2.4mR 2008 Nationals, Day 1 (Photos by Bill Blevins)
Day #1 of the 2008 US 2.4 Meter National Championships is in the books! WHAT FUN!!
Winds were light and shifty. I mean, very shifty! One race took us upwind towards the yacht club and for the next race we headed up Long Island Sound towards New York City. The race committee did a great job.
Our first race was canceled due to a severe wind shift – so severe that I was in the back of the pack one minute and next to the mark in front of almost all of the boats the next! The race committee did the right thing and canceled that attempt and called it a “practice start”.
I finished 6th in the “real” first race. Straightforward race and I sailed pretty well. I caught a nice lift heading upwind near the left middle of the course on the second windward leg and sailed in front of a number of boats.
Races 2 and 3 weren’t so good for me.
I chose to avoid a port-tack boat at the start and I didn’t protest, instead, tacked away and jibed all the way around then got off the line several boat lengths behind the whole fleet in bad air. I did catch up for a bit, making the second boat to round the second windward mark, but my tactics fell apart on the final downwind leg and I finished in 15th.
Race 3, I tried to squeeze in on the RC end of the line and got taken up and over the line early and had to re-round the boat end. I never recovered from that one and ended up 16th.
Overall, I’m in 13th place after 3 races.
Tomorrow, I’ll work on my starts!
I’ve met lots of really nice and helpful people. Having a great time. Tracy is here, sick, but doing better.
More to report tomorrow and many more photos that I’ll post after I get home.
The low point leaders after the first day are John Ruf (7 points), Jerry Wendt (15), Burce Millar (15) and Peter Wilson (15) and Mark LeBlanc (16).
