The first day of racing promised to be different in many ways from the previous days. First and foremost, there was clear skies and the wind looked like it could blow by afternoon. It never did develop like in past regattas here however, only getting into the high teens by the end of the day.
Second, it was race time. Although cordial on the dock, the sailors were beginning to get serious about racing. We have befriended both the German and Italian teams, which are all great people. We don't speak either language, but they know enough English for us to at least share sailing stories with each other. We have been invited to travel to Italia and sail with the Italians at their yacht club on Lake Garda. Sounds like a good idea to me!
I lost a bet with Ginjer on the first start that it would be a general recall, but in fact it was a clean start for most boats, with a bit of sag in the middle. The line is long enough to accomodate all 50+ boats and so starting may not be as difficult in this regatta as in many big fleets. We had a good start with speed and were able to continue left as long as we wanted and rounded with the first group. We were able to hold our position and things were going as expected until the last 300 yards of the race when the wind completey shut off and then shortly thereafter filled in 150 degrees to the right. Many boats behind us put up their spinnakers to make it to the finish, however we were close enough that we were able to salvage a decent finish by reaching in with the genoa for a 17th.
After resetting the marks for the big right shift, the second race was set almost north/south starting near the condo and sailing toward Bucerias, tacking up the beach. After two general recalls (I should have waited to bet until the second race) the RC moved the pin end of the line up to spread out the fleet. In the third try, with no general but a 20% scoring penalty if boats are over early (Z flag) as were were accelerating for the line with 15 seconds to go, we were hit by a Mexican boat which was returning from being over early, but still pulled off a decent start that allowed us to go right toward the beach, which is what we wanted. We again rounded with the lead pack and were able to maintain position for the remainder of the five legs. On each run, the boat directly in front of us, one of which was the three-time current world champion from Brazil, tried to intimidate us by yelling to let them go down and not cover them, which of course is how the game is played. We crossed 13th. We finished the day in 12th of 53. That may change after protests and penalties are assessed.
After racing, we boarded a high speed power catamaran and were all ferried over to Los Caletas, near Yelapa, where we had dinner on the beach and then enjoyed "Rythms of the Night", a traditional Mexican dance and drum show.
Second, it was race time. Although cordial on the dock, the sailors were beginning to get serious about racing. We have befriended both the German and Italian teams, which are all great people. We don't speak either language, but they know enough English for us to at least share sailing stories with each other. We have been invited to travel to Italia and sail with the Italians at their yacht club on Lake Garda. Sounds like a good idea to me!
I lost a bet with Ginjer on the first start that it would be a general recall, but in fact it was a clean start for most boats, with a bit of sag in the middle. The line is long enough to accomodate all 50+ boats and so starting may not be as difficult in this regatta as in many big fleets. We had a good start with speed and were able to continue left as long as we wanted and rounded with the first group. We were able to hold our position and things were going as expected until the last 300 yards of the race when the wind completey shut off and then shortly thereafter filled in 150 degrees to the right. Many boats behind us put up their spinnakers to make it to the finish, however we were close enough that we were able to salvage a decent finish by reaching in with the genoa for a 17th.
After resetting the marks for the big right shift, the second race was set almost north/south starting near the condo and sailing toward Bucerias, tacking up the beach. After two general recalls (I should have waited to bet until the second race) the RC moved the pin end of the line up to spread out the fleet. In the third try, with no general but a 20% scoring penalty if boats are over early (Z flag) as were were accelerating for the line with 15 seconds to go, we were hit by a Mexican boat which was returning from being over early, but still pulled off a decent start that allowed us to go right toward the beach, which is what we wanted. We again rounded with the lead pack and were able to maintain position for the remainder of the five legs. On each run, the boat directly in front of us, one of which was the three-time current world champion from Brazil, tried to intimidate us by yelling to let them go down and not cover them, which of course is how the game is played. We crossed 13th. We finished the day in 12th of 53. That may change after protests and penalties are assessed.
After racing, we boarded a high speed power catamaran and were all ferried over to Los Caletas, near Yelapa, where we had dinner on the beach and then enjoyed "Rythms of the Night", a traditional Mexican dance and drum show.
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