Race Day Monday
Conditions: Brisk, blustery and furtive Southerly today, with wind speeds from 6 to 18 knots, and few gusts near the end of the day above 20 knots. This wind was not something to figure out. There were upper-right right hand shifts, in race 2& 3 a long-train runnin’ left hand shift off the start that allowed boats with good starts (about 5 of them) to disappear from the fleet, permanently, and LOTS of options, holes to sail into, and sides to choose downwind. Today you had to think new, erase last leg, and keep grinding to find a puff and link it to the next without going too close to the laylines too early.
4 races were held, and during the day the breeze backed enough for RC to chase the wind to the left, moving marks…. until race four, when it veered hard back to the right at least 30 degrees (and was quite windy).
Winning teams today did the following:

• Out of the boat thinking before start….. be flexible….. be aggressive, and get free to be able to tack or not.
• Grind it out all the time; it’s never over. Beating one boat downwind was a huge point for several. Every point was crucial
• Never got down and let the crazy up and downs affect them mentally
• Shifting gears often and well: Too many crews stay too far aft in the boat in lulls.

Long Train Runnin’ Beat: https://share.icloud.com/photos/0zKYoxGBmp3jnSDgXfEKLVyZw

Great sailing overall:  https://share.icloud.com/photos/0o2SY3MDtGv9pMTAFZYpoxVYg

Race Stats of note:

• 8 of the 11 boats had a top 3 finish today, backing up my claim that this was one of the most competitively-sailed race-days I have ever watched.
• First 5 positions separated by a total of 6 points!
• No one won more than one race