I should have known better than to title a post with “Day 1”. 

My morning disposition quickly changed from one of a writer’s contemplative state to one of competitive focus.  Getting up in the morning, I would quickly catch up on important email, and then hit 10 weather sites, trying to get a handle on what was going to happen.
 
Rather than rehash every race at this point I thought that I would scribble down some general thoughts about the regatta.   This way I won’t bore you with the mundane details.
 

Always measure current
 
The long distance race for this regatta was with set marks; a 7-mile beat, an 11-mile downwind, and a 3-mile beat to the finish.
 
When we got back to the dock, a few of these boats were complaining that the mark was too far to the left. On the downwind leg the lead boats went to the left side of the course and sailed the bearing to the mark.
 
What they forgot was that with a knot of current the whole racecourse was moving to the left so they may have been sailing the proper bearing, but the whole racecourse was moving to the left.  We jibed onto starboard immediately, and jibed back to port well to the right and pointing at the mark.  We caught more than half the fleet.
 
Never, ever, start second row
 
We all know this, but it is something we learned again at this regatta. 
 
Starting second row means that eventually you will have to tack and take asses until you can find a lane.  This virtually ensures that you are going to the right corner.  That’s OK if that’s the plan, but if you know that the left is the place to be, you’re screwed.
 
Go to bed early and happy
 
The shark fleet love to party and at so many regattas, the last Sharkies are shutting down the party in the wee hours of the morning.  I like to party too, but at the Canadians I learned about the dangers of over indulgence. 
 
Lesson learned:  Have a very happy attitude adjustment period, a good dinner, a few more drinks, then go to bed before 2300 at the latest.
 
Practice on the boat you will be racing
 
Oy veh.  Crazy Ivan was Shark of the year last year, and the Paul won Gold Cup in her last year as well.  So we were fairly confident that the boat had legs.  But we had such trouble making her go in certain conditions.  She was fantastic downwind, but we just couldn’t point or sail fast up wind.  This was a big contributing factor in our second row starts.
 
With some practice in the boat we would have know about these limitations, and maybe figured out some strategies to deal with it. 
 
Never give up half way through a race
 
Most of the time playing the middle doesn’t work.  Hitting a corner is the only way to take full advantage of a shift or pull out sufficiently to take a commanding lead.  Sometimes however you get screwed. 
 
This happened a few times this week, and we had to fight our way back up the fleet.  A lot of sailors find themselves very deep in the fleet and get discouraged, sail the middle to be conservative and not lose any more boats.  This means you are always tacking to clear your air.
 
We had some incredible comebacks from deep in the fleet.  Sure we were mad at ourselves that things didn’t work out for us in previous legs, but we managed to pick off a pack of 5 here, and another 3 there, and found ourselves back up front again.  Never give up when you’re behind, there could be a third in it for you.
 
Never assume that they will go up
 
On the start line, when you are taking a boat up, normally the windward boat will take it almost to head to wind and luff.  When the leeward boat bears off, then the windward boat can bear off, and they both have a lane.
 
At this regatta, so often we would call a boat up and they would sheet in and slowly bring the bow up.  This slow and half assed attempt to go up leaves the leeward boat without a lane, and a slow windward boat on its hip after the start.  Yet another contributing factor to our crappy starts. 
 
Wear your boots
 
People always tease me because I wear dinghy boots for every race, even in brutally hot weather that we had last week.  The reason I do this is because they stick to the deck, are good when wet, and are great for climbing the rig. 
 
After one race, I decided to change into flips on the way back into the harbour.  We got hit with a squal with 40ish knots of wind.  While we were frantically taking down sails and bashing through waves, I was sliding around the deck trying to keep my footing.
 
We were in the middle of the harbour and headed for cover on the city side.  Once we got the boat into the lee of Algosteel, and were able to clear the deck and get things lashed down, the first thing I did was put on my boots. 
 
Stay Humble
 
I must be getting old. 
 
While at the regatta, I met a 20 something sailor that is just getting into the fleet.  On a particularly drunken evening, this guy was spouting about how he could get on any boat in the fleet and how great a sailor he was.  All I could say to his gushing self-love was “Keep practicing.”
 
I really hope that I was never this cocky.
 
Regatta pranks actually hurt
 
My friends Daina and Andrew were regatta organizers for this event, (Daina was regatta chair.)  They have been working on this event for almost three years, negotiating with the club, sponsors and putting together the multitude of details it takes to have a successful event.
 
But on the second to last day a group of sailors, who were never identified, decided to go to Centre Island and steal a component of one of the rides (a water based log ride).  They paddled it back to the club and left the thing on the lawn.
 
Sounds like a funny prank, but it ultimately caused the regatta to be a losing event as opposed to a revenue neutral event.  The Shark Fleet will be responsible for paying for repairs, to get a federal inspector in to check the ride and possibly lost revenue for the amusement park.  Not to mention the relationship problems that this would cause for the club and the amusement park and the Shark fleet. 
 
Fun is fun but destruction is destruction.
 
 ————–
 
This was a really fun event.  The results weren’t what we had hoped, but I still can’t complain about being top ten.  My goals were to learn from two guys that I really respect and to do my very best to get the boat around the course.  I feel like I did both of those.