Liberty is being free from the things we don't like in order to be slaves of the things we do like.--Ernest Benn

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Holiday Classic

The ideal sailing venue for me would be one which offered an above average variety in wind and sea conditions. In terms of wind, I'm speaking of both directions and strengths. I have never played golf. (I have always been either too young to take it up or too old to learn.) But the ideal sailing location would be comparable to always playing golf on a different course, I would think.

Today's race was a 5nm race in winds that never rose over 9 knots. But the key was it was from the east. Because the Race Committee (hope they're not reading this) was unimaginative, they didn't adjust the course accordingly. Consequently, we spinnakered to what is usually the weather mark. Following that we had an extremely interesting beat to our usual reaching mark, and then spinnakerer the last two legs.

It turned out to be an extremely interesting chess match. I enjoyed it mainly on the rail, since Trophy Wife did most of the driving. Das Boot did much better (8th out of 14) than she deserved to in these light conditions, mainly because of her off-wind performance and the fact that all of our brainy crew members are always thinking, and talking (don't say 'arguing') about what to do next.

I have come to value the process more than the results.

4 comments:

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    1. Yeah. You would think it to be at least a low-brainer to see that you can have down wind starts in pursuit races where every boat has an individual start time. Sure would create more variety in our sailing game!

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  2. In a discussion in Sailing Anarchy, this race is mentioned. An infringement of RRS 69.1, Gross Misconduct is alleged. Your boat is mentioned, but not as the perp!

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