I was firmly in 4th place in the Lightnings and was in 4th in the MC but with room to move into second if I sailed well.
There was very little wind on Sunday. I picked up Maria Hudson as a 3rd along with Mike. Lana port tacked the fleet us and never looked back. I was second around the windward mark. The RC shortened the race after the wind dropped to 0-2 kn. About 100 yards from the finish Dave tacked and got a good shift with a tiny bit more wind and was able to pass us for 2nd. That was it for races for the day. The wind picked up a bit to tease us, but before anyone put boats in the water it petered out.
For the second race the fleet decided to turn it into 1 lap around. Both Lana and I tried to port tack the fleet. I had to go below Dave but was able to get in front of Leon at the line. Lana was not so lucky and not only was over at the start but was also fouled Dave. We were farthest right when the left died and therefore had a good lead. We got the spinnaker up quickly and were looking really good. At the rounding we had an issue with the spin halyard that turned out to be a really nasty knot. The spinnaker stayed about halfway up. Mike did his best to undue the knot quickly but it was a mess. I was unable to put the boat on a good beat and keep our speed going but that was a secondary concern as I was much more worried about getting a puff and having the spinnaker pull us over. Leon easily passed us soon after the mark. Both Dave and Lana passed by us before Mike fixed the knot. After getting the spinnaker stowed and Mike back on the jib we started our chase. I went farther right again but it looked hopeless. The others tried to cover me. At the last tack the wind kept shifting to the west so much that I was able to ride the lucky shift and pass both Dave and Lana for second. This put me 4th for the season.
The afternoon wind was excellent. We wanted 4 races to maximize our fleet racing for the year. We had not had a fleet race since July 22nd. Chris Hawk was in first for the season, and I am fairly certain that even if he finished last in all the races on Labor Day, he still would have won the season. The real battle was for second. Going into the day Brent Penwarden was on 21 points after two throw outs with his worst race a 7. Steve Bender with 23 and a 6 and me with 27 and a 7 from a DNS.
The wind was 8-10 out of the south but fluctuating in direction some. The first three races were twice around with the first four legs nice and long and a very short last windward leg. We had 9 boats with one guest the first race and 10 the other 3 races.
The first race started with Chris in first, Brent in second, followed by Steve and me. I closed the gap going downwind but Steve still led me on second upwind. I was able to get inside him and pass him on the last leeward rounding and finished in 3rd.
The second race was much the same but with me leading Steve around the first two marks. He passed me on the second upwind. On this downwind the wind picked up and I gybed earlier than Steve. This let me get passed him. It was the same finishing order as the first race. Brent was now on 25 points and 8 in front of me so I decided to not worry about him. Steve only had me by two points.
The third race had a new wrinkle with Bob Cole getting into the mix. It was Chris, Bob, Sean Brent and Steve at the first rounding. Bob got passed Chris and went onto win the race. I was passed by both Brent and Steve on the second upwind by both going east. For some reason they both gybed at the mark and went west. I went east and passed both of them again. Once I was in front of both I rooted for Brent to stay in front of Steve as then Steve and I would be level on points. That is how it finished with Bob winning, Chris in 2nd, followed by me, Brent and Steve.
Chris decided that the last race would be once around as the wind started to lighten up. I thought about match racing Steve some, but figured it would be more fun for it to be ‘may the best man win’ situation. This turned out to be the right move. The wind went real light after the start. I was able to tack onto port and get the one last puff to push me into the lead. I led wire to wire. This put me into third for the season. Chris finished 4th for his worst finish during the season races. Both Brent and Steve were way in the back. Brent was worried that with me winning the race it might have cost him second for the season except with the throw out of his 7th he needn’t have worried. It turns out that if I had match raced Steve and did not finish higher than 5th while still beating him, he would’ve gotten third.
It was a good and thrilling season. Chris kicked our collective but with 9 wins, 4 seconds and one 4th out of 14 races. Rounding out the top 5 were Brent (1 win, 4 2nds, 5 3rds), Me (3 wins, 1 2nd, 3 3rds), Steve (3 2nds, 3 3rds) and Bob Cole (1 win, 1 2nd, 3 3rds). I started off poorly but came on strong at the end. Steve and Brent were the most consistent and I would also say the most improved. Bob did not sail enough otherwise he would have been a bigger threat for the podium finishes.
My streak is over. For the first time since 2006 I did not finish in first or second for the season. Good for Chris and Brent, they deserved it.
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