7-23-2011 RACING
at 7.25.2011
by Pam
This time of year brings new faces to the lake and days like Saturday bode well for the future of the Butterfly fleet.
Tom had a guest, Jackie, sailing his boat. Jackie sailed many years ago and used to teach sailing. We had good wind and she handled the boat well and said it was like riding a bike and had the best time ever. Hopefully, we’ll see her again.
Another new sailor, Sam, was rigged and tied up to the docks early and had an orange striped sail that had all of us asking Bruce if that was his sail. He assured us his fast and lucky orange sail is still in his possession. Sam is a local sailor that trailered his boat to the lake to give our fleet a try and was impressed with the competition. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him as well.
And then there was Josh, my boss’ son. Josh is 6 years old and went for his first sail on a Laser with Doug. He was quiet for about 30 seconds and then started talking nonstop and was waving at everyone (video of Josh's first sail). After his short spin, his mother went for a quick sail as Josh and I sat on the docks and he wanted to know why Doug didn’t dock on the other side of the docks. I told him that it depended on which way the wind was blowing and he started telling me which way the wind was coming from and kept track of it as it shifted. Amazing!
Doug then took Amber’s sister, Shannon, for a spin in the Laser. She enjoyed the ride but when they returned to the docks the rudder bumped the bottom which messed something up so we retired the Laser for the day and got Doug’s new Butterfly out for its first sail in the third race.
Originally, I was going to do some practicing on the Laser and Doug was going to sail the new Butterfly but with the Laser out of commission that left us both competing for the Butterfly. I tried to put Doug on Cathy’s boat but she wasn’t having it so I had to take him with me.
Doug was all negative saying we’d be too heavy and not at all competitive. Traditional logic, reason and physics have no value to me so we sailed double-handed and I expected to be able to hang with the fleet. After all, we had good wind and he’s supposed to be a very talented sailor. I drove and we had our usual back and forth banter all the way around the course, even bumping heads on one tack but between the two of us, we managed to cross the finish line in 2nd place about 5 seconds behind Frank. Not half bad. Doug, of course, has been going over the race in his head trying to explain how we managed to be competitive and will probably write up a portion of our sail. We did have a point of disagreement on the last leg of the course when we were in the lead and got headed and I wanted to tack and he said no. I always defer to his judgment on the water but required a follow up explanation on why I shouldn’t tack when headed.
When we returned to the docks, Catherine wanted to go for a sail with Doug and get some coaching so off they went. This reminded me that before Doug left for Cabarete, we had intended to have him sail double-handed on a Laser and race with the Butterflys and have some of the newer sailors take the helm and get coaching all the way around the course. Maybe Brad can put his GoPro camera on board and we can record the lessons so we can all benefit. Who wants to go first?
Tom had a guest, Jackie, sailing his boat. Jackie sailed many years ago and used to teach sailing. We had good wind and she handled the boat well and said it was like riding a bike and had the best time ever. Hopefully, we’ll see her again.
Another new sailor, Sam, was rigged and tied up to the docks early and had an orange striped sail that had all of us asking Bruce if that was his sail. He assured us his fast and lucky orange sail is still in his possession. Sam is a local sailor that trailered his boat to the lake to give our fleet a try and was impressed with the competition. Hopefully, we’ll see more of him as well.
And then there was Josh, my boss’ son. Josh is 6 years old and went for his first sail on a Laser with Doug. He was quiet for about 30 seconds and then started talking nonstop and was waving at everyone (video of Josh's first sail). After his short spin, his mother went for a quick sail as Josh and I sat on the docks and he wanted to know why Doug didn’t dock on the other side of the docks. I told him that it depended on which way the wind was blowing and he started telling me which way the wind was coming from and kept track of it as it shifted. Amazing!
Doug then took Amber’s sister, Shannon, for a spin in the Laser. She enjoyed the ride but when they returned to the docks the rudder bumped the bottom which messed something up so we retired the Laser for the day and got Doug’s new Butterfly out for its first sail in the third race.
Originally, I was going to do some practicing on the Laser and Doug was going to sail the new Butterfly but with the Laser out of commission that left us both competing for the Butterfly. I tried to put Doug on Cathy’s boat but she wasn’t having it so I had to take him with me.
Doug was all negative saying we’d be too heavy and not at all competitive. Traditional logic, reason and physics have no value to me so we sailed double-handed and I expected to be able to hang with the fleet. After all, we had good wind and he’s supposed to be a very talented sailor. I drove and we had our usual back and forth banter all the way around the course, even bumping heads on one tack but between the two of us, we managed to cross the finish line in 2nd place about 5 seconds behind Frank. Not half bad. Doug, of course, has been going over the race in his head trying to explain how we managed to be competitive and will probably write up a portion of our sail. We did have a point of disagreement on the last leg of the course when we were in the lead and got headed and I wanted to tack and he said no. I always defer to his judgment on the water but required a follow up explanation on why I shouldn’t tack when headed.
When we returned to the docks, Catherine wanted to go for a sail with Doug and get some coaching so off they went. This reminded me that before Doug left for Cabarete, we had intended to have him sail double-handed on a Laser and race with the Butterflys and have some of the newer sailors take the helm and get coaching all the way around the course. Maybe Brad can put his GoPro camera on board and we can record the lessons so we can all benefit. Who wants to go first?
