Twilight Race 3

Smooth teamwork was the order of the day in our twilight race last night. The wind was as fickle as it could possibly be and this seriously had us going from a spanking pace, well heeled to almost wallowing in a dead calm. Pathfinder again performed really well on the starboard tack and in a run down wind.  Port tack continues to provide challenges to us and the boat. One of the knowledgeable club members who has a rigging tension gauge is going to come out and have a look at her on Tuesday evening next week before the race. There were 19 boats out in the fleet which was a great sight.  We started well and kept up with them all to the first mark. Being just slightly behind was a reward as the traffic trying to get around the mark was chaotic. Sailing further down the bay on a broad reach enabled us to get in a good position to make the second mark without having to tack again- so we thought.  As we reached the second mark the wind died to a whisper and changed direction.  That left 5 or 6 boats wallowing and constantly tacking to try to catch what little wind there was.  The run to the end of the first leg of the race was again influenced by the fickle and flukey winds.  We had dropped behind on that jibe around the mark and were struggling to catch up.  On the turn around the next buoy we were not too far behind the bulk of the cruising fleet and with strengthening sea breeze we had a great run up to the last buoy. On the run back to the finishing line we were gaining on Steve's Bianco which became our challenge, but unfortunately the wind did not hold in our favour and we crossed the line about a minute behind.  

Our tacking was vastly improved and apart from a couple of slow tacks where our reaction times were not quick enough, the team work was excellent.  We have made great progress in the time we have been sailing together and the team morale is great.  We have a few good laughs and fortunately do not take it all too seriously.  Yes we would like to win - we would be stupid to say we didn't but as yet we know we have some issues to resolve with the boat and with our crewing but they are minor and we are far from being embarrassed.  Out of 18 finishers we were 13th. This is an 11% improvement over the first twilight race and a 20% improvement over last week. A fantastic effort which holds the promise of better things to come. 'Til next time.