The club's Sunday races are a great way to break into racing in a less-than-intense setting. The format is a little off the wall, we start and finish at the mouth of the basin. The course is a random affair using pre-set marks and not necessarily oriented to the wind. It's a little like a "Tour of the Bay" with a racing component. Being a persuit race the start is staggered, you receive your exact start time when you sign in. The slowest boat, a Pearson Ensign goes first, the fastest was the Melges 24 so they go last, with the rest of us in between. The basin is a little tight but since the start is staggered there isn't the customary fight for position, which is probably a good thing owing to the concrete jetties on either side. In theory the reverse start should have all of us arriving back at the basin for the finish at the same time. Good thing that is only theory, the reality is, we get spread out enough to keep the drama of finishing to a minimum.
This day, (Feb. 24) we had 6 Scots; Matt Wey 2339, Ryan Flynn 3020, Mark Taylor 4321, David Bell 4156, Mike Douglas 4305 and me 812. The weather was fairly nice with temperatures in the mid seventies but really spotty breeze. Some passing clouds seemed to bring some welcome breeze but thankfully, no rain.
Mike and Andrew Douglas finished first, you can see the look of determination on their faces
Pig Pen with Bill Watts flying the chute in a big right shift and Dave in the distance
Dave and Susan trying out a new experimental chute, a couple tweaks may be in order
All in all it was a good day, all coolers functioned properly, good weather a few laughs. What else is needed?
Thanks to Amy Linton for the pictures.
