The August Series continued this past weekend on beautiful Deep Creek Lake. On Saturday, the right kind of wind arrived — an 11 mph breeze from the west with some gusts that reached 18 mph. On the committee boat this past Saturday was Pro Ed Halley along with Alice/Ed Kemp and Beth Halley.
Emma Halley/Cole Watson manned the patrol boat. I thank all of them. The course was set in the usual spot, and 28 boats were racing which included three ILCA (Lasers), 10 Gold, six Silver, two Master, and seven Challenger Fleet Flying Scots.
Quoc Tran sailed with me all weekend. As we rounded the first windward mark, we were in the mix. Then the first spinnaker issue happened.
As I raised the spinnaker, I managed to yank the spinnaker halyard too hard, getting the ring caught at the top of the mast. Quoc wrestled with the spinnaker and was able to get the top unstuck from the mast, but at this point we were already at the halfway point of the downwind leg. As we neared the first leeward mark, we took down the spinnaker early on the starboard side so we would have plenty of room to make a good rounding close to that first group of boats.
The second spinnaker issue then occurred at this time. While taking down the spinnaker, Quoc managed to place the spinnaker on the wrong side of the jib sheets. We spent too much time off course trying to correct the second spinnaker issue.
We could not raise the spinnaker until we were halfway down the last downwind leg, so our finish was dismal. We went in for lunch, petted “the” dog and regrouped. Sailing is supposed to be fun, after all.
Things get caught all the time. Bruce Spinnenweber sailed with someone who just finished his first week of sailing school. The spinnaker sheets managed to go under the boat both times, yet he still managed to finish mid fleet.
Things will go wrong with that spinnaker, lines will get caught, fouled, etc., but the point of the game is to fix it, keep moving and stay happy. Our second race was much better.
We did not place but we were not last as we had no spinnaker issues. Our competition was fierce, but it was great to see them and be in the mix. The course was shortened to one time around, which made the race quick.
On Sunday, the Race Committee Boat featured Pro/Assistant Pro David/Karen Meehan along with Jen/Chris Meehan. On patrol were Bob Evans/Ed Brzytwa. Thank you all for helping! The wind that day was out of the west at 9 mph with some gusts, and there were 31 Sailboats racing: four ILCA (Lasers), 11 Gold, five Silver, six Master, and five Challenger Fleet Flying Scots.
The course was set in the usual spot. Our start was okay but not great we seemed to have to tack numerous times to get the best breeze and clean air. As I approached the 1st windward mark on the starboard lay line, I did something smart.
The starboard lay line is a sailing term most sailboat racers are familiar with. It’s sort of an imaginary line for a sailboat on a starboard tack. If they continued on starboard tack would be able to round the windward mark, but if a boat is below the starboard lay line, it would have to tack onto port and again onto starboard to the round the mark.
If a sailboat is above the starboard lay line, they could reach to get to the mark. As I approached the mark, the wind shifted so that I determined I was no longer on the starboard lay line, but below it. In addition, Bruce Spinnenweber/Sue Wolffe in the yellow boat were just above my boat, also on starboard tack.
I instructed Quoc to luff the jib. We waited a few seconds for the yellow boat to pass us, then we tacked onto port tack. We then tacked back onto starboard tack and proceeded to the mark.
By tacking early, I avoided a potential cluster at the windward mark. As we rounded the mark, the yellow boat and others had to go behind our boat before they could round the mark. We were now in the mix closer to the lead boats.
Quoc expertly trimmed the spinnaker as we went downwind. I remembered to look for the wind behind me, but I did one clumsy maneuver. I reached back to undo the mainsheet line that was caught on my tiller extension.
In the process, I managed to get off course and rounded the leeward mark behind the yellow boat. Quoc informed me that the next time the mainsheet is caught he could fix it quicker. On the second windward leg, we concentrated on boat speed, favored tack, finding the best breeze and our tactics paid off.
We rounded the second windward mark in first place with a two-boat length lead over the yellow boat. Our lead might have grown as we neared the second leeward mark. When the mainsheet got caught on the tiller extension again, Quoc untangled it, and we stayed on course.
We caught a puff just before we came to the leeward mark causing us to jibe and arrive at the mark quicker than we expected. We immediately took the spinnaker on the starboard side, jibed, then rounded the mark. The wind was strong, and it seemed like something was wrong.
We tacked onto port and ended up behind at least four boats, and we struggled going upwind. It seemed like every time we tacked, more boats had passed us. About three quarters of the way up, Quoc discovered our problem.
We forgot to lower the centerboard. I haven’t done that rookie mistake in at least five years. There are potentially six more races with two more weekends in the August Series.
Hopefully I won’t make another rookie mistake. We hope to see more people sailing! Race Results [skipper/crew(s)] Saturday, Aug. 10 ILCA (Laser) Open: Race 1 — 1 Nabeel Alsalam, 2 Anne Graham, 3 Charles Graham, Race 2 — 1 Nabeel Alsalam, 2 Charles Graham Gold Fleet: Race 1 — 1 Tom Wolffe/Ray Gauthier, 2 Keith/Andi MacMillan, 3 Jill Bennett/John Meredith Race 2 — 1 Connor Lothrop/James MacMillan, 2 Tom Wolffe/Ray Gauthier, 3 Bruce Spinnenweber/Bill Dunham Silver Fleet: Race 1 — 1 James/Meredith Hillyer, 2 Lynn Troutman/Jacob Feisley, 3 Dan Muss/Frank Vandall Race 2 — 1 James/Meredith Hillyer, 2 Edgar/Evan Rumble, 3 Greg Shafer/Tom Plofchan Master Fleet Race — 1 Spencer Deakin/Conrad Lundeen, 2 Larry Anderson/Kathy Rubel Challenger Fleet: Race 1 — 1 Tom Kumar/Robert Gerlach, 2 Ed Brzytwa/Ramesh Kumar, 3 Merrill Brunson/Eric Gold Race 2 — 1 Tom Kumar/Robert Gerlach, 2 Ed Brzytwa/Ramesh Kumar, 3 Merrill Brunson/Eric Gold Sunday, Aug.
11 ILCA (Laser) Open: Race — 1 Nabeel Alsalam, 2 Tom Johnson, 3 Charles Graham, Flying Scot Gold Race — 1 Mark Schaefer/Stephanie Berger, 2 Tom Wolffe/Seth Snider, 3 Stephani Mahan/Hannah Lothrop/John Meredith Silver Fleet Race — 1 Greg/Cheryl Shafer, 2 James/Meredith Hillyer, 3 Ronald/Kathy Cohen Flying Scot Masters: Race — 1 Larry Anderson/Kathy Rubel, 2 Frank Vandall/Andrew Muss, 3 Alice/Ed Kemp Challenger Fleet: Race — 1 Merrill Brunson/Barbara Grunbaum, 2 David/Nancy McGrew, 3 Torin Kumar/Rob Gerlach.
