Beautiful fall weather at Lake Eustis

Beautiful fall weather at Lake Eustis this weekend, and more great racing.

I was unable to sail on Saturday and feel like I missed a raucous party. The breeze was strong enough to raise whitecaps on the lake. I was remiss in failing to get most of the details (including the names of everyone’s crew), but the boats racing included Ray Laguna on 5770, Dave Asaibene on 5179, Randy Boekema on 5697 and Francois Simon on 3362. In the first race, Dave grabbed his first bullet of the season, followed by Ray in second, Randy in third and Francois in fourth. In the second race, Ray reasserted his recent dominance and took first, with Randy in second, Dave in third and Francois fourth.

Sunday proved the wisdom of the aphorism that “no good deed goes unpunished.” The weather was again nice, although the wind went from strong and fairly consistent in the first race to patchy and fluky in the second.

Chris Erichsen and I were scheduled for chase boat duty and showed up planning not to race. In fact, Chris did not have his sails with him, or even a life vest. He did, however, come prepared with a stogie to fire up while we stood vigilant guard over the fleet. But, as we prepared to board the chase boat, Ray Laguna pointed out, very kindly (if you’re paying attention, that adverb – indicating a good deed – will prove significant), that a couple of other club members weren’t sailing and actually wanted to crew the chase boat, so Chris and I should sail. Ray even offered to lend us sails if we needed them. Chris and I declined the offer of sails, but gladly took Ray up on the suggestion to let others cover the chase boat. We scrounged the equipment we needed and, since my boat had its sails on board, put 5810 in the water.

So, four boats raced on Sunday: Ray sailing with Dean and Marie (a/k/a Renee) Grimes on 5770, Randy Boekema and Joe Lobato on 5697, Francois Simon and Tony Tussing on 3362, and Chris Erichsen and me on 5810. Dave Asaibene was there on 5179, but he didn’t compete.

The first race was two laps to an upwind finish. Ray, Dean and Marie jumped out to a lead which they held most of the race. However, late on the second downwind leg, the breeze filled in from behind and slightly to our left (the right side of the course) so that Chris and I were able to work our way behind them and park on their air, then pass to weather and sneak inside at the leeward mark. We rounded just in front and managed to hold them off the rest of the way to the finish, though we were glad the finish line was only half way up the final weather leg because Ray, Dean and Marie were fast upwind all day. Chris and I placed first on 5810. Ray, Dean and Marie were second on 5770. Randy and Joe were third on 5697 and Francois and Tony finished fourth on 3362.

The second race on Sunday was two laps from a mid-leg start to an upwind finish at the top mark, and it was all about sailing in the breeze. The wind shifted left after the first race and became patchy and variable. We all headed left after the start and almost immediately found ourselves near the port layline. As soon as we had any separation at all between boats we were each sailing in our own private wind. Chris and I were fortunate to find consistent pressure (due to Chris’s suggestions and our good luck), but I think we were unique. We rounded the top mark first and struggled to decide whether to reach downwind with the spinnaker or just the jib. We saw the rest of the fleet struggling with the same decision, hoisting and dropping their chutes. The only clear thing was that the left side was the place to be. The second weather leg was again a close reach, followed by another reaching, uncertain downwind leg. Chris and I kept lucking out and sailing in pressure (at least, more than the rest of the fleet), and finished first. On the final leg, we sailed within about fifty yards of Randy and Joe on 5697, who were trying to get downwind in their own little hole, and we heard them yell “We quit!” Ray, Dean and Marie on 5770 and Francois and Tony on 3362 fought until the end, with Ray, Dean and Marie leading but the patchy breeze creating opportunities for Francois and Tony who gained on them up the final leg. Then, just before the finish, and even though they were close together, Francois and Tony sailed into a hole and Ray, Dean and Marie caught a lift which carried them to second place. Francois and Tony finished third, and Randy and Joe were fourth with a DNF.

It was that sort of day. And Ray’s kind good deed in pointing out that Chris and I could sail rather than crew the chase boat did not go unpunished. We were just glad we didn’t borrow sails from him, too. We would really have felt guilty about that.

By the way, Chris also did good deeds on Sunday: he taught me a couple of things I plan to put to use at the first opportunity.

At this point, Chris and I owe one to Ray, and I owe one to Chris.

Finally, I have to share an e mail I received from Lori Lantzy after our racing two weeks ago. Lori sailed with Anne Ireland on Sunday. During the first race, they got caught by a puff while they were tacking and capsized. As a result, they did not finish that race and were unable to start the second race. Lori said:

Gee, DNS and DNF look so low-key compared to the actual happening. At least it wasn't a DNR, huh?

Our next race weekend will be November 8 and 9. That will begin our Hartge series. We’ll have results out shortly for the Keenan series, which ended this weekend.

Also, remember that on November 9 we’ll have a cook out and awards ceremony to celebrate the Keenan series. Chuck has sent information around previously. We hope everyone can make it. Dave Asaibene is going to cook, and he’s a professional!