The blog has experienced some neglect lately as I've had a few events lately that have sucked much of the writing free time available earlier in the year, but I haven't ceased to race! Emoyeni sailed her last AYC race of the year on 10/7 and there was, in fact, enough breeze for a great sail - read on...
With a little nip in the air the Anacortes Racing season came to a close October 7th with the annual Post Point race, a 25 nautical mile jaunt from Fidalgo Bay north, around the R2 nun at Post Point & back. Early fog burned off for sunny skies and a shifty breeze. The race was started, quite possibly on pacific Schwenk cell phone time, with Emoyeni leading the way with no less than 1 crew member severely hung over.
With a little nip in the air the Anacortes Racing season came to a close October 7th with the annual Post Point race, a 25 nautical mile jaunt from Fidalgo Bay north, around the R2 nun at Post Point & back. Early fog burned off for sunny skies and a shifty breeze. The race was started, quite possibly on pacific Schwenk cell phone time, with Emoyeni leading the way with no less than 1 crew member severely hung over.
Off the
line boats beat their way northeast towards the first convergence zone off
guemes and huckleberry islands. Kinetic Ki, the only pitchfork in the fleet,
mowed the lawn first while Little Annie and Syndicat drifted into the right
wind line off long bay and managed to make the gap between Huckleberry and
Guemes Islands pay. Meanwhile, drifting in a vacuum, Emoyeni crew struggled
their way along the west saddlebag shore with Kymodoce and Hassenpfeffer hot on
their heels.
Dug-in
firmly in the first steady breeze from the NW Kinetic Ki quickly disappeared
and boats behind started working on the C fleet leaders Little Annie and
Syndicat. Walt navigated deep enough into padilla bay that I gotta believe
they’d wetsanded the bottom of their keel through several tacks. The breeze
faded and soon drifters were launched off Point William with the back of the
feet making gains on the catalina and beneteau.
Vegas odds
at this point looked like an over/under on wind holes would be somewhere around
4 throughout the course as Syndicat popped a kite in a building
west-northwesterly with Little Annie scrambling to find the Rubbermaid bin.
Emoyeni, working with unusual pinpoint focus, got her kite in the air no less
than 20 seconds before the breeze filled and took off in pursuit, the Ericson
and Hare behind left scrambling to hoist their own reach-worthy canvas.
It became a
struggle to hold a kite about the time Kinetic Ki popped back on the radar and
looking something less than fast on the right. Kites were interchanged with
white sails as boats turned up, save for the well heeled Hassenpfeffer crew who
sailed on their ears well longer than any of her competitors. With the
multihull notably parked in Samish bay the boats that could keep farthest left
sailed by in steady pressure. Little Annie and Syndicat failed to put enough in
the bank and found themselves sucked into the same deadzone that ensconced
Kintetic Ki and Emoyeni re-took the lead.
Kites were
re-launched around R2 and boats immediately reached hard to the west looking
for the steadiest and strongest pressures. Emoyeni seemed to extend her lead
till near Eliza rock where the breeze again deflated temporarily. Just as
Kymodoce approached from behind Emoyeni slipped back into the breeze and
rocketed away doing 7.5kn broad reaching our way towards saddlebag island.
Onboard the
rip roaring islander the crew obsessively long eyed the winds in all directions
and recognized getting back into fidalgo bay would be just as hard as the
earlier attempt to get out of it. Kymodoce and Kinetic Ki were charging quick while
Emoyeni drifted slowly past Saddlebag. Agonizing over the strong lead
evaporating and the fresh breeze funneling down Guemes Channel, Emoyeni
deployed the drifter again and nosed her way into paydirt that would seal her
victory. Kinetic Ki was stuck in a Huckleberry flyer while Kymodoce stayed too
far right on the saddlebag shore to catch the eddy that slid the islander into
the new guemes breeze and Emoyeni crossed the line shortly after 4:30.
On Emoyeni
we saved the best for last – Our victory in Post Point made us overall fleet
leaders in the Champagne series and challenged our focus, determination, and
tenacity like no other race this year. Our dialed in crew for the finale was
Deano on the wheel, pointy end Brian, Skipper Chris on strings and long eyes,
and Kyle on the maple bacon ale and vitamin advil.
