John Williams and I finished tied in points with 2nd place but lost the tie breaker (best last finish) to Kirk Newkirk and Glenn Holmes in the sixteen boat F18 fleet. Ollie and Kelly Jason showed strong and firmly took first place. Going into the 3rd and final race with a 3rd place and a 4th place on the board for us and a 5th and a 2nd on the board for Newkirk, John and I knew we needed to be in front of them in order to break the tie and have a chance at being in front of them in the standings. With 90 seconds to go to this ever critical start, we were fighting for the committee boat end of the line but were in a vulnerable position and not able to control it. We had been able to maintain that spot for the first two races. As the start gun went off, we had to stop the boat because we didn’t have room to clear the committee boat. We ducked a stern and started to accelerate when another F18 came under us a full bore that had right of way. I steered us up into the barging buoy Rick White placed aft of the committee boat and we speared it between the hulls. The line holding the buoy broke and John quickly cleared the buoy from between the hulls and we finally got going. This was not what we needed to have a shot at someone like Newkirk. We originally wanted to go to the right side of the course so we were able to tack back soon after getting underway. We went out there and were pretty much alone – tacked back for A-mark and were able to lay it and had caught back up to 9th place or so. It was a tight reach out to the B-mark and I stayed on the wire while John worked the boat. We were able to roll 4 boats on this reach. Newkirk was in sight with one one boat between us.
Before we got down to C mark one boat managed to sneak back under us. The next upwind leg we were able to get clear of that boat and two more boats in front of us, and beat them back to A. We battled with David Ingram for position on the next down wind leg. Ding had some trouble getting the spinnaker up and we managed to roll him right around the mark. John stated “look out – he’s not going to like that” an Ding fought back hard and passed us back before getting back down to C. After rounding C, Ding was in front of us and we could still see Newkirk ahead but time and distance were running out and it was not looking good for the home team. I spotted that there was not much wind ahead on the right side of the course (where Newkirk and Ding were heading) and asked John to look for breeze up the course. John looked over our shoulders and said that we needed to go there. We tacked. Again mostly alone, we’re coming back across the course about 100 yards under the layline for A mark and we’ve made a strong gain on Newkirk and Holmes and passed Ding. We could read their minds when we saw them peek under the sails at our progress as we steamed in behind them and made our last tack for the last A mark rounding. John and I have been making up a lot of distance on the downwind legs so we rode hard and I tried to stay smooth. Newkirk was certainly not going to give up and we just couldn’t close the gap. We got down to A mark still chasing and tacked to the opposite side of the course hoping for a miracle – but there was none to be had. Newkirk finishes 3rd and we finish 4th in that race…but it was an incredible race. We are on the road heading for Jacksonville but are are stopping for some well deserved grub.

We got some great racing in today. The first race started out in about 15 knots of breeze – John and I squeezed out a 3rd finish in that race. The wind began to lay down and the 3rd and final race finished with about 8 to 12 (in the gusts). We got a 4th in the second race and the 3rd race we think we were 5th … maybe 4th. I’m not sure if it’s enough to put us in the standings but we are very happy with our performance. I’ll tell some more stories in a bit – right now we’re trying to get packed up to get on the road.

It’s 7am and we are certainly going out today. However, it looks like a feast or famine scenario as the forecast is to get pretty light and variable. Currently it’s chilly but there’s about a 10knot breeze…going to get some breakfast.

The wind continues to build here. They expect the wind to be pretty favorable tomorrow (15-20) so Rick has told us that we will start at 9am instead of 10 to try and make up for some of the missed time today.

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originally uploaded by Team Seacats.

Due to the fact that it’s gusting healthily over 30 and expected to build, racing is cancelled for today. In a most gracious act, Rick White tapped the regatta beer early and we’re going around making sure boats are tied down and secured. They’re all wanting to walk around and capsize. “Plays With Matches” is on the point in a little more wind than most but she’s clear of any other boats and trailers that might roll into her. The trapeze lines are triangulated to pillings to keep the boat stable. I’m going to work on some photo stuff here on the website today while some are headed to Key West to check out the big boats setting up for Race Week there.

Wow…it’s getting windy here. I went out to take some pictures this morning and took some of the water. I looked at them and thought, “hmmm…that doesn’t look so bad”. I stepped out of the hotel room and realized that it had laid down a bit while I was taking shots…here’s one from the hotel balcony just now. More photos HERE

Well, the front came through last night and it lived up to expectations. It’s nukin’ out there. Gilbert’s (where we are staying with the boats) is pretty protected but there are some healthy swirling gusts coming through. In fact, the Team Tybee Nacra 20 blew over last night on the beach but fortunately they didn’t suffer more than a couple of scratches. We didn’t finish all the preparations we probably should have last night and although the boat walked around a little (as did most) everything is OK. Bill Croughwell recorded a 36 knot gust on a dock on the south side of Blackwater Sound and the water is pretty frothy. Rick White says he’s not going to make a final decision until the skipper’s meeting – so we should know more in a bit.

While rolling down the road, we’re talking about the weather. It appears that a fairly healthy front is expected to come through early Saturday morning bringing pretty high wind. The NOAA forcast is currently calling for 15-20 early in the morning and 20 – 25 knots for the rest of the day. John and I are pretty light on the boat – barely making the 308lb combined minimum crew weight in order to use the large F18 sail plan. We have to carry 10lbs or so of weight on the boat to make up half of the weight distance to the 330lb spec. With the high winds expected for Saturday, if it’s not enough to cancel racing, it’s going to be pretty interesting to see how the boat handles at that weight (rather…lack of it). Can you say “downhaul”?

I’m sailing with honorary Team Seacats member John Williams this weekend. John is a huge supporter of our sport and graciously donates an incredible amount of his time to assiting with the sports organizing bodies. Besides all that, he’s a great sailor too and has sailed catamarans with some of the best in the country. I drove a little over 6 hours to get to John’s house in Jacksonville, FL last night and we got on the road this morning (a little later than expected). We expect to arrive in Largo about 4pm to start setting up the boat.