Maris Stella Yacht Club and Crabbing Society
Last night, in a closely-fought game, the Montclair High varsity soccer team defeated perennially powerful Ramapo High varsity soccer team by a score of 1-0. GO BLUE!!!
Sadly, the Montclair freshman squad was defeated by its Ramapo counterpart. But starting (and full-game playing) centerback Graham Christie was singled out after the game by Montclair coach Stu Ball for excellence in his play.
The visitors cheering squad was sparsely attended, due to the traveling distance. But die-hard soccer fan Marge Christie has, once again, stepped out in front of the crowd. You've heard of the Soccer Mom? Well, the original soccer mom is now the Soccer Grandma!
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
The August Series
Sailboat racing is a humbling exercise. Sometimes you think that you know what you are doing and everything goes well. Other times you think that you know what you are doing and all goes wrong. Then again, you might think that you don't know anything and find out either that you are correct or quite suprisingly that you know more than you think that you know. There are probably more possibilities & philosophical viewpoints than these four mentioned but they pretty much cover my sailing experience in August.
At the Harbor Sailboats Club in August we had four successive Tuesday evenings of racing of three races each.
8/02
An example of 'think that I know...& all goes wrong.'
After finishing an unexciting 4th out of ten boats in the first race Kyle and I get a very good start in the second race. But more importantly, I was watching the light wind condition change so that the better air was coming from the left side while the right side of the course was dead. So, by starting on the left side our boat and the only other boat on the left side had a big advantage. Four minutes into the race we were moving ahead surely and were 30 to 40 boat lengths ahead of everyone and on what I thought was the layline to the upwind mark. We were looking back at everybody and laughing. So, we tacked.......and stopped. No wind. And worse than that everyone else had some wind now. In fact, the wind was slowly coming to us from the direction of the other boats. By the time the wind reached us everyone had pretty much caught up to us. We had a slight lead overall at the mark but the wind was so light that maintaing any speed going downwind was extremely difficult especially being surrounded by all these sailboats. I can remember plenty of times before when I rounded the upwind mark in 6th or 7th place and passed a bunch of boats going downwind. Well, this night almost everybody passed me. We finished 8th.
The next race was still very light air. We reached the top mark in 3rd but felt like we were dragging an anchor downwind and took another 8. We ended with a humiliating 20 points on the night. And I thought that I liked to sail in light air. With 20 points we are basically dead in the August series. I was so down, I told Kyle that I'm finished, can't do it anymore. "That's my last race." From now on I'm just going to sail for fun. Why ruin sailing by suffering the frustrations of racing. I quit.
8/09
Kyle talked me into racing again. Lets just race for fun. Whatever happens, happens. Lets not be over-competitive. Just enjoy the moment. After all it's better than being at work which is where I would be if I didn't leave early to go race. Lets just clear our minds, relax and sail. And so, we get a 1st, a 2nd and a 1st. And the 2nd was only by about a foot and a half. We sailed so fast and so well that I really don't remember much about it. Why would I ever think about quitting racing? It's fun! I think this was a "don't know anything but surpisingly you do" experience.
8/16
Tonight we have a genuine 'rock star' join our crew. For weeks Dave has been saying that he misses racing on Tuesday nights with the club and so finally he takes a day off and joins the party. In the first race we size up our competition and decide who we want to beat most then we gain a favorable position on him in the pre-start and off we go. Dave steers and Kyle & I crew. We achieve our goal and finish fourth, 3 boats ahead of our chosen competition and so we move up in the standings. In race #2, Kyle steers and does well. The wind is medium strength and it is a good thing that Dave & I have the weight to stabilize the boat. We finish 3rd, but our 'target' finishes first. He's good. Race #3, 3 legs, Kyle still steering, we beat our competition to the upwind mark (we are in second) but he passes us going downwind. On the beat to the finish we are slightly behind him and tack away. The next time we cross, we are ahead and we finish the race in second place and second overall for the night. Kyle steers beautifully and Dave's crew work is impeccable and his tactical calls are excellent. I think this was a "we know what we are doing and everything went well" experience. Have I mentioned that I really like racing? We celebrate in a Mexican restaurant with muchos Margaritas and an iced Tea for Kyle.
8/23
This is the last night of the series. We are tied for first in points with Matt and just one point ahead of Steve and five points ahead of Bob. First place in the series gets the big trophy and a name on the clubhouse wall. (Dave is there nine times!)
The wind is light and that's o.k. We sail nicely upwind (3 boats were over at the start and called back but we stayed clear) and reach the mark in second place just behind Bob. Matt is right behind us. Bob sails into some choppy water and we reach off left as does Matt. We reach back on starboard now and are slightly in first place with Denny running down mid-couse on port. We intercept Denny and declare our rights as a starboard boat but he refuses to get clear of us. He is basically fouling us but my real race is with Matt and so I jibe to cover him and we finish second to Denny with Bob third and Matt fourth. Steve is fifth. We are now two points ahead of Matt, four points ahead of Steve and six points ahead of Bob. We are feeling good! This is our night.
In the second race we get on top of Matt at the start and pretty much smother his sails but we are not sailing that well by focusing on him and so we tack away to get better speed. Except that the speed doesn't come. We try some adjustments but never really get going too well. We approach the layline on port in about fifth place with a starboard boat coming across us. Here I make my big mistake. I should have crossed behind the starboard boat but instead I tacked and I was under the layline with no place to go. By the time I was able to tack back all other boats passed me. I rounded the mark in last place and slow and never caught up with anyone. Hello 8th place and 8 points. Inconceivable! Steve finished first and Matt 4th. Uh oh.
Last race, three legs, we get a good clear start but still the boat is not moving that well. We tack and tack again to get something going but never get into our 'good groove' which is what really makes it happen for us. We are basically scratching and clawing our way upwind and get to the mark in second place behind Bob and just in front of Steve (which is always a good thing). The wind is very light now and we are all slow going downwind except that Matt is moving a little better where he is. We round the downwind mark in third, behind Matt and Bob (who bumps us after we gave him room, a foul which he ignores even after both Steve and I call it out) but ahead of Steve. And here begins the slowest leg of my life. What is going on? I can't steer (yes, I am steering now instaed of Kyle - what a mistake) at all. I'm not pinching, I'm not falling off...I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm choking actually. Nothing is going right. I really just can't move the boat. Where is my wind? Oh no, I'm having a "I don't think I know anything and I truly don't" experience. Everyone else is pointing better and going faster except one boat that actually manages to sail slower than I do. So we finish seventh for the race and the day. Yikes.
A small consolation.....we end up with 50 points, one better than Bob, and get the little 3rd place trophy. Steve gets second and Matt gets first. Matt was so happy that he did a little dance in the parking lot. I don't think anyone else saw it.
At the Harbor Sailboats Club in August we had four successive Tuesday evenings of racing of three races each.
8/02
An example of 'think that I know...& all goes wrong.'
After finishing an unexciting 4th out of ten boats in the first race Kyle and I get a very good start in the second race. But more importantly, I was watching the light wind condition change so that the better air was coming from the left side while the right side of the course was dead. So, by starting on the left side our boat and the only other boat on the left side had a big advantage. Four minutes into the race we were moving ahead surely and were 30 to 40 boat lengths ahead of everyone and on what I thought was the layline to the upwind mark. We were looking back at everybody and laughing. So, we tacked.......and stopped. No wind. And worse than that everyone else had some wind now. In fact, the wind was slowly coming to us from the direction of the other boats. By the time the wind reached us everyone had pretty much caught up to us. We had a slight lead overall at the mark but the wind was so light that maintaing any speed going downwind was extremely difficult especially being surrounded by all these sailboats. I can remember plenty of times before when I rounded the upwind mark in 6th or 7th place and passed a bunch of boats going downwind. Well, this night almost everybody passed me. We finished 8th.
The next race was still very light air. We reached the top mark in 3rd but felt like we were dragging an anchor downwind and took another 8. We ended with a humiliating 20 points on the night. And I thought that I liked to sail in light air. With 20 points we are basically dead in the August series. I was so down, I told Kyle that I'm finished, can't do it anymore. "That's my last race." From now on I'm just going to sail for fun. Why ruin sailing by suffering the frustrations of racing. I quit.
8/09
Kyle talked me into racing again. Lets just race for fun. Whatever happens, happens. Lets not be over-competitive. Just enjoy the moment. After all it's better than being at work which is where I would be if I didn't leave early to go race. Lets just clear our minds, relax and sail. And so, we get a 1st, a 2nd and a 1st. And the 2nd was only by about a foot and a half. We sailed so fast and so well that I really don't remember much about it. Why would I ever think about quitting racing? It's fun! I think this was a "don't know anything but surpisingly you do" experience.
8/16
Tonight we have a genuine 'rock star' join our crew. For weeks Dave has been saying that he misses racing on Tuesday nights with the club and so finally he takes a day off and joins the party. In the first race we size up our competition and decide who we want to beat most then we gain a favorable position on him in the pre-start and off we go. Dave steers and Kyle & I crew. We achieve our goal and finish fourth, 3 boats ahead of our chosen competition and so we move up in the standings. In race #2, Kyle steers and does well. The wind is medium strength and it is a good thing that Dave & I have the weight to stabilize the boat. We finish 3rd, but our 'target' finishes first. He's good. Race #3, 3 legs, Kyle still steering, we beat our competition to the upwind mark (we are in second) but he passes us going downwind. On the beat to the finish we are slightly behind him and tack away. The next time we cross, we are ahead and we finish the race in second place and second overall for the night. Kyle steers beautifully and Dave's crew work is impeccable and his tactical calls are excellent. I think this was a "we know what we are doing and everything went well" experience. Have I mentioned that I really like racing? We celebrate in a Mexican restaurant with muchos Margaritas and an iced Tea for Kyle.
8/23
This is the last night of the series. We are tied for first in points with Matt and just one point ahead of Steve and five points ahead of Bob. First place in the series gets the big trophy and a name on the clubhouse wall. (Dave is there nine times!)
The wind is light and that's o.k. We sail nicely upwind (3 boats were over at the start and called back but we stayed clear) and reach the mark in second place just behind Bob. Matt is right behind us. Bob sails into some choppy water and we reach off left as does Matt. We reach back on starboard now and are slightly in first place with Denny running down mid-couse on port. We intercept Denny and declare our rights as a starboard boat but he refuses to get clear of us. He is basically fouling us but my real race is with Matt and so I jibe to cover him and we finish second to Denny with Bob third and Matt fourth. Steve is fifth. We are now two points ahead of Matt, four points ahead of Steve and six points ahead of Bob. We are feeling good! This is our night.
In the second race we get on top of Matt at the start and pretty much smother his sails but we are not sailing that well by focusing on him and so we tack away to get better speed. Except that the speed doesn't come. We try some adjustments but never really get going too well. We approach the layline on port in about fifth place with a starboard boat coming across us. Here I make my big mistake. I should have crossed behind the starboard boat but instead I tacked and I was under the layline with no place to go. By the time I was able to tack back all other boats passed me. I rounded the mark in last place and slow and never caught up with anyone. Hello 8th place and 8 points. Inconceivable! Steve finished first and Matt 4th. Uh oh.
Last race, three legs, we get a good clear start but still the boat is not moving that well. We tack and tack again to get something going but never get into our 'good groove' which is what really makes it happen for us. We are basically scratching and clawing our way upwind and get to the mark in second place behind Bob and just in front of Steve (which is always a good thing). The wind is very light now and we are all slow going downwind except that Matt is moving a little better where he is. We round the downwind mark in third, behind Matt and Bob (who bumps us after we gave him room, a foul which he ignores even after both Steve and I call it out) but ahead of Steve. And here begins the slowest leg of my life. What is going on? I can't steer (yes, I am steering now instaed of Kyle - what a mistake) at all. I'm not pinching, I'm not falling off...I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm choking actually. Nothing is going right. I really just can't move the boat. Where is my wind? Oh no, I'm having a "I don't think I know anything and I truly don't" experience. Everyone else is pointing better and going faster except one boat that actually manages to sail slower than I do. So we finish seventh for the race and the day. Yikes.
A small consolation.....we end up with 50 points, one better than Bob, and get the little 3rd place trophy. Steve gets second and Matt gets first. Matt was so happy that he did a little dance in the parking lot. I don't think anyone else saw it.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
It has Arrived!
thanks dave! i owe ya 20 bucks!! plus postage!!! would you settle for 2 or 3 white's subs?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)