Due to that fateful combination of blissful triumph and outright shame on the race course today, it’s City Swan here with the time-honored third place write-up.
First, a big thanks to Laura, Steen, and Romeo for running four races in another light wind day. The first two races were W1s, and the last two races were W2s. Winds were relatively steady from the NE, and ranged from 4-8mph over the day. Tide was outgoing for about half the afternoon, and started coming back in before the end of racing. These conditions were not inconsistent with what the season has delivered us so far, so sailors were prepared for battling the light breeze and current.
Each race today I staked out the boat end of the starting line, and especially in the first race when it was heavily favored. Going up wind I noticed breeze would come back from the northeast, therefore spent most of the time on the right side of the course. An exception was race three when there were glassy patches closest to the channel, and I made sure not to sail in the direction of those. In the last two races when the breeze was fuller, I was constantly deliberating whether it was advantageous to cover boats or to follow some mini-lifts and slight pressure differentials – the latter two indicators were the way to go.
Downwind – as Farley tipped me off to post-racing – was all about finding your lane, even if that wasn’t the inside. In the third race I did this successfully by gybing over to starboard despite being the most windward boat to the mark. In contrast, I did this very unsuccessfully in the last downwind leg of the final race, by gybing to port too late – and then gybing back (any gybe over one midway through a downwind leg is telltale you’re trying to get out of a predicament). A whopping six boats past me on this leg, so lesson learned! Something that may have helped during downwind legs in today’s relatively light conditions and when the tide was coming in, was raising my centerboard nearly all the way out of the water to reduce drag from the current.
The first race was hands down our most challenging, and a shout out to Connor for conquering it, Jim G. for holding his ground in second place throughout, and to Dan for capturing the coveted third spot – a lot of us were vying for that one.
A reminder that next week we skip a Sunday, but hope to see you all at the Marina’s holiday party Saturday evening. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to all!
Kaitlyn
