Monday 4/26: Ishtar settles for 3rd.
Forecast was for a good breeze, but it turned out to be mostly a light air drifter in the rain. Start wasn't great as we got pinned under another boat who admitted to fouling us. (I let him off, he races with us from time to time) But we were on time to the line, in decent position, just slow. Made an amazing recovery to round the mark first in our class, and then got hammered on the downwind leg as we missed an inside shift that let a couple of faster boats through. Finished third in class behind Muffin, and Limited Edition. Still beat the J-boats (J-33, J-105) and the C&C 115 (and the Express 34 and the Cal 39, all of whom owe us time). Overall, not too bad. One wind shift in the light stuff makes all the difference.
Thanks for coming out in the rain. We are continuing to make good progress, and we had a good time in spite of the fickle weather.
Saturday 4/24: ISHTAR WINS A BIG ONE.
We were in the thick of it again this weekend. The race itself was a bit of a mixed bag. Heavy winds. Followed by light air drifting. Saw wind to 40knots, and boat speeds in the 11-12 Knot range consistently all the way north. Saw boat speeds in the 00.0 range most of the way south. (tide surfing was the name of the game) We did have down wind runs both ways, but when the wind finally filled in from the south it plastered spinnakers to masts across the Sound. We managed to get the jib up a little faster than the boats around us and had an enjoyable romp to the finish with Corvo and What a Tripp (Peterson 37) hot on our heels. Yes, this old girl can still rumble.
First in class, third boat to finish, third overall. Must be doing something right but the only thing I can point to is that our crew is getting the boat figured out. A big kudos to Brad, Scott, and Trent for hanging in there, even when one of you (name withheld to save a pinch of pride) was offering breakfast to Neptune from the rail.
results are posted at: Tri-Island #1 Smith Island/Double Bluff
Monday 4/19: Ishtar wins her first of the year.
Nice race last night! Had pleasant temperatures, enough breeze to get around the course, and a crew that rocked the old girl around the course without a glitch, tacking and jibing like a teenager, rather than the 30 year old she normally resembles.
Did I mention we were fast, too? 1st place on corrected, beating lots of boats that are a lot faster than we are including a J-105, a J-35, a Santa Cruz 33, and a C&C 115. 3 Cheers for Stu, Al, and Bob who were our guest rock stars. Come back any time, we learned a lot and everybody had a great time.
Results are posted at Sloop Tavern
Southern Straits report 4/10/10:
You might remember a couple of Fridays ago it blew hard down here. Well in the Straits of Georgia, where the race was held, it blew 40-60 knots with 15'-20' seas. Nasty. We went out towards the starting line, noticed that it was blowing 35 gusting 40, put up a little teeny storm jib, and sailed home. No damage, and were proclaimed "first to finish" as we were the first boat back to the bar. Others didn't fare quite so well. One boat sunk, 2 boats de-masted, 11 or 12 people thrown overboard, at least 9 hospitalized for either hypothermia or injuries. More than 50 sails destroyed. Race was abandoned at 3:45PM with no boats finishing. Sometimes that tendency to head off to the bar early isn't such a bad thing. Ride home was bumpy but fast, lots of 30 knot beating with the reefed main and the #4, but Eli was a good sport, and the boat went well to weather--surprisingly comfortable.
