Great conditions tonight! It was great to have a warm breeze that had the fresh smell of spring in it.
Our start was well timed and we sailed a solid first leg. For a spell we were locked in a drag race with Legacy, with us just slightly to windward. We eventually pulled ahead and gained some lateral separation too!
Battlewagon had a great start at the favoured windward end of the line (we were mid-line), and put in two fewer tacks to round ahead of Top Gun. We rounded third with Raison d’Etre and Legacy astern.
We aborted our hoist when the pole appeared fouled, jibed with the jib and then hoisted a bit late. Even so we had a nice deep run down to the leeward mark and gained back some ground on Battlewagon, rounding just astern of them.
The final upwind leg was a hot race between us, they chose the Burlington side of the course and we tacked away toward Hamilton. We got lifted quite a bit, and I thought we might make the pin end of the line but needed one more tack. Battlewagon got us by about 40 seconds.
But it was pure joy out there in the strong winds with the #1 headsail up, the mainsail flat and drawing with Gadget riding the gusts. In the past, these conditions would have had us riding the bucking bronco and unable to compete with the J35s, but by implementing the tricks we picked up at the North Sail Trim course, we had PERSPECTIVE well under control, pointing just as high as our competitors! What a feeling 🙂