Surprisingly, I did well enough in the last 3 races yesterday to tie Steve Y. for 2nd place behind newcomer Keri Harris, the day's winner. How did a slow guy like me manage that? First, I learned a painful but useful lesson in the second race. I was first to the windward mark - a rarity - and last to the next leeward mark - really! At the windward marked, I had gybed early to go to the inside without paying attention to the wind coming down the course from above the windward mark on the outside (left) side of the course. It was one of those days with patchy winds and it was more than usually important to keep your head out of the boat. Upwind it was important to get to the puff by sailing for it even if you felt you were overstanding, and downwind by getting in line with the wind coming down the course. Second, the bias of the start line in the last 3 races favored me. In the first two races, the boat end of the start line was heavily favored and I'm terrible at fighting for that end. I'm heavier than most of you and after luffing up it takes too long to get the boat up to speed, so I have to commit earlier than most of you. Unfortunately, I frequently misjudge and have to slow down or I'm over early. Even if I get the timing right, I have to foot to maintain speed and the lanes are just not wide enough for that. In the last 3 races, the pin end was favored, sometimes heavily, but a lot of the traffic stayed down at the boat end. That was a lot better for me - more space for footing and more space to use during the approach. Third, I picked up a few boats by going for the favored end of the finish line. Remember that if the pin end is favored at the start, the boat end will be favored at the finish - unless there is a huge windshift. I noticed that some boats tacked too early after rounding the leeward mark and headed for the unfavored pin end of the finish. Fourth, David T. was leading the 4th race ahead of Steve and I, but lost track of the laps and failed to sail through the finish. He went from 1st to 12th. That one mistake dropped him from winning the day to 5th! OK, we all make those kinds of mistakes. Fifth, I was lucky to catch Steve Y. off guard for about 2 seconds at about 4 boat lengths from the last leeward mark rounding and to get an inside overlap on him. I was sitting on his wind, slightly to windward of him when a little puff gave me some momentum that he didn't get. I used it to get that overlap and was lucky enough to keep it. We still crossed the finish rail to rail and nose to nose. Jennifer yelled, "tie" at the finish but she marked down first on the finish sheet that I scored from, so who am I to argue! Finally, I would like to thank Frank, who won the day a few weeks ago. I had been feeling sorry for myself, blaming my slowness on my above average weight. But Frank has an even greater disadvantage in that department, so his victory proved to me that being wiley and cunning can sometimes overcome a speed handicap. His victory inspired me to start trying harder again. It is amazing how psychological our sport can be! We have to believe that we CAN win it. |
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