A Good Start!

The results are in! I finished 6th out of 24 boats! I could have done a lot better but for my first official regatta with the new boat I can't complain! Here goes the re-cap:

First Race: 5-10 knots of breeze, 40 something degrees, and a lot of chop! I had a bad start but was able to make up the distance by the first mark in 7th place. On my second lap around the course I was sitting in 4th and managed to foul another boat so I had to do my penalty turns. In the end I finished 7th and with in a few boat lengths of the leaders.

Second Race: 10-20 knots of breeze, 40 something degrees, pouring rain, and a lot of chop. Had yet another bad start ("Third Tier"), managed to get fired up and sailed my way into 8th place at the top mark. On the downwind I found another gear in the boat and ended passing 4 boats! On the upwind to the finish I was caught up in a four boat drag race. Some how I managed to pull off a 3rd place and missed second by an inch!

Third Race: 15-25 knots of breeze, 40 something degrees, sprinkles of rain, and a ton of chop and swell. I finally managed to get a good start and had clear air to the first mark and found my self in 4th place. On the downwind I fought off some attacks from my fellow competitors and climbed into a second! All of a sudden I caught a funky wave and a bad wind shift and I flipped the boat! I managed to stay dry and got the boat upright again only to find myself in 12th place! The adrenalin got pumping and I sailed my ass off in the final leg of the course and managed to finish the race in 7th place.

Overall the weekend was a great success! I got the boat dialed in, had some solid results. All that's left is me getting more time in the boat this winter! The next Richmond Midwinters is not until the 3rd of January so I have some time.

Special thanks to my sponsor GU Energy for giving me that extra fuel to make it through the day.