Starbird- First race of Frostbite second half (Thank you Will Keyworth)
Starbird- First race of Frostbite second half (Thank you Will Keyworth)
At long last, we actually completed the first set of races within the AYC Second Frostbite season. Its been a crummy season on the Tartan 101 that I typically race on. The first race day of the season was very light air and we crept out towards the second mark for close to an hour. Just as we were starting to get some wind, the race was abandoned. We had gotten out early to practice and try the comparatively new sails. It was what was brutally cold weather to go racing and we managed to get close to three very frigid hours out on the water from dock to dock.
The next race, we were all set to go racing and went to check out the breezes out on the course. All was well in the 12-15 knot ambient breezes, but we got hit with some bigger gusts, before we noticed that the top batten pocket had delaminated from the sail. Back to the dock.
Last week, there was gale force winds, with a chance of snow, and freezing rain so the committee canceled.
So on the fourth race day of the series we finally got out there and went racing. It felt good. It was pretty challenging conditions with winds between zero and around 12-15 knots. A wind map of the race course would have looked like a Dalmatian with big black windless holes peppering the course and down drafting gusts that would pop-up for a short bit then disappear. The gaps and the gusts would simply show up unannounced from nowhere. I was the mainsail trimmer which was a major workout. We had two pretty good races with a fourth in the first race and line honors and a corrected second in the second race.
But mostly, it felt really nice to get the :band back together" and go out sailing. Kind of like the gag that Golf is a beautiful walked spoiled. It was a beautiful daysail, not spoiled but not as in tune with the rest of the natural world beyond that which was necessary to keep the boat going well.