Have I Forgotten Something?

Let’s see: car keys — check. Glasses… Damn! I have five pairs of glasses and I can never… Oh, there’s a pair. Wallet, phone — check. Account of the final day in the May regatta… Oops!! Well, some things I try to forget….

Actually, the day didn’t start all that badly. There was a good breeze, and current was not a factor, although there was kelp. We had a good start in the first race, sailed a solid upwind leg, and rounded the mark in first place, with Clay a short distance behind. Alas, we went right and he went left, and left turned out to be the better side; Clay edged us at the finish by about a foot. Still, we were in pretty good shape, now tied overall with the Matts (who took a distant third), only a point behind Clay, and sailing pretty well.

In the second race we got an even better start, hitting the line right at the starting gun but forcing Clay outside of the committee boat. In the early going we led, but we seemed to sail more slowly than other boats. Did I mention there was kelp? There was so much that a person of about Caroline’s weight could probably have walked across the bay. We’d snagged some, although we took a while to realize it. Finally, Ross checked the rudder, removed a small forest from it, and we instantly sped up, but by this time Clay and the Matts had caught us.

Even so, it was still very much a race, until…. We reached what should have been the lay line, tacked onto starboard, and watched as Clay’s wife sailed a collision course on port (and in her own boat, not Clay’s), blithely ignoring us. We hailed her, but by the time she responded, it was too late — we had to point into the wind to avoid a collision, came to a stop, and watched our competition sail away. By the time we got going again we could no longer stand the mark and had to make a couple of extra tacks. The result: Clay took first (again), and we almost caught the Matts, but ended half a boat length behind them, somewhere in the middle of the fleet.

I don’t think she did it on purpose….

Two more races remained, but by this time the regatta was pretty much settled. Not that we accepted our fate. For the third race the race committee responded to changing wind by changing the starting line a bit. The new line favored a port-tack start from the pin end, and we attempted it, but the kelp was so think at that end of the line that we couldn’t maneuver as freely as we would have liked. The result: I seem to recall that we sailed upwind and down, and ended just behind the Matts, with Clay in first. Fourth race: starboard-tack start, but otherwise ditto. And in the end, I’ve got a new third-place plastic boat to add to my trophy fleet.

Got those Fran Temme blues….. But June’s coming up!