Where's My Yellow Jersey?

July is Tour de France month in my household. If I'm not watching it, I'm reading about it. And if I'm not doing either of those I'm out on my bike, grinding up Wapping Hill Road and pretending it's the harsh moonscape of Mont Ventoux. Some of the most powerful, and gut-wrenching, moments during three-week tour of France, and neighboring countries, involve the long breakaway that is caught just before the finish. For those of you who aren’t cycling fans, let me explain. In virtually every stage of the TdF, a rider or small group of riders will breakaway from the main pack, or peleton, early on. The lead can build to 15 minutes or more, but the vast majority of the time, the peleton will use its collective power to reel in the escapees before the finish. The peleton has a knack for doing this just before the finish, meaning the breakaway riders will suffer for 100 miles or more only to be passed just a mile or so from the finish. Much of the drama of any particular stage centers on whether the breakaway will be caught—everyone tries to be optimistic, but the answer is almost always yes—and when.

In the first race last night, on the Crack of Noon, we felt like one of those breakaway riders. A strong start coupled with a fortuitous left shift found us pointing directly at the windward mark, with the fleet splayed out behind us. Initially our advantage was quite generous, but by the windward mark, Salsa and Tim Healy were within a few boatlengths. To say the tension was running high on the old Crack O is a mild understatement. I know that, when in a strong position in the fleet in any particular race, you’re supposed to sail like you belong there. But that’s a lot easier said than done when you’re looking at two of the best boats in the world nipping at your transom. It didn’t help any that we’d seen the X-flag at the start, heard the race committee say "Individual Recall," but then heard no numbers. Fending off the thought that we might be sailing—winning, even—this race in vain was almost as difficult as keeping Salsa off our air.

The run was a fetch as well and at times the boys (and girl) on Salsa were overlapped with us and dangerously close to stealing our lunch. But we kept the wolves at bay to the leeward mark, got the kite down without any fuss and squeaked across the line in front of Salsa. Which brings me back to Le Tour. Watching a completely spent breakaway rider getting overtaken by the peleton after 5 hours of grueling work is heartbreaking. And it can make you wonder why they tried the breakaway in the first place. The answer is simple. Every now and again, just as we did last night, the breakaway can stay away. What a way to start the summer series, wearing the virtual Maillot Jaune.

Good luck to all the Fleet 50ers sailing in the Coastal Living Regatta this weekend. If you haven’t entered yet, don’t despair, there’s still time. And the weather looks great, for a change.