Sidetrack III: Coastal Cup

We ended up 3rd in our class, with just 5 finishers.

We had an epic night of sailing down the coast in a big steep and confused sea, with wind building from low twenties to mid thirties. As other boats jibed for shore, we stayed out in the breeze and eventually grabbed the lead only to give it away with a pair of round ups and the final round down which comprehensively wrapped the 1.5 oz kite around the headstay, along with the jib halyard (what's it doing up front?), the sheets, guys, and topper. A complete furball of nylon and strings.

I think the tracker caught us in one of the two round ups, with the arrow pointing boat's right and showing 2.4 knots boat speed:

So we waited a few minutes for dawn, I had the pleasure of going up the rig to see what could be done, said no frickin way am I coming down the headstay when I can barely hold onto the mast, and we decided to head toward shore for calmer sea state and less wind. An hour or two later the B-watch (as they shall be forever known, having got us into this mess!) sent a couple guys up in calmer water and cut things free.

We tried to resume our strategy of staying offshore in the breeze, but it was a long slow slog to get back out. Strangely, all the other boats had come inside with us, so our only loss was due to being bareheaded for a couple hours, and not due to leverage or positioning as we assumed would be the case.

As the rest limped along the beach, we found some breeze offshore and eventually made up a bunch of miles after the turn at Conception. It was pretty cool to see all the finishers in sight near the finish line as we came in from different angles, with the score being almost entirely determined by handicaps since the on-water times were so close.

That's it for the sidetracks for now- I've spent a couple days sanding the hull this week, and have some more to come. Hoping for 1st primer coat next week....