Team Seacats

Two races were had this morning as we launched into the lake in sub 40 degree temperatures. Fortunately, the weather had subsided a little and the breeze was a fresh 4 to 12 knots as big wind lines would travel down the lake – usually with a slight shift. We got a commanding start in the first race and Karl and I shot up the course with an early lead. We targeted the finish line while Velocity Sailing fought hard and gambled at the end and nearly lost second place. That left us two points out of first and we were hoping for two more races – if not, we needed to get as many boats between us and them as possible for the last one. The F18 fleet started their next race and we watched them get pounded with a huge left shift leaving them unable to hit the start line on starboard tack. We got ready to start working toward the pin end as the wind died and shifted slightly back to the right. By the time we had 1 minute to go, Karl and I knew we were in trouble. We were deep away from the line and the wind shifted even harder to the left. Once I thought we could lay the committee boat, I tacked onto port but had an F17 on starboard tack on my shoulder. We got a short lift and I thought I might be able to cross him but it evaporated and I had to tack close. I lost my cool for a minute but Karl reminded me that there was still two laps to go. With no other choice but to continue out to the left, we headed for the pin end of the start line well after the start gun had gone off and the fleet had crossed the line. We got to the pin end of the line and found David Strickland and Chris Zander smokin’ on port in a new fresh wind line (that was only on the left). WHEW. We tacked over and followed them up to A mark and passed the rest of the fleet. We managed to get inside Chris and David going down to C and took the lead. The next two laps saw a drag race as the wind continued blowing from the left. We finished first, David and Chris took second, and Trey and Alan (Velocity Sailing) took a third. To our disappointment racing was concluded for the day and even after winning the last two races we were stranded one point behind Velocity after the drops were applied in the scoring.

Although it was a bit cold, this was a great regatta and I enjoyed myself tremendously. Thanks to Karl and Kelly for making the drive up from Tampa to participate! Team Velocity is really starting to come on – we’ll see great things from them in the future. They’re investing the time and resources in the right place and earned their win for the weekend in some pretty tough conditions.

Some more photos will be coming soon. Jeremy King, photographer, was on the course and said he had some neat stuff (including several sequenced shots of our unfortunate break down on Saturday!). I’ll post them as soon as I get them.