June 29 2011 - Wednesday Night Race!

Ah, good to be at the race waters again... Wednesday night race! sponsored by the West Vancouver Yacht Club.
Hank was not planning to race this evening, as he had other plans, but at the last second, we're racing! Winds were OK, around 10-15 knots at the start, going down to 8-10 knots at the finish. Max speed over ground was 6.2 knots.
A few points of interest, Never start too far above the race committee boat, as you will have to "barg" into the start line. (Being the windward boat, you have to give way). Well, we were too far upwind; Hank tried to "barg" the start line, just to get yelled at by the other sailboats, "to pull hard to port". Now this maneuver caused us to be at the BACK of the pack! About 30-60 seconds behind. This does not seem like a lot, but if you review the race results below you will see what difference it makes.

Division 5 Fleet - June 29, 2011 at 18:25 start
Rank	Boat	SailNo	Skipper	PHRF	Finish	Elapsed	Corrected
1	Windsong	1155	Terry Cloughly	229	192230	0:50:30	0:43:50
2	Mystique	33	George Streadwick	189	192327	0:51:27	0:47:10
3	Silver Shadow	396	Bev Parslow	215	192744	0:55:44	0:49:17
4	Tarka	19579	Hank Schut	205	192756	0:55:56	0:50:09
5	Avontuur	84	Dave Bruynesteyn	120	192344	0:51:44	0:52:33
6	Equilibrium	49581	Bob Johnston	176	192832	0:56:32	0:52:48
7	Lopeka	52	Jason  Bowman	185	193323	1:01:23	0:56:36
8	Baloo	74393	John Noble	153	193220	1:00:20	0:58:16

As you can see, third place was only 52 seconds ahead of us (Corrected time due to our handicap rating). Well.... at least we BEAT the Avontuur... first time! Oh ya, almost forgot to tell you... Hank sailed solo... just him and me (Tarka). He knows how to handle my sheets and gave me words of encouragement during the race. Using only the rear winches and keeping my main sail mid-ship, he seemed to have no difficulty handling me through the winds and waves. Speaking of waves... tacking up winds was quite a beating... 4' waves at times. It was really great coming towards the finish line...the "Silver Shadow" and I were neck and neck all the way down the finish leg... almost got him! Well, that was the last Spring Sailing Race for another year, next racing will be the fall series, and the Jack and Jill in August and the Fall Stag Race to Silva bay (overnight race).