180 Tacks!

I haven't had a chance to post an update on the 2010 Ruff Rider, but this picture about sums it up:

That's right... 180 tacks on the first day, beating up the cut.

We started in the rain with our spinnakers up. Rick and I actually had an excellent start and were among the first two or three boats, even leading for a bit. But then the wind died and everyone more or less aggregated in a big hole. After bobbing around for a while, the wind picked up, but it was coming right down the cut. This is where we put in most of our tacks. We were doing well, but every now and again we would blow a tack and drop back from the leaders a bit. Fortunately the wind clocked and built toward the end of the leg and we were able to stay on starboard for the remainder, sustaining 14 knots upwind! But this also meant that we then had to beat out the cut into the Gulf. Once there, it was a close reach to the finish. We weren't able to hold the spinnaker, though, and the angle of the waves made it a wet ride. We would have done pretty well on the first day, but we capsized a few miles from the finish, the boat pitchpoled, and the mast dug into the bottom. This made righting the boat a slow process, allowing a few F18s to pass us and securing our position at the back of the fleet. We did manage to correct over the Nacra 20s, though, which was nice.

On the second day we stayed with the fleet until a storm passed through. This was right as we entered the jetties and I wanted to play things a little safe. Right as we were hoisting the chute to ride down the system, the breeze began to die and we watched all the boats gybe through 10 knots more wind than we had. That was it... we had been shot out the back and with that went our chances of finishing in the pack. Final results:

Fleet	Class	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName	USPN	R1	R2	Total
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	219	John Tomko	Ian	62.4	1.0	1.0	2.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	625	Aaron McCulley	Clay	62.4	2.0	3.0	5.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	5	Steve Piche	Juke	62.4	3.0	4.0	7.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	220	Bo Kersey	Drew	62.4	4.0	5.0	9.0
Spin	Nacra 20 Slp spi	892	Michael Yost	Charlie	59.3	10.0	2.0	12.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	05	Corey Hardin	Matt	62.4	6.0	7.0	13.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	2494	Mike Rohrer	Chris	62.4	5.0	8.0	13.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	124	Chris Green	James	62.4	8.0	11.0	19.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	04	Mike Beuerlein	Chris	62.4	7.0	13.0	20.0
Spin	ARC 22 ODR spi (SC22)	2245	Dennis Banks	Matt	57	15.0	6.0	21.0
Spin	Nacra 20 Slp spi	323	Roy Newberry	Oscar	59.3	12.0	9.0	21.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	2228	Ryan Verret	Rick	62.4	9.0	12.0	21.0
Spin	Nacra 20 Slp spi	G	Lee Wickland	David	59.3	14.0	10.0	24.0
Spin	Prindle 19MX SP	1124	Shannon Galway	Carla	61.8	11.0	14.0	25.0
Spin	Nacra 20 Slp spi	491	Jonathan Domsalla	Jason	59.3	13.0	15.0	28.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	591	Jacob Boll	Richard	62.4	18.0 DNC	18.0 DNC	36.0
Spin	Formula 18 Slp spi	8	Tom Sutton	Cote	62.4	18.0 DNC	18.0 DNC	36.0

http://www.ruffrider.net/results/2010/index.htm

All said and done, I can't complain too much. We were right behind Mike Beuerlein and Chris Green, both seasoned catamaran sailors. We also matched or beat most of the I20 fleet. And technically, since two of the F18s dropped out (which we passed at the start and were in no jeopardy of losing to, had they finished), we met my goal of not finishing DFL in the F18 fleet. Until the next Ruff Rider!