Hello everyone,
>
> Well, the weather channel was wrong today when they said there was a 70%
> chance of showers.  In fact, we had sunshine for the first 3 or 4 races,
> and
> then it got a bit cloudy.  Temperature was in the mid-fifties and the
> breeze
> was trying to be out of the east, so conditions were really pretty good.
> However, with it being Mother's day along with a lousy forecast our
> turnout
> was very low--only 4 boats.  In fact, Steve Lavender made the suggestion
> that in the future we only sail on Saturday for Mother's day weekend.  We
> might get better turnout and this also might be a good time to hold the
> spring regatta.  More on that later.
>
> Out on the water it was difficult to set the starting line as well as the
> weather mark.  I kept thinking that the breeze was going to shift hard to
> the northeast, but it kept going back to east and even occasionally
> southeast.  In the end we didn't move any marks, and most weather legs
> were
> pretty square.  On the first beat of the last race the wind went way left
> and we ended up with a parade, but the second beat was all right.  I would
> say that the wind was about 3 to 10 knots, with a lot of shifts.  Bill
> Perley pointed out that we often saw shifts downwind that we didn't see
> upwind.  I concurred and wondered if that had something to do with the
> apparent wind being different.  One thing is for sure--I was always
> playing
> the cunningham, vang, and board.
>
> In race one I led all the way around only to have Cottie pick me off right
> at the finish line.  This pretty much summed up the day with Cottie being
> super fast downwind and myself going really well upwind.  By the end I was
> thinking that I needed to round the weather mark with about 10 boat
> lengths
> of cushion in order to hold my position.  I won the next three races, and
> then Cottie nailed me again on the finish line in the fifth race.  We had
> been dead even the whole last leg when she caught a puff and jumped out
> half
> a boat length in front of me.  Tom Provencher had also been in the hunt in
> this race, rounding the first weather mark right on my stern.  In the last
> race I got lucky and got on the inside of the port tack lift when the leg
> turned into a parade and I ended up ahead and to leeward on a one tack
> beat.
> I was far enough ahead that I could hold off Cottie's charge on the
> downwind
> legs.  I must say that I've never seen anyone sail so consistently fast
> downwind as Cottie, and she makes it look easy!
>
> Coming up: the Puddle Championships regatta is this weekend, and we are
> anticipating a very low turnout.  I have already spoken to Mark Kastel and
> Steve Lavender, and both of them are unable to attend.  With that in mind
> it
> might be better if we only sailed one day this weekend instead of the
> usual
> two.  I'm going to suggest that we sail on Saturday (with Sunday as a
> possible rain date) with the understanding that if we get the regatta in
> on
> Saturday we will be done for the season.  The party is still on at my
> house
> regardless of which day we sail.  And the schedule is the same: 12:00
> registration and weigh-in ($10 entry fee), 12:30 skippers meeting if
> necessary, and 1:00 start.  I will have directions to my house with me.
>
> This last week I have had a LOT of conversations and e-mails relating to
> rules.  Jack Rickard told me that the Ulmer-Kolius home web page has an
> excellent rules quiz for those of you who would like to sharpen up your
> understanding of the yacht racing rules.  If you go to this page:
> http://www.ukhalsey.com/home.asp
> You can register and then see the rules quiz. I found the quiz very
> helpful
> especially since the animated boats are moving.
>
> Here are the results from today for those that can't open the attachment:
>
> Pegis      2--1--1--1--2--1 = 6 points
> Kerr       1--2--2--2--1--2 = 8 points
> Perley     3--3--3--3--4--3 = 15 points
> Provencher 4--4--4--4--3--4 = 18 points
>
> Hope to see you all this weekend.
> Jon
>