Podium Finish!

The results are in! We had 18 out of 37 signed up boats show up for the last Mid-Winters. It was sunny, light winds and flat water. My official scores were not as consistent as I would have liked, though it got the job done.

First Race: 5-8 knots of breeze, 65 degrees and flat water. I had a good start in the middle of the line with clear air. I kept a clear lane and avoided any excess maneuvers and found myself in third place at the top mark. On the down wind run I found an extra gear and was able to reel in the top two guys. I tried attacking the second place boat with some match racing tactics. It worked I was able to force him away from me, which gave me some clear air so that I could attack the first place boat. At the bottom mark I rounded in second place. On the last leg I was able to point higher and faster than the first place boat and I was able to roll over the top of him. While I was distracted with covering the second place boat, the third place boat went on the attack and managed to sail over the top of me. In response I went on the attack and was able to force him into a bad shift and I went on to win the race!

Second Race: A very shifty 5-8 knots of breeze, 65 degrees and flat water. I had a really good start on the pin end of the line and had some clear air. Unfortunately the shifts that I played on the last race were not there, in fact they were opposite. I had some bad tactics and a few extra tacks at the top mark due to the increasing tide, and I ended up rounding the top mark in 12th place. On the downwind run I found another gear and made up some ground. Bythe time I got to the bottom mark I found myself in 5th place. Durring the last leg I chose the wrong side of the course and I lost a few boats and finished in 1oth place! Arrrg!

Third and Final Race: A very shifty 0-7 knots of breeze, 70 degrees and flat water. I had a bad start on the pin end of the line, which was the favored end. With about a minute to the start the wind shifted to the right and the boat end of the line was hugely favored. After the start I ended up having to duck most of the fleet to get to a clear lane and the favored side. I did a good job of playing the shifts and I rounded the top mark in 7th place. On the downwind I was able to catch a few puffs and I closed the distance on the leaders. I was still in 7th place towards the bottom mark, when all of a sudden there was a 90 degree wind shift, which I noticed and was able to pass two boats at the mark rounding. On the last leg the wind died down to less then 2 knots, this made for a very slow and suspenseful finish. Right at the finish line I was able to throw in two quick tacks and I passed one more boat to finish the race in 4th place.

The Wrap Up: I made a few mistakes and learned a ton. I feel that over the course of this series I have made some huge gains toward establishing myself in the upper echelons of the fleet. My consistency in the top of the fleet led to my 3rd place overall in the series! This is a great launching pad for the rest of the season!