Powered way up on a broad reach
Working hard out on the Bay
Draped over the rail like laundry and still not holding her down!
Running the boat pretty light with a crew of 4 today for the SMSA Spring Invitational. Conditions weren't horrific like they were yesterday, but were still strong, and RC decided to run races in the Bay. The first race was a triangle course around government marks. We started with a broad reach under spinnaker, and worked hard to keep the boat composed and going fast. We responded quickly in the gusts and saved her from rounding up several times. The upwind leg started out somewhat reasonable but built to pretty mighty conditions and 5 foot swells by the time we rounded the next mark. Our run back to the finish was very quick despite our deciding not to put up the spinnaker, and we surfed the boat to over 12 knots on one wave. We hung around for a while as RC set up the second race, and conditions continued to be very stiff. By the time we started, conditions were so heavy we had to pull down the #3 to maneuver to the start, and after a brief consideration of retiring I convinced Dewey to stick it out and run the race. We got on course, got the headsail back up, and got back in the game. Puffy conditions prevailed as we got into the river, and it was a real fight to keep the boat under control and making good speed. The crew was pretty tired by the time we rounded the last mark, so we kept the spin down going to the finish. We managed a strong third place of 8 boats. The whole crew definitely had to earn it today! Glad we stuck it out and finished the second race.