The 2013 Nor’Easterns

  This past weekend was the 2013 version of the Keuka Nor’Easterns.  We had our best attended regatta yet with 28 boats.  Chris gave as a good wallop, winning the regatta by 15 points over second place Bob Cole, who himself was pretty consistent with now finish worse than 7^th. I finished in 11^th but had decent finishes the last three races.  The first race killed me.

  The first race was one of those teaser wind races.  Decent wind for 1.5 hours, but it took most of that time to get everyone out and to set the line. Then at the start we had a huge righty.  I was at the boat and benefited but was unable to sustain to the mark and found myself midpack around the buoy.  After that the wind went spotty. The lead changed many times, but I found myself left in the dark.  I was the second to last to finish within the time limit.  The wind totally died and we all had to be towed the 2+ miles back in.

  Sunday dawned with good wind out of our best direction. South-Southwest around 210deg and hovering around 10kn give or take.  I had a good start and was going to be in the front pack around the mark but as I was on port getting to the starboard layline I could not break through and ended up with only about 6 boats behind me.  I had two really good downwinds and found myself near top 5 heading toward the finish, unfortunately I tacked away too soon toward the finish and lost a bunch of boats to finish 10^th.  The second race started much the same way with me breaking into the top 5 around the first mark.  This time I stayed with everyone.  We had a good cushion as there was a good gap between 6^th and 7^th.  On the last leg, I somehow was the one that got targeted for covering and so William Hudson, who rounded in 6^th right behind me at the last leeward, snuck in for second. No one paid attention to him.  I tried but kept getting tacked on and had to bail out each time. I finished 5^th. Race three was more of the same.  I did not have as good a start but still maintained a top 10 around the course and managed to finish in 7^th.

  If we were only to count the last three races, I would‘ve finished in 5^th overall, but that is not the case, so I have to live with my one bad race score.  This happens in many regattas for me. I always manage to have at least one bad race. I must figure out how not to do that.

  I also found that my speed was not quite up to the top guys and I stalled and slid down the course more than I cared too.  I don’t know if it’s my sailing style or if it is just that my sails need replacing (I mentioned this in a previous post) or some combination thereof.  I noticed a few times I could not stay with guys when they were to leeward of me and I had to tack away to avoid fouling them.  I also know that I need to get stronger and increase my endurance. I think that will help so that I can free up my mind and not get tired so easily and make silly mental mistakes as much.