Jon Deutsch

Friday was the final day of racing and having had a day with only 1 race, the race committee bumped up the start time so that we could try and get in 3 races.  Out on the race course the wind was light and out of the same direction as it was on Tuesday.  In the light sloppy stuff we just didn’t have the horsepower to keep up with the fast boats.  By the 3^rd race there was weather on the horizon and we played the side we thought the wind would fill in to, but it didn’t come in time and we were hung out there.  We ended up going 9-8-9 for the day putting us into 8^th for the week.

After racing we had a few of our crew needing to catch a 5:30 flight so we got the boat completely packed on the water so that we could dock and dash.  Tal and I were the only two left so we caught up with the crew from Solaris and went to the regatta party and dinner.

Today was a rough day on the water.  It started out with an intense fog that limited visibility to only a couple hundred feet.  We were postponed on shore for 30 minutes before finally being sent out.  Initially the fog was lifting as we were heading out of the channel, but once out in open water it came in even thicker.  We didn’t have a chart plotter onboard so we ended up using a plotter app on my iPhone using coordinates radioed by the race committee to find their position.  One unlucky Melges 24 ended up several miles away on the Division 3 course.

The Race Committee postponed us on the water until the fog lifted and then got racing started.  The wind was light in the 6-8 knot range and by the time we were actually racing it was rarely over 6.  At least the water was pretty flat so we weren’t bobbing around.

I can’t say much else about the racing because I didn’t see any of it.  To best position our crew weight while sailing upwind, Lud and I sat down below.  Being out of the sun with a slight breeze was more comfortable than being on deck.  If only we hadn’t tacked so much causing me to switch sides, I could have actually caught some zzz’s.

At the last minute before the mark rounding, Lud and I would spring onto deck and raise the spinnaker.  We’d be on deck until it was doused and then we were back below.  Results-wise it wasn’t the best day for us.  We put up an 8 and a 13 in two races dropping us into 8^th.

After racing we did some packing at the condo as many of our crew are hoping on a plane immediately after racing tomorrow.  We hit up the regatta party, grabbed some sea food for dinner and called it a night.

Today was a light air day just on the verge of being sailable.  We headed out to course not knowing if we were actually going to race or if we were just going to be sitting out there for a while.  The wind was just strong enough that the Race Committee started us on time on a course with just 1-mile legs.

We won the start but ended up on the wrong side of the course when the first shift came down.  We were mid-fleet around the first windward mark and caught a couple boats downwind.  On the next upwind we held our own, but boats that banged the corners came out ahead.  On the final downwind we had clear wind heading downwind and picked up a boat, but got sniped at the line by another boat putting us in 7^th.

By that point the wind was dying and wouldn’t be enough to get another race in so the Race Committee called us off and we were back at shore by 1.

Most of us rested or did some sight-seeing for the rest of the afternoon.  At 6 we headed over to the regatta party tent to see the awards.  Unfortunately for me something I drank didn’t agree with me and I went from feeling fine to feeling like I was going to be pretty sick in just a matter of minutes.  I booked it home and rested up for the rest of the night hoping to be back to normal tomorrow.