Well, technically no...we managed to get back to the marina before the storm really hit, but we watched the lightening playing on the horizon for most of tonight's race. Then, when we were at the yacht club having a beer, the storm started lashing the immediate area.
We had a good crew tonight, including a sizable portion of last week's Block Island Race winner "Wild Eyes", Pete, Teri, Lee, and regular crew J.R.; plus a new crew member Janal, who was in her first sailboat race ever, yet she had a good time.
We had a slow start, but picked up on the fleet as the night went on. We used the #2 genny, which seemed like a mistake at the start, but turned out to be a fine sail choice for the gusty winds and our mostly unfamiliar crew.
Fun night, but I was too busy driving to take pictures or video. Hopefully I'll get some good shots next week!
Yes, we were confused too. We started about 10 minutes after our fleet.
At least the weather was nice, and Joyce and me had a nice sail.
But it wasn't much of a race for us. Oh, well...
UPDATE: According to the preliminary results,Full Tilt managed to finish 3rd out of four boats in our class. Our boat did well in the very light breeze towards the end of the race, apparently.
Here's a little video I made (after I stopped swearing) celebrating our solitude together on the open waters:
Joyce and I were joined by J.R., Chad, and his friend Kevin (first time sailor).
On the way out of the harbor. Perfect day, with temps in the mid 70's, and a nice westerly breeze.
They're still dredging the channel. This barge is parked RIGHT in the channel! God only knows what kind of havoc this will cause when all the boats try to go out at low tide.
First awesome sunset picture of the season. It felt GREAT to be back on the water racing!
We took last weekend off to do some remodeling on our house, so tonight was our first sail excursion this year.
Joyce and I went to Archie Moore's for happy hour (free wings!) then headed over to Port Milford to do a little prep work on the boat. We decided to take her out for a quick spin since it was so nice tonight.
We only put up the #2 genny, but it was blowing 15-20, so we had all the power we needed for a shakedown. We didn't go out for long, since the wind off the water was still cool and I didn't bring a jacket, so we did a couple tacks and headed back in.
Still, it was a fun way to kick off the sailing season!
The boat was launched early this morning, and tonight we rigged the mainsail. We were finished too late for tonight's race, but it was honking out of the east anyway, kind of cold, we were short of crew, and we didn't have our foulies on the boat...so we didn't really mind.
Anyway, we'll be racing next Thursday, and we hope to compete in the Pierce Invitational on the 26th.
What you don't see in this picture is the probably lethal amount of bottom paint dust that the mask didn't prevent me from inhaling. Sanding the bottom of a racing sailboat is much more than cosmetic...it's an art form. If you want your boat to gain that crucial tenth of a knot advantage in a close race, you have to basically burnish the hard, copper-based anti-fouling paint on the hull to a mirror sheen.
I'm not that obsessive about it (yet), but I did make sure I put a nice finish on the wetted surface. When I invariably do poorly in races this season, at least I won't be able to blame the condition of the hull on it!
We'll probably have some room for extra crew this season, so if you're interested in racing with us, drop me a line at sailfulltilt#yahoo.com
Visit the Windjammers' forum to discuss racing and cruising; first race begins on Thursday May 10th, and the Pierce Invitational Race is scheduled for Saturday May 26th (on Memorial Day weekend).
We had a good crew tonight, including a sizable portion of last week's Block Island Race winner "Wild Eyes", Pete, Teri, Lee, and regular crew J.R.; plus a new crew member Janal, who was in her first sailboat race ever, yet she had a good time.
