Someone came out to the race in a TR6. Great looking car.
We met the owner at the after race kegger. She and the Spousal Unit have agreed to come out and show off their vintage sports cars at a "Cougar Cruise" sometime in the near future. The lady with the Triumph seems to think she can beat the Spousal Unit's 5.6 Liter 560SL in a drag race.
All this posturing at a Sailboat Race. Harrumph!
Back to the action;
We were able to get one race going on Saturday afternoon. The winds were a steady 20 knots gusting to 30. Very sporty and most of the boats suffered a capsize or two. There were a couple broken masts and about fifteen people in the 57°F water, all without wetsuits. The Race Committee called the day after the first race and we watched all the boats limp back in.
We had three ladies on board as spectators, the Left hand one was from Birmingham, Alabama. The center and right were from Birmingham, UK.
Maybe I'm taking an Artistic License on the UK thing. They really are from England, I just never asked where. Very pleasant guests.
Broken Masts and High Spirited sailing!:
After the Saturday race, I took a couple hour nap until dinner time. Had a nice meal and some wine and we were back aboard Barco by 2100.
I had no idea that all the racers were camping in the parking lot out back. The rubble and wreckage of a legendary party was evident by the full trash cans and other post party detritus in the back lot. They were up and at'em by 0800 and off to the races.
The winds picked up to 20 plus knots in short order and we saw good, hard racing, but this time with less capsizes.
Finally, the second and third races were over and the Racers called for a postponement of the final race due to winds. There was a mad dash to the club where all the boats were hauled out and put on the trailers and all participants went to the club for the post race ceremonies and kegger.
We had racers from as far away as California, and the overall winner was from Massachusetts and get this; It was a female crew that kicked all the competitors to the curb!
It was a fine weekend and we are finally heading away from winter.
Tomorrow; The Wayback Machine will bring us back to Puerto Rico and we will sail the Wildebeest home.
3 comments:
All in all, it looks as if it was a great day at sea.
It's no kind of race if you don't have some control issues (capsize) and the odd bent or snapped mast.
However with a 20 knot wind abeam, the Barco seemed to manage the camera platform function with remarkable grace.
"...However with a 20 knot wind abeam, the Barco seemed to manage the camera platform function with remarkable grace."
Funny how 30,000 pounds of mass keeps an even keel. But it was so windy it was almost uncomfortable. But we kept the generator running with heat down below.
The photo's don't tell the real truth of how bumpy it was out in the channel. I would require a more robust sailboat to race in this stuff.
Great pics... but I don't envy anyone who takes an unprogrammed swim in 57 degree water. Yow.
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