A nicer day weatherwise than forecasted -- the chilly rain and thundershowers did not materialized -- but winds were lighter than forecasted also, making it a challenging day for the three Cats, five Lightnings;  five Albacores and the Interlake that came out for the first race of the season.  Piercarlo and Franco were delayed in getting to the marina due to street closures for the Cherry Blossom festival, and by light winds by the time they splashed, so they never made it to the race course.  PRO Bob Astrove did an outstanding job running RC with only 2 boats available, and getting off three races in the 3 - 5 MPH easterly to northeasterly winds.   This was the first race using the course flags in lieu of a course board, and that method worked very well. 

PRO Bob Astrove
Mark Boat Driver Bob Wilbur
Helpers Suzan Humphrey; Henry Cheng; Paul Schmidt

Actual winds at National Airport were:

Winner's Perspective, by Russ Roberts

Spring Series #1 – April Fools Day  4/1/07

No fooling around today.  The day was overcast and cool with a current ripping across the course.  The wind was out of the East and Southeast requiring the dreaded cross river course that makes it imperative to nail the start and continue to cover the fleet since a reaching leg seldom gives opportunities to make big gains.  Crew skills prevail when errors are show stoppers and the compass becomes an ineffective tool on the short legs.

Race #1 (1^st Place) (Course T2 - 2 Laps with Triangle) The pin was favored at the start for the current and the wind but wind shifts to the right had to be considered.  The light-puffy wind with shifts over twenty degrees and bow waves made keeping up the speed a main priority as always.  I decided to start at the pin with a port approach and shoot for the stronger wind coming off the Anacostia.  The rest of the fleet decided to go right with the current and wind and immediately sailed into a hole as the lift subsided.   I also counted on the lift from the swift ebbing current to overcome any immediate gain from the wind on the right.  We rounded the windward mark well ahead of the fleet which had by then gotten a puff and started moving again.  We started to raise the spinnaker but Nabeel thought the wind was too forward so I called for the jib and to keep the spinnaker ready.  The wind died forward of us but the rest of the fleet put up their chutes as their wind was different and they were able to fly them.  They began to catch up with us so as the wind reached us from behind I had the crew set the spinnaker hoping we would get the puff before the fleet got too close.   We managed to catch the puff which kept us out front as we approached the reach mark.  A quick-smooth gybe by Lisbet and Nabeel allowed us to keep the boat moving but the wind was too far forward to maintain course and speed.  I decided have Lisbet raise the jib after the wind kept going forward.  This would allow us to capitalize on the current and head for the leeward mark at the same time.  I called for the chute to be doused to leeward so as not to interfere with the jib and main.  The rest of the fleet rounded the reach mark and kept flying spinnakers until they collapsed allowing us to pull away.    Flying the jib to the leeward mark allowed us to smoothly tack around it and head for the windward mark.  Nabeel quickly spotted the shorten course flag at the windward mark so the only thing left was to use the current and cover the fleet to the finish.  

Race #2 (2^nd Place) (Course W1 – 1 Lap Windward/Leeward)  Bless the RC but I just hate one lap races since they leave no options to take advantage of the wind if it comes back in.  They are great for practice but seldom result in fair races.  Better to have regular lap races and shorten the course if the wind dies.  Rick and I set up on a port approach but Rick opted for the port start.  I tried to shut him down but he was too quick and managed to squeak by.  One lap meant no room for error.  I allowed Rick to separate concerned that getting stuck down current was not worth it.  I knew boat speed was critical and we had it with Lisbet’s attention to trim detail.  It’s great when the crew needs minimal feedback to keep the boat moving.  I learned last year to appreciate the impact the forward crew has on boat speed.  The more the skipper has to ask for the jib to be constantly trimmed - the less speed.  Lisbet knew what to do by constantly focusing on the feel of the boat and trimming to the lulls and waves.  The middle crew is also crucial to keeping the heel of the boat in tune with the speed.  This relieves the skipper of the need to call for the boat to heal slightly or keep it flat as speed increases.  Nabeel stayed on top of this and continually provided me feedback on sail trim, wind pressure, the course and position/movement of other boats.  He noticed that Rick had sailed into a hole and was tangling with a hobie which confirmed for me I had made the right decision.  Nabeel called for a tack to close the separation with Rick but I decided to minimize the tacks and stay the course.  We made a final tack to the windward mark compensating for the current as a header on port.   The wind was going light but Rick was no longer ahead and not moving very fast.  I sailed toward the windward mark with the new wind but it constantly built in from the right and gave Rick that needed pressure to fetch the mark and get there ahead of me.  He gybed shortly after the mark to take advantage of the right shift.  I knew we were in trouble but this is where the spinnaker could allow us to catch up with a smoother rounding if the wind came back from behind.  We rounded the windward mark, set the chute and also gybed for the lift on the right side of the course.  The wind died with Rick half way across so I just focused on speed instead of direction.   Lisbet noticed Dave flying chute behind us on the opposite gybe so we gybed in time to keep him from barreling over us and headed up river compensating for the current as a header.  In hindsight I should have gybed back sooner as the wind died and just headed to the leeward mark.  Rick was still caught in a lull and we were catching up quickly.  The wind got to Rick in time for him get moving again make it the leeward mark with room to spare.  All I could hope for at that point is for him to have a tough rounding.   He nailed the rounding and the race was over so all we could do was make a good rounding and keep the current from pushing us into the mark.  I called for a conservative douse at the leeward mark leaving room to prevent the current from pushing us into the mark and immediately tacked for the finish line and second place.

Race #3 (1^st Place) (Course W2 – 2 Laps Windward/Leeward) The RC made a good call and set up for two laps with the option to shorten course if the wind died.  A clear air start and speed were my only concern since the current had subsided and the wind was light.  Lisbet trimmed for speed at the start which allowed us to quickly pull ahead.  The light wind required patience and constant trimming and easing and the current was slacking so it no longer held the advantage.   We nailed the start and pulled away knowing the first to the windward mark would only have to cover a few short legs.   The puffs were coming out of Anacostia so I sailed to the wind and minimized tacks.  The spinnaker handling would be extremely important and the crew set it quickly for the downwind leg to keep the boat moving as fast as possible – I just had to stay out of the way.   A quick gybe after the set allowed us to keep the spinnaker on the side of the next shift.  We made it quickly to the leeward mark and were lucky getting a puff after the rounding allowing us to pull away.  I know we had to maximize every little puff so I constantly footed off as the wind died and trimmed in with the puff focusing on boat speed instead of direction.  Again, Lisbet automatically eased in the lulls allowing me to foot without worrying about the jib position.  Nabeel constantly checked my main trim and flow off the leach to keep the air from separating from the sail.  The fleet was now caught in a lull which I already sailed through.  Nabeel picked up on the shortened course flag at the windward mark.  I changed into cover tactics putting in an additional tack to keep between the finish line and Rick.  One more tack using the current as a lift pulled us across the finish line and the beverage ride home.

What we did right:

What we did wrong: