We raced 2 races today in 11-15 knots, sunny, and flat water. Great conditions really. The first race we pushed the start line hard and were off. We rounded in the lead group but struggled on both runs to finish 5th. Vesper worked hard to push us back in the fleet. It was a dog fight for 3rd place. We had a bit of a gybing duel on the first run where Vesper did a good job covering and rolling us. On the second beat, a winch problem meant that we had to tack the jib the “old school” way, with a winch handle.
The second race we had a decent start towards the leeward end of the line after escaping Vesper. John Cutler called a good first beat and we rounded the weather mark in first place. We led all the way around the course to win the race but not without some stress. At the second top mark we had a bit of an override issue hoisting the kite, but some quick action by Matt solved the issue and we finished the hoist on another winch. Then on the last beat, the jib Cunningham system failed below deck. Fongo quickly eased the jib sheet to prevent the jib from blowing out the headfoil. We quickly jury rigged the kite tackline as a temporary jib tack system. It wasn’t pretty but it got us up to the finish line, still holding the lead. 1st for that race.
So we finish 3rd for this regatta. We definitely left some points out on the course. There are a few races we could have won and a few boats we could have prevented from passing us. Quantum won the regatta and sailed very cleanly. They have the most time in this class and it showed. We felt like we improved throughout the event and never gave up. Our regatta was definitely not without incident. Hap did a great job racing a tiller boat. Now the team goes home and starts going into final preps before the new boat comes online. We are all anxious to get our hands on the new Bella.

Doogie