When it rains, it pours. That is the expression that would best describe our 3rd and 4th races in the regatta. In both races we did not get off the starting line with a heavy left side bias on the upwind- not getting off the line mean you tacked off right into strong adverse current. We did all sorts of rookie mistakes tactically, the worst being our gambling problem. A couple times we would climb back into a respectable position in the races, then blow it all away on a stupid risk.
Things may not be going well, but at least our boat name is not "Mi-te Salty" like fellow USSTAG member Clay Johnson's.
Day
3 brought on crazy 6-18 knot offshore breezes and extreme heat, around
100 degrees. It felt like we were sailing in a desert, with the dry air
leaving crusty salt everywhere within minutes of getting wet.
A
mature team can diagnose their weaknesses and work on fixing them, so
that is what Nick and I set out to do. We practiced our accelerations
and timing off the starting line, and it paid off! In the 5th race we
were off the line in a great spot at the boat, and if all were normal
we would have been able to tack out to the right side whenever we
wanted, however we were plagued with terrible boat speed, and we had no
height. The entire upwind we played with all adjustments and questioned
how we went from quick in speed tests to painfully slow in the race.
The downwind finally came and we were deep in the pack. Lo and behold,
when I checked the rudder to see if we had caught something I found a
gold mind of weed on the blade. We climbed back the rest of the race
and pulled a disappointing 7th.
Race 6 and 2nd of the day, we
had a clear mind and clear foils. Had a good start, tacked into a lane
on the regatta leaders hip and held all the way to the right side. We
rounded the weather mark 4th and had good wheels on the next upwind,
moving into 3rd where we held for the race. It felt good to finally
sail a race that was to our potential- better late than never!
We
now sit in 6th and one point out of 5th. The forecast for day 4 calls
for great breeze out of the south, similar to conditions of the first
day of racing. For full results click here and for the event website here.
Oh yea, its just about Summer here.
Also, don’t forget to get your team RM fix with photos, blog posts
and twitter updates all at our website www.teamrobertsmartin.com.
Thank you to all our supporters!
Adam and Nick
