Greetings from 3rd place in the PRSA Spring Regatta! With 17 Albacore registered, and more than a few new faces (Dave in his new to him Albacore; Gretchen, Sidney, and Cam crewing). This turned out to be a great Albacore event and a good way to kick off the summer regatta season. Despite abysmal forecasts going into the weekend we were able to get 6 races off and even had whitecaps on Saturday. Retired Albacore sailor Jim Graham was our PRO, and he and his RC Team did a great job getting the races off. We got to see a change mark and due to a few general recalls, because of the tide, the Albacores wound up starting all 6 races under the i flag. Also hats off to Kaitlyn Lucey, the regatta chair, for helping get some great food (Mission BBQ) and everyone that helped volunteer for setup and cleanup and any other jobs with the event.
For my boat, this was Celeste and my first time sailing together since having a child. So it feels really nice to have been able to place 3rd despite some rust and other adversities encountered. Now some of this probably comes down to luck as we were not the only boat to encounter adversities. Both Michael in 8125 and Stephen in 8199 had equipment malfunctions and missed 2 races on Saturday. Celeste and I also had an equipment failure of a brand “new” tiller extension universal breaking in the middle of the second race. I learned two lessons this weekend.
- Always sail with a full roll of electrical tape. When in a pinch, one can use about a quarter roll to replace the tiller extension universal. Just don’t drop the tiller extension and let it hit the water as the tape will fail. Thank you to everyone that had to avoid me at the leeward mark rounding.
- A “new” tiller extension that has been in your equipment box in your car for 5 years may not be a reliable replacement part.
It was great to be out on the water again and compete with so many Albacores again. Glad to see Scott Snyder back after a hiatus and our way out of towners Chris Gorton and Jeff Krause. We look forward to more regattas!
Farley