And this thing is about a 20% slower than GPS speed...If you ask me, we were going around 13 knots. Yeah, 13 sounds right.

And actually, the fastest I saw on the knot meter was 7.3…but we are just splitting hairs now!  Wednesday night we were prepped to go race and kick some Swale ass!  We got the boat in the water and it was all rigged and ready to go!  There was a little concern over some harsh weather that was kinda heading our way.  We risked it and headed out…Thankfully we got a tow out of the marina, since I could not manage to get the boat out by myself.  There was a western wind, and the path is so narrow I coiuld barely pick up any speed and tack….

So we are headed out, nice reach, no worries on getting to the start on time.  I was all kinds of excited.  Half way down, we see lightning.  I am not talking about a bolt, but rather a spider web of lightning stretching from one end of the lake to the other. Seriously, the storm was not supposed to come over us like that!  We debated wether to head to Bay View or head back to RCYC, we debated for all of 2 minute.  We were going to pull a U and go back.    That is when all hell opened up!

I am not sure how fast the wind was, but I would guess it was close to a category 4 hurricane.  We managed to get the Geny down after almost broaching the boat.  Then we Chicken Gyped Speedy and headed back to RCYC…so yeah maybe 7.3 knots does not seem too fast, but when you are doing it with only a main, going downwind it is hairy.

CRAP!!! That is two Wednesday nights ruined because of the weather!

We had a great group on the boat, and we needed it…Wind was blowing so hard that the little engine on the back could not even push us out of the Marina…we did manage to sail out after fighting to get the main up.

As we sailed into the body of the Lake, the Outhaul cable POPPED!!! That was an exciting few minutes…Dwight quickly solved the issue by attaching the flatner to the main. We sailed on…

As we put up the chute to run down the lake, we were surprised by Police…they just wanted to let us know that there was a race about to start, and that we might need to get out of the way…huh? We broke 10 knots going down. Not too bad.

Power Boat Race

Once we get to the 30 bridge, we saw what they were talking about…around ten Fountains were lining up for a race up and down the lake. Helicopter in TOW!!! I managed to take one pic…

Did I mention that we almost BROACHED the boat? Oh yeah…we almost broached the boat. MY BAD, I was not paying attention to what was going on….We recovered, but that would not be the last time trouble would find us…

The race to the damn and back was the main reason we were out, the start was flawless, we had speed, we were on the right tack, we followed our plan…The boat started heading up wind with speed, we were looking good. The plan was to go to the shore and then sail across the lake toward the Power Plant and then back to the damn…that was the plan…somehow we tacked back and forth right up the middle of the lake…it killed us…the fleet sailed the course we had planned and killed us to the mark.

Chute went up with out a flaw and we sped down the lake. A little to late to catch the other boats. And with only a couple hundred yards from the mark, we needed a gibe, and in the tail of the gybe, a wind shift came across and almost caused us to broach, again. This time I might have over reacted and let the Spin Sheet fly a bit too early….We finished the race with the Spin Flying Like Britches in the wind. Poor Peter got smaked in the face with the tweeker block…Sailing is a contact sport after all. We took 3rd….

Minus a couple of bruises and some cuts, we had a good day. I know Chris, from Swale and I learned a lot. He and I were sharing the helm and trying to figure out the course.

I just want to thank Chris, Dwight, and Peter for giving me the opportunity to get “Stick Time”. Julie and Aaron….I hope you guys come back….I know that was a very intense day. Next time, you will have jobs.

NOTE TO SELF…sailing down to the S mark from RCYC, then completing the race, and Going back to RCYC is a long day. We might not be doing that too many times. RCYC is starting a Saturday night series at 7.

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.

You have to check out this Video…I thought we were ballsy to go out in the crazy weather during FrostBite. Check out the OLSON 30, its Green w/ a Yellow Spin, well , what is leftover of the spinnaker…These guys put up the Chute…They broached, but they did put up the chute…Excerpt Greg Larson’s Email to the Olson Mail Group…

” Over the weekend we went out in the Possession Point race in Puget Sound. Winds where around 20-25 some gust over 30. This provided an exciting ride down wind. All went well for a while. Top speed on the knot meter was 16.7. Well the ride eventually came to an end, with a broach. The chute trimmer lost his balance ended up laying on the sheet face down in the water. Boat didn’t come up until someone tripped the halyard half way. When we started to come up one crew up by the mast grabbed the spin sheet and try to pull in the chute, with no real lucky, because the guy was still in the hands of the trimmer. The guy was finally blown which was a mistake. This cause the sheet to be ripped out foredeck guys hands. Now we where there with the chute looking like a big flag flying out of the top of the mast…

…Now we tried to sail downwind to get under spinnaker so it could be retrieved. Only problem was we couldn’t bare away. The main kept bring us backup into the wind. After what seemed like ten minutes we eventually got going down wind and retrieved the kite. Tried everything to get the boat going down wind eventually track and bore off hard and we were able to head down wind.”

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…