Photo by Marco Oquendo

Coconut Grove

The wind had difficulty materializing this morning but we finally got one race going around 12:40 in 6 knots of wind from the southeast.

After yesterday’s results, things were tight at the top and with the fickle conditions today, anything could have happened.

Danny and I had a decent start and shortly after tacked to port to head right, in the middle of the fleet.  The wind was fickle and dropping in strength as we neared the windward mark. We rounded about 7th with Augie Diaz in front of us. Augie blazed down the run as usual and rounded the gate with a big lead. At this point the regatta was his.

Racing in conditions like this is very challenging.  It is not hard to get a few things wrong and find yourself back in the pack.  We were very lucky as most everything we did this weekend turned to gold.

On the second windward leg, Augie and Arnie went to the right and Danny and I stayed a bit more to the left. This worked out for us and we passed Augie. Down the final run to the finish, Augie again super fast, passed us to finish third but our 4th was all we needed to win the regatta.  Gris Dolf and Luke Lawrence won the race with Larry Whipple and Austin Sperry in second.

I haven’t had this much enjoyment from sailing in a while. I experienced this when I raced with both Danny and Allie to Hawaii, twice. That was 10 years ago.

Next for me is IRC racing with the Beau Geste team in Austrailia at the end of the month.

For complete results go to www.yachtscoring.com.

Paul