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

After yesterday’s no wind, everyone was anxious to get some more racing in today.
The first race saw us with a good clean start. We rounded mid fleet at the top mark after the right hand side of the course paid off huge. We had a good run and got ourselves into the lead pack. However, as we approached the leeward mark, the jib jammed itself in the prefeeder as were hoisting it. The team worked well to get the kite down while we worked hard to sort out the issue. We rounded the leeward mark with the jib half up and eventually had to cut the luff tape to get the jib all the way up. We fought hard to regain some places and finished 4th in the race.
The next race we again had a good start but seemed to struggle to find our way on the course. We were going well but missed a few opportunities to pass some boats. 5th for that race.
The last race was a disaster. We struggled to get in a good position in the start and we ended up breaking off our bow sprit in a collision at the start line as we tacked behind a boat. We performed a 360 penalty turn and started the race. We had to sail with the tack of the kite at the head stay because of the damaged sprit. We were ahead of a boat for the first half of the race but they got around us on the 2nd beat. 8th.
Overall, it was a disappointing and frustrating day. We are in third overall and will fight hard tomorrow to retain that position.
Doogie

No racing today. No wind all day. the forecast looks positive for tomorrow so stay tuned.

The schedule was changed last night with us starting an hour earlier and 3 races planned. The forecast was for about 15 knots.
We were one of the first ones on the race course this morning. We warmed up sailing upwind in somewhat lighter conditions. We started the first race in about 15 knots starting at the boat and tacking immediately. We seemed to struggle finding our speed and good lanes. We finished 5th.
The second race had us in a good mid line start with clean air. We led most of the race only to get passed on the second half of the last run, giving us a 2nd. We seemed to have some decent speed in the light pressure of 10-12 knots. But we got stuck in the bottom right corner downwind and struggled to find a lane back to the finish.
In the third race, all boats were pushing the line hard, setting up at about 1:20 with lots of time to burn. We were in the middle leeward part of the line with Quantum to leeward of us. We pushed hard to leeward to avoid an OCS and were able to squeak out a clean start going fast. We led around the course with Quantum really pushing us and almost even with us on the last beat. But we fought hard and were able to win the race.
Tomorrow is a light forecast. So stay tuned for more.
Doogie

2 Race today.
Conditions started out lighter than expected at about 15-17 knots for the first race. We had an average start with clear air but we struggled a little on the first beat with a smaller jib. We made it around the top, set and ripped down wind. We were plenty busy as on average the runs were about 8-10 minutes. As soon as the kite and staysail going, we got straight into swapping jibs. We gybed on layline and were hauling straight to the left hand mark. Just before the left mark, we had to go behind a boat and that delayed our drop. We really struggled with the drop getting the kite barely to the headstay on a weather drop with most of it in the water. We were lucky to not have shrimped it. After some tugging, we got it back on board, just slightly more damp than earlier. Mickey did a nice job on the beat sorting the kite but by the time we got to top mark again, it was time to swap to the A2. We finished the race in 4th.
Between races we were quite busy, bagging 2 jibs, packing 2 kites and bailing out some water. The breeze picked up for the second race with 20-23 knots. A few boats had some damage due to the conditions so were happy to keep it all in one piece. We had some fast runs with steady speeds around 18 knots. We also finished 4th in the second race. It was plenty physical work out there today. We are a little bummed to have not finished better but we also know where we can pick up a few lengths here and there. We are looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.
Tomorrow looks to be more moderate with breeze forecast around 15-16 knots.
Doogie