by Claudia Kondracky
The Duck Island Spring Regatta started under dark and threatening skies but the weather held off for a great day. Luckily the rain didn't come until long after the race. The race committee had their hands full and the courses that they picked out couldn't have been better. Three classes hit the line with two different courses set up. Class A boats did windward leeward twice around from Kelsey Point to a windward mark off Duck Island. Their second race was from Kelsey Point to Crane Reef and back.
Our class was to head east to Crane Reef then the West end of Long Sand Shoals, back to the start, out to E (off Duck) and then finish. We checked the currents and decided to stay inside Duck Island. This paid off big time for us. Little boats are affected by the currents a lot. We were right up with the big guys when we took our boat out. We rounded Q put up the chute and headed to F. It was warmer going down wind but the chill was still in the air. After F we headed for the start line. We decide to go out this time with the current out there helping us. Our big problem of the day was that Mark thought the course was to head back to Crane Reef. No one thought to check the course that I had written down during the prep period. We were sailing along, not a care in the world when we saw other boats rounding E. We were about 500 yards up from it. I imagine all the boats were wondering where we were going and why we were over standing the mark. We quickly realized the mistake and came down to round the mark.
Sailing is a learning experiment. Here's what we learned: Always check the course, make sure everyone know the course, never listen to your brother (see New Year's Resolutions) and watch the other boats. This past weekend we raced in Off Soundings. I had the course written on my leg.
Photo by Cate Beckstein