Yet another balmy summer evening on the water. What a great season we’ve had!
Before the start, the gusts were tempting us to choose the #2, but it eased a bit before the start and the forecasts called for progressively lighter wind as the sun got lower in the sky. We opted for the #1 and got it right. It was the first chance to see how the big foresail would perform with the tighter rig tension dialed in on the weekend. Answer: peachy!
Tonight was a night when we enjoyed the sweet sensation of getting the details right. A great start, timed perfectly in clean air to windward of the fleet. Pristine tacks, confident sail trim, and hard hiking had us right in the pack at the windward mark. And then, as it often does on PERSPECTIVE, the magic happened.
Our hoist was smooth and we quickly overtook Sandpiper. Kiwi sailed deep in the ample breeze and we got the boat moving well with the pole high up. Our jibes were fantastic, especially the third one, which was like a clinic, and we continued to gain ground. The highlight of the race came when we, Sandpiper and Battlewagon were converging on the downwind. We and Sandpiper were on Starboard, Battlewagon on Port. We were the leeward boat. We began to push Sandpiper up, who then had to hail Battlewagon, calling them to keep clear. To do that, Battlewagon had to jibe when they didn’t expect to. As a result of that tangle we gained ground on our two rivals, and were able to keep that all the way to the finish.
At the leeward mark, our douse was quick as a bunny, but we got caught in some traffic as a smaller boat had the inside lane on us. Try as we might, we couldn’t get inside them, and it cost us precious boat-lengths.
No worries, a few amazingly crisp tacks to cover Battlewagon — a few boat-lengths behind — and we were able to stay ahead of both our rivals.
Encore! Encore!