Photos

Another typical weekend at Spofford - perfect.  Nine races as quick as you please and the racing came down to the last race.

This year we added 2 more course configurations to the windward leeward that we normally run.  One is a course that looks like a 4 that has a starboard (only one) rounding in it - more on that later.  We also tried a windward gate, leeward gate course.

Spofford is a small lake - only about 700 acres or about 1.5 x .75 miles.  We have a ridge of hills to our west and the prevailing wind is from the west, so the wind funnels around the hills to the NW and shifts quite erratically and substantially (through 70 degrees). This weekend a weather front went through on Friday, leaving us with near perfect conditions (just a bit too cool on Saturday to swim) for the weekend.

The harbor gun Saturday was at 12:30, right after lunch and the first race was started at 12:55.  This was the start of 5 windward leeward one-lap races.  The races took an average of 15 minutes.  Ben Wallace, with Karen and Tris Wallace, along with the co-skippers of Nick Aswad and Chad Miller, with crew Tanya Miller were putting on a clinic.

With 5 races complete by 2:45 (5 races in less than 3 hours), it was time for a change and what became the great equalizer.  We threw in the 4 shaped course - a windward leg, a reach, a tight reach back to the starting mark which is rounded to starboard and the a run to a single mark and then again. 

The wind by now was at max for the day, ranging from 5-20 with the same shifts.  The puffs are obvious on the water and the direction is pretty easy to see as well.  For the first time we had a real reach with some big puffs and some shifts – something the class does not get too much anymore.  Both Ben and Chad/Nick decided that their boom ends needed cleaning and they put them in the water a few times during the reach.  I think Ben asked for a rag to help with the cleaning so Tris and Karen managed to split the spinnaker (easily viewable from the RC boat about .5 miles away).  Nick/Chad/Tanya took their spinnaker down and then reset at the starting (3^rd) mark.  Clearly having seen something bad on the end of their boom when they washed it previously, they must have thought something was on the end of the board, so all three decided to check it while it was out of the water.  Actually quite a good save, but it let the Wallaces by.  And now the equalizing, when both boats rounded the leeward mark to starboard (along with 2 other boats).  The ever-alert RC snickered (as they hurried and checked the SI’s) “we would never have done that”.  The fun was not complete.  Chad, Nick and Tanya, then decided to see if the spinnaker would fly by itself right out at the knot on the two sheets – and the halyard.  Another good save – all for naught (knot?)  As the Wallace sailed by the RC, they knew things were amiss.  It took the sting out.  The previous events did make a race winner of Paul Henkel.  At the end of day 1, the Wallaces are 2,3,1,1,1, TLP (time limit penalty – for not finishing within 15 minutes of the first boat).  Chad/Nick/Tanya are second with 1,1,2,2,2, TLP. 

Tether ball for some, then dinner and a trip to the ice cream shoppe and bowling alley, where no pictures were allowed of our fine form.  [Editor's Note: Oh, but there are pictures...]

Day 2 and we are on the water for 3 more races.  As Fred Turner likes to do, we start the sequence with 2 knots blowing at the RC.  Fred empathized and postpones and not 5 seconds go by before the water cannons emerge from their winter slumbers.  Ten minutes later the wind is up to 10 and away we go.  Ben takes the first race.  Second race is W-L 2 laps.  Ben has a big lead (100+ yards), but get hung out on the right side low on the course.  Nick makes big gains and looks like they are leading – ever so briefly.  Ben gets back left and the lefty and breeze carry them home.  

Last race and we throw in the Windward gate – leeward gate 2 times around.  Now the offset mark at the top of the course is one of the two windward marks.  The boats must go through the gate to windward and then can round either mark and come back downwind.  The idea is to allow the boat behind space to pass.  The leading boat cannot cover both marks.  In theory.  It is hard to get the gate right – just like the leeward gate.  The Juniors sailed a good race for the win.  Ben just rounded every mark the Juniors did to make sure they sailed the same course. 

The bottom line on the new courses – I am not so sure they are better or equal.  I do like some of the ideas, but sailing W-L with an offset and a gate is hard to beat.