Wednesday Night Series: 2014

Race 17, 2nd Half

Aug 27, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

Thanks to Willie and Christina Lund for being our Committee boat hosts for the last Wednesday night race of this year. It was a beautiful evening with SWW gusty winds as the boats head out onto the course. The Crew of Fuzzy Logic gave us a W4 course that had everyone finished, packed up, and down to Carl R’s for the series awards party by 8:30 pm. At the start, the pin was favored leaving the mid-line fairly open. Crackerjack favoring the pin-end with Witch Way in close company got off to a good starts. Spirit and Cut Loose had a tight start right at the pin. In the shifty winds CrackerJack was able to out point Witch Way and climb over the top forcing Witch Way into 2 quick tacks to clear their air. Other boats including Animal, Uncle Ludwig and Judy opted for an earlier tack but the winds were not as strong on the right side of the course. Vaporize squeaked ahead of CrackerJack within yards of the 1st mark where everyone popped their spinnakers and immediately gybed. The close-quarter reach down the 2nd leg led to some jostling between several boats including Spirit and Animal. Vaporize rounded the 2nd mark just ahead of CrackerJack but both were closely followed by the next 4 boats (all in the hunt for a top place). As the wind shifted even further west, most boats tacked quickly onto starboard after rounding and took advantage of the huge lift to the 3rd mark. As the Viper rounded mark 3 the wind was still shifting west and CrackerJack opted to drop the spinnaker and work to the finish with their Genoa. Most other boats continued their reach with spinnakers flying. Unfortunately for Vaporize, the wind started to pick up right as they came into the finish line and being over canvassed had to bear way, gybe and get their chute under control and doused losing valuable minutes and allowing CrackerJack to take line honors for the evening. As it proved out, the last race of the season scrambled the tight point’s race for the second half of the season and series. Thanks and congratulations to all that sailed and participated or acted as Committee Boat. Thank you to all committee boat volunteers; without you it would be difficult to hold a weeknight series.For the 2nd half of the series and in testament to the competitive racing, only 2.5 points separated the top 4 places. Congratulations to Uncle Ludwig for placing 5th. Vaporize and Witch Way tied with 19.5 pts and in a correction of last evening’s announcement (sorry for reading the wrong line) Vaporize placed 3rd and Witch Way 4th by Rule A8.1. Rodger’s 3rd place finish for the night gave him 18 pts and finished 2nd . Winning the night, CrackerJack won the 2nd half with 17 pts.For the Series: Below is a summary of the 1st, 2nd, and series totals with an honorable mention to the crew of Judy for their 5th in the 1st half. High Jinx was recognized as “Most improved” boat this season. Congratulations to Jon Brodie and the crew of CrackerJack who hoisted the Jeff Underhill Trophy (filled with Margarita’s). Thanks again to all competitors for the great racing and camaraderie!

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Race 16, 2nd Half

Aug 21, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Thanks to Ron Byrne and crew for getting off a race in the almost non-existent wind. 9 out of 13 boats were able to complete the long W3 course which was set with the hope of increasing winds. Many boats were unprepared for the Warning signal and scrambled to make to the right side of the start line within the 5-minutes. Great sportsmanship was displayed and boats allowed other boats room to maneuver on the tight line as crews hurried to unroll and raise sails and get motors put away. At the start CrackerJack found itself on the right side of the line with their main set along with Windog and Fuzzy Logic. The very light wind from the west favored Crackerjack who jumped out to a considerable lead on the long starboard tack to North Canoe gov. marker but was pursued by the J22’s in close company with Vaporize. Early in the 2nd leg Crackerjack’s speed dropped to the point of no steerage and Vaporize, 2 boats lengths to windward, slowly passed with the rest of the fleet coming at them on starboard tack. The larger pack gently floated along looking for any advantage in the very slight puffs that came and went. As the 2nd leg progressed, Witch Way was able to close the gap on the two J22’s on the long port tack back to the pin. Ron dropped a new finish line and signaled the fleet for a shorten course about an hour into the race. Vaporize and CrackerJack rounded the 2nd mark with a slightly increased wind which propelled them through the first tack of the night and across the finish line. Fuzzy logic, Windog and Witch Way were not able to catch the same puff but made it across the line before dark settled. However, many of the fleets boats were still struggling to get down the 2nd leg even though some were able to set spinnakers to help increase their speed. Unfortunately, some night sailing was required which has not seen on Wednesday nights for some time. The order of finish of the top 4 boats has compressed the point’s race even further and Uncle Ludwig is poised to capture 5th overall. Next week, the last race of the Wednesday Nite series (Race 17), will be hosted by the crew of Fuzzy Logic and a second throw-out will be taken into account.

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Race 15, 2nd Half

Aug 14, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Thank you Sandy for helping with committee boat duty last evening. The rain abated and the wind increased sufficiently to set a course and the CB was setup by 6:30. An I 7 was set in the light NNE winds with a much darker band moving down the lake. The dark band was unfortunately rain rather than wind. Nine boats participated and the start with the wind shifting more to the west. With the first leg sailed in 7 minutes and on one tack the committee boat lifted anchor and reset course marks and called out two changes of course and eventually shortened the course (to and !5). Vaporize round mark one first with the J24's close behind. Dave increased his lead initially but fell into a wind hole and had to watch as the Pack closed within a boat length. The next upwind leg deceived few boats who opted to sail early onto the west side of the course but the velocity was to the east allowing Animal, Cut Loose and Uncle Ludwig to gain a reasonable lead on Witch Way and Spirit. Dave came around the 3rd mark first and eventually carried on to the finish without series threat. Witch Way and Spirit were in a match race protecting their series results but it appears they will both drop this race keeping the points race tight with only 10 points now separating the top 4 boats. The last leg provided some large shifts with Uncle Ludwig leading the J24's across the line in close company with Cut Loose and Animal. Next week Ron Byrne will be our committee boat host for Race 16.

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Race14, 2nd Half

Aug 07, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

Thanks to John Haller and the extended crew of woot! for acting as our hosts last evening. The wind was steady out of the NNE and provided a nice split fleet on the windward leg to Cotton Point government markers. The boat end of the start line was favored and Witch Way nailed it! During the windward leg those boats with light crew proved to be disadvantaged to Cut Loose’s heavy crew which charged up the east side of the course. Spirit was first to round and it’s crew quickly set and gybed for the long spinnaker run to North Canoe. Vaporize and E were the only boats that needed to gybe downwind using their speed advantage to sail ahead of the lead J/24’s and finishing 1st and 2nd across the line. There were no real opportunities downwind to regain any lost ground and the steady winds allowed all 18 boats to finish in just under 1 hour with the first and last boats only 11 minutes apart. Next week the Crew of CrackerJack will host as Committee Boat. See you then.

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Race 13 2nd half

Jul 31, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

Thanks to Tony and Tom acting as our Committee Boat hosts last evening. It was a nice evening with reasonably steady but shifting SW winds for the 21 boats participating. Tony set up a W4 with North Canoe government mark as the windward mark. The shifting winds provided opportunities on both sides of the course and length was perfect with the first boats completing in 1 hour. Along with the big boats, six FJ’s came out and it was great to see many of our junior racers competing. And James Lobby started for his first race this year sailing a cat. As a consequence the start was livelier than usual! One FJ was helmed by 8 year-old Ryan Brodie coming off a nice finish at the annual Cheeseburger Regatta where he took 7/31 in the Opti’s. I wish I had more details to share about the juniors who sailed last night but it was great having them out there with us sharing in the fun. At the start, many boats opted for the east side of the line with Brass ring and Animal sailing just in front of the pack and leading into the first mark. After the start Spirit tacked out of bad air pulling a few other boats along with her but unfortunately sailed into a lighter air on the west side. Crackerjack, Vaporize and Witch Way swapped tacks and rounded the 1st mark in close company with Witch Way gybing early and heading up the middle to west side of the course. Vaporize and CrackerJack opted for the east side where Dave found enough wind to separate. Meanwhile, Animal and Brass Ring added valuable seconds ahead from the rest of the J boats by sailing down the middle with Rik sporting a new spinnaker. I guess the J22 Fleet will miss that 25 year-old colorful chute and will now have a new sight up front. On the 3rd leg the shifting winds led to some big ducks and let crews decide whether to take the huge port tack header close to the windward mark, or cross-over onto the west-side of the course earlier. A tight knot, including Spirit, Uncle Ludwig, Judy, Windog, and Fuzzy Logic, were looking for any advantage over their rivals in the mid fleet. Vaporize took line honors with Animal and Brass Ring crossing in succession but giving Rik the win on corrected. CrackerJack fended off a late-race challenge by Witch Way crossing the line 3rd overall. Uncle Ludwig and Spirit got sufficiently ahead of the other two J22’s to capture 6th and 7th overall. Two FJ’s completed the course as the sun was setting. Next week John Haller and the crew of woot! will be our Committee Boat hosts.

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Race 12, 2nd Half

Jul 24, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

WOW! What a night! ALL made possible by the generous volunteers from JUDY! With multiple “suggestions” from the fleet, Ellen set an I5 course in what was a mostly west light breeze. The pin end was highly favored but many boats opted for the slightly higher wind velocity at the boat end. Given this a good upwind first leg was had by the 12 boats that got out in the unsettled weather. Turning the 1st mark the fleet was treated to increasing wind and driving rain and a rumble of Thunder! With the suddenly increasing winds, half of the fleet opted for returning to their respective moorings. Six boats carried on, as is their prerogative unless the Committee Boat abandons the race. The 1st spinnaker run was just a blast, in more ways than one, and many of the crews just loved the fast downwind leg. With the driving rain it was impossible to get a good sense of who was where and when but Spirit, Witch Way and CrackerJack rounded the 2nd mark in close proximity. The strong winds continued up the 3rd leg with the CB hooting and hollering which provided some confusion on CrakerJack. As the next leg commenced the winds started to drop and continued to drop until the end of the race. Rodger managed to hold onto his spinnaker reach in the final leg with all other J24’s opting the Genoa. The last leg drift fest was a bit of drag after the exciting 2nd and 3rd legs, but all crews who finished were pretty glad to have raced through the weather and getting into dry cloths afterwards.Next week our Committee Boat hosts will be the crew of High Jinx.

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Race 11, 2nd Half

Jul 17, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

A special thank you goes out to Tom and Spencer who again stepped up and acted as our hosts for the evening. Along with the rest of the committee boat crew Tom and Spencer set a W4 course in the light air blowing in from the west. 13 boats participated. With wind slightly stronger to the south end of the start line, many boats vied for the perfect pin-end start. Among these were Catchin J’s who come in on port, found a hole and tacked on the line, Brass Ring, Vaporize and Spirit. A couple of boats opted for a mid-line clear-air start. The wind fluctuated significantly up the first leg first favoring some boats then others as a leap frog ensued for most of the mid fleet. The veteran J22 skippers along with Spirit and Vaporize rounded the 1st mark and had to coax their boats towards the leeward mark where Dave did not have the velocity to pull out the big asymmetrical spinnaker. Meanwhile many of the med-fleet boats stalled out at the first mark. CrackerJack hung onto a port tack well past their lay since Animal and Cut loose who were closer the windward mark were struggling to round. As this next set of boats rounded mark 1 a helpful breeze picked up to allow them to advance to the next stalling point mark 2. Tom and Spencer announced a shorten course to a W3 as the lead pack closed on the leeward mark. Meanwhile, Uncle Ludwig somehow sailed under CrackerJack on a tight spinnaker reach. Animal, electing not to fly their chute, and High Jinx were in tight pursuit of CrackerJack. As this tight three-boat mix tacked and covered each other up the final leg, the lead boats were able to fetch the finish line. Congratulations to Spirit, Catchin’ J’s and Brass Ring taking 1, 2, 3 for the evening! A tight finish within a boat length of the committee boat favored Animal over High Jinx.Again thanks to Tom and Spencer! Next week our committee boat will be hosted by Amir Mujezinovic and the crew of Jupiter.

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Race 10, 2nd Half

Jul 10, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Thanks to John and Susan Jacobs and Liam for sorting out the wind for us last evening. With several significant wind shifts, the wind kindly settled on a mostly SE direction for the entirety of the race. The committee boat called a W4 between the pin end of the start line and Hogback. With a short and pin-favored line a stack of boats forced Stinger over early. The fleet split early in the game with those favoring the early starboard tack finding their way into a little higher velocity. As the fleet neared the first mark those that went east had to deal with a big header and lighter winds. Animal led the J24’s around the first mark with a tight group following. Spirit showing the sportsmanship that should exemplify the Wednesday fleet racing gave Crackerjack room to the inside as they tacked from Port to Starboard in the last few boat lengths to the mark. Again the fleet split down the 2nd leg. Another tight rounding ensued with most boats rounding mark 2 within a minute of each other. On the leg3 most boats immediately tacked into the oncoming spinnaker boats. A couple of J24’s opted for a quick short port tack to keep clean air which worked for Crackerjack fetching the mark on the next long tack rounding second but gybing faster than Animal. Animal gybed ahead of High Jinx, Uncle Ludwig and Witch Way all reaching to the boat end of the finish line. Animal wanted nothing more than to play with CrackerJack without regard placing and mixed up the leading fleet of J24’s in the last 75yards. In the end Witch Way grabbed 1st by staying out of the fray with High Jinx finishing on port weaving between CrackerJack and Witch Way to take a nicely sailed 2nd. The faster boats always in the mix for the first 2 legs really took off on the final leg but with light air and a short course they did not have enough to separate from the fleet dominated by the J24’s. Welcome to Cheers sailed by Elizabeth Igham for their first race of the year!Next week (Race 11)our Committee boat will be skippered by Tom Selfridge.

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Race 9, 1st Half

Jul 03, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

Thanks to Spencer and Tom for hosting the last race of the first half of the season with 13 boats participating. With a nice S wind blowing they set up the start line just off the LG Club. A W2 was called with the Diamond Island marker as the windward mark. The close point total races continued on the course and a match race between Witch Way and CrackerJack allowed some of the other leaders to gain a late windward leg advantage. Spirit, Uncle Ludwig and the Viper sailed to their plans as the mini tacking duel unfolded. Witch Way controlled the position and maintained the lead. Judy, forced into a port tack at the start, sailed to the west side of the Canoes and came tearing back into the nearly meet the leading pack as they approached Diamond. Vaporize led the way around the mark followed in quick succession by Spirit, Witch Way, Judy, CrackerJack and Uncle Ludwig. The wind continued to drop as the boats turned the corner and headed back to the finish line. Woot! ,CrackerJack, and Windog sailed a little deeper course coming out of the mark and were able to regain some precious ground but not enough. Witch Way and Spirit covered and gibed their way down toward the line with Woot! sailing their asymmetrically-dictated course between them, moving both boats as necessary. Vaporize and Woot! crossed the line first and second. Spirit gained continually on the light air, just edging out Witch Way by a 15 second at the finish to take 1st on correct time. A nice finish by Judy was next, making up ground downwind and coming in at a hot angle, to beat out CrackerJack. Windog also beat out Crackerjack on corrected giving Alfie a 1 point lead for the series. Ken’s Ultimate 20 crossed 2 minutes later with High Jinx and Cut Loose battling it out on the final stretch with what sounded like a long beep as they both crossed the line.Welcome back to Moonlighting with Joe Favero skippering! Congratulations to everyone who has sailed in the series so far. After the race, the 13 boats gathered around the committee boat and paid tribute to the life and passing of Judy Sanders who sailed with us for over 25 years. We all paid tribute in our separate ways remembering those special moments with Judy. And as a little extra tribute the Lac du St. Sacrament paid their respects with three special blasts of their horn. To Judy… sailing companion and friend, we will miss her! Next week (Race 10) our Committee Boat will be skippered by John Jacobs.

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Race 8, 1st Half

Jun 26, 2014      Wind Conditions: Heavy

It was a moist night…Skippers were receiving frantic calls from crew asking “...are we going to do this”? Well, as it turned out, the severe weather stayed to the south and no thunder was heard. The Taylor family got out in the rain, set a buoy north of the club, set a start line mid-way between the bouy and North Canoe government mark and called an I-5 course with 12-14 knot winds out of the North and building waves. Thanks to Brad and family for enduring the wet weather to give us one of the best races of the season. 10 boats vied for a CB end start with some having to drop low to keep speed. Vaporize was pinched over early and then had to stall for a long time awaiting the fleet to pass for his restart. Animal showed remarkable speed up the first leg and rounded the mark 1st followed very closely by JB and crew. On the downwind leg, Stinger’s spinnaker halyard went flying and Rob opted for wing-on-wing downwind. Dave dug himself out and used the downwind speed of the Viper 640 to catch up to the fleet. On leg 3 Animal and Crackerjack had a tacking duel with Rob and Spirit in close pursuit. At the 2nd weather mark Animal still leading ran into some issues as the rest of the fleet watched Vaporize rocket past - the front half of the Viper’s hull was out of the water! The 4th leg provided additional challenges … Uncle Ludwig suffered a massive spinnaker hour-glass which took almost all of the leg to unwrap. Meanwhile Spirit was quietly working up through the fleet reeling in boat after boat. In the end Dave was able to capture line honors quickly followed by Crackerjack, Spirit and Stinger. Congratulations to Rob and crew on their best performance of the season so far, having a great race despite not being able to fly the chute. Although the crews were wet, their spirits were high after a truly exciting race.Next week our Committee Boat will be skippered by Spencer Raggio.

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Race 7, 1st Half

Jun 19, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Well, the wind was not the predicted WNW 11 to 15 knot breeze as expected, yet the crew of Cut Loose were able to set up an I course with windward mark several hundred yards off Capri Village and Hogback Mark as the leeward pin and called for 3 times around (7 legs) in what looked like a building breeze. HA! As John got set up, it was quickly evident that the pin end of the start line was heavily skewed in the gusting winds. Thanks to Dave for pulling the pin and dropping it to square up the line better. Even so, the start was heavily contested and a general recall was called with at least 5 out of the 16 boats over early. Welcome Fuzzy Logic for their first Wednesday night out. John got the second start off quickly without a hitch but the bunching at the committee boat squeezed a couple boats out with Spirit and more having to circle to start. Just after the start, many boats tacked out of bad air heading to the north side of the course only to drop into lighter air. Crackerjack led the way around the first mark but Witch Way gybed faster and was able to work away from the pack at the mark. Woot and others were in hot pursuit and the even north and south contingents fell together to round the mark. Those choosing south coming out of the mark lost out to the favored wind building a bit to the north. Uncle Ludwig won out taking a slightly north route. Woot, Judy, Catching Js, High Jinx and others alternately surged and struggled through the mid-leg ebb and flow of wind. Spirit found a mid-course angle that carried consistently. Rodge politely waited for Dave to make a frustration-filled third rounding as the wind dropped substantially. Molasses went to the south corner looking great only to pay later. With the wind varying through the next couple of legs, the two lead boats opened up a substantial lead and the rest suffered. Some severe compression was observed at the last mark as 4 boats sat in place.. As the two lead boats past the committee boat on the fourth leg John smartly called a shortened course. A late challenge by Crackerjack was fought off by Witch Way going into the last of the marks. Uncle Ludwig, Rhino, and the Viper came around the last mark a few minutes back only to see the wind continue to drop failing to give the rest of the fleet what they needed as the neared the finish. But what the wind failed to give the sun unexpectedly provided a nice late evening dazzle as we completed our solstice week sail. Congratulations to all the boats that came out and struggled through the evening winds!Next week Brad Taylor will host as our committee boat.

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Race 6, 1st Half

Jun 12, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Thanks to Bill Dutcher and Joel for acting as committee boat last evening. As boats headed out onto the course, the wind lightly filled in from the NW. It did not take long for this to swing to the W and provided Bill and crew a quick boat ride to pick up the mark as the Hogback Government mark had disappeared. Bill opted for a 5 leg course which favored the Committee Boat end at the start where a lot of boats got pushed out within the last seconds of the start sequence.Most boats went for the long leg first, but with dirty air off Witch Way Crackerjack tacked to port right at the start line and got suckered into a longer tack than expected. Witch Way, woot! and Vaporize led the way into the second mark followed closely by Animal (welcome back Andrew!) and Crackerjack, Uncle Ludwig, E and several others. Some polite conversation was exchanged between several boats round mark 2 but no protests were signaled or hailed. Many of the mid-fleet boats decided to sail out-and-around the fracas including Judy, Catching J’s and E showing smart tactical thinking. In the aftermath, Crackerjack cleared the mark area and boat traffic and made a circle for hitting the mark. With a little more westerly component to the wind, the next three legs provided an opportunity to work with the shifts and the fleet mixed up a bit. In the end the Viper nipped Witch Way by 2 seconds for 1st place. There is a close 1st,2nd, 3rd series race developing for the 1st half as well as a tight mix for 4th, 5th and 6th. So far we have had 17 different boats participate in the series. All-in-all the legs were very short with the first boat crossing in less than 40 minutes favoring the faster boats. But, considering the wind situation of less than an hour before it was great to get the race off!At the bar, some brotherly love was exchanged between two skippers, where it was rumored that the whole incident was somebody-else’s fault!Next week Brad Taylor and crew will be our committee boat.

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Race 5, 1st Half

Jun 05, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

As the boats headed out into the course a nice 9+knot WSW wind was blowing. Welcome back to John Tarrant who was flying a new spinnaker. As I heard it said it was “...to get the wrinkles out"! Steve Jackson and crew (graciously filling in for Andrew Brodie) had to scramble to reset the course as the wind dramatically shifted just prior to the start. A new weather mark was dropped just off Beckley’s Point and a start line to the north of Hogback with the hope of 4W course. Thanks to all the crew of the Committee Boat who were able to finish all but one boat! With the pin end favored Witch Way got off to good start followed closely by CrackerJack, both holding on a starboard tack towards Canoe Island as the wind started to die. Most of the fleet tacked to port just after the start and unfortunately dropped into a huge hole allowing Alfie and Jon to take a significant lead going into the weather mark. With a little more wind filing in on the second leg boats were able to get moving again but Steve and crew set up for a 3 leg shortened course. One surprise of the night was Spirit’s dramatic 3rd leg, were Rodger and crew capitalized on a stronger breeze on the north side of the course. Rodger was able to significantly close the gap on the leaders and Spirit’s bow wave could be heard from a long way away! In the end the wind gods were kind to the leaders and were able to cross the finish line just ahead of Spirit. Next week Bill Dutcher will be our Committee Boat

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Race 4 (1st Half)

May 28, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

The fourth race of the season brought out 13 boats for a coooooool evening of sailing. The wind was coming from the ENE at about 8 knots. The RC was the crew of Vaporize along with Nelson's wife Sally. The start line was near the west shore and the windward buoy was set a mile away at 065 degrees. With the shifty winds, some went left as others went right. For John Haller on woot! and Ellen on Judy, right was the best way to go as they led the fleet around the first two marks, closely followed by Crackerjack. On the third leg downwind, Witch Way took advantage of the shifts and jibed past Uncle Ludwig, Judy and Crackerjack to cross the finish line second behind woot!. Congratulations to Witch Way for finishing first on CT followed by Crackerjack in second and woot! in third. Next week has Steve Jackson as RC subbing for Animal.

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Race 3 (1st Half)

May 22, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Lake George treated us to a nice 4-6 knot breeze to get us out onto the lake but it died and a fickle wind was had for the race. The race was again dominated by the J/24's with seven out of the ten participants. With anticipated SSE - S winds several boats went for the pin end as the winds died to under 2 knots. Among them was Dave who jumped out ahead of the pack followed by CrackerJack. Judy was in prime location to again catch a west shift and was able to lead the J24's around the 2 leg course. Brad threatened to override Judy at one point but the lighter boat was able to carry over the top and keep her clear air. Meanwhile Vaporize carried a comfortable lead into the 1st mark rounding and with the wind ahead of the beam was able to lead the pack by 9 minutes across the finish line. Judy and CrackerJack followed with a tight bunch behind them. Among them was LeSoleil who nipped out Witch Way for 4th on corrected time.Thank you to Kyle and the crew of Uncle Ludwig to get the course set up and a race off in such conditions.Next week Dave and Nelson will be our Committee boat.

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Race 2 (1st Half)

May 14, 2014      Wind Conditions: Medium

Race day 2 treated nine boats (dominated by J/24's) to a warm evening, a nice 10 knot steady breeze with occasional bursts of even warmer air - just a beautiful evening for sailing!Thank you to Ellen Cantrell and the crew of Judy who graciously substituted for CrackerJack as Committee Boat.After some initial course descriptions were sorted out, a windward-leeward course was set from the start line to the Diamond Island marker. Please download and read the SI's which describe several of the common government markers used on Wednesday night. For Committee Boat use: a laminated copy of the SI's can be located in the red binder in the briefcase.The start line was set with a heavily favored pin end and a number of boats quickly capitalized and led the way up the channel between the Canoe Island and Speaker-Heck. Several boats split to the west of Canoe Island without dire consequences. A good battle in the mid fleet developed with several boats swapping tacks midway up the windward leg. Vaporize rounded the mark first, followed closely by Spirit. CrackerJack opting for a deep easterly course up the windward leg was able to roll over Witch Way at the mark. CrackerJack was able to pull ahead with a short-lived but tantalizing west shift and watched Alfie and crew head east toward Assembly Point were they caught a fantastic breeze and just took off regaining overall third. Meanwhile Crackerjack led a tightly packed group on the run to the finish. High Jinx, Stinger, and Cut Loose were clustered coming around the mark but High Jinx opted for a westerly course following Dave around Canoe Island. Dave reported hitting 9 knots on his run on the west side of the course! At the finish Dave crossed for line honors and the overall win within 1 hour with all boats finishing up by 7:50pm. The surprise of the night was High Jinx, opting for the westerly course, nipped out Uncle Ludwig at the line finishing 5th. Nice job KOD!Next week (Race 3) Kyle and crew of Uncle Ludwig will be our Committee Boat when we hope to see more of the fleet out!

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Race 1 (1st Half)

May 08, 2014      Wind Conditions: Light

Alfie and the crew of Witch Way set a 4-leg course between North Canoe and the pin end of the start line for 10 boats and worked to shorten the course as the winds varied in both speed and direction through the race. The Committee Boat made some good calls shorten legs and making it a 3 leg course and got 9 boats finished within 1.5 hours with one boat with-drawing from the race. Thank you Alfie, Carlton, and Bill! During the start sequence the winds dropped dramatically and a ½ dozen boats were congregated at the pin end trying to capitalize on the SE/S winds. Two boats were called over early at that end of the line. Meanwhile a tickle of west wind allowed Judy and Cut Loose to sail over Crackerjack on the west side of the course and took an early lead on the J/24 pack. Dave and his Viper640 tried to get out to the east side of the course where a tantalizing wind line seemed to just be out of reach. Finally, Dave hit some stronger winds which also filled in for the rest of the fleet. Dave and Ellen battled it out for the overall lead on the next shortened downwind leg, that is, until within 50yds of the downwind mark and the wind abruptly stopped. Fleet compression ensued and Alfie was forced to shorten course again this time setting up the finish line. On the slow crawl to the finish CrackerJack was able to sail under Cut Loose but Ellen beat out Dave for line honors. Congratulations to Ellen on the first win of the season and thanks again to the crew of Witch Way for hosting us!

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