Ready for some Ruff Riding!

Tomorrow I will head to the coast for some much needed catamaran sailing! I've been on my bike a lot lately, training to get my knee (and the rest of me) in shape for a few events before it gets cold, but my boat has definitely been neglected. Joining me in my second run of the Ruff Rider Regatta will be supercrew Rick Nelson. Rick is a great guy and a very capable sailor... and he happens to weigh just the right amount, too! I'm actually stealing Rick from another local F18 skipper, but he won't be doing the Ruff Rider, so it is all good.

Anyway, the boat is sitting outside my house on its trailer, ready for the 6+ hour drive tomorrow. We'll be running with a new forestay and without the jib furler, along with a few new choice pieces of bungee to clean up the rigging. I also have some great ideas for future improvements to my Trusty Tiger... but those can wait. What cannot is matching team gear!

Since I couldn't find anyone to sublimate spandex (apparently it melts?), I made my own template and went nuts with some spray paint! The first one didn't come out so well (that would be Rick's), but I'm improving my technique. Who knows if the spray paint will even hold up, though. I don't think it is really designed for fabric.

So wish me luck over the weekend. There are 11 F18s and 27 total boats in the race,  and my goals are to 1.) finish ahead of every non-spinnaker boat, and 2.) finish in the top 10 F18s. I'll let you know how I fared and post a summary sometime next week!