In the fleet on the first leg (red spin on the left)
SMSA Spring Invitational on Harm's Way, the new J/109 in Solomons. We had a full crew, and several newer folks on the boat. After a little trouble with one of the battens on the main on the way out, we got set up and got underway. The race started downwind, and we launched a spin at the start. With some coaching (and in his first time driving a wheel boat), Dion drove us on a pretty clean leg and we executed a tidy douse. On the beat up the Bay, we looked to balance pressure and angle to the mark, and made a gamble going inside to line our tack up better. Unfortunately it didn't work out in the end as the pressure fell off closer to shore. We set up the big kite at the top mark, anticipating a speedy ride to the finish. Unfortunately the wind clocked and increased violently towards the middle of the leg, resulting in an extremely messy douse. Ultimately we got the sail out of the water and into the boat and finished the race. Not the cleanest effort, but still an interesting time on a new boat.