One Ahead, One Behind

If you like symmetry, then there was a certain poetic beauty to the Crack Of Noon’s scoreline last night. In the first race, we were beaten by just one boat. In the second, we beat just one boat.

And in both races, the most important moment was the start. In the first race, we had a beautiful start a third of the way down from the boat. After four weeks of struggling off the line, and usually having to tack away or live in a marginal lane, it was amazing to have the freedom to sail the boat as we wanted. Clear air can make you feel like a superstar. (Once again, thanks to www.SailFlow.com for the wind readings from Rose Island. Check out their site for forecasts and up-to-the-minute wind readings. Well worth the subscription. My sense is the reading is a little low from the north, but I could be wrong.)

We played the middle left side of the course, trying to stay in the puffs and the most advantageous current. Halfway up the beat it looked like we were going to have a dogfight getting through all the boats to our right—a wide-open track and flat water means everyone goes the same speed.

But we exercised some patience, staying to the left and biding out time, and got a very fortunate left shift on our final port tack and rounded third. On the run we had just enough separation to avoid the chaos right behind us, though there were plenty of tense moments. On the second beat we picked up one boat by staying to the left and in more pressure and current. Downwind we held off the wolves and followed only Salsa across the finish line.

The second race, we had an equally beautiful start. Or at least we thought we did until 30 seconds after the gun when we heard our number over the radio. By the time we rounded the boat and started back upwind the fleet was a quarter mile ahead of us. So we rolled the dice and, not surprisingly, they came up snake eyes. We caught one boat down the run.

So, an up-and-down performance that averaged out right smack in the middle of the fleet. But after four weeks of middling results, it felt a heck of a lot better than a pair of 10s. It was nice to have one race where we put it all together, where we got to line up with some of the top guys in the fleet and discover that we weren’t far off the pace, if at all.

It was also great to see the fleet break 20 boats for the first time this summer. That’s the sort of sailing that makes Fleet 50 so great, two-dozen boats, in close quarters. A few choice words here or there. No position is safe until you cross the line.

Salsa blitzed the fleet, winning both races. I think they might’ve finished the second race before we rounded the leeward mark. But since we heard from them last week, and we’re sure to have other opportunities to get their thoughts, we sent off a few questions to Charlie Enright, who drove Rooster to a pair of thirds last night.