We got out for our first Beer-can Race of the summer season last night. Lots of fun.
First Beer-can race of the summer.
- Thread starter pateco
- Start date
Or first race is coming up Saturday... Lightish wings from the West likely mean lots of tacking up the channel against the current... Hoping they get more creative than our standard course
Beer-cans are Wednesday night fun races mostly for practice. No classes, rabbit start, and self reported finish times.
We finished our official spring buoy race series last weekend with races 7 & 8. We have some coastal invitationals coming up later this month.
True of course... our "all boat" race series is on Saturdays and Sundays, but is considered beer-can racing by some, even though there are those of us to take them about as seriously as you can take a race with many different designs that aren't being handicapped.
Our first 'series' race was last night. 45 degrees, gray skies, 14-20 knots breeze. Perfect conditions! 2nd place, not bad for not having a full team practice. We nailed our maneuvers. My tactics were a bit shaky.
LOL... similar situation here... so far no practice at all this spring... first race tomorrow with no opportunity to practice before the warning signal... may not even have my First Mate... one forecast calling for 4kts... historically we don't do well in the drifters...
Ouch. None? I meant no practice DAYS. We still got our normal hour of pre-race practice time in, so a dozen or so upwinds and tacks, two sets, two douses, and 6 gibes. Fun time, including this screamer of a puff near the end of practice.
Warning at 12:30... Skipper's meeting at 11:30... before that tide too low for water to be navigable...
First mate went sailing 2 or so weeks ago on someone else's boat... we were both out on another boat a couple weeks before that but never got the jib up as conditions were too rough (in Jones Inlet we call it the White Wall, just a constant breaker clear across the entire channel that never subsides, current running out, wind blowing in...)
Doesn't really count as practice... last time we were out on our boat, together, sailing, must've been February... and even that was main only.
thankfully, our boat is JAM only, so no hoists/douses to practice... just tack/gybe timings, roundings…
If I'm lucky, I'll have time to clean the bottom before the race...
if I'm lucky...
First mate went sailing 2 or so weeks ago on someone else's boat... we were both out on another boat a couple weeks before that but never got the jib up as conditions were too rough (in Jones Inlet we call it the White Wall, just a constant breaker clear across the entire channel that never subsides, current running out, wind blowing in...)
Doesn't really count as practice... last time we were out on our boat, together, sailing, must've been February... and even that was main only.
thankfully, our boat is JAM only, so no hoists/douses to practice... just tack/gybe timings, roundings…
If I'm lucky, I'll have time to clean the bottom before the race...
if I'm lucky...
Sounds like fun... Enjoy that... As predicted, several costly mistakes and an unexpected crew member and challenging shifty conditions meant we had to settle for second place... Having had the lead with ten lengths to go... This one's gonna sting for a while
As a beer can race there will be more. Each builds skill and reveals an opportunity for ways to improve.
This will be my 3rd race and on a new boat this year. The 65 miles present a variety of challenges. It is managing the time, team work, applying the team skills and not getting worn out - having to crash do to lack of sleep. A learning experience.
I found a new coffee cup. It has a message - “I like to Party, and by party I mean nap...”
Perhaps it will be helpful.
This will be my 3rd race and on a new boat this year. The 65 miles present a variety of challenges. It is managing the time, team work, applying the team skills and not getting worn out - having to crash do to lack of sleep. A learning experience.
I found a new coffee cup. It has a message - “I like to Party, and by party I mean nap...”
Perhaps it will be helpful.