 |
| Stacey and Ryan Saturday morning |
 |
| Tight Racing |
The other twist in this event is that Ben crewed for Ryan on our boat and I spectated. I did it for the greater good; we both thought Ben could learn a ton from being on the boat with Ryan and he did.
On Saturday, although the temperatures were very chilly and the wind started white capping (in fact one boat capsized in the first race Saturday), conditions moderated as the day went on, with temperatures rising and wind speeds falling.
The race committee ran three six-leg windward-leeward
courses on Saturday (though one was shortened). Six is a lot of legs and I have
rarely seen that many but given the wind direction it was understandable. I
find it hard to keep track of that many legs, but the competitors seemed to
take it in stride. Because Ben, was crewing for Ryan, in preparation for their
teaming up for the Midwinters this coming March (2019), I was in the unusual
position of being ground crew and spectator.
 |
| Ben as crew! "Get that pole up!!" |
I hitched a ride on the judge
boat. Ben lent me his fancy camera with a big zoom lens and I spent most of
Saturday trying to find their boat in the crush.
Winds, as usual, were shifty. Everyone complained about
them, but Tyler and Carrie Andrews showed everyone how it is done. They not
only earned four bullets (Saturday and Sunday combined), but in each race they
led almost wire to wire, sometimes stretching out leads of half a leg in
length.
Unfortunately for them, the universal joint on their hiking
stick broke after the start of the second race on Saturday, forcing them to go
to shore for a repair. Because of some boat gymnastics that are not interesting
to the reader, that tiller actually happened to be the one from our boat,
Catitude. Ryan had offered Tyler and Carrie a spare joint to carry on their
boat and Carrie demurred. All the way back to the club she was regretting her
decision to put that key piece of equipment in the truck instead of on the
boat!
 |
| John Kreidler with tactician Joe Brake |
I was reminded of the old ditty, “for want of a nail the
shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost,” etc, all the way to “a
kingdom that was lost” all for want of a nail. Anyway, let that be a lesson to
other sailors to carefully consider what replacement parts they might want to
carry with them on the water.
While dinner was being cooked (chicken on the BBQ), Sean O’Donnell
did a marvelous job MC’ing a great de-brief session, smoothly picking the
brains of the top sailors. The entire clubhouse hung on the observations
offered. I will mention, and perhaps I am biased, but I find Carrie Andrews one
of the best at describing what they were doing and thinking on the water.
Meanwhile, regatta chair Carol Sandke and her team did a
marvelous job decorating the club house with Halloween decorations. Many people
dressed in costumes. We did not get that memo, and I felt bad about not
participating but it did not diminish my enjoyment of the chicken hot off the
grill and the brownie sundae for dessert. We went to sleep in our tent with
full bellies and a couple borrowed blankets (thank you Bruce and Lynn Kitchen!)
to fend off the chilly night.
Other racers filled the void left by the Andrews’ equipment
failure, and competition was fierce between the top dozen sailors. In an indication
of the challenging conditions, every boat had at least one double digit finish.
Mark Swanson, the eventual winner, leapfrogged the competition Sunday with the
second-place finishes, making up an 11-point deficit from Saturday’s results. I’m
not sure I’ve ever seen that kind of second-day recovery.
The wind Sunday was more northerly and the angle was such
that the legs were longer, so there were fewer of them. I stayed on shore and
the angle was such that I couldn’t see anything, but when all was said and
done, Mark Swanson was crowned the winner of the Fall 48 and the ACCs.
Chris and Gabe Herman claimed the title of the Carolina
District champions. The Hermans (father and son) have not been sailing all that
long, but they are regular participants in both the Great 48 and the Fall 48,
traveling from Lake Townsend (Greensboro, NC) in their re-built 1975 Chevy
Suburban. They have steadily improved over the years (again, they travel.
Coincidence? I think not!) and this year they had a very consistent
performance. Congratulations to them!
As the season now winds down for us northerners, I’ll take a
moment to remind sailors that there is a Florida circuit they can sail through
the winter if they aren’t quite ready yet to put their boat in storage.
 |
| Lining up before the start |
 |
| Ben and Ryan trophied! |
No comments:
Post a Comment