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Our GPS Track…

Chirs from Swale challenged us to another race.  When will that boy learn!  This time; it JoJo, Bryan, Mike, his girl Kay, and I crewing Speedy!  You know the routine…we load her up.  Drag her 5 miles to the north side of the lake.  Race…Kick some ass…and head back home…You want to read the whole story?

Well, we started a bout 30 seconds late.  Although I think Geronimo started about a minute in-front of us, and she carries the same Handicap as we do.  What are we going to do!?  Yell at her to come back?

We tried the same thing that we did the last time, we headed to the west shore, while the entire fleet (except Hotter Tuna) headed toward the east shore.  I think the fleet found some better wind.  After we got on our eastern tack, we noticed how far ahead of us the rest of the fleet was.  JESUS!

We were going to need a miracle.  Between Mike and Bryan, we had it.  They got us back into the running with some tactical tacks and we were back in the swing of it.  WoooHooooo.  Around the mark we were third or fourth, but right behind our friends on Swale.  Our spinnaker pops up, and that would be the last Swale would see the front of our boat.  Now we had to keep up with Tuna, reel in S-Cape and another boat.  We gybed, we did all we could, but the best we could do is scratch out a third.  Still in front of Swale, though.  Maybe I should have let Swale win….after all it was Chris’ birthday………NAH! Better Luck Next Time Birthday Boy!!!

Gone! Eat my Wake Swale!

I read the Race Instructions at least three times, I knew our start time was at 7:05….I JUST KNEW IT.  We were a bit late leaving the dock, but I though we would have plenty of time to get to the start.  We had a hiccup in setting up the boat and it became apparent as soon as we started tacking.  Not a big deal but we did have to hang out for a couple of minutes before heading towards the start.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the other boats starting…I called for the time and it was 7:00…Surely they were just getting ready…when the other boats did not turn around after a minute, I knew something was wrong.  We turned the boat and BOOOKED it for the start…we got there at 7:04:56, crossed at 7:05…and we played catchup for the rest of the night.  The Breeze was good and we did pretty good.  No foul-ups, and plenty of cold beer.  NICE

We finished, put the boat aways and read the Race Instructions for the 7th time…our start was at 7:05…the other boats jumped the GUN!  Can you say WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER?  So what that it was by default.  It is still a Numero UNO!  NICE!

Chris, Dwight, Mandy and Scott were a great crew….I am not sure how we didn’t get any pics….

Well the first Booze Cruise of 2009 went pretty good. The Motor started right off…we got out on the water and cuised all the way up to the new Hilton. On the way back, we got to practice the MOB (man-over-board) manuver, but we never did recover the “man”. Poor RichyRich lost his hat to the fishes.

We had PERFECT wind the whole day, and the temperature could not have been too much better. The cruise went so well infact, that we decided to leave the boat in the water overnight and come back the next day to do the Sunday Afternoon Races. Probably not the best idea.

So here comes Sunday and I am getting conflicting weather reports. Some say moderate winds, others say not so moderate winds. We took the chance and jumped in the boat to go racing.

Wow. I am still not comfortable racing in heavy wind. But we did manage to get around the course three times. And so what that we came in DEAD LAST. We did almost have another opportunity to practice the MOB drill and not for a hat this time.

Fortunately, things didn’t end up that way. It was not the prettiest way to cross the finish line, but we did cross it, and everyone was technically in the boat. Some a bit more wet than others, but safe.

Check out the pics at the photo album.

I can not recall sailing on a boat when the wind was this strong. Well, maybe once. That was easy…I was crewing for Michael, the guy that got me into sailing. All I had to do then was hold on for my life. This time things were a bit different. I was driving the boat. Actually, I should say I was attempting to drive the boat.

So we get out of the marina, and immediately realize what we were in for. Mind you that we are on a LAKE, and there are 2 to 3 foot swells. We manage to get to the start, and even go around once before the race starts.

As far as starts go, that was not the best, we started way back in the pack. I think we were 5th to cross the start. But we held on and got down the lake. Everyone settled into their positions and the conversation flowed. I am not sure what the conversation was about though, I never settled into my position. Driving the Olson in that wind was a completely new and terrifying event.

The wind is picking up. There is not a dry spot on the boat. Did I mention it was cold?

We got to the first mark thanks to the crew keeping me on track. We rounded and started to head up. WOW! With the wind to our backs, we cruised back. We were actually surfing the waves. The acceleration was a weird feeling on a boat. I actually cracked a beer open.

We rounded the second mark, and headed back downwind. We had caught up with “Orion” and now we were only a few boat lengths behind. Thanks to the crew our tacks were fast, and efficient, actually absolutely PERFECT. We ended up racing side by side with Orion while reaching for the next to last mark.

The wind is really picking up now. And now every bit of clothing that is not water proof is WET! Did I mention it is really cold?

Orion rounds the mark first and thanks to me, we round the mark a few too many boat lengths back. I just could not get the boat to turn. I think Scott actually pulled on the tiller while I was pushing on it.

We all wanted to beat Orion to the finish. Even though he carries a 179 handicap and we carry a 105, I think we all just wanted to get there first. I know I did. so we are going down wind again, Surfing down the waves, and now they are not a couple of feet high. They are like 3 or 4 feet high. And the wind? Jeff said that when we did actually cross the finish line, it was a constant 36 mph.

So yeah, we crossed the finish neck to neck with Orion. We finished 1 second before them, but they corrected over us by more than 5 minutes. It was a great race, and as far as sailing goes, this was a tough tough race.

We had scheduled 3 races for Saturday. Although we waited till the last minute, the winds were really screaming…almost 40 mph. We were wet like dogs, and tired, but we were not unhappy that the other 2 races were canceled. We took home a 3rd. Not bad. And here is our TROPHY!!!

Thank you Mandy, Blake, Scott, and Bruce. Without all your work we could not have done it. And also a special “Thank You” to Daniel Malak and the whole crew of ORION for all the great pictures.

Check out the ALL the pics on the Speedster Photo Album…

The first adventure with Speedster came as the Southwest Olson 30 Championship. I was very lucky to have a crew of experienced sailors helping me out that weekend. Brian had actually raced the boat with the previous owner, so he knew what to do…the rest of us pretty much ran around trying to figure out how the boat was rigged. Actually, I sat at the back of the boat and didn’t do SQUAT. I watched and had cold beers. That is what the boat owner is supposed to do, right?

Well, the winds were very light early on, but picked up in the afternoon. Luckily we did get 5 races in that weekend and we ended up on top of the podium. Since I did nothing but bring beer to the crew, all the credit for this race obviously belongs to the crew. Thanks Guys and Gals….

Check out the pics on the Speedster Photo Album…