Summary

Forecasts throughout the week had indicated we were in for a warm but very light wind weekend, with possibly no wind on Saturday. The crew gathered on the dock were happy to see a solid 5-10 knots fill in across the bay.

Race 1: 9th
We had a conservative start as the winds picked up to around 10-12 knots, and the new jib showed a terrific burst of speed towards the windward mark close to Chewbacca. Then the wheels came off :-( After a sloppy tack close to the mark, the port jib sheet snapped with a bang. By the time we’d tacked away, rerun the spare, and tacked back, others had slipped inside of us. Just as we thought we were back at it, Nick announced he was loosing his balls……….from the Traveler car! The car end cap had cracked releasing the torlon balls. It became clear during the downwind that even though we had the spare parts, we would not be able to fix the issue in time. We dropped the main and won dockside kudos by completing the race under headsail only.

Race 2: DNS
We transferred Barnie and Gary to Chippie who were looking for crew, and then spent the race at the dock reassembling the traveller ready for Sunday.

Race 3: 8th
Slight change in crew positioning as Carrie took on the challenge of the bow for the first time. Great start, aided by Red Hawk, followed by a great upwind run. Again rounding the mark close to Chewbacca. Unfortunately our boat handling during the transitions let us down, and we placed disappointingly low.

Race 4: 5th
Another conservative start, followed by four legs of good crisp boat handling and smart decisions from the afterguard put us in satisfactory 5th place, which made for a much better ride back to the dock.

Race 5: 7th
After a terrific breakfast at the new King camper, we were on the water by 0900 in almost perfect sailing conditions. Although we were a little late to the start, we made good progress and showed Angisina can sail to the polars both up and down wind. Val commented we seemed to get lifted on each tack. Crew work was crisp.

Race 6: 6th
Conditions continued to lighten as Corrie set another short course. Conditions were incredibly shifty with 100 degree windshifts, and 0-10 knots of breeze in the space of a boat length! Upwind became downwind, the chute got packed five times, the downwind become a jib reach, while the final “downwind” became a jib reach followed by a downwind run chasing Ride from Duluth.