I say new, old rule because we had made it before, but forgotten it...
Marlin got to the line a little late, but not tragically so... we went over with the bottom third of our fleet, though barging and in poor air. It didn't help that as we were approaching the line, a power boat that was videotaping next to the committee started forward into our path,while everyone on it, driver included, was looking back to the start. This made us go about 100 feet to leward by the time we got around him with most of my crew yelling at him.
Our start poor, and our crew distracted we started off after our fleet. In the melee, no one had gotten the course off of the comittee boat. We had a fairly uneventful trip to the first mark as we were trying to settle in. Donna, who was new on an Alberg mainsail, got a quick lessen in how important it is to be accurate with it, and a new rule herself: when the genoa trimmer needs a snorkel to breathe, let it out.
The Alberg main really steers the boat, as well as controlling heel and providing forward thrust. The Alberg rudder is a small affair, mounted at an angle behind a fat, full keel. In other words, you can throw the helm over, and the boat may think about responding... It is very inefficient. By contrast, the main is exceptionally large, even when reefed. This means that communication between the main trimmer and the driver is very important, as it is not just the heel of the boat, and speed; it is the direction you want to go. The boat will not fall off until the main is eased.
On approach we saw that Phantom not only hit the mark, but rounded it to the wrong side. We are stil not sure if she fully cleared herself, but claims she made her circle as well as rounded on the proper side. This would distract us later...
One thing we did do, that I totally disagree with, was go to the laylines early. By doing so, you can't take advantage of lifts, and can easily overstand. You can also get pinned later on by boats who come to the layline closer to the mark. That said, I would rather have made that mistake then to have violated out decision chain on the boat. Whoever is strategist calls it. They are responsible for their mistake. Enough said.
We had the spinnaker set up on port tack as we came up to the first mark. This was not a turning mark on this course (we still didn't know exactly which course). We caught up to Phantom and tried to determine whether she rounded the mark properly. this took us 2/3 of the way to the next mark which was our turning mark. The problem was, we needed to do a starboard set because of the amount of the turn. Needless to say, we were still changing this setup at the mark. Another new rule: Don't get distracted!!
We had a decent downwind run, closing on the next boat until the wind picked up some. The reason for this is simply because with less wind, I could surf the waves, when the wind picked up we were moving faster than the waves.
The finish was uneventful, and we finished in the lower third of the fleet. This put us into third place by 1 point, and almost assures that Argo will win if she stays consistent.