So, since I had never sailed on a Shark, boat of choice for the championships, I joined Michele and Gerry on four Thursday nights for Shark one design racing. The boat has no lifelines and I thought that would scare me but I got used to it pretty fast. The spinnaker pole is tiny compared to the big ones I am used to and the genoa and spinnaker can be hoisted in no time!
Then came the championships! On Wednesday Michele and I met at the club to have the boat and sails measured and certified to race. Thursday was a day to finish getting organized, listen to a talk by two Shark World champions and then hit the water to practise after lunch.
Friday was the first day of actual racing. We headed out before 11 a.m. for a potential start at 11 a.m. However, the wind did not cooperate right away and we did only one race that day and we finished 9th out of 22 boats.
Saturday brought some clouds and rain but that did not stop anyone from racing. Three races were done in the intermittent rain, clouds and strong gusts. We were wet ducks at the end of the day! We had 2 good races and 1 not so good. One 19th, one 6th and one 9th.
Sunday's weather was more enjoyable and we hit the water around 10 a.m. for a start of race at 11 a.m. We did four races and finished 19th, 6th, OCS and 14th. OCS means that we were over the start line too early and did not come back to rectify that. It turned out to be our worst race anyways.
In the end, we finished 12th out of 22 boats, which I think is pretty good. We have equal points with the 11th finisher and are 2nd BYC boat. Here's a link to the results.
A few pics...
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| We are the boat on the left! |
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| We are the boat with the black line on the spinnaker. |
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| Michele at the helm and Sally. |
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| Moi on foredeck! |
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| Michele, me and Sally receiving our participation awards! |
