We had wind! Lots of wind! In June! We never have this much wind in June! It was blowing 12 to 14 knots with some 18 knot puffs coming through. It was an overcast sky, but we didn't care...we were in for a fun sail.

    The race had a downwind start, and this week it started well for us. We got a good start on the right side of the fleet which put us between the fleet and the first mark...an enviable position. As we started up the first leg, the fleet strung itself out a little. Two boats were in front of us, but we were inside and overlapped, though we were windward boat. This configuration would cause us problems at the mark rounding if it continued, but for the time being, I was happy with it. I was steering the waves, and looking ahead for the mark. It wasn't in sight, but it should have been.

    I looked to my left and realized that the race committee had not set it in the usual location. It was on the other side of the fleet from us and required a gybe onto port tack. We couldn't do this with all of the boats in the way. Argo, who had gotten a poor start, and was to our left saw it and gybed. They would have a huge lead at the first mark. I started to work my way over when my crew informed me that Argo had wrapped her spinnaker around her forstay. It took her most of the rest of the leg to get it down and get her genoa up. By this time I had worked my way over by falling off and slowing the boat down. Once we had a clear lane, I worked us by the lee a little, and then we gybed...perfectly!

    The rest of the fleet kept going to the right where the mark usually is. I am not even sure they noticed that either Marlin or Argo going to the proper mark. Argo was slower because she was bareheaded most of the leg, but was well in front of the rest of the fleet except for us. Marlin was first to the mark by about ten boatlengths.

    This is where things went downhill. We rounded the mark, took the spinnaker down, and the bowman called "clear to tack." But we weren't clear to tack. The genoa sheet was under the spinnaker pole. The bowman cleared this and called "clear to tack" again. But the genoa sheet was behind the topping lift. twice more the call came, and twice more we weren't clear. The driver, me, wasn't very pleased and expressed his displeasure with loud vocallizations directed at the bowman who stopped what he was doing and waited for the driver to finish venting.

    We have very little yelling on our boat. What little there is is usually reserved for the panic of emergency situations to convey urgency. But sometimes venting occurs, and everyone has agreed that any discussions or reprimands of this trangression be heard after the race.

    We lost our lead by several boats by the time we were clear to tack. Our upwind leg was ok, but we were a little out of synch, and it showed. We were fourth coming into the harbor by the time we got our act together. We excelled in the harbor and caught the third place boat just before we were going to tack fo the line. They were going to have to make one or two tacks to make the finish. We crossed them on starboard, and kept going to where we could make the line. We tacked and were immediately lifted. The lift was so great that the other boat didn't have to tack and retook her place. Ahh the vagaries of sailboat racing.