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Larry's LogI mentioned to Carson during the last upwind leg that I had done a fair amount of racing in the Star Class back home, but never in such beautiful turquoise water or with such a steady breeze or with such a sunny sky. He said, "It's a pleasure to have you here too." What a great time. Although the race ended in Philipsburgh, Carson brought the boat back to Simpson Bay so we could all get back "home" easier. Most of the crew had boats in the lagoon. That night there was another party, naturally, but in Philipsburgh. Diane and I had decided that we would skip this one. I was tired and we were almost "partied out!" As Diane picked me up from Mistral, I said we would see the rest of the crew later. We went back to the boat to relax and have dinner. The next day's conditions were very much like the first day. Its been a tough call before each race whether to use the big jib or change to the smaller one. In the end, we used the big one since today's course was to be more downwind. That means its also easier on the mainsheet guy! The crew is basically the same except that the 2 girls from yesterday couldn't make it. Too bad, they were starting to get the hang of it. In pre-start maneuvers, we saw Julie and Ed on their friend's boat and get mooned by both of them! Sour grapes - we've beaten them in 2 races so far. Carson and Graham decided that a port tack start is the way to go since the wind favored that side. We tried it. Unfortunately, we got caught by 2 starboard tackers right on the line and have to go below them. In crossing situations, when 2 sailboats meet on opposite tacks, the boat on starboard has the right of way and of course, people will naturally use this to advantage if possible. That's why a port tack start is risky, but when it works, it's a thing of beauty. OK, so it didn't work too well that time, but we still got a good start and the wind was fairly light which was good for us, since Mistral is light. We started to catch up to the other boats. The crew was like a well-oiled machine by now and the extra beer made sure we all felt OK. We actually did pretty well and the boat was moving at probably close to her theoretical best speed. By the last mark, the only boat ahead of us was the Swan 58, Skye, but we expected that. The key was HOW MUCH ahead are they? We can see as they finished and we timed it against when we finished and were definitely ahead of them on corrected time. Now we just had to worry about the smaller boats that we gave time too. After the race, we felt pretty good but uncertain about the final outcome. As I left the boat to meet Diane at the SMYC, I told Carson I thought we won. We wouldn't know for sure until the results were posted that night at the last party and awards ceremony. We would see. The awards party was another Heineken extravaganza. It was the same beach location with the huge stage that was now going to announce the winners and present the awards. We had taken the dinghy to the SMYC and we walked across to the beach where the party was starting. There were hundreds of boats anchored again in the bay; racers, cruisers, charters and mega yachts. As it got dark, the sight of all those anchor lights atop all the masts was simply beautiful. Hundreds of lights swaying gently in the breeze looked like the stars had come a little closer to see what was going on - unforgettable. (Did I say that before, well it was worth repeating.) Diane and I searched for the results board and found that we had indeed won the race today! And even though they had the results from the first race wrong (they hadn't factored in the time correction in those results) we also won the class!! We had a 5th (but should have been second in the first race) and two firsts that gave us a total of 7 points. The closest competitor was 2 points behind us. The crew had their moment of glory when we were called on stage to receive our reward. Carson, as skipper, got some really nice prizes; an engraved wooden ships log, a pewter mug and the largest bottle of Heineken I had ever seen. The crew each got a Heineken as we stepped on stage so we could have our picture taken with the bottle in our hands. Still, it was very nice to get some recognition and we all enjoyed our 15 minutes (or was it 90 seconds) of fame. We watched are the rest of the awards were given out. The big boat class was won by a super racing machine named Sagamore. In the last race, even though they crossed the line early and had to dip back under and then start, they still won easily. We saw the boat close up a day later when it was tied up to one of the marinas. Pretty amazing. The party lasted well into the night but we left shortly after the awards were all presented as we were tired and had to continue to get the boat ready for the passage to Antigua. We had been listening to the weather all week and were slightly concerned that we might have a somewhat rough passage. Well, we could afford to wait a day or so if necessary. The next day was a blur of activity. I had managed to create the web site update and I sent these off, although Diane was further along than I was. We had also made arrangements to get haircuts from another cruiser who had been a hair stylist. Not that my hair (or what's left of it) needed a stylist. But she did a nice job on Diane's and mine. We also cleared out since we knew we would be leaving either tonight or tomorrow. Finally, we loaded some more diesel fuel by jerry jug. By this time, it was too late to leave (couldn't make the bridge) and decided to see what the weather would be tomorrow. |