Shifty gusts made for an exciting night, with several capsizes which had an effect on the standings.  Mario was joined in the RC boat by instructor Heidi who (after a catamaran capsize) decided she had worked enough for one day.

The first race got off to a rocky start, as a few folks on shore had trouble launching and getting to the starting area in time (note to self… arrive sooner).  Despite the rush, a good race was run, with particularly close racing on the reaches.  With only a few boat lengths before the finish line, Jean and Frank (at the front of the fleet) capsized and the were passed by the other contenders.  Rookie Sarah and old hand Arthur took the race in an Albacore, followed by Heather and Ken E (2nd, Albacore) and a photo-finish for 3rd between Mike R (3rd, Laser), Monica/Jason (4th, Albacore).  The three person Albacore (5th, Corinne, Mike T, and 8-year-old Leopold) and Luc (6th, Laser) rounded out the pack, with Jean and Frank (7th, Albacore) as an OCF.  Mike R sailed over, capsized his own Laser and helped Jean and Frank right the boat before the second race.

With more boats on the start line, race 2 was all about playing the shifts, as the wind oscillated back and forth.  More capsizes followed (although people got their boats up quickly), and close racing ensued.  The Heather/Ken (1st) and Sarah/Arthur (2nd) Albacores switched positions, but 3rd was grabbed by Luc in his Laser.  He was followed by Max (4th, Laser Radial), Corinne/Mike T/Leopold (5th, Albacore), Monica/Jason (6th, Albacore), Mike R (7th Laser), Jean/Frank (8th, Albacore), with Jenny (9th, Byte) having retired.

According to the latest results, Ken E (58 pts), and club newcomer Luc (53 pts) have established themselves as #1 and #2, the real story is the 4-way tie for 3rd (51 pts) with Jean, Frank, Mike T, Jason.  Jean leads the rookies (51 pts) but Monica (47 pts), Sarah and Heather (44 pts each) are within striking distance.

Many thanks to Mike T for bringing the food/beverages and Heidi for joining Mario in the RC boat.  On a serious note, we have to be better and helping out the RC.  Mike T volunteered for next week, but if anyone else wants to volunteer (and learn a heck of a lot about racing) send me an e-mail ([email protected]) and we’ll make it happen.

The wind made up for last week, and a great time was had by all!  I counted 6 Albacores, 4 Lasers, and a Hobie out (with at least 9 actively racing, and a couple others out for a leisure sail) and even more folks who showed up for the apres-sail.  High gusts (along with a bit of equipment failure) led to several capsizes before the first race but the wind calmed to about (a relatively steady) 7-8 knots for most of the evening.

Old-hand Frank and rookie Jean took home the most points of the night, with a 1st place finish in the first race, and a 4th place in race two (Albacore #86).  Only one point behind, old-hands Andy W and Liz took 5th place in the first race, and 1st place in race two (Albacore #90).  Rounding out the top 3 was club newcomer Luc who placed 4th and 3rd (Laser #281).

A special shout out goes to all our rookies who came out (Jean, Fanny, Andy L, Monica and Bill — apologies if I forgot anyone), our race officer Mario, and Frank and Jean for bringing the food/beverages to the apres-sail!

Complete results can be found at Results – May 30, 2016.  As always, results are provisional for 72 hours, so if we missed your boat, please let me know!