the 2008 Warm Water Regatta
Race #3 pics - 5
pics by Joanne Van Kampen and Rick Goldt
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Here, we get to witness the beginnings of a mark-rounding fiasco for Marc (864) who is still getting used to sailing with Julie. The overdone gybe here will have ramifications in the next few seconds. Meanwhile, Dwight and Pat (4606) will show how it should happen ...
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... with a flawless douse and gybe sequence that will get them around in ...
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... 4th place, ahead of Roger (7700). It looks like things might yet be OK for Marc and Julie (r) as they ...
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... close in on the mark. A super-human sense of awareness would tell Marc that Dwight is sailing very high on his port tack,
i.e. the wind has backed and put Marc by the lee. Instead, the news comes in the form of an unexpected ...
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... gybe at the worst possible time: this close to the mark, gybing back is not an option, and the boom inevitably ...
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... bonks the mark.
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A depressed team Pub Crawl sails clear to do their Penalty Turn while ...
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... Kirk and ...
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... Leo (9667) ...
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... roll on by.
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A fine rounding for Marc and Julie this time but will it be too little, too late? This last beat is very short.
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With the two Als, Uncle and Nichols, long across in 1-2, it appears that Brian (l) is poised to take 3rd ahead of Dwight (4606) as the 14 careens precariously through our racing fleet (poor form, that!!) But this angle is deceptive as Brian is still well short of laying the RC boat end of the line (far left), and Dwight will ...
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... in fact ...
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... beat Brian by ever so slight a margin to take 3rd. Roger (7700) is cruising towards a 5th meanwhile. A lesson for Brian here: a variant of the strategy that says Stay between your opponent and the next mark. With such a short beat (one that was relatively square to the wind) to the finish and a good 100 yards of lead over Dwight at the rounding, Brian should have put half his lead onto each tack, i.e. half to windward and half ahead of Dwight. Such a position gives a little reaction time as you cover grimly to the finish by tacking whenever your opponent tacks (until you are overlaying the finish line if no one else is a worry). If Brian had done this, only a major disaster (breakdown of gear or crew work) could have let this 3rd slip away. Meanwhile, Marc (far right) ...
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... tacks in the right strategic spot: to leeward and ahead of Kirk (421) and Leo (9667) whom he still has hopes of catching, but only ...
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... if all three boats get a major knock in the next few seconds! Angles! It's a long shot that certainly won't come through if ...
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... Marc (l) is knocked (as is happening here), but the other two are not. Indeed, the interesting race will be for 6th.
Using their weight advantage, Leo and Daryl ...
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... grind through Kirk's backwind and ...
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... grab 6th place at the very last second.
Seems like a whole day's racing has been done, yet it's only time for lunch - ashore, thank goodness!!
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