Monday's qualifiers' wind was honking when the racing was supposed to start. The PRO reported to us that the wind was above the class guidelines. We gathered at 8:45 for the daily briefing and he asked the assembly if they minded postponing until 11 to see if the wind might come down. No one minded.
At 11 the wind was still blowing at 20 knots or more, and so he said to check back at 1 pm. At 1 pm the Race Committee decided to give it one more hour and then, at 2, the wind had moderated and ta da!! We headed out to race!
I heard a lot of groaning; it's very hard to wait five hours or more and then still feel energized to race, but we knew the race committee was right, the wind had come down and if we wanted a qualifying series we needed to head out. A handful of boats who wanted to be in the challenger fleet stayed on shore (including our own Bryan Hunt, since his wife/crew couldn't get here until Monday evening!!), but the rest of us headed to the water to duke it out.
Racing started at 3 pm. We got in two races before our steak dinner. The wind was shifty and strong. There were tons and tons of good racers on the line. We had no general recalls. I don't think there was even an individual recall. It was a good day.
To listen to the top sailors who gave us some tips at the end of the day, it was a matter of staying in the pressure, sailing on the lifted tack — even downwind — and getting a good start. Simple, right? Ben and I had the vang on almost the whole day, though the second race the wind came down a bit. We hiked hard, carved up when we could and found a few lifts on the far right side, especially the second race. This is the most wind we've sailed in all season, and I could really tell. I need more upper body strength!!
NACs tend to bring out the top sailors anyway, but this is a particularly top-heavy event, with so many tough, talented. Texas sailors. Two of the Midwest District boats (ADHD, Catitude) made it to the championship fleet. Catitude made it by a whisker (ha ha, see what I did there?). There are 51 boats, which means the top 26 boats go into the championship. Guess what number Catitude finished yesterday?
Anyway, today it starts fresh. The wind appears to have moderated. More soon.
Here are the results:
http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_regatta_results.php?regatta_id=15921&show_crew=1
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