Summer Race #1

Wednesday 7/21/2010 Consistent storms cancelled the racing for this evening. We arrived at the boat to a hot and humid 90 degrees. We knew a line of storms was approaching, but the line was wavering around the NY/NJ border. We decided to take a peek out in the river before the storm hit. Some people were nice enough to warn us about the coming storm, but we tried to let them know that we were just looking around. With three people on board, docking is easy, so we figured we would have a better view of the conditions form the river. Once out past the pier, we saw the conditions deteriorating. There were a couple of boats out on the river and it did not look like they would be able to find safe harbor. We went back to our slip. At this point, the race committee had already postponed the start until 1845. This was a smart move as it kept boats in the safety of the harbor. Then the storm came with at least 40-knot winds and hail. While in the midst of the storm, the race committee called over the radio and cancelled the race. While it was the smart call to make, I wish they had waited until 1845 to cancel the race as the race instructions say that races should not be cancelled before that time. It just seemed that the race committee reacted to the strength of the storm. I do not think what they did was wrong; it was just too early to fit within the rules. It helped us, as we were able to leave the boat before the next round of storms came through. If I were RC on this type of night, I would have said at 1800 that the radar looked bad and the race would probably be cancelled at 1845. That is all that is allowed within the rules. Either way, the correct call was made and we left. Determined to sail on this night, we went to Franklin Lakes, NJ. My brother has 3 boats ready to go there (2 Sunfishes and 1 Hobie Bravo). There was no wind at the lake, but the sky was nice. To the north we could see the storms rolling furiously to the East. We headed to the bar to have a cocktail. Right as we stepped in, the winds picked up and we decided to go out on the water. We enjoyed the only 30 minutes of breeze on the lake that evening before calling it quits when the wind died again. It was a weird night. Terrible storms in one location and a clear sky ten miles south. We will have to wait another week before making our debut in the B division.