We sailed 2 more races today in more than expected breeze. In the first race we struggled a little to get in position for the start and started about 5 seconds back. We worked our way to the left side of the course and had a close encounter with Shockwave. The breeze built to 18-19 knots by the time we got to the top mark and we were off at full speed on the run. We rounded the top right behind Stig and ahead of Ran. By the time we got to the bottom mark, Ran was even with us. We finally had a good string drop and quickly got the kite downstairs. We held our position for the rest of the race. We finished 3rd.
For the second race, the breeze started backing off and we were seeing 12-15 knots. We got a decent start on the right side of the line after being too close to the line for the last 30 seconds. We had decent boat handling with some good sets and good drops but we still finished 3rd.
So, overall, a better day than yesterday but we are definitely happier with more breeze. Tomorrow will be our last day of racing.
Doogie

Light air was the motto of the day. Our first race was sailed in 7-9 knots. We had an average start in the middle of the line but a little too far back.
We worked the left side of the course but ended up getting rolled to windward by Stig on the port layline. After that, we had to sail in their gas all the way to the top mark. Painful. We had a decent set and seemed to go average on the run. We struggled to gain any positions for the rest of the race.
The second race we got a nice start at the pin. We worked our way to the left again but found ourselves getting rolled by Stig on the port layline. Same movie… Again, we struggled to gain any positions for the rest of the race. On the upside, our boat handling was more crisp and we cleaned a few things up. Our light air sets have made an improvement, although we still feel that there are some more gains to be had there. We definitely struggled for speed all day in the light air. Our boat is moded for a bit more breeze and it showed today. So now our challenge is to squeeze some better performance out of the boat in the light.
2 more races tomorrow.
Doogie

Today was a rough one. We had one coastal race, which we had a rough time with.
We ended up quite close to the start line and struggled to burn the time off. We had an ok beat and managed to stay in contention by the time we got to the top mark. At the bottom of the first run, we rounded the leeward mark at the same time as Shockwave but had a small problem getting the jib on the lock. The issue was quickly resolved and about 5 seconds after going around the mark we were trimmed on and going upwind. Back up to the top again but this time to a rock about 35 minutes away. The fleet got to the right of us and had better pressure and shift coming into the top. We had a decent run but still not good enough to get us to the top of the fleet. We rounded the leeward mark and headed back to a different weather mark. The next leg was 125 true wind angle which meant Code 0 time. The set up went well and we hoisted about a minute from the top. We tacked and went for deploy and from then on, it was a disaster. A mis-communication and some other issues resulted the in the sail not fully deployed. So we had to quickly go to the kite. Kite up, then struggled to get the Code 0 down. We sailed with the A2 for a while until it was time to get the jib up and kite down. We started the drop with the string, but the high angle and some other problems resulted in the sail catching water and over the side it went. We had to cut the halyard, kite sheet, and tack line. We reached into the finish pretty bummed out and frustrated with ourselves.
Before dinner we all sat down and went through the issues and seem to have them sorted. So now onto the next day and 2 more windward leeward races tomorrow.
Doogie

2 races today. Both races in about 10-12 knots.
The first race saw us starting at the pin and able to pinch off most of the other boats. We rounded the weather mark in the lead but struggled to find the right mode downwind. We rounded the leeward mark after a bit of a messy drop and worked our way back to the left side of the course. We finished the race in second place. Not terrible but we felt like we could have sailed better.
For the second race, we again started at the pin and were able to pinch most of the boats off on our weather hip. We rounded the top mark in good shape right behind Stig. However, we again struggled downwind and got rolled by Ran after the gybe. We had to clear our air on the beat but struggled at the top of the beat. We finished that race in 5th place, just barely beating Highland Fling.
So overall, we felt like we left some places on the course but we also can identify them. We will have 2 more races tomorrow in probably similar conditions so we will get another chance to improve.
Doogie