Rats Redux

Racing! Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!! San Diego Bay! Nine boats. My first time skippering a 'big boat'. Kyle (Krabby) as my krew. Dave was skippering another boat with his friend Seth (& Seth's 2 young sons on board for tactical advice) as crew. Race#1; K & I are very nervous but we get a good start and half way up the first leg we are in first place on starboard tack with all other boats below us on port. Time to tack...we come about, set the jib sheet and it doesn't want to hold. The wind is pretty strong and Kyle just can't handle the jib. Consequently the lead slip slides away as we flounder on mainsail power alone until I jump forward and bring in the sheet. How did all those boats get ahead of me that quickly? We sail out the course and finish in 7th. Ouch! At least we didn't finish last. I think Dave finished fourth. Race#2; Another good start but with the wind a little too strong for us we (I) don't sail the boat so well and some boats get past me. Still we reach the upwind mark in 3rd place. We get passed at the finish and settle for a fourth. We've improved. We are happy. Dave finished first. Race#3; A pretty good start but I stink at steering. I turn the tiller over to Kyle and suddenly we are moving better. We take a fifth as we are passed again on the downwind leg. But, we are o.k. with fifth. Dave takes a second or third. Race#4; We go for a pin-end port start as the wind has shifted and now favors that start. Dave also recognizes the port start advantage and follows us. Twenty seconds after the gun we are way ahead of the fleet but with me at the helm again and steering poorly Dave passes us from underneath and sails off. I turn the helm over to Kyle again and look at us go! We round the upwind mark in third place. This is a 3 leg race with the finish being at the end of an upwind leg. We round the second mark in fourth place and just inches ahead of the fifth boat. Dave has fallen to a close second place and splits tacks with the first place boat in an effort to challenge it for first. But by going to the left side he has opened an opportunity for the third and fourth place boats to pass him. With Kyle steering we don't catch the third place boat that has now climbed into second but we do hold off the fifth place boat and we cross in front of Dave who is now on a port tack! We need to tack to cross the finish line and barely cross the line in front of Dave who is finishing on starboard. Third place us, Fourth place Dave who yells out "Rats" as he crosses the line. On the day, Dave/Seth & boys take 3rd overall...Ross/Kyle take 4th.