[Public-List] Last race of the season...

[George Dinwiddie via Public-List]

Thanks, Gord. It's refreshing to hear a sailing story on the list. ;-)

On 10/14/15 8:57 AM, Gordon Laco via Public-List wrote:
> Hello gang,
>
> Our club¹s had it¹s last race of the season ­ in contrast with the one the
> week before, this one was a real cracker with heavy air from the east, not a
> common direction in our latitude (44N).
>
> The fleet was much thinned out, partly perhaps by the decision to run a long
> ŒSnake Island and back¹ instead of the usual course race.  At the 5pm
> skipper¹s meeting there was dissension over the fact that we¹d be returning
> in the dark due to the shortening days... One boat didn¹t have running
> lights (a Shark of course) so we all sighed and decided on a shortened
> course running from the entrance to the club to M20 (the red pin marking
> Midland Shoal) and back, twice.
>
> So out we all went, bucketing along under power into the short steep chop
> the east wind was piling into our end of the harbour, which is at the
> western extremity of Severn Sound.  Noticing a shouted conversation going on
> over at the committee boat, we sauntered over and learned that the course
> was being shortened to only once out and back... Rats.
>
> We got our main up, and after a discreditable bit of confusion on the part
> of our otherwise competent foredeck team over which cringle was the
> cunningham, and which the first reef tack (yes), we shut down the engine
> started sailing.
>
> You can imagine my surprise when we heard a horn which was reported
> confidently as the five minute, then saw the fleet start it¹s stampede for
> the line... It was the one minute.  We¹d missed the whole shebang of flags
> and horns.  We made a wild gybe and broad reached down to the start at over
> seven knots and rounded to cross two minutes behind the fleet.  Oh well...
>
> The course to the pin was a buck we could almost lay...  Poor SURPRISE was
> slamming occasionally in the short steep seas but we got her up to 5.5knots
> which wasn¹t bad considering the conditions.  Once a combination lift and
> gust laid us down to put the leeward winches under water before the main
> could be eased... And when it was popped, I saw it only ease a bit before
> the end of the boom was in the water...  My son Pete shouted ³well I guess
> winches have had their annual servicing¹.   We got up to where we could tack
> over onto port and lay the pin, we found we¹d caught up with our rivals and
> were less than a minute behind them.
>
> We closed on the pin picturesquely with spray flying all over and shook our
> reef on the fly.  My foredeck guys shouted back to the cockpit ŒSPINNAKER?¹
> Now here was a quandary.
>
> Before the race I¹d spoken with our arch rival, Matt Thurley in SUNDANCER
> (Pearson 28) and since he had only one person for crew that day I¹d agreed
> for our last battle of the season we wouldn¹t use Œchutes.   Well here we
> were at the windward mark, having caught up heroically on the beat and there
> was SUNDANCER just ahead trudging along under white sails... We could have
> come up astern with our spinnaker, and after asphyxiating him in our wind
> shadow, surged past and won the last battle....  I couldn¹t do it to him.
> Oh the black looks I got from my tigers up on the foredeck....  Later they
> told me that despite having the agreement described to them, at the time
> they thought I¹d lost confidence in them over the errors they made tucking
> in the reef before the race.... I smoothed their feathers.  We surged over
> the finish behind SUNDANCER...
>
> So the last race was over in about 30 minutes.  We¹d not quite made up the
> two minutes we lost by starting late, but as I observed so many times before
> in so many races... If only we¹d had a better start, the catching up we did
> manage would have been Œpulling ahead¹ and we¹d have been covered in glory.
> Maybe next year...
>
> We¹ve got the Misery Trip coming up next... It looks like it¹s happening on
> the 30 October weekend....
>
> Gord #426 Surprise
>

-- 
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   When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
   I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
   So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
   So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
                'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
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