2012 Sailboat Racing Season Ending

Today was the last day of the sailing season.  I’ll update the schedule with the results and provide a couple more recaps over the next couple days.  In the meantime, here are our winnings for this season.  We placed in 3 series:  a 2nd and 2 3rds.  And we can really close in the Interclub series.

Overall, we sailed pretty well, the new spinnaker performed well, we had some fun (and, yes, there was some drinking of heart-healthy red wine along the way).  Thanks to our crew: Kim, Judy, Mark, Rosemary, Andy, Chet, and various “rail meat.”  🙂

We placed in 3 series this season.

Eckerd Cup #2 & #3

Results:  4th (tie) and DNS

Crew:  Andy, Mark and Rosemary

If you look at the summaries on the 2012 Schedule page you’ll see that the racing has been “feast or famine” for the last month!  Last Wednesday, no wind.  Today, breezy and puffy.  Race 1 was sailed in 15-20 kts of breeze.  We sailed upwind well and then didn’t fly the chute downwind (we were a little shorthanded).  On the first downwind leg we had an unexpected gybe and Andy suffered some decent scrapes (and a little blood on the deck).  Luckily his bowling arm wasn’t hurt, and he’ll be OK.

We finished the race, but didn’t stick around for the second race.  We went back to the dock and had lunch instead.  On the way back we had a little bit of engine trouble (overheating — probably a little something stuck in the strainer), but we dealt with it.  Powderhound ripped her main and quit the second race.  Magic “lost their shaft and prop” and sailed the whole race but had to be towed back to the dock to be pulled.

Oddly, though, it was a reasonably good day for sailing — and the Niagara sailed through the fleet during the second race.

Two more days of racing left in the season!

2012 Schedule Updated

Those of you who regularly follow Red Herring’s seasons know that I fall down on the job of blog entries by the end of the season (and after school starts back up).  So you’ll be happy to know that I intend to finish strong.  🙂  I just updated the 2012 Schedule page so you can see the results-to-date.

And, just to make up for the last month, here are a couple blips of how we have been doing.

The Night Lighthouse Race

We love this race.  We were at the boat but the weather was foul.  The race committee delayed the start for a half hour while we waited for better weather.  The race started but without us.  The winds at the start were 20+ and we decided that that was too much for a night race, especially with the prospect of six to eight footers on the lake.  So we regretfully stayed home.

Bluff Bar Race

We love this race too:  63 miles round-trip to Canada and back in one day.  But the weather didn’t look conducive for our boat for this.  So Mark and I sailed on Double Diamond — a Beneteau First 35.  We finished in 12 hours 10 minutes, and placed fourth.  Too bad.  I was hoping for some hardware for the skipper.  Thanks to Tim Weibel for letting us ride.

Schuyler JAM Series

Race 1 was another very bad dying-air night.  We struggled mightily to finish before the time ran out.  (See the picture below for what it looked like near the start.)  We made it, but we finished 10th of 12.  On Race 2 the wind died before we rounded the first mark.  No one finished — not even the A Fleet.

Eckerd Cup #1

Yet another no-air night.  We motored out but the racing was abandoned by the race committee before the start.  The race will be made-up before the Reverse Handicap Race in a week.

And A Good Picture

Finally, here’s a picture shortly after the start of Schuyler #1.  Rosemary took the picture from Bayview.  Note that we were already behind, but at least we were in a wind lane at the time!

The wind was light and dying even at the start. We’re already 6th, but at least we’re in a little wind line.