We've been struggling getting our rig tune down... we've also had a lot of HOT weather so far this summer (usually when it's hottest, the wind dies, THAT's when our races are scheduled).
Our first race we were in physical 2nd place when they called in on account of no wind (we were moving at 5 knots at the time they called it). It's written into our sail club that if the first boats don't round the halfway race mark by 2.5 hours, the race is automatically called. The RC called it at 2:45 we were just around the "island" that was the mark, and physically second behind a friend of mine's J/24 (which owes us time).
Second race counted, and we were sorting out a new crew member, and struggling with no wind at the start... Plus I blew the start big time by underestimating the time to get to the line. We struggled to throw the spinnaker up some (it was our first ever with this crew), and we made some bad decisions. We still placed 6th overall, and physically 5th across the finish.
Third race, was counted and was a VERY VERY LIGHT wind start, and hot as heck (92), 0 mph winds... and it took us 30 minutes (the entire 3 fleet starting sequence) to go about 900 feet to get to the start line on 1 tack). it was so bad I resorted to throwing water at the first mark ( that was 300 or so feet from the start line, we were supposed to round it, and it was DW after that)... Here's a shot someone got of me throwing buckets of water at my competition (which were surprisingly happy to get the refreshment)...
See far right (red boat), I'm in full swing chucking buckets... Also note the sails!
If you'll note, we were already around the mark by a decent amount and the two boats around us were PUSHING us away from the layline, but nobody could steer (no wind)... In that position we were 3rd I believe for our fleet.
Shortly after that we ducked further away and picked up some clear air for our reach away from the fleet. Then the wind rolled around some on us to broad so we launched our spinnaker and caught up to our only J/22 just before the next mark. The rest we fought with them to stay out front, I believe we passed them at that mark and kept them behind us from there on out. We didn't have a few other great sailors for that race, and I frankly missed them... anytime fellow good racers can't make it (was a holiday weekend after all) it makes you wonder if you could keep up if they were there. But it was a win, and there were some really great sailors we managed to keep behind us. We finished the last half of the race with wind (8-10), and crossed really strong, boiling along at 6 knots as the horn blew.
A lot like this, only, well this wasn't it:
Our first race we were in physical 2nd place when they called in on account of no wind (we were moving at 5 knots at the time they called it). It's written into our sail club that if the first boats don't round the halfway race mark by 2.5 hours, the race is automatically called. The RC called it at 2:45 we were just around the "island" that was the mark, and physically second behind a friend of mine's J/24 (which owes us time).
Second race counted, and we were sorting out a new crew member, and struggling with no wind at the start... Plus I blew the start big time by underestimating the time to get to the line. We struggled to throw the spinnaker up some (it was our first ever with this crew), and we made some bad decisions. We still placed 6th overall, and physically 5th across the finish.
Third race, was counted and was a VERY VERY LIGHT wind start, and hot as heck (92), 0 mph winds... and it took us 30 minutes (the entire 3 fleet starting sequence) to go about 900 feet to get to the start line on 1 tack). it was so bad I resorted to throwing water at the first mark ( that was 300 or so feet from the start line, we were supposed to round it, and it was DW after that)... Here's a shot someone got of me throwing buckets of water at my competition (which were surprisingly happy to get the refreshment)...
See far right (red boat), I'm in full swing chucking buckets... Also note the sails!
If you'll note, we were already around the mark by a decent amount and the two boats around us were PUSHING us away from the layline, but nobody could steer (no wind)... In that position we were 3rd I believe for our fleet.
Shortly after that we ducked further away and picked up some clear air for our reach away from the fleet. Then the wind rolled around some on us to broad so we launched our spinnaker and caught up to our only J/22 just before the next mark. The rest we fought with them to stay out front, I believe we passed them at that mark and kept them behind us from there on out. We didn't have a few other great sailors for that race, and I frankly missed them... anytime fellow good racers can't make it (was a holiday weekend after all) it makes you wonder if you could keep up if they were there. But it was a win, and there were some really great sailors we managed to keep behind us. We finished the last half of the race with wind (8-10), and crossed really strong, boiling along at 6 knots as the horn blew.
A lot like this, only, well this wasn't it:
