Halloween at Wurstfest

by Pam

This past weekend was Wurstfest for the dinghy sailors. I had never been to Canyon Lake before. Very nice lake, location and facilities but I sure could have done without that hill. Boats and cars get separated and I learned quickly that a little planning means the difference in an extra haul back up and down the hill to get something left in the car and Camp Fish seemed to have been the furthest up the hill. What a trek!

Lots of familiar faces were at Wurstfest. Frank and Bruce were racing a Flying Scot and took 6th. Bruce’s son, Eric, was racing a Laser and took 1st. Doug, Shaun and I sailed Sunfish in a 34 boat fleet and Doug got 2nd and I got 9th. Shaun didn’t have the best weekend but from what I’ve seen he is passing through that stage where he is inconsistently good which means he’s on his way to being consistently good very soon.

The weather was absolutely beautiful. A touch chilly in the mornings but wonderfully warm sun by afternoon. The breeze was on the light side and we spent alot of time sitting on the low side. It was educational for me. I’m learning to keep an eye on the sail and make sure air flow is attached. The super slow mark roundings gave my brain plenty of time to figure out who had right of way.

I’m figuring out that the biggest improvement to my sailing has come not from racing and time on the water but in the car driving to the various regattas. Doug can talk about sailing for hours on end and never tire. Fortunately, I have enough questions to keep him talking. This trip we talked about race course management. A very enlightening subject. I’ll share more later but need to have a chat with another sailor who uses a different method so that I can compare the two.