I haven’t written an update since after 4th of July. I also haven’t sailed that much. Weddings and vacations and other things have gotten in the way. I have sailed 3 times in the MC and 2 times in the Lightning; translating to 12 MC races and 3 Lightning races. This is out of 6 possible weekends, or a better count would be 12 possible racing days.
The wind has been ok this year. Of the most recent 5 days we sailed, most of the wind has been light to light-medium, with only one extra light day in the Lightning.
In the Lightning I had two different crews each time out and once was with a newbie. The other time the wind went super light. My plans for the summer Lightning have been scuttled compared to what I had thought. The one plus is I think I may have my crew options for the future. Mary Jane was great over the 4th and wants to sail again and Mike hopefully will not have as full a summer next year. Daniel, who sailed with me on July 20th, will be back from school again next summer and will also be an option. I haven’t scared Tab away from sailing with me. (I really enjoy sailing with my future wife.) That makes three options for two spots. I don’t have any more Lightning fleet races for the summer scheduled. My wedding takes precedent over Labor Day weekend and the MC regatta is this coming weekend. There is a possible one day regatta on Cazenovia lake Sept 21st. We will see. So far I am in 3rd for the season. Dave could overtake me if he sails Labor Day weekend. I also hope to get out pleasure sailing in the fall.
The MC sailing has fared better. I have had 6 good results and 6 meh results. I am making more wind and water mistakes than I have in the past, resulting in the meh results. But when I am on, I have been clearly faster than everyone but Chris. Chris has not been as dominant this year but he is still winning over half the races. I have been more consistent than in last three years and have solidified 2nd place for the season going into the regatta. It also helps that in some odd twist of fate, even though I have been out of the area for four weekends, I have sailed all 17 races in the MC. There is still a chance that Brent can overtake me depending on results and also that I will not be around for at least one day of Labor Day weekend, but as of now he has a 20 point deficit to make up after three drops. It is not impossible, but will be hard. My downwind speed has been really good the last two racing days, but I wonder about my upwind. I don’t seem to point of keep up with Brent, Chris and Bob Cole when in a straight heat with them. It may be time to upgrade my sail inventory. I don’t think I will this fall even though it will save me money in the short run, but most likely in the spring. I am thinking of going back to the North inventory. I haven’t fully decided, though, so I may just give the Moorehouse one more season.
This weekend is the MC Nor’Eastern Regatta held at Keuka Lake. So far we have 21 boats signed up. Our record is 23. No big shots have signed up yet, but it is still a competitive crowd very similar to the group that showed up at Saratoga in June. I hope to have my speed cap on.
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