End of the Season

  This year can be summarized in two ways. Not quite what I planned and lots of MC races.  When I sat down to plan my sailing in December of 2012 I thought I was going to ramp up my Lightning racing and slow down on the MC travels.  A slow down on my MC travel to regattas did happen and I sailed every single MC race at Keuka.  I did not expect to be getting engaged and then married, my regular front crew only sailed half the races we originally thought, and it took longer to get the Lightning on the water fixing the rub rail, centerboard pin access resealing and the centerboard pull-up purchase.

  Thanks to all the MC fleet racing I managed to win the Pre-Season/June series and finish second to Chris Hawk in the Season series. I was more consistent than in the previous two years, though I still managed one stinker of a day and three other stinker races, and I am happy with how the year turned out.

  In the Lightning we only sailed in 9 of the 18 countable races, 5 of which were from the Lightning regatta. There were three other races I sailed that only 1 other raced in and therefore did not count.  I made the mistake of sailing the regatta without any practice with Mike and Tab.  With only sailing half the races, we finished in fourth for the season.  The one good thing to come out of this is that Tab and I like sailing together.  She is improving and enjoys the competitive part of sailing as much as just going out for a cruise. I had planned on going out to a one day regatta in Cazenovia this coming weekend, but the forward crew I had secured fell during our one practice day and bruised her ribs.  I was unable to find another crew member Tab and I would be comfortable with and did not want to show up with no one else and sail with a stranger if an extra was available.

  So what’s next? Well… Fall is one of the best times to go sailing on Keuka Lake. The lake is still relatively warm and the wind tends to be the most consistent. We went pleasure sailing last weekend and this coming weekend I think I will just go out in the MC for a bit. I hope to have more days to just go out and have fun before the weather turns to cold and I have to take the boats apart. 

  The MC is in fine shape, no major dings worth worrying about. I should replace the traveler line as it seems to be slipping some and the base for the mainsheet ratchet block no longer turns (I think it no longer has any bearing grease) and should be replaced. Both boom mainsheet blocks have rotation issues at the connection, but not for line running and nothing that says replace me now.  The Lightning still has some left over work from the list I created and I also want to replace the front stem fitting, but that also means replacing some of the jib Cunningham connections(otherwise known as the wire). I decided to leave the jib sheet car set up the way it is, there is no easy way to replace it that I have found; so far.