Summer's End

The last race of the summer series had good winds from the south south west. The crew included Chris and David, as well as replacements Dave and Dan. We had an excellent start. Victor approached on port and had to tack away. We were ahead of the other boats in our start with good speed. I could see that Jack Rabbit was stalled in traffic by the committee boat. Jack Rabbit was the only other boat in our fleet. Their start left them well behind. We just needed a loose cover. The course was skewed so we mostly sailed on starboard upwind and port downwind. I slowed down my tacking to be sure we got set up on the new tack. Our hoists were flawless. At the leeward mark we did windward takedowns, once again flawlessly. After the second leeward mark rounding Jack Rabbit hit a hole and stalled, while we still had good air. Our finish was 11 minutes ahead of their's! The only downside was that the traveler cleek released and the boom gave David a bad knock before the start.

After dinner Alf, Jack Rabbit's skipper, came over for a chat to explain what happened. In addition to the bad start and no wind he had cut his hand. We both acknowledged that we had had an enjoyable season competing against each other. (The fall series does not count as part of the overall season standings.) They won if we just looked at the two boats; not fleet placings. We won the spring series and they won the summer series. I tried to figure out the overall fleet standings for the season but I am not sure how many races will count. If 9 plus races are counted then we will win; 8 or less then Jack Rabbit wins. It was close and it was fun.

The crew really performed well. Clearly we have improved over the course of the season. We worked well together. That made it a lot of fun for me and I think the crew enjoyed it as well. The competition with Jack Rabbit meant we had to stay focused; we were always racing. A hard fought success is more rewarding than an easy win.

Summer maybe over but we still have lots more sailing to do!