Wednesday Wayfarer Racing
Four Wayfarers went out on the water last Wednesday, including new MSC member Dave Wilpula in his Mark I woodie (W453) with visitor Sam Durbin on crew. Carey and Joel manned the club Mark IV; Matt and Dick sailed W1389; and Uli and I were in my W10861. (We also had a Laser join us.)
A great evening for racing — high 70s and gusty winds in the teens. Peggy set up a sausage course, with a long starting line and a leeward mark several hundred yards down wind. We did three-minute starts to keep things moving, and single lappers so that no one got too far behind.
By my count, Carey and Joel won two of the four races, and Uli and I got the other two. Peggy says I took a flier on race number four and got lucky; I say that the right side was favored and only I saw it! Unfortunately, the threat of a fast-approaching storm sent us in before we could break the tie or give one of the other two boats a chance to get a bullet.
After the boats were put away, Peggy led a discussion of starting rules and strategy. S.T.A.R.T.: Settings (adjust your rig for the conditions before every start), Timing (time the line and know where you need to be with a minute to go to hit the line at the gun), Acceleration (know how to get your boat moving, so that no leeward boat can cut you off), Routine (go through the same process every time until you get it down cold), and Throttle (know how to slow down when you’re early).
Every week we’ve got more people coming out; hope to see some more of you as we get into summer!….Dave
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