[Public-List] Finally a race to write about...

[Gordon Laco]

Hello gang.

Well SURPRISE finally had a race last night that was worth writing about.

 Despite a somewhat miserable looking afternoon, by supper time the weather
cleared and lovely cool 12-15kt breeze from the south (!?) filled in and
blew solidly.  About 15 boats roared out to the start... In the Œreal boat¹
division of B  Fleet ( real boat, as opposed the the 24¹ Shark One-Design
boats we share a start with) there was us, WIND SCOOP (a CS27 who we used to
clobber but this year is quick and beat us twice so far (quote from my
son... ³WTF, did he read a book or something?!²), a Tanzer 22 (ugly, short,
but quick), MAID MARION (an Aloha 28, well sailed by Robin, a gentle soul
who in his youth flew deHaviland Vampires, a 1st generation jet fighter in
the RAF), the Thurley¹s with their all-girl crew in their Pearson 31 and
several more.  The usual rabble mob of Sharks was there, I think that vermin
is up to 6 or 8 boats now.

We got into the quite heavy traffic before the start, galloping back and
forth as the clock ticked down, and placed ourselves behind and just to
windward of MAID MARION, close reaching for the committee boat end of the
line doing over 6kts with seconds to go.   Up ahead was a solid wall of
Sharks, nose to tail and several boats thick all hard on the wind (sailing
across our course) and screaming at each other.  We managed to clamber over
MAID MARION, stifling them with our wind shadow as we passed and allowing me
to dive to leeward into a hole that had appeared in the Shark stampede.  We
hardened up and crossed the line with only one Shark ahead of us and to
windward of the whole fleet.   Our principal foes were all with the
exception of Maid Marion, who was nicely behind us and elbowing their way
through the vermin, all nicely to leeward and somewhat distracted by the
howling scramble the rabble were causing at the start line.

For the rest of the race we sailed clean in clear air with nobody near us...
I was reminded of quotation I heard a skipper I crewed for giving to the
yachting press after a big win... ³how do I win races?  I try to start
first, then work to improve my lead...²  None of the big boys in A Fleet,
who started 5 min behind us, came near catching us.  We were hitting 7kts
under spinnaker on the runs (the sets, gybes and douses were nearly
flawless) and we were never going under 5kts on the beats.  We crossed the
line half a leg ahead of our nearest rival and with only the same single
Shark ahead of us.  Wow.   We crossed the finish just galloping under
spinnaker...tossing in a gybe just to be stylish as we got our horn toot,
and reached under Œchute back to the club with the pole just off the
forestay, rooster tails coming off our quarters, stern tucked way down and a
big foaming bow wave on either side.

This being the end of the first series, there was pizza at the club house
after and while chowing down I was amused to have WINDSCOOP consoling me on
our finish... We were so far ahead of them they¹d lost track and thought we
were behind them.  Ha ha ha ha he he he.  What a look on their faces when my
son Peter filled them in.

So, I¹m at Toronto Pearson now waiting for my delayed flight to Providence.
I spend the weekend doing the Mystic Seaport Wooden Boat Mag festival
(anybody who¹s going please come and say hello at the R&W Traditional
Rigging booth), crawl around the whaler Charles W Morgan to talking about
their big refit, then I¹ll be home again next Wednesday just in time for
next week¹s race.

Gord SURPRISE 426

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