[Public-List] Second Race of 2021

[Gordon Laco]

Good morning, 

Last evening SURPRISE  competed in her second race of the season.  Yep, it’s September, and I’ve only made it out to the course twice this year.  I really hope next year is better.   Why no racing?  It wasn’t the club, which has been out every week and most weekends as usual, it was me taking on too much work.  Oh well, at least the work is very interesting.

Tuesday, my old friend Fred who I’ve known since we were roommates in university four decades ago, suggested that if I were going to go racing he’d like to crew.  Racing?  Of course! Why not?  So we agreed to meet at the club at mid afternoon so as to have time to do some spinnaker practice and have supper aboard before the start.

Out we went, a pizza laid on top of the icebox in the galley, and did a practice spinnaker hoist and douse, a few tacks and then hove to for our supper.  Fred hadn’t crewed aboard SURPRISE in a race for many years, so the refresher was useful.

In due course the fleet came out of the club, the committee boat buzzed over to its position and we were swinging back and forth with the mob in the usual pre-start shenanigans.  The course chosen by the committee was the good old up and down times two.  How I miss the old triangular courses… but I seem to be in a minority in that.   

The wind was NW and a nice 10-12 knots… perfect.  With two minutes to go we found ourselves reaching in toward the committee end on starboard tack but early… way early.  What to do?  Looking over my shoulder I saw that the herd seemed to be late.  Well that’s fortuitous…there’s a hole we can use up some time in.   We bore off, threw in a quick gybe and swooped back up onto a course for the start and nicely back and now right in front of the herd, merrily pooping air turbulence off our rig on MAID MARION, our traditional rival.    The loud beep came and there we were, right in front and immediately threw in a tack onto port as we crossed the line.  

A wind shift which was already developing made port tack the favoured one and very nearly laying the windward mark away we went, settling down beating up the long port tack leg with nobody near us.  A sudden burst of shouting drew my attention to four Sharks, those vermin, squabbling and messing each other up; I ignored them.   The wind shift that had thrown them into fratricidal conflict reached us so we flipped over onto starboard, did a jog that way then back onto port for the approach to the windward mark.  WHITE SAILS, one of our other rivals (I guess when Rick named his boa he resolved to never purchase a spinnaker…) was just ahead as we rounded.  Hmmm that’s not good, how the heck did he catch up?

But… what ho… 	WHITE SAILS became preoccupied observing the troubles of a Shark in his lee which was struggling to sort out a spinnaker hoist… A piece of military dictum originating from Napoleon Bonaparte came to my mind… it goes something like ‘when your foe is making an error, do not interrupt him’.   Sliding along reaching, we edged quietly to windward a bit and swept past WHITE SAILS and the Shark, who did not notice us until it was too late and we were by.  

At the leeward mark we rounded cleanly with the first of the A Fleet boats, a 5.5 Mtr class yacht which had started five minutes behind us, in close proximity.  Although a closer winded than SURPRISE, we beat back up at the same speed.  We rounded the windward mark for the second time in clear air with nobody astern near us.  Coming back down I took a rare photo of the whole fleet behind us.  We finished with a huge lead, all our traditional rivals far behind.  There was something wrong with the committee boat’s air horn so instead of the triumphant peal of sound (perhaps I hoped for a joyous exultation of church bells near and far) we took our anemic squeak.  Oh well.

We sailed back to the club as the sun dipped into the trees… what a lovely mild September evening.  The season is nearly over, alas.   Better start getting serious about planning when the Misery Trip will occur… 

Gord 
426 Surprise



Gordon Laco
www.gordonlaco.com