Race One

Sean Carroll

The first day of the North American Championship 2001 in Mallets Bay offered a wonderful cool northerly blowing at over ten knots. Clear skies and stiff breeze awaited the fleet promptly at ten in the morning for a five leg windward leeward course. A clear start with the lonely individual recall flag flying as the blue fleet left the line, it remained up as a signal that some competitor would not fair well that race. For the rest of the fleet our destiny was still in our hands. Unfortunately if anyone reminisced long enough about the beauty of the bay they would certainly miss the first shift and be those few precious boat lengths behind the leaders who consumed the clear air.

Our beloved bay proved to be as cunning as we all new she would be. Local knowledge was quickly put by the wayside as pure instinctive sailing took over. The shifts were fast and furious offering large opportunities for gain but equally large chances for losses. The pressure oscillated between three hard hiking to one or two in the boat. My crew consisting of Mike Finch, a local keelboat sailor, and Taylor Hollingsworth, a born and bred, Thistle sailor worked hard for me as the transoms began to add up and the realization that our corner hadn’t worked began to set in. We were able to pick off a few boats and have some laughs on the way so who could complain.

I don’t think there were any complaints minus the usual hollering at mark roundings that we all have groan to love. The weather was great - the bay had not yet given up to the lighter breazes, which lurk around every corner. The finish brought a welcome break from the stronger than expected puffs. The rest of the day looked promising as the green and yellow fleets charged upwind in a northerly, which showed no signs of diminishing.