This past weekend I traveled to Saratoga Lake, NY. (About 30 minutes north of Albany.) for the inaugural MC Horse Race. 5 others from Keuka MC Fleet 76 joined me in helping the newest fleet in the country for their first regatta. This was the most MCs Keuka has ever sent to a regatta.
John Kimball has been sailing MCs for years at Saratoga Lake Sailing Club but finally (with some help) was able to get some more people to buy MCs and start a full fleet. They now have 5 members. The regatta had a total of 15 teams racing.
The weekends forecast was for light air. Friday had more air than we would see on either Saturday or Sunday. Zack Clayton, formerly of Quantum/Inland Sails, put on a clinic for some of the attendees on Friday, but I was unable to attend due to some work obligations.
After arriving, John helped my put my mast up in record time of 15 minutes. We then all went out to eat in Saratoga Springs at a nice place right in the heart of the city. A nice little party raged after we got back to the club. Most of the out of towners stayed right at the club or on club grounds.
Saturday dawned with flat water and watching the fishermen. At around 11 a tiny little bit of wind showed up just enough for us all to put the boats in the water and then disappeared. After lunch and some more waiting around we finally went out. There was not much wind and it was very shifty, but the RC started a race anyway. The first start was a general recall as 5 guys were over. The next start had a large shift to the left right at the start and held for most of the first beat.. I was closer to the committee boat so I was immediately at the back of the pack. It was once around and only lasted 15 minutes so I did not have much of a chance to catch back up. I did pass a few guys downwind, but I lost them on the upwind again with another shift from the left. I finished 13th. Ugh. I was not happy. I did not feel like I got the boat going with speed or made any good strategic moves. I had no idea what was going on in the front of the pack.
The second race was pretty much more of the same. Another once around with a slightly longer course but from the same direction and only slightly steadier wind. I had another bad start, not getting going soon enough and again found myself way in the back. I again could not get the boat going and went to the left thinking this was where the wind was going to fill in and it was just not there. I finished 12th in that race.
The third race saw the wind pickup some. I had a better start but it was still not great, but I was able to get some speed out of the boat this time. With more wind, I was able to see where it was on the water more. The RC was gracious enough this time to let us go twice around the course before the finish. I was midfleet at the first windward mark and passed a few boats downwind. All I did was jybe a few times to try and stay in the wind. This upwind was hard, it was lots of up and down with the wind and balance of the boat. I just tried to keep the boat moving. At the finish I just could not quite get into the top 5 and finished with a 6. I was much happier.
A wonderful dinner and good camaraderie after the races. Beer and cards kept the troops entertained. I crashed early around 10.
Sunday morning had a nice surprising breeze when most of us awoke. I think some of us wanted to change the time of the races to 9 instead of starting at 10. Alas, we waited until the scheduled time. The breeze started to fade as we headed out to the course. The RC started the race in a light wind with some holes in it. I again had a bad start, not getting going early enough before the gun went off. I was mad at myself as I felt like I threw this race away. I decided to go left, even though I saw a big hole between me and the next wind and most of the fleet when right to stay in the air. I knew this was risky and though I did not want to bang a corner I also felt like the wind was better once through the hole. I was all alone out on the left and just tried to keep the boat going. There was another hole in the middle of the course so I knew I would have to sail through that in order to get to the windward mark. Luckily I did keep my speed up and had good direction to the mark. I rounded in 5th. Though I did not pass anyone downwind, I caught up to the leaders. The breeze filled in on the right and we all were on the high side of the boat for most of this beat. I was just trying to keep the boat pointed closer to the mark and not let go of the fleet. I was able to pass two more boats going upwind this time and stayed with them downwind. At the leeward mark I was in 3rd right in front of Will Hendershot, who was followed by Chris Norman. Chris tacked away, but Will did not and I felt I should cover Will. The leaders were far enough ahead I did feel like I could catch them. I covered Will all the way to the finish. Chris was able to get a few good shifts his way and was able to pass the two of us. Finishing 4th was a happy result.
In the 5th and final race I was determined to have a good start. I set my self up on port at the pin, but I was early. Knowing I was going to be over I bailed out and gybed around. I again was in the back of the pack. We all went left as that seemed like the best wind. I looked over and saw the marks, so I tacked and took about 10 sterns. I was headed right for the mark in a wind that seemed like it was going to hold. All the others I ducked kept going. I wondered what they were thinking. I rounded in first and felt very relieved after the regatta I was having. But this was to be a strange race. I gybed too early and found myself passed by others who extended on starboard. At the leeward mark I was in 5th. Up the right side I went with some of the other leaders. About 2/3rds of the way up it was me and Zack on the right side. I tacked to stay with the fleet but immediately knew it was the wrong thing. As soon as I had speed back up, I tacked back. This was the correct move. Only Zack was in front of me at the mark. I stayed with Zack downwind on the right side. Everyone but Will followed us. The wind had started to die back down and it was a struggle to stay in the wind. Will had his own wind and was able to catch up and pass me. Both Zack and Will tacked soon after the mark. I went a little further to the right. This was almost fatal as I fell far behind the two leaders. Will was able to catch Zack for the win. Brent Gillette caught up to me and almost had me at the finish line. He tacked and had to duck me. I felt that if I tacked he would have the speed and I would get passed, so I kept going. This was the correct move. I saw some wind above the finish line and wondered which of us was going to get it first and what the direction was going to be. I got it and it almost put me over the finish but I had to make one quick tack. Brent got such a bad shift that he had to tack back and finished in the same area that I had, only 30 seconds later. The wind totally died out with the only the first 8 having finished. Another puff came down that let everyone else finish.
Ending the regatta with a 4,3 was much better. I even had the boat moving in the light air. I was not quite as fast as Brent in the light stuff but I felt I held my own. Both Brent and Will sailed a great regatta. Chris Hawk was also up there but lost the regatta on the last race. First, second, third had 16, 17, and 18 points respectively and the order was Will, Brent and Chris. A close finish. I ended up 8th overall. It was a good learning experience. Zack sailed 4 good races and one bad race and that cost him dearly in the points so he finished in 4th.
It was the first time I headed east to an MC regatta as we were the most northeast fleet for a long time. I also enjoyed arriving home from an MC regatta at a reasonable time. The 2nd closest active fleet is 6.5 hours away. We now have one only 3.5 hours away. Hopefully we can create a good rivalry with them.
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