8-20-11 RACING

by Pam

Ugh!  Saturday was hot, hot, hot!  I’m glad I was just observing.  The heat just about did Doug in but some air conditioning and Gatorade fixed him right up and he was back to acting normal by the time we got home. 

Sandy and Amber had the race duty.  Before I joined them they went buzzing by and looked like a professional rescue team in their matching jackets and shirts.  I felt a bit hesitant joining them and spoiling their perfect color coordination.

We started with a little wind and ended with very little wind and as the lake turned to glass the sail back to the clubs looked brutal.  Bruce was testing Doug’s hull and had two consistent races with two seconds.  Doug had a first and a WTF as the wind went light.  Frank had a third and a first.  Hmmm.  The experiments continue … what makes the biggest difference, the sailor, the hull or the sail.  I suspect we’ll know the answer by the end of the year.

The “Innovation” post sparked some interest.  Frank had already come up with a pulley system that was working for him.  Brad came up with a design ready for building and testing.  Bruce tried Frank’s pulley system and I must say that was entertaining.  I walked up to Bruce’s spot with Tom and Catherine looking on saying ‘don’t help him’ and Bruce locked in what looked like a losing battle with Frank’s pulley and his boat half on the docks.  I looked at Bruce and said, ‘say it, say it, say the words’ and he managed to get out a ‘help’ and we all jumped in to help.  It will be good when the water comes back up because I think the only one not struggling is Gary.  All that chicken fried steak is making that man strong!