Sunday was the Fishing Bay Yacht Club J/70 Spring Regatta with 6 boats racing in 14-16 gusting to 20 out of the West. With Andrew, Evan and Mark on board we had a great crew and were really able to get the boat around the course well in the higher winds.  We even kicked it up a gear planning downwind when we could.

We sailed 5 races with some pretty tight finishes with the other boats.  In 3 of the races we finished a boat length or less behind someone.  The shifty and puffy conditions made it both challenging to stay in phase and hard to keep changing modes to keep the boat going fast.

We finished a consistent 1-3-3-2-2 including having to restart on the final racing having been OCS.  Another great day.

The series concludes next Sunday at Spring Series #4.

RESULTS | PICTURES

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It took a while to get out on the J/70 for the first time this year and it was a great day for it at the Fishing Bay Yacht Club Offshore Spring Series #3.  Onboard today were Andrew, Evan and Nathan and there were 3 other J/70s in the fleet among the 20 other boats out racing.

No Quarter Aaron Sutten Photo

Saturday started light WNW around 6-8 and built to the 10-13 by the end of the 3rd race.  We had good boat speed up wind, played most of the shifts well and went 2-1-2.  On most of the downwinds Ron Thompson sailing Nostalgia put on a clinic and either pulled ahead if he was ahead or caught up if he was behind.  The next day we realized we had the spinnaker rigged wrong and wasn’t getting it to full hoist.

All in all a great first day back in the boat and excited to continue the season this spring.

Following racing we were hanging around the club as it rained and cleared and we were treated to a beautiful rainbow.

PICTURES | RESULTS

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The genesis for the trip to Lake Norman was the wedding of my college buddy Tom to his fiance Jaime.  Being the reception was on Lake Norman so close to the yacht club I was able to sail Saturday, attend the reception and sail again on Sunday.

It was a beautiful venue at a home on the lake and it was great catching up with old friends and celebrating with Tom, Jamie and their family and friends.  Congrats Tom & Jamie!

PICTURES

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Day 2 at the Lake Norman Yacht Club Spring Lightning Invitational was to see lighter winds – but we were pleasantly surprised with 5-8 knots for our first race.  Steve, Jeff and I had another good start and stayed in the top 5 all the way around the course making gains near the top of the final upwind and finished with a 2nd.  That gave us a few point lead over 2nd place Greg Fisher going into the final race.

As the 2nd race started the wind began to die.  We took a conservative approach up the middle and boats on both sides found more wind and rounded ahead.  We were around 8th at the top mark – picked up a couple boats downwind and then found the wind even lighter and more fickle on the 2nd upwind.  We picked some shifts and caught some boats and even crossed ahead of Greg.  But he found wind on the other side of the course and wound up finishing 3 boats ahead of us and we fell back to 6th as we reached the top mark for a shortened finish.

It wouldn’t be until we were arriving at the awards that we found out that we had tied Greg Fisher for 1st and we won the tiebreaker on account of having won 2 of the races.  A great result for a pick up team in a borrowed boat against some good sailors.  Thanks again Steve and Jeff Hayden for having me along and Bill for all of the hospitality at Lake Norman Yacht Club!

REGATTA WEBSITE | PHOTOS | RESULTS

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A fun sailing opportunity came together for me this weekend while I was going to be in town for Tom & Jamie’s wedding – I was able to sail at Lake Norman Yacht Club at their Spring Lightning Regatta.  Bill Wiggins set me up with Steve and Jeff Hayden who were coming up from Florida and needed a 3rd.

I haven’t sailed a Lightning since sometime in the early 1990’s when I would ride my bike down to Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club and jump on a boat for their Wednesday night series.  Steve and Jeff are great sailors and it was easy to fit right in with them on the boat.  I did the bow and while I probably wasn’t the quickest nor the most graceful gybing the pole – I don’t think I slowed us down any.

In the first race of the day we had a great start right at the line at the gun.  From there we just picked some shifts and found ourselves at the top mark in first- from there we extended around the course.

In the second race we had a reasonable start – but other boats hugged the left even more and we found ourselves around 6-8 at the top mark.  The wind was coming up a little more from the 6-8 in the first race to where we were definitely sitting out to balance the boat.  On the second upwind we picked some good shifts and made it to 3rd through to the finish.

The 3rd race wasn’t as good to us on the start.  We were near the back of the pack at the top mark, but worked on picking off boats on every leg with good boat speed and managed 6th.

For the 4th and final race of the day – we again had a good start.  Got to the top mark in the top 3, held our position downwind and pulled ahead on the next upwind winning the race and putting us solidly in front of the 19-boat fleet on the first day.

REGATTA WEBSITE | PHOTOS | RESULTS

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This weekend should have been Fishing Bay Yacht Club‘s Opening Day Race followed by a J/70 clinic on Sunday – but the weather conspired to have it cancelled.  With no sailing to do and only a Blessing of the Fleet and party to attend – it became a work weekend and thus the J/70 that was not yet rigged was packed and hauled to Richmond.

While at home it was easy to get a couple projects done:

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Sunday at the Easter Laser Regatta started with very light winds and the race committee postponed us ashore.  Before we knew it, it was blowing stink and we were headed out on the course to start a race.  I won the boat and immediately went right while the entire rest of the fleet went left.  The name of the game was just gritting it out and when we came back together at the top mark – it didn’t seem to have mattered which way folks went.

As I rounded the top mark with about 5 or 6 boats  ahead of me, I misjudged it and hit the mark with the boom.  Given the wind speed, my conditioning, the boats ahead wiping out all over the place I knew there was no chance I was going to successfully execute a jibe in doing my 360 to exonerate myself.  Knowing it was only going to get worse on the day – I made the decision to just call it a day.  9 other boats followed.

Two races were sailed and the event rules for DNF were actually a little more favorable than Appendix A and because so many other boats bailed – I was still able to finish in 8 after not having a finish for either of the 2 races sailed.

Landing the boat at the club was a little tricky with the wind shooting right down the dock into the ramp, but after pulling up on a floating dock and de-rigging, the naked hull was easier to get out of the water without banging anything up.  Onshore I got packed up and got on the road.  I was bummed to miss the awards – glad I got to sail the Easter Laser Regatta and thanks Fred for everything you do to put this on.

Final Results | Pictures

 

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The first day at the Easter Laser Regatta at Austin Yacht Club started out as a beautiful morning.  Granted the night before was quite cold and I woke up in the van shivering a couple times even in my sleeping bag.  After registering and a quick skippers meeting we were rigged and heading out to the course in light but definitely sailable conditions with 21 standards and 9 radials.

In the first race I had a great start, picked some shifts up the first beat and rounded the first mark in 3rd.  That rounding was a little tighter than it should have been with Doug K tacking under me and Griffin at the mark and fouling us.  I hated to have to protest him for it, but it was a clear foul and he didn’t do his turns – leading to a DSQ for Doug. The course was an 8 leg race with a windward leeward, a triangle followed by another windward leeward and a final windward leg to finish.  It was a long race, but I managed to get passed by one boat and pass another boat to stay in 3rd.

After another good start in the 2nd race I was in the top 5 or 6 around the top mark and then just worked on passing boats upwind while not loosing any downwind and managing a 4th.  The conditions continued to be very up and down requiring a lot of mode changes to keep the boat tuned.  I was also sailing with the mkII sail and getting the hang of tuning it.

By the 3rd race the wind was starting to fill in more consistently.  On two of the upwind legs I managed to miss a couple shifts and could never seem to get around the 5-10 clump of boats and wound up in 11th.

We headed ashore for lunch and returned in the afternoon to see the wind a little stronger and varying between 8 and 15 knots.   The course was a little shorter and the shifts were fewer and while I don’t feel like I sailed any worse – I could definitely tell that the rest of the fleet was sailing a lot better and making the races a lot more competitive.

In the 4th race I got behind on the first leg, but had a great 6th leg picking shifts to come back and get ahead and finished 6th.

The 5th race I found myself mostly in the trailing pack after a not so great started and managed to pick some folks off upwind.  By the last leg we had light hiking conditions and I was starting to figure out more of the modes in the mkII sail.  I made it work for me when I pinched off Jody S in a mkI sail as we went into the finish to leave me in 5th for the race and tied for 4th overall.

Following racing we all had dinner at Mexican restaurant followed by drinks on the porch at the club.  I mostly hung out with the folks from the Dallas Laser Fleet and enjoyed meeting them and feeling like a member of their group.

Photos of me by McDonald Photography here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here.

Day 1 Results | Pictures

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