Twilight Race 1/09

We had a great start to the Twilight racing season tonight with a 6th place out of 11 yachts competing but with less than 4.5 minutes between the first and last yacht on corrected time it was a very competitive event.  The wind was pretty strong all day and I must admit to being pretty nervous at the start.  At best the wind could be called squally - there were gusts up to 20 knots and then almost nothing.  Getting an all girl crew this season is going to be difficult.  Some girls say they would love to be aboard then change their mind on the day - so we had to take a token male as crew tonight!  As it was my"significant other" we were well crewed.  The 'Skipper'- who originally joined us at the start of last year's races was aboard and full of enthusiasm.  We started out cautiously with much of the large jib furled. This was really an opportunity for the 'Skipper' to get to know the boat once more.  As the race progressed we enlarged the jib sail area as the wind lightened. A couple of times on the last leg of the race we were almost knocked down by the gusts but releasing the traveller and letting the pressure off the mainsail did the trick.  For a cautious start the result was very pleasing. The enthusiasm was still there and the 'Skipper' is delighted with our performance.   Tuesday cannot come round soon enough.  'Til then... "my goal in sailing isn't to be brilliant or flashy in individual races, just to be consistent over the long run" so said Denis Connors - and I agree!