Oooo... Barracuda
Day 2 of racing was very similar to day 1. In race 3 the wind was upwards of 12 knots at times but mostly around 8-10 knots, from the southwest and a pretty slack tide maybe slightly ebbing. After a few restarts due to some very aggressive starting. When the race finally got going we had a decent start and were up in the top half of the fleet at the first mark, we were sailing a low course down to the wing mark on a screaming reach with the spinnaker up. Then we had some gear failure, the cleat that keeps the spinnaker pole in place gave way a few times and we lost a lot of distance to windward, and ended up having to douse the spinnaker and two sail reach up to the mark. By that point we had lost a lot of the fleet. Unfortunately we also found a small hairline leak in the front of our boat and our front tank was filling up with water so we weren't able to punch through the waves and pop up on a plane downwind near the end of the race and that also cost us some boats. We ended up in 45th place.
Race 4, the wind had died down a bit to a more consistent 7-8 knots. We started on the right side away from a lot of the boats which was a little unnerving. We went right and kept going right up the first upwind and halfway up I noticed that we were absolutely destroying the boats that went left off the start. We worked our way up and rounded the top mark in 9th. We then on the downwind we managed to keep out spinnaker cleat from busting out and kept our position through the rest of the race for the most part. We finished 15th, a race of a lifetime!!!
The Lay Day we went on a dive boat with a bunch of the Canadian contigent. Some went Scuba Diving and some of us (including me) went snorkeling. The boat was Russian run and we had to get pulled aside after every speech to get the english version. We went out to one of the last local islands and the first stop was for the certified divers and we just hung out on the boat and soaked in the sun. The next stop was a real shallow beach area where we went out and snorkeled. There were a lot of sea urchins and it was a little freaky when you were in the troph of a wave and getting real close to the spines of the sea urchins. It took me a little bit to get used to snorkeling again but once I did it was a lot fun. The next stop was one for everyone and while the divers were down below we spent our time either jumping off the boat or snorkeling. The snorkeling was so much better, the water was a little deeper I had to dive down a couple times to get a better look at the coral and fish. I ended up seeing a Barracuda that was 3-5 feet long, that was a little unnerving, I kept a good eye on that fish while I could see it. After the trip we went into town for dinner, and we stopped off at a local restaraunt where we downed a lot of beer and had good food. We then went off to see some of the sights and tour through the shops. While walking home Frank and I walked by a bar and one of the bar girls was very aggressive and literally tried to pull us into the bar, that was an experience, lol.
Day 3 of racing was a little more windy than what we have had up till this point. 15 knots of wind from the southwest again. Race 5, the first start attempt was postponed as the tide and current was pushing the boats over the line. When we ended up starting we got pinched out by an Aussie boat but we tacked off and then climbed our way back up the fleet. We managed to fix the leak in the front tank for the most part. We were still struggling with the spinnaker cleats but this race we were lucky and didn't lose many if any spots when the cleat busted. We ended up finishing 35th, a good race.
Race 6 the wind was a little lighter and we had a very similar race to the race before. The waves were slightly bigger than they should be with the wind and I ended up taking a few waves with my shoulder and was knocked off my feet a couple times, but we didn't end up capsizing which was good. We finished 32nd and had a decent gap between us and the boat in 33rd. After those races everyone was tired and fried from the sun. We are currently sitting 38th but close with a lot of boats and have a lot of room to move up.
Race 4, the wind had died down a bit to a more consistent 7-8 knots. We started on the right side away from a lot of the boats which was a little unnerving. We went right and kept going right up the first upwind and halfway up I noticed that we were absolutely destroying the boats that went left off the start. We worked our way up and rounded the top mark in 9th. We then on the downwind we managed to keep out spinnaker cleat from busting out and kept our position through the rest of the race for the most part. We finished 15th, a race of a lifetime!!!
The Lay Day we went on a dive boat with a bunch of the Canadian contigent. Some went Scuba Diving and some of us (including me) went snorkeling. The boat was Russian run and we had to get pulled aside after every speech to get the english version. We went out to one of the last local islands and the first stop was for the certified divers and we just hung out on the boat and soaked in the sun. The next stop was a real shallow beach area where we went out and snorkeled. There were a lot of sea urchins and it was a little freaky when you were in the troph of a wave and getting real close to the spines of the sea urchins. It took me a little bit to get used to snorkeling again but once I did it was a lot fun. The next stop was one for everyone and while the divers were down below we spent our time either jumping off the boat or snorkeling. The snorkeling was so much better, the water was a little deeper I had to dive down a couple times to get a better look at the coral and fish. I ended up seeing a Barracuda that was 3-5 feet long, that was a little unnerving, I kept a good eye on that fish while I could see it. After the trip we went into town for dinner, and we stopped off at a local restaraunt where we downed a lot of beer and had good food. We then went off to see some of the sights and tour through the shops. While walking home Frank and I walked by a bar and one of the bar girls was very aggressive and literally tried to pull us into the bar, that was an experience, lol.
Day 3 of racing was a little more windy than what we have had up till this point. 15 knots of wind from the southwest again. Race 5, the first start attempt was postponed as the tide and current was pushing the boats over the line. When we ended up starting we got pinched out by an Aussie boat but we tacked off and then climbed our way back up the fleet. We managed to fix the leak in the front tank for the most part. We were still struggling with the spinnaker cleats but this race we were lucky and didn't lose many if any spots when the cleat busted. We ended up finishing 35th, a good race.
Race 6 the wind was a little lighter and we had a very similar race to the race before. The waves were slightly bigger than they should be with the wind and I ended up taking a few waves with my shoulder and was knocked off my feet a couple times, but we didn't end up capsizing which was good. We finished 32nd and had a decent gap between us and the boat in 33rd. After those races everyone was tired and fried from the sun. We are currently sitting 38th but close with a lot of boats and have a lot of room to move up.
posted by holmes156 @ 8:00 PM
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