2013 Orange Coffee Pot Regatta/D10 Championship
Friday
I have arrived in Surf City NJ on Long Beach Island for the Orange Coffee Pot Regatta and Laser District 10 Regatta. I got here late in the afternoon and joined a few other sailors for about an hour of practice. The wind was in the middle to upper teens which is what we are going to see a lot more of this weekend.
Saturday
We had a windy first day of racing at Surf City Yacht Club for the Orange Coffee Pot and Laser District 10 Championship regatta. I sailed consistently with finishes averaging just out of the top 10 to be sitting 10th overall after the first 7 races.
Throughout the day the wind built from about 12 in the first race to over 20 by the 7th race. The sailing location was slightly behind a shore that kept us the waves down. In fact it was disorienting to have 18 knots of wind later in the day and only 1′ waves. On the shorter courses that we had I found it was important to get good lanes, keep clear air and pick lanes to cross so I didn’t have to duck boats.
We’re looking at another windy day on Sunday.
Sunday
Day 2 of the Orange Coffee Pot Regatta and Laser District 11 Championship was forecast to start a lot like Saturday finished: windy. Already a number of sailors weren’t going out. I rigged hoping to hang in there for as many races as I could. As I was about to head to the launching ramp, I noticed that my traveler fairlead was starting to pull out of the deck. Luckily Don Hahl had a spare hull sitting on a trailer (thanks Don!!!). In a 10-minute mad dash we pulled everything off my boat and re-rigged it on the spare hull.
I hung in there through 2 races in winds in the 20+ range. There were some shifts to be found, but mostly it was just hanging on, keeping the boat moving and keeping it upright. By the end of the 2nd race I started getting the tipsies. I started the 3rd race, sailed to the windward mark and just sailed in for the dock. At that point I was worn out and wasn’t really doing much racing anyway. Back at the dock I packed up, made arrangements to get the boat fixed and got on the road (without the boat).
