Sunfish 2nd Circuit (RCYC) Results (5-15-11)

by Pam

DinghyFest always seems to be windy, cold, raining or some other version of miserable.   This year was no different.   I had only one goal for the weekend and that was to finish every race no matter how windy, cold, wet or miserable it got.  

We started off windy, wet and wild.  It took about an hour to get the first race off.  I think I heard something about the committee boat being on fire at the docks.  Anyway, with about 10 seconds to the first start, I'd managed to get to the line right at the committee boat and was looking good.  Then Stewart Draheim slipped below me and Paul Foerster pulled in above me.  As Paul went by he looked over at me and had this expression of 'sorry but you're hosed' and I was.  The horn sounded and I sat there gassed and was the last person off the line.  I took Doug's coming from behind article to heart and looked at the angles and went hard right the opposite direction of the fleet.  Actually, I'm lying, I was freezing and I aimed my bow for the only part of the lake that had sun and then tacked to stay in it.  Coincidently, that happened to be the lifted angle to the mark.  I looked at the angles and thought, how could the entire fleet be sailing a headed tack and not know it.  Maybe I saw that wrong but I believe I arrived second at the first mark just behind Paul.  If I'm thinking of the right race, I held that position until the last half of the last leg and then worked my way backward to a 6th place finish. 

Had it not been for the good finish in the first race, I'm certain I would have bailed on the second race because it truly is colder and windier at the back of the fleet.  At the front, it somehow feels much more tolerable.  It took another extremely long time to get the next race off and we were all freezing.  When we got in for lunch, not one person could actually hold their drink without shivering.  We bundled up good for the end of the day and the sailing conditions became more pleasant.  By the end of the day, I was in 5th place.  This was shaping up to be my best DinghyFest yet.

Sunday brought even more pleasant weather but in the last leg of the last race, I tacked straight into irons and watched 4 boats sail by me before I could get moving again.   By the end of the regatta, I'd worked my way to a 7th place in a 21 boat fleet.  Not half bad.  I usually do my best when I set my goals ridiculously low ... like just finish each race.  I think I'll continue to set low goals.  It seems to work for me.