A very good race

After finish: looking for spinnackers

AHMEN VI was held on Sunday, Sept. 30.  The RC went into AP as the wind settled in. It was another light wind day with winds from the south south west. The course was to EYC 7 (?) to Dufferin, twice around. During the pre race 'toing and froing' we hailed our competitors and had a bit of on water scuttlebutt. Windburn had a ‘ringer’ on board! We were anxious to do well as the divison score for the series was very close.

Our start was mid line. The J 22 started nearer the pin. It crossed well ahead, while we stayed on starboard and headed further south. On the way to the first mark we crossed well in front. Clearly going south was the better call.

Our mark rounding and hoist went well. We were on starboard gybe all the way to the leeward mark. A megles quickly passed us to windward. (The melges stayed on a much hotter angle. They were much faster and provided a good indication of the wind ahead.) We defended our clear air by staying on the layline and forcing bigger boats to pass to leeward. About half way to the mark we passed Cirrus, the first of the white division boats, and I wished them : ‘bon vent’.

The winds were not great especially as we approached the leeward mark. Perhaps our chute was doused a bit too soon which made for a somewhat slow  mark rounding. We were clear ahead of our division.

The next leg was pretty much a repeat of the first. We kept to the middle of the course. The mark rounding went well; we kept in clear air from the bigger boats. The wind was somewhat stronger the second time around. We were well ahead so it was just a matter sailing well.

We finished just after Fantome. After the race we hung around the finish area to look for spinnakers (see photo).  The other boats were too far behind for us to be certain but it appeared that we would win on corrected time (Jazz). I was pleased that we beat the J 22. In our three encounters, this was our first win. Unofficially we had won the race and more importantly, the series!

After our dismal start and poor results at the beginning of the season, I hope it is not inappropriate for me to say: ‘We had a very good race’!