A Love 4 Sailing

Maureen and I sailed the Marblehead NOOD out of Boston Yacht Club July 27 thru July 29.  Day one brought sunny skies with 7 – 13 knots of wind.  Race One was going very well around the first two marks where we wrapped our spinnaker sheet around the pole at the leeward mark.  We continued around the next weather mark and attempted to hoist the spinnaker, only to realize that once it is wrapped under the pole, it wont come out.  Therefore we sailed the last downwind with main and jib only.  Finishing the race in 2^nd place.  Our first race without a bullet. 

Race two went very well with a good start and good upwind speed.  We led at all marks and finished in first.

In race three we again started well and were leading halfway up the beat by 5 or 6 boat lengths where we suddenly became quite slow in a straight line.  We struggled the rest of the way up the first beat and ended up hitting the weather mark.   After a 360 we set the chute and continued to be rather slow downwind.   The next beat the boat and spinnaker bag filled up with so much water it was hard to explain.  We kept losing distance to the two leaders as I kept trying to make sail adjustments to figure out why we were going so slow.  Once we finished I came to the conclusion that we must have something on our keel and decided to do a back-down.  We found not only did have seaweed but more like a bush. The weed out here does not grow in a strand but more like a tumbleweed.  So after day one we found ourselves in 2^nd place with a 2, 1, 3, one point out of 1^st.  It was a frustrating day but there seemed to be a reason for our two bad finishes. 

Day two brought some interesting weather with us only completing one race.  We led from start to finish making sure we kept an eye out for weed. After the race a thunderstorm with heavy rain and lightning came very close to our course.  The race committee actually recommended we sail away from land in order to stay away from the severe weather.  After 1 ½ hour delay with the wind doing circles, the race committee informed us of another severe cell headed our direction.  They sent us in; we got to the dock, unrigged just before the lightning and downpour started.  It rained more over the next hour than it had inSouthern California all last year.   I always believed the weather on the east coast sucks, and now it was confirmed.  Hot, sticky, and raining in the middle of summer.  Then it’s cold and snowing in the winter. 

Day three brought 5 – 7 knots of wind as on the way out a British boat builder started taking pictures of our set up.  He seemed to be doing some research for the competition.  We again only had one race on day three due to lack of breeze and an early race cutoff. A lot of effort was put into having only one race.  Some say Marblehead—others say MarbleDead.

All in all things went well.  We won the regatta and made it out alive.  Maureen and I know we still need to improve but so far so good.  Thanks to all my supporters and I’ll see you back in Cali.

First regatta in the new class proves to be a good one. With only four boats competing and medium to heavy winds, Maureen and I dominated the Skud 18 class. The regatta took place at the same location as the upcoming trials and we took some time to train with the others US teams before the event. We seemed to have great speed both upwind and downwind. We still made many mistakes to learn from so we know we can only get better.

Day one was warm with winds in the 8-13 knot range. We were on the course with Vangaurd 15’s, Laser II’s, Sunfish, 420’s, and Jet 15’s. There were six races with windward-leeward coures. The biggest challange seem to be the currents. Big gains and losses can be made if you choose the proper side of the course. I need to learn some more local knowledge. We ended the day with six bullets.

Day two brought 15-22 knot winds with some good waves. Triangle couses were run. We attempted to tighten the rig but bottomed out on the uppers. This left us with a very loose rig for the conditions. Boat speed was down which open the door for the other competitors. Also in one race we hooked a lobster pot and dragged it for 30 seconds or so. We tried some port tack starts and played with sail set up but with the looserig it was difficult to gauge.

We ended up with ten first and one DNS due to a faulty jib halyard tie job.

I look forward to racing in Marlehead in two weeks. I wanted to thank Maureen for doing an excellent job. Thanks to all my supporters and it looks like were on the right track. Regatta results on the right. Regatta web site is www.sailnewport.org