7-9-11 RACING

by Pam

Let the regular racing begin!  Look at that start line.  It was a thing of beauty to see so many boats getting up on the line.  And what a beautiful day.  Wind, no triple digit temps and some cloud cover to protect us from the blazing sun.  A hot summer day in Texas just doesn’t get much better than that.

Tom was our surprise sailor of the day.  Despite Bruce’s best efforts to wear him out before he left the docks, not only did he get rigged and away from the docks on time, but he was the only boat in the starting area at race time.  We contemplated starting the sequence since he is so often punished for taking the time to help our guests get rigged and on the water.  Personally, I think it would be nice if the race committee would rig Tom’s boat for him when we have a guest.  So what did Tom do with the opportunity to start with everyone else?  He took a 3^rd in the first race and a 2^nd in the second race.  Way to go Tom!

Amber and her sister were out doing some intro double-handed sailing and Shannon plans to join us racing next week.  Catherine is finding her voice on the race course.  After two races, Burton voted to keep going but Catherine called for a break in no uncertain terms and made it clear she meant business.  It turned out to be a really smart decision because the sun was starting to make an appearance and it was heating up but by the time we returned to racing, we had a really good breeze that made it much more comfortable and Sandy was pleased since he’d been struggling with the lighter stuff.

At the end of the day, we returned to the docks and Bruce had somehow lost his boat.  It was just off the shore with the centerboard holding it in place.  So we swapped places on the committee boat and had a little competition to see if he and Brad could rescue the boat before I rescued it on foot.  I’ve seen Doug do this countless times when we just dump a hull into the water from the shore and he paddles it to the docks.  I figured if he can do it, I can do it but it wasn’t so simple.  My first attempt at getting on the bow, I slipped right off the front of the boat and face planted into the water.  Sometimes I think he shouldn’t make things look easy.  Finally, I managed to wedge myself behind the forestay and lay on the bow and start paddling but Tom noted that I wasn’t making headway.  So, I got creative and did the butterfly stroke.  Success!  The butterfly stroke beat the rescue boat!  Go figure!

Cathy and Cameron were on the docks but they were Sniping.  I saw them once out there hiking in perfect unison and they looked so cute together.  It occurred to me that I don’t think I’ve seen Cameron and Cathy race against each other on the Butterfly course.  Hmmm.  Who do I bet on?