F4, 2012

Finally some heat for our weekly Sunday regatta.  With a forecast high of 25 degrees and winds of about 7 knots out of the North we had ideal conditions out on the water today.  There was a great turn out with many new Santana 525s back out on the line and the continued presence of a few out of town boats.  It was the first race with two starts so the "A" fleet had the advantage of watching the 525s head out first.  It looked like a slight pin end advantage to the line but almost everyone came in closer to the committee boat in one large mass.  We tried our version of a dingy start and positioned ourselves about 3 boats below the line just under the committee boat and luffed our sails waiting for about 30 seconds to go before trimming in and running just under the line with speed.  The only other boat around us was Bad Dog and we both found ourselves leading the first beat.  The course was SPTCDAF.  We held our own until rounding the T mark but just couldn't seem to find the right angle downwind.  We were on the verge of planning several times so I made the fatal flaw of abandoning VMG and a soaking angle to chase the need for speed.  Let's just say it didn't work and leave it to that.  Combine our less than impressive downwind technique today with a terrible shift heading back to A mark and we surely were not the rockstars of the Okanagan today.  We lost our good friend Michel T this week who has decided to take a job out East for the summer.  It might take us all a few weeks to settle into our new roles but we look forward to the challenge.

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