Team Seacats

Ok…it was just the second day of racing, but we dug out of the deep well we were in. Coupled with some deep finishes of some of the other top teams and our steady performance today, we moved from 7th to 2nd place overall. There’s still a lot of sailing to be done in this regatta so we have to keep a steady mind and stay focused so we can’t be overly proud of our accomplishments today. I do need to give kudos to Jane, Wick’s wife as of a week ago, who gave Wick a TacTic compass as his wedding gift. That Tactic contributed to some really great tactical decisions on the water – Thanks Jane!

Wick again got some good starts and early today we had found that the left side had a persistent header so we could ride that into shore and tack back out riding a nice lift up to the mark. As the wind shifted a little more right later in the day, that header went away and we watched several teams make good by banging the corner on the right side. In the 1st race, we had a very tight race with Boog and just barely nicked them at the finish line by the tip of the spinnaker pole. The second race, we managed a good start, got clear, and had a solid race holding 2nd. In the 3rd race, we were fortunate to watch a couple other top teams make the same mistake we had made yesterday as they sailed past the gate heading for the finish line one lap early. That allowed us to dig out of a 5th or 6th place, catch a shift just right, and capture another 2nd behind Nigel and Alex. In the last race, after a tricky first beat, we found ourselves in 4th or 5th again but rounded the first leeward gate to head to the right, where we had seen Trey do well last time. We kept an eagle eye on the compass and when it came time to tack back, we were crossing the entire fleet by a pretty good margin. Not willing to feel comfortable with these guys, we continued to dig deep and try to cover. We finished the last lap with Nigel and Alex closing up a little but we finished cleanly in first place. That horn for first over sure felt well earned!

Tomorrow, we have to keep up the fight and work hard to study the wind and water. This thing is a loooong way from over and anything could happen. Hoping for another good night’s sleep and some more great wind tomorrow!