Skiing down The Face of Bell on Ajax Mountain is all I can compare it to…sailing downwind today was like running the moguls…you have to pick your line and fall into it but once you get out of sync it can get ugly really fast!
Today we had big waves, a steady 22 knots of breeze with gusts to 28. Below is a brief recap:
Scott finished 3rd in race one. He started a conservative 1/3 way up from pin (pin end was super favored) meanwhile Tracy Usher of San Francisco who was relishing the familiar conditions was launched at the pin and gone, never having to look back. Scott, on the other hand, spent the entire race dueling with local sailor Nick Harrison (GBR) only to lose him when he over-stood the final weather mark. After a few downwind nose-dives came the final gate where Scott and a stream of sailors came flying in with two boats capsized in front of them (boats from another division) … a quick decision… go between the carnage and the mark or go around it all…. Scott made it between, finishing upwind and more than happy to have held onto 3rd.
In race two, Scott finished 1st. He started 1/3 way down from the committee boat knowing that Tracy Usher was at the pin. Fortunately for Scott, the breeze filled in more to the right giving Scott a good lead over the fleet halfway up the leg…he even hit some waves and got airborne on the way! Halfway down the first run he filled the cockpit and flipped but managed to hang onto a narrow lead rounding just ahead of Peter Shope and 5 others. During the final reach Scott had a 5-boat length lead on everyone until Peter Shope blew by him to leeward with a big puff. Scott rounded the leeward mark right behind Peter where both sailed to the lay-line, tacking together and shooting the finish line together. Scott was able to get Peter by a hair. Scott’s comment, ‘I was happy with a 1 and a 3 as it could have easily been a 5-5 day as the top ten were always close…I just made fewer mistakes.’
As for me (Kim), it was the small victories that made it fun. Coming into this regatta with only nine days in the boat in the last year, I had only one expectation, to have fun. In race one I had a great start but knew I couldn’t hang very long upwind with the big guys so I turned my focus to the only other person my size, Leslie Hotchin (GBR). She’s a great sailor who has crushed me in the past so I gauged myself by her. She had me most of the race but during the last reach I was able to pass her and round the leeward mark ahead. Unfortunately, she got me back right at the finish.
The downwind legs were certainly pretty hairy with big waves and the occasional rogue wave crashing in from the side. I managed to stay upright the entire time but once I finished race #1, with a smile mind you, I looked upwind at the darkening sky, the black water and the increasing pressure and couldn’t help but think of the explorer Ernest Shackleton battling epic conditions… I started to laugh thinking, do I really need to be doing this to myself? Race one was fun but another one? Really? The fun factor was slipping… I went back and forth in my head but finally, the thought of doing the whole downwind balancing act with a fire hose of salt water in the eyes one more time, was a bit much so I bailed out and instead, went for 1st place to the showers!
A good shower beats a salt fire hose anyday. As for Scott; good on you. Talked with Benj today on a North Sail matter, and he said the 2 hourly circular current changes are a b.... . He won the 505 worlds there some time ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm PROUD of Both of you.
Dad