Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Hurry up and slow down





Today had its series of ups and downs.
1st race saw a big rain squall move through and kill the wind leaving me in the cheap seats with my 9.5 as the wind died down to 12k.
The 2nd race I recovered well getting my best finish of 20th with my 10.9. I started well in the mid line sag just ahead of the pack getting a jump on the fleet.
I sailed right out to the layline and rounded in the pack but still feeling a bit slow downwind as I'm probably giving up some in the double chicken strap but the 10.7 was pulling well so I went with it. 3 windward /leeward laps later I had some good legs keeping my position with Micah and Schurman in the top 20. The biggest gains came from rounding the leeward mark by hurrying up and slowing down. By getting a good rounding and getting a lane to windward, I was able to climb and gain significantly.
Video from the pin end boat at the finish:


Race 3 had an hour break giving us a time to recover but it was all to much as I went from good to bad. I made the worst mistake I have ever made trying to cross a starboard tacker and failing miserably. I put a huge hole in mine and his board. I immediately retired from the race and tried to find POL 10 a board to use for the next race. I've never felt so bad racing boards knowing I was at fault but in the end that's all part if racing. We all make mistakes but it how you recover that determines the winners. I made a decent effort to race the last race on a borrowed board but the my performance just wasn't there.

Video from 3rd race start:

Video from the 4th race finish:

After racing I had a major repair to do and ended the night exhausted after adding filler and epoxy to the big gaping home in the side of my board.

Tomorrows another day so I'll give it my all and go for it all trying to break into the top 25 for the regatta.

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