AHMEN V

Kevin prepares to attach genoa

AHMEN V Sept. 22. The wind from from the southwest. Claudiu did sheets; Kevin was on foredeck. Claudiu took the photos; so none of him but good one's of the other crew.

The line was very boat favoured. I realized that we were over and managed to duck in time for the start. Jazz, which was near the committee boat and in traffic, wasn’t so lucky. The individual recalls meant that the proper starters had a better chance for clear air. A J22 had a very good start; near the committee boat and could easily tack onto port.

We stayed on starboard and followed a few of the bigger boats in our divison. We let Fifth Day tack before we tacked. The GPS said we were almost on the layline. It was still a long run to reach the next mark. We had a good rounding and kept south of the fleet.

Windburn on a beam reach to T1

The J 22 was now way ahead with a course further south; on a close reach. They tacked well south of T1 but with good boat speed. They gained. Windburn was a beam and also gained. Kokomo was behind but flew their chute. They were able to catch up to us at T1. We were just astern, i e a foot behind. I rounded, headed inside and went to windward on a close haul. This was not a good leg for us especially with Kokomo now (just) ahead!

We were able to pull away from Kokomo to windward. Both Windburn and Kokomo could not keep a close hauled course. They had to tack several times to make Gibraltar and so covered a lot more distance. We only tacked twice. At Gibraltar we were clear ahead of them but well behind the J 22. This was a very good leg. Aristosera seems to be able to sail well close hauled; not so good downwind. In our division, only Kokomo flew a chute during the race.

The committee boat had not moved since the start. How were we to finish? The pin was almost windward of the committee boat! My thought was that we were to keep buoys to port. That would mean we approached from the north east. Kevin said no it had to be from the south west regardless of what ‘should be’. I followed Kevin’s advice (since that was how everyone else finished) but it was annoying. We tacked onto starboard near the pin’s layline. Fantome, on port, had to tack away.

That was not the only reason to be annoyed with the RC. The finishes were not properly recorded. There has been an effort to salvage the race. We have been given a 2nd (the J 22 easily beat us). A very good race for us even though we were well behind the J 22.

On the way back we flew the spinnaker something that I enjoy doing. A fun end to another great day of sailing. Happy skipper and (I think) happy crew.