puff, but then, managed to sail like Buffalo Girls (‘round the outside, ‘round the outside) to pinch off a pack or two before the fans turned back on for the upwind leg.
The boat seems to be going well: we adjusted the shroud tension up, and then down, though because the wind is so uppy-downy, it’s a gamble.
Ira Cohen took himself home before racing yesterday – a medical problem, which meant that Paul Abdullah had to retrace his Odyssey. With luck, Paul won’t have seventeen stops on the flight back home to Jax. Who knew there was a Delta local flight that takes on passengers in both LaGuardia and JFK!
Kris Smith’s boat took a mighty thunking pre-race, though I think everybody bounced back safe and still floating. Race organizer and man-about-town John Cooke lost a spin halyard in the second race, but managed to hold position not so badly going downwind with jib and main.
Two races today and the banquet tonight.
I write this on Thursday morning: two races plus the lobster/chicken dinner on Sprite Island took me out of the writing game yesterday.
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