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 | 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!
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