Nationals Day 2- Low Temps/Big Winds

At the launch this morning the thermometer read 2F, but the wind was 0 mph. Racing was delayed for quite some time. By 11:00 am I noticed a head stay telltale flying straight out and said as much to a few guys in the pit, but no one was convinced. So, the guys gabbed and I forged out to plate. It’s about a 1.5 mile push through snow and very rough ice. It’s exhausting.

By the time I reached the sailable ice, the wind was definitely blowing a steady 10 mph and the race committee was just setting the windward mark. That gave me a lot of time to get settled and set up before others arrived. After one lap I was happy with my runner choice, but saw dark clouds and snow showers on the horizon so switched to my ABSS sail. A good call as the wind just got bigger as the afternoon progressed and at times racing was delayed due to white out conditions and marks falling down. T felt the wind was a steady 15 mph with gusts in the 20s. With blowing snow, he said the conditions were not for the faint of heart.

All of that made the racing really really fast. I thought yesterday was the fastest I’d ever gone in my boat, but today I reached a new kind of speed downwind. I felt like my boat had a jet engine and it was going to go insanely fast whether I wanted it to or not. It almost felt like it was ready to lift off the ice and fly. While I was working hard to race well, I didn’t focus too much on my place in the fleet. I took it as another good day to work on sailing in big wind. My last race was my best race, but I still lost two boats on the last downwind leg. ARGH. I did hear a few guys comment on how challenging the conditions were and so for me to stay in control, finish all the races, and beat a few gold fleet boats made for another great day of sailing.

A few of us at the end of the racing said out loud to each other how fast we all felt and then just shook our heads in disbelief that the top guys (Ron, Chris, T, Steve, JR) still finish a leg in front of us. How fast must they be going?

Tomorrow has us doing three more races to wrap up the Nationals. The wind is predicted to be light.

Cheers, Karen DN 5630