Most of the crew after the race
Podium Finish
Just before the spinnaker blew
My favorite event of the year. Light wind at the start made for a challenging first three hours, and we worked hard to keep the boat moving and make as much progress as possible in the available breeze. A storm system moved in just north of the fleet, and we saw the wind jump from 2kts to gusts of 26kts in a matter of minutes. We suffered a big setback as a jammed halyard prevented us from getting out best light air kite down before it blew just north of Chesapeake Beach. However, we had great breeze nearly dead downwind the rest of the night and kept the boat moving very well running wing on wing. We rounded Point Lookout around 4:30am and started a crushing beat up the Potomac in stiff breeze and short chop. Conditions calmed as we reached the St. Mary's River a couple hours later, and we feathered the boat along into a classic light air finish. Our crew worked great together under pressure and pushed the boat to her limit. I'm proud of everyone's effort and perseverance.
Our efforts were rewarded with a 2nd place finish in our class.