Second best?

There was another bad weather report to ignore. Nick replaced David who was working at the G8; Chris was back from his three week visit to France; Janet and I filled out the crew. The RC once again set up a long way south. We motored all the way to the start and arrived in time to do a chute practise.

We had what appeared to be a good start. Basically we were running the line and had to barge in. We were able to be just ahead and windward of Pearl. I wasn't happy with the start; our good start was based on luck rather than being well thought out. (One of the interesting things about reality versus appearance is that you should be able to tell the difference between good luck and competence. Publicly: 'It is all skill'; just be sure, privately, you know the real deal.) Taz started late.

It is always a bit maddening to be first as you don't have anyone to act as tactician or navigate to the mark. The wind had shifted west and the swell was still more southerly. As we approached the windward mark the wind lessened. On starboard tack we were headed more directly into the swell; and with the lighter wind, it seemed slow.

Our mark rounding and spin set went well. Taz slowly caught up to us. At the leeward mark, we did a windward take down of the chute. This difficult manoeuvre went well but was a bit slow. One of my problems on helm is that I am nervous/anxious when other boats are around me. As Taz overtook, I made things worse by losing focus. There was nothing we did particularly wrong except we weren't doing things as well as Taz. As a result Taz was able to get ahead.

We followed Taz more or less to the finish. Taz, Anthem (from another division) and Aristosera finished clear ahead of the other boats. We did well and I am not unhappy that we came in second. Second best is good enough? Maybe. Sometimes yes.