We
all know light air, finesse racing isn't my strong suit; thankfully this race was
the opposite. And after all the upwind racing I did last summer, I finally
worked out the kinks to make Jeroboam go to weather at and beyond her polars
which came in very handy this race.
Nothing
broke but mistakes were made. I probably didn't need to launch the kite out of
the gate and if I hadn't noticed Panacea pointing high on leg one, I might have
missed the opportunity to put a little in the bank for the moderate shift leading
up to Matinicus. No mistakes on leg 2 (see next paragraph titled "What
Went Right") but on leg 3 I didn't put enough in the bank as the breeze
came around back at Matinicus and I rounded too wide. To be honest, I was
pretty tired toward the end of that leg and wasn't paying enough attention to
notice the shift. Rookie mistake.
I
think leg 2 strategy was the make/break factor for this race. Those who hung on
a little longer to the right avoided more of the header on port tack and
enjoyed more of the lift on starboard. Resolute was the first to go over then it was
decision time. To help me decide, I blasted the Clash, Should I Stay or Should I Go over a cup of coffee and decided to dig in on the right, even taking
Eagles Dare's transom, the last to go over in front of me. Luck was on my side,
as my eventual tack required no others nor was footing off called for at Mt
Desert Rock. Leg 4 was a methodical plod to Rockland, fighting the tide and
working hard not to get demoralized by the atrocious tacking angles. I put this
leg in the What Went Right category as prior to OSTAR, these were the ones I
was sure I wasn't sailing right, resulting in lots of yelling, second guessing
and thoughts of the Caribbean where there is no tide to speak of. Instead I
stayed focused and plodded on, watching my polar percent, confident that if I
just showed a little patience and grit, dividends would be paid.
As
always, it was a terrific honor racing with the Maine crowd and I appreciate all the
work Doug Pope and Rockland YC do to make it happen. Fantastic course, good late
season breeze and brilliant competition!
