Wind was 8-15 knots at 280 degrees, then 270, then 240.... After one abandoned start, the wind settled around 260, and we raced. Two races, same course. W-L 2x. The starting line was near Deer Island light, but closer to the main shipping channel, just to the south of an anchored oil tanker. (I think RC wanted to start us closer to deer island, but the tanker would have been nice obstacle off the start.) The first mark was the red nun between Spectacle and Thompson Islands. It was puffy and shifty all day. One moment we were both in the boat powering up, the next, we were in a full out hike trying our damndest to keep the keel in the water. There were also thirty degree shifts: some geographic, but many were not. And some of the righties coming from downtown were just HOT!!!! Daysailors and motobors also contributed to the challenging conditions, creating wake, chop, and being obstacles.

At the next gun (after the abandoned start), the tide was ripping out (downwind across the starting line) and almost the whole fleet struggled to make the line, except for Woods/Paton who had a picture perfect start at the pin. Four boats continued left to cross the channel, and short-tack Spectacle, and five went right early but eventually came up under Spectacle island well behind the lead pack. This split the fleet pretty good, and the first four boats raced each other pretty tightly, and the bottom five boats raced each other pretty tightly as well.

The lead changed numerous times, as Woods/Paton lead the charge off Spectacle, and Zambella/Sokolich rounded the windward and leeward marks first, but Braverman/Rezac stayed closer to Spectacle the next windward leg, and rounded the second windward mark in the lead, with Woods/Paton and Zambella/Sokolich right on their heels. Woods/Paton and Zambella/Sokolich got in the passing lane to finish 1-2 in the first race.

We played chicken with Spectacle Island all day, at low tide, with the pointy rocks protruding the surface.... Looked like Woods/Paton and MacDonald/Leonidov either knew the terrain very well, didn't care, or need work done on their keels anyway, as they hugged the shoreline (and made up some serious ground). As far as I know, nobody hit bottom!!!!

The second race, was nearly a carbon copy of the first. The boats that came in and short-tacked Spectale Island lead the charge to the first mark. Cavicchi/Hofmann, Braverman/Rezac and Team Costa hit the left pretty hard off the start. Cavicchi/Hofmann tacked too early, and Team Costa and Braverman/Rezac held out as long as they could, and made big gains heading up towards the windward mark. Braverman/Rezac rounded the mark in first, followed closely by Woods/Paton, MacDonald/Leonidov and Team Costa. The top pack stayed pretty close the next three legs of the race, but Braverman/Rezac fought off the reaching speed of Woods/Paton on the final downwind to win the race.

On the first downwind leg of the second race, Cavicchi/Hofmann rolled the boat, and dug the pole on the confused motorboat chop. First time star sailor Hofmann slid off the deck into the water, the boat popped back up with mast intact, and Cavicchi went on his rescue mission. After his successful man overboard drill they went in. After a few beers, Hofmann swore that he'd come back and sail with us again!!!! Now that's dedication.

Thanks Danny, Shigeto, and Art for two fun challenging races. And thanks for keeping us upwind of the supertanker.