Mother nature targeted the sailors of Annapolis with a big red bulls eye for the early spring NOOD regatta. Day 1 (Friday 5/5) was forecast to blow between 20 and 35knts out of the ESE which would ensure that there was searoom to build up the largest possible waves. And so it did…. and then some throughout the morning. Toss in some heavy downpours and the threat of thunderstorms and waterspouts at mid day, and the Race Committee decided to abandon racing for the day after several delays. As it turns out, the afternoon developed into one of the nicer days of the weekend, but the decision had already been made.
Saturday: Race On! Breeze was still piping in the mid teens with occasional gusts into the 20s and had now clocked around to the SW. We were spared slightly with the wave intensity and the rains subsided for the time being. We got 3 races in swapping between the #3 (jib) and #1 (genoa) as the wind velocity fluctuated and sailing was made more challenging with shifts of up to 30°. The boat sailed well and the crew work was decent, but the pistons just weren’t all firing and we ended up scoring 4-5-4 in our 3 races. That put us in 4th overall with an uphill climb for the next day.
Sunday: Race On… BREEZE UP! Average wind velocities now in the 20s and clocked further right so seas could build coming down the Severn. Steep 4′ high frequency rollers made keeping a line next to impossible and they crashed over the deck soaking everything and everyone on board. At only 60° temps for the day, I was really happy I wore my heavy foulies. We had some better starts and found ourselves in good position at the 3rd mark of the first race, but we got fowled by a J/80 which forced down into an Etchells right at the mark. That cost us another boat or two as we had to do penalty turns. The second and final race of the day/regatta, we finally nailed our start… on the line on time with clear air and a great lane and it translated into a 2nd place for that race.
Somehow by stroke of luck, even with our collision, penalty turns and inconsistency, we had climbed a spot on the overall leader-board to take home 3rd in the regatta. This would be the first time in 6 ish years, that we had not taken the top spot and should motivate us to streamline things moving forward.