Thursday: We Tried , We Really Did!

Well, the executive summary is: we didn't sail on Thursday.

Rick Wojnar thinking deep thoughts

But it wasn't for lack of trying. I know the forecasts were for high winds, but at the dock it seemed about as windy as Wednesday...maybe a bit more, but nothing we couldn't handle. The fleet postponed putting in for a very long time, trying perhaps to see what the wind was going to do. Finally, at 11:15, there was nothing to do but take off and head to the course. The sail out was fine. Windy, but certainly within the guidelines. I was thinking it was likely the wind would lie down a bit just like it did on Monday, and even on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, that is NOT what happened. Quite the opposite. As we reached back and forth across the line, just trying to conserve our energy, the wind built and built. The gusts were bad. In between it was barely manageable. Finally, about five minutes before the start, I'd had enough. Just then the class president (Bill Vogler) and the National Championship Committee Chair (Carol Claypool) both got on the radio to the race committee. As soon as they started talking about wind speeds (20.5 knots) and class guidelines, I was done. Ben did not argue with me, surprisingly. We headed in and about five minutes later the race committee abandoned racing for the day. The sail in was quite challenging, and one boat went over but quickly righted itself. So although we sailed more than two hours, we had no racing to show for it.

Boats ready to go, but not sure about the wind

Still, that's how it goes sometimes. This regatta was a challenging blend of lion and lamb (you remember that saying about the weather in March, don't you?) By rights, since it was the end of March the weather should have been as docile as a lamb, but I'd say we had lamb/lion/lamb/lion conditions for the week.

All was not lost, at least not for Fleet 135 sailor Rick Wojnar who took advantage of the winds in the morning to windsurf. Eric Bussell took some amazing drone footage of that which you can find online on youtube if you search for blown out at Sarasota.

Tyler Andrews sailing Sophie (our old boat!) and Andrew Fox from Birmingham Sailing Club as his crew

Ryan and Stacey, who finished fifth!

Hard to believe this gorgeous weather. We came home to 30 degrees and snow!

Two very experienced drivers on tractors made putting in at the ramp easy peasy

Jennifer and Michael Faugust spend a fair chunk of the winter in Sarasota, but they are headed north any day now