SSW breeze that was up and down between 6 and 12 knots. Current was ebbing. Course was from H to 22 to G to H.
The evening began as usual with a quick look over the river from the Haverstraw marina parking lot. There was not much going on wind wise. The harbor boats were showing westerly and by the time we got out of the harbor, the wind was filling in from the SW.
With a strong ebb, SW direction, and decent wind speed, I was concerned that the boat end of the starting line would be crowded. We decided to setup on the layline to just make the boat end. As the start approached, my fears were unfounded as the fleet was not early to the start. In the below diagram, we are the blue boat and I show the two other boats close to the line at the starting moment. Not the best diagram, but I am trying to use this more.
We sailed on starboard for while after the start. Most boats in the fleet did the same. Zoom was the first to tack over to the right. They did not make a gain or loss on that side, so the racecourse seemed pretty even on both sides.
The leg from 22 to G was tough. We were sailing into a lighter breeze and we were by the lee. The boats behind us closed the distance gap between us, but the time remained about the same due to the overall slower speed of all boats.
Rounding G, we had a bit of luck. A nice puff came on just before the mark and allowed us to accelerate nicely out of the rounding. That quick rounding and a nice reaching leg would end up giving us a 4 minute advantage on the other boats. It is rare to make up that kind of time on a reach.
Getting the puff around G was key to the advantage. That part of the course was lighter than the rest and many other boats had a tough time rounding G and speeding away.
We finished the race and continued sailing in the light rain. The breeze was still holding nicely and I wanted to watch the action in the C2 fleet. We were treated to some aggressive passing maneuvers that A Line Up pulled off. I know for sure they passed one boat on that final leg and it may have been two.
Unfortunately, the wind was getting lighter and one boat was unable to get out of the lull near G to finish within the limit. We sailed on a bit more until sunset and headed in for the night.
The A fleet had a tight race as well. Four boats corrected to within 90 seconds of each other. The Race Marshall did another great job this evening. I like a nice long course and it was perfect for the conditions.
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