Racing 5-7-2016

                                                                                                                                              by Cathy

Miles and Bob (with mud on his face) after a challenging day of race committee.  Thank you, Miles and Bob!

I woke up thinking how much fun we had yesterday. Even though the wind picked up and a few things went a little wrong, several sailors commented on how much fun they had on the reaches. John K. sent me the photo above with the following comment:  "Our intrepid committee boat crew earned their keep on Saturday!  Great job getting Bruce's boat pointing upwards again under tough conditions...strong winds and chop. Well done!"

They had a difficult time. Bob asked Paul if we could have a little more training on how to right a capsized Butterfly. Paul suggested the easiest way was to get the painter (which should be fairly long) and pull the sailboat into the wind. That by itself may loosen a stuck mast and the boat may begin to come up. If not, then someone needs to reach over and grab a side-stay and pull the boat up. But probably every capsize is a little different so a lunch meeting discussing best procedures would be a good idea.  From a safety standpoint, I like getting the sailor into the committee boat before doing any recovery of the sailboat.  Again it all depends, but with everyone in the motor boat it is safer, plus that is another person to help with the recovery of the capsized boat.

Swapping the misadventure stories was as much fun as the sailing itself, even if your boat capsized or you got hit in the head with your boom.  Yes, that happened too . . . and that is no fun.  Thankfully no one got seriously hurt and that occurred as the sailor was coming into the docks. With higher winds and the shiftiness around the boat clubs, I think landing and taking off can be the hardest thing on some days.

We only had 2 races, as after all the capsizes and with the wind building more, most did not want to go out again.  Paul was 1st in both races, with Sandy next, and Burton and John trading 3rd place. For the women, Laurie was sailing great and beat Nancy and me in both races.  Then I think Nancy and I traded places for 2nd woman.

Competition is getting really good out there and the Butterfly fleet is building.  Several beginner sailors have expressed an interest in joining us - and I have to say this is a great fleet for beginners if you want to skipper your own boat. The fleet is so helpful and the controls are fairly simple and you are pretty much guaranteed to have a good time.  Come on out and join us.  Fleet boats can be reserved by contacting Paul Miller. paulmiller100tx(at)gmail.com