by Scott Rosen

The recap

After much discussion 4 boats finally left the pier to participate in the first series of races of the year. Leaving the dock with 10-12 knots of breeze but steady rain made for a perfect but wet day, or so we thought.

Race 1 got under way with some jockying to the first mark, led by Rosen, closely followed by Woods, Hornos and Costa. As soon as we turned that mark, the breeze came on. NOAA said that in a matter of minutes the breeze went from 12 to a gust near 30 knots and for the balance of our racing settled into a comfortable 17-24knot range with gusts up to 28. Perfect shake down weather. With several mistakes behind us, we finished the two laps with Team Hornos in the lead, closely followed by Woods, Rosen and then Peter (who I might add was baptising a new sailor!)

Race two: Just as much excitement in the breeze, with some of the nerves from Race 1 calmed down (from the breeze), got off with a bang. Tomas led the leg to Gas buoy #5 with Rosen and Woods close behind. Of course, Rosen fouled Woods at the mark and rounded first with Woods stalling out and subsequently parking on top of the buoy! Good clean racing in race 2 ended up with Hornos on top again, Woods in second as Rosen DNF'd with the foul and Costa dropping out as the breeze picked up. Downwind surfing conditions capped off the day on the way into the club (did you know a Star could plane?!) with some minor mishaps at the club, but good fun was had by all!

Many thanks to Gary and Danny for running RC today.

Race 1
1. 7793 Hornos / Hornos
2. 7629 Woods / Davis
3. 7101 Rosen / Stow
4. 7621 Costa Singlehanded

Race 2
1. 7793 Hornos / Hornos
2. 7629 Woods / Davis
3. 7101 Rosen / Stow (DNF)
4. 7621 Costa Singlehanded (DNF)