CPYC Vanguard 15 Racing, Sunday, Aug 21, 2005
With
all due respect to a certain bygone ad campaign, relief on Sunday was
spelled C-P-Y-C. Even if it was over 90 in the parking lot - and
worse further away from the water - a light but steady southwesterly
breeze kept those on the Sound much cooler than their landlocked
brethren. With the exception of a few gaping holes that found
their way onto the Vanguard 15 course from time to time, the breeze was
a steady 5-7 knots all afternoon, allowing for 8(?) races to be sailed
in the strong ebb. The favored side of the course varied a bit
upwind, with generally stronger wind to be found to the left in the
stronger current. Downwind, staying out in the current seemed to
pay off with a bit more regularity. The occasional botanical
sample on the board was dead slow.
The highlights of the day came in the form of two (literally) crash
lessons in mark rounding techniques during the last two races. In
the second to last race, with the wind too light to effectively wing,
the two sides of the run converged on the leeward mark with an
assortment of the usual pleasantries. After an extended session
ashore in the room, the jury found that the boat rounding from the port
tack downwind layline had left her stern exposed to overlap, failed to
give room, and was therefore disqualified. The invisible boat
escaped unscathed. It seemed the most important takeaway from
this situation was not to open up one's stern inside the 2-length
circle. The boats approaching on port were travelling much faster
than the ones approaching on starboard, but they weren't quite fast
enough to get around the mark clear ahead of the starboard boats.
The second fiberglass-crunching experience came at the top mark of the
final race, when a fleet of three boats approaching on the port tack
layline met two boats on the starboard tack layline. The leeward
port tack boat attempted to lee-bow the first starboard tacker (without
hailing her fellow port tackers above her), initiating a pileup worthy
of SportsCenter, from which some boats took minutes to extricate
themselves. That said, the guilty party did spin once clear of
the mark.
When all the carnage for the day was cleaned up, the results showed
Jamie Ewing and Sara Leitch winning by a couple of points over Bill and
Julie Nightingale. Serge and Celeste Karpow were third.
Some of our regular Sunday sailors are heading off to college this week
(among them regulars Phil Myerson and Celeste Karpow), and I think I
speak for all of us in wishing them the best. We'll miss them
both.
Jamie Ewing
#1149
