I am not sure how many people know this, but I hate the cold. And when I use the term HATE, I really do mean it. This last weekend we raced the RCYC FrostBite Regatta. Now I know, with a name like that, I should have expected a chilly day. And I did…even though the Wednesday before we were having an 80 degree day.
So, it was not actually that cold. I think we were expected to hit a high of 56 and I actually think the thermometer actually did hit that. And that would have been fine with me. I can deal with 56. I can deal with 56 and some light wind…maybe even 15 mph winds. But that is not what we had for wind. When the go-ahead was given to go out on the water, the wind was howling at 22 mph.

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 Skipper