Race #2 2016 for Lezlie D

Though it is officially race number three here on June 23rd it is only the 2nd race for Lezlie D. and her crew because we served as committee boat the first official race. Two weeks earlier on the 2nd it was light winds 8 to 10 knots, but on the 23rd it was a big wind day and that should be good conditions for Lezlie D. We were 2nd over the start line after Blush but a good 30 seconds after Blush. On our last pass of the committee boat in the 5 min count down we decided to do a port tack start. The start line was so skewed to the pin that I thought we would have to hug the committee boat to start on a starboard tack, it was doable but if there was any traffic you could end up over early. Besides we were in a good position for a starboard tack approach. The only problem was we tacked back toward to line too soon. We should have waited another 30 seconds. We found ourselves accelerating toward the line with too much time on the clock we needed to kill some time. We first try to slow the boat by heading up but we were to close for that maneuver, so we tacked and tacked again causing us to lose too much time and we were late to the line by a good 30 seconds but still 2nd.  The good news is we were nearly on the lay line right at the start. We were scream up the windward leg just behind Blush and round the first mark shortly after them. Blush had really taken off after the first mark and was half way to the mark it seem by the time we found our course and sail setting but it seemed like we were closing in on them. We watch Blush to see how they set their sails on the final leg witch should have been a broad reach but because of the wind shift it turned out to be a run. Blush rounded the mark and it seem like they gave up on running wing on wing and settled for a broad reach on a starboard tack. I decided to go port tack broad reach. Coyote another Catalina 30 like Lezlie D. had been on our tail the entire race but we had manage to stay ahead of them.

When we made our cut back to the center of the race course I thought I was coming up just behind Coyote but it turned out to be Miller Time another Catalina 30 (I don’t know where Miller Time came from.) Coyote was the next boat behind them and we came in just in front of them. Blush took first, Miller Time beast us by 27 seconds (oh how I wanted that 30 seconds back from the start of the race) and then came Coyote. It was a very close race for the Catalina 30s. I think it is shaping up to be a competitive season for the Catalina 30s.