Sailboat racing season is over but the guy who is our main competitor really wanted to sail one last time before his busy work time. I tried to rally the troops but everybody said they had to “work”. What’s up with that? Turns out it was the same for him. We ended up sailing solo against each other in boats that usually have a 3-man crew (650lb crew class rule). Since we have been sailing against each other for over a decade it was fun and comfortable.
The evening was split into 3 parts:
– Scootering down to the Club and not knowing if anyone was going to show up to sail with me (the usual worry)
– The racing (which was terrific – see below)
– The after-race sail back to the marina
We set a very short course because the sun sets so early now. We managed to get in 3 races. Here is a video of our Race 2 (2.5x speed) including the 3-minute pre-start maneuvering.
This start was a tie but I ended up losing by about 15 seconds because I could not point well upwind (issue with jib fairleads and I should have know better). I won the 1st race and blew the 3rd in the last 50 seconds by not maintaining a good cover. I should know better.
The after-race sail back to the marina (the other guy is at a different marina) turned out to be a nice cap to the season. The sun had set and it was a moonless night (Eid-al-Fitr from my Kuwait days) so it was very dark on the lake. Usually this means head home, but I was in the mood to keep sailing. The wind picked up even more but became steady so I started tearing across the lake at 7-8mph, which is at, or above, hull speed in the dark night. The lights of the city and of the planes on their landing approach through the low clouds were my only reference points. When I got back to the marina I could not go in, I went back across the lake.
GPS: 
Learning to sail in Nebraska meant tacking a lot because all the lakes are artificial and narrow, dams put up by the Army Corp of Engineers in the 50s and early 60s. Triangles. My second boat (a Laser) had a cleat for the mainsheet but I was not sure why I needed it because I was always tacking. Who could set the sail and just go? This is what I was thinking when I cleated off TWO sails on the J/22 and just drove in a straight line towards a radio tower in the dark, for over 10 minutes. That is not possible in most places. If you do not hit the shore you will ground yourself in shallow water. Where I sail it is 200′ feet deep. And this is the short way across the lake. The long way, if we ever got a west wind, would take about 3 hours -though the 2 floating bridges might get your attention.
I forced my mind to wander while sailing very fast in the dark (counter-intuitive to most intelligent life) in order to consolidate the year in sailing [I have a theory about this related to apnea, but it is probably a crackpot idea]. Anyway, I did this because I had an emotionally weak moment 2 years ago after the summer’s last race….the sailing club was important to me when I sold my 2nd Laser and joined in 1999. I volunteered to be a Board member in 2000 and have been on the Board for ever since. It has helped me in a lot of ways but let’s stick to this year. The Club was kicked out of its office in January and I spent a lot of time helping find a new office, prepping, moving and notifying members. I told myself I would be lucky if I got to sail half as many hours as I spent helping the Club with operations and the move. I was successful. Although I may sail again this year, here are the results for 2010:
– Days sailing: 24
– Race starts: 45! (best ever)
– Times I got the position I wanted (driver, foredeck , trimmer): 38
Even though it was the coldest summer in memory – that is a good year.
Memo to self -don’t forget it!
