6-4-11 RACING

by Cathy

Wind conditions this year have been feast or famine and today was a famine kind of day. I'd been watching the wind alert report and it had been indicating fairly light winds but they were to pick up a little after 12 pm and then more after 3 pm. That turned out to be pretty accurate with most of the wind between 3-8 mph during the duration of our racing.

Cameron had wanted to sail as well and Tom had promised him a fleet boat. At about 8:30 am, I checked the current wind and at 3 mph I was discouraged. Cameron was so discouraged he decided to join the WRBC work day crew, so spent his day sweeping away the debris from the most recent storm. Special thanks to him since I was getting all sorts of sticks and branches in my boat as I was setting up. Very nice to come back and find all that swept away.

Due to the scarcity of winds and perhaps the WRBC work day, only 5 Butterfly sailors raced and 2 Sunfish tagged along. Here was my chance to have everything in slow motion and not crowded. I was curious if I would get better starts. Yes, they were better, but still not so good. I've improved a lot though - now I can identify the starting line.

Frank quizzed me on the favored side of the course and I did not know even though he had recently gone over that. He kindly pointed out it was the west side. Basically, my plan was to follow the more experienced sailors around. How could I go wrong following Gary, Frank, and Burton?  But then they weren't always in the same place so maybe it is a good idea to start figuring things out for myself.

Catherine and I talked to Gary later in order to understand his success. He too determined the west side was favored. He sails in that area often and is familiar with the winds on that side. He also says it is important just to keep moving in light air. Don't try to point too high or you may just start drifting sideways. Yes, I can attest to that. He says a reach may be better in light air conditions, just keep moving.

We definitely had some drifting around. It was still a beautiful day, and I was grateful I had applied my #50 sunscreen. At one point, I think Gary said something about he'd found the favored side - sitting on the side of the boat in the shade of the sail. Ha ha. I knew what he meant.

Because of the light winds we sailed a W-1 for the first 2 races and a W-2 for the last race. Most everyone headed in just as the winds picked up a little. Catherine and I sailed south for awhile and then I continued on towards the dam. It had been a long time since I'd been to the south end of the lake all by my lonesome - about 28 years or so.

I am not sure of the overall order of the finishers since I tend to be at the back of the pack - but Gary, Frank, and Burton definitely came out on top and I think that might have been the order overall. Both Catherine and I thought we'd have the advantage in light air, but these guys are hard to beat.