START OF RACE 1
Tom Cartwright, with help from Ben and/or Sarah Cartwright, set up a nice long course. The starting line did not require a lot of tacking
in its vicinity, at least at the starts, which was fortunate under the
circumstances.
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| 7 of the 8 boats after starting horn |
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| (From Committee Boat) after start. Some boats go to starboard, some to port.... |
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| ...and the 3 Y-Flyers go down the middle |
Here is a video of the race to the first mark, with a near capsize (watch the 2nd boat).
Our Committee Boat volunteers Jack and Sandy Miller and
Harry and Sandy Meshberger rode out the big waves and the crazy wind. Fortunately, under our COVID protocol they
didn’t have to anchor, but maintaining a position near the starting line was a
difficult task. Kevin Preuss and Beth
Auld organize our races and Committee Boat volunteers respectively. Thanks everyone.
START OF RACE 2
Our volunteers invoked GYC rule #1: "THE COMMITTEE BOAT VOLUNTEERS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT", and expressed their regret that apparently the stopwatches of all the sailors were wrong at the start of the 2nd race. That explains the far from simultaneous start. The sailors took it in stride, graciously complying with "rule#1". One sailor was fortunate to be close to the starting line when the horn blew and got a nice head start.
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| A not so simultaneous start. One boat (not pictured) got a big head start |
ROUNDING THE FIRST MARK
Below is a good video showing the various directions sailors came from to get to the first mark. And yet, they arrive at roughly same time and encounter a bit of difficulty with the wind near the mark causing congestion. (The orange mark buoy/flag is in the middle of the screen and will become more visible as the video progresses)
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| The first group around the 1st mark |
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| The 2nd group makes it around the mark. Note Matt on far right. He is about to catch a wind favoring just him. |
THE SLOG TO THE 2ND MARK
After rounding the first mark, there was initially a decent wind as you can see below.
But then we encountered a "wind shadow" with the hills blocking the wind.
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| Congestion during one of few times without much wind in the sails. Except Matt at far left. |
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| The wind has picked up on the way to the 2nd mark and the sailors begin to spread out. Jim Riffle manned the safety boat (pictured) with Lisa, which allowed Lisa to get photos and some videos from various points along the course. |
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| That tiny sail way out in the distance near the dam in the middle of the photo is Matt, whose favorable wind rocketed him. He is now on the way to the 3rd mark while the rest of the field is on the way to the 2nd. |
ROUNDING THE 2ND MARK
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| Jim Voelz has just rounded the 2nd mark(orange flag in middle of photo). Tom and Phil, followed by Lance and Bianca are about to. A few other boats are on their way. |
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| Tom and Phil round the 2nd mark. |
ROUNDING THE 3RD MARK, PROCEEDING TO THE FINISH LINE
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| Boats round the 3rd mark and head for the finish line |
A PROTEST FOR THE PROTEST MEETING
Despite the frequent wind shifts which would tend to spread
the boats out, we had plenty of congestion which made the race more exciting and
more fun to watch. Like the last race, Jim and Matt found themselves again within inches of each other,
resulting in a protest. Arlene Truex hosted the protest meeting, where
we judged this first protest of the year. Thanks Arlene! The outcome? Since
the alleged offender wasn’t clearly notified that they were being “protested” as required by our rules, the matter
became moot. Nevertheless we scoured the
rule book about the incident and learned that a boat exercising its right of
way, regardless of a less than optimal trim of its sails, can cause a change of course on a boat without
the right of way, as long as it is has not ceased to sail a proper course
toward the next mark/finish line. Post-race day research indicates some nuances to this rule which will be fodder for another protest meeting.
We all had fun. Exciting races with a few capsizes, near-capsizes, a little bumper-boat action and lots of tense moments (the fun kind).
Catey Hale’s brother in law, "ringer" Paul Claugh, crewed for her. Paul had plenty of experience crewing for Catey’s father back in the day. He had a blast as the thrill of a good race in strong winds brought out all those competitive juices. They did really well, finishing first and second overall in the two races, and first in the International class in both. Also in the International Class father and son team Tom and Ben Cartwright finished 2nd in the first race (Ben picked a good race for his 2020 debut). Tom Schroeder and Phil Bush finished 2nd in the 2nd race.
In the Laser Class Jim Voelz finished first in the first race and Matt Barlett was 2nd. Then Matt finished first in the second race followed by Jim. The fleet was mystified when Matt found a sliver of wind no one else enjoyed going from the 1st to the 2nd mark giving him a huge lead.
Contributors to the photos available for posting were Lisa Duret, Bernice Rains, and Sandy Miller. Thanks to all!
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