Determination and the Windshield.
Faithful friends and crew of Strategery,
I know I’m 2 weeks behind on the
updates, so let me dig right in.
Determination…
After the shellacking we received at
the NOOD regatta (see write-up), we came back to Portsmouth with new energy/learnings. This
season has been boiling down to Marlen and us, with Uproar in a close following
position. Going into the race tied for first, we knew we had to cover Marlen if
we were going to be successful. To make a long story very short, we were over
the line early for the 2nd time this year. When you are over early,
you have to essentially sail back and restart the race. This is really
problematic when you are mid fleet as you are pinned by a large number of boats.
Fortunately we were at the pin end of the line. Knowing we were over early (FYI,
it's pretty bad when you can tell that from the back of the boat), we turned
around and got back to the line. Sailing away on port tack, we started our game
of catch-up. We were determined to get back into the race. We were happily able
to take advantage of breeze and other boat traffic to almost catch up with
Marlen, who finished first. We took a well earned and hard fought second. Great
crew work, from Mike on the bow to Dewey on the Main. Mixing things up a bit, we had Chris in the middle,
calling tactics and working the pit, and Jim (as always) was a phenom downwind.
Whew…that was a close one. Still tied for first for the series after this
race.
…and the
Windshield.
And then last week’s race. As my
friend Christopher says “Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are
the bug”. Last week we were the bug. Wasn’t any big thing…was a bunch of little
things. A weaker start than we would have liked, kinks in our new lines fouling
the spinnaker and jib, tacks that were a bit early…just not our best effort.
Couldn’t catch a break. That said, the boat was fast. No complaints with her.
Downwind was a blast, with the breeze building and getting us to plane in gusts.
We had a ball…wouldn’t have changed anything about the night except the few
things I just said. Was a beautiful sunset, the beer was cold for the ride in
and we had a great time
We are now in second place for the
series. Hopefully this week we’ll be the windshield. Also, this weekend is the
Redhook Regatta here in Portsmouth. Quite a few 105’s will be coming
in, so promises to be an exciting event.
Stay
tuned
Regards,
Cliff
