Women's Regatta Proves That Size (of the fleet) Doesn't Matter

Four boats registered for the women's regatta at Newport and three races were held in strong wind. Heading out to the course the wind was very light and it was a long, hot ride. Being Sunday there was lots of boat traffic and it was like sailing in a washing machine. Once we got closer to the race course, things settled down. There were still waves, but many fewer caused by boat wakes.

The first race was four legs. Two boats, skippers Nancy Claypool and Lynn Bruss, duked it out for first and second and the two other boats, skippers Elizabeth Cowles and Amy Ferreira, had an equally competitive race. The second race was also four legs. In that race, Nancy Claypool took a decisive lead and the other three boats followed along. In the final race, the race committee posted a five leg race with an upwind finish. The wind was building steadily and there were plenty of whitecaps. In addition many boats not participating in the women's regatta came out to practice. The competitors all hung tough for the final race, which Lynn Bruss won, though perhaps not as decisively as Nancy did in the second race.

It was upwind all the way back to the harbor, and when we got to the docks, the guys were there to help put the boats away and give us high fives all around.
The only disappointing thing was that it appeared I lost both my crank handle and my waterproof camera overboard. Somehow they both fell out of my pocket?! Weird...

Lynn (in blue) and Stacey (flying spinnaker) on Flying Circus, Lynn's boat. So fun!