by Mark Kondracky
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The third week of frostbiting had winds that roared. The strong current and shifty winds made for lots of entertainment for fans watching from the shore and the Race
Committee. In the last race of the JY's there were two capsizes (myself included).
At the time I was tied for the day with Kevin Gilman. We had fought for an inside overlap on the second leg and moved from third to first. After the jibe, we went a little high to protect our wind from Bob Bruno. A large blast came through and Bob's boat tripped and capsized. We were able to keep on our feet and were off and planing. Another blast hit us and we rounded up. As the wind shifted even more aft, the boat started oscillating. We shifted into a complete death roll, with the boat rolling to windward. The boat dumped and all I had to hold on to was the tiller extension. Gulping cold water, I worked my way to the centerboard. Fortunately, Rich Formica my crew, was standing on the board to prevent turtling. I was concerned about the boat flipping when the masthead broke the surface of the water, so I pulled myself to the bow, and then around to the hiking straps. Rich righted the boat, pulling me and my extra 50 lbs of wet clothing into the cockpit. We were off and sailing, and limped across the line third with our broken tiller extension.
In the Etchells fleet there was lots of excitement. In the last race of the day, Ron Noe tested the laws of buoyancy and displacement with a spectacular broach. The fleet flew downwind with their chutes and the current. The slow beat back was exciting and tactical. Tim Keyworth led the tightly packed fleet back up the river. He worked up the East side of the channel to keep out of the current. One of the boats bumped the bottom. With the Amendola brothers on his hip, there was lots of lee bow maneuvers. Tim fought them off, but there was quite a battle for third through six place. A pack of four Etchells, all on port tack approached the finish line. The Race Committee had removed the center finish bouy which marks the end of the finish line for the other classes but the start of the Etchells line. This caused one of the Etchells to request a redress. The request was denied so the race was scored. Commodore Bobby Fisher indicated that there will be some minor adjustments in the race instructions to clarify the definition of finishing. Great job R.C., sailors, and a BIG Thanks to the crash boats.
