RAcing Again.

SHIP'S LOG:

     Well, HERMINE came and went without too much of a brouhaha and all of my careful preparations proved more than adequate for the problems she caused.  Her effects hung around for a couple of days and thus delayed the restoration of ABISHAG to her normal state. That actually took more than two days as not only did I have to undo the preparations for the storm but I had to do new preparation for the Commodore's Trophy Race on the 11th!

      While I have raced over the years, I haven't raced a boat of my own in about 15 years and it is a different thing altogether. Just getting crew is a bit of a chore as everyone is doing the same. I was able to secure two crew, Friend Fred and another club member, Matt. One or two more would have been very helpful as would have been some practice, but you can't have everything.

     The race was wonderful and we spent the great majority of our time scudding along at between 7 and 10 knots which is really screaming for ABISHAG. We didn't finish last. She does not, however, have a racing hull and with two masts and a lot of sail area, we were "just a wee bit" over-powered a lot of the time. Then again, I just want to race. Winning would have been nice but it would have taken a lot of rum to really believe we could finish in the silver, so we settled for having a good time. Matt, in his first race, had a wonderful time. Fred was able to tweak and plot to his heart's content. Like I said, we didn't finish last and I am good with that.

     I got out of racing because it gave rise to my inner Capt. Bligh. I could feel it rising on Sunday so I don't think I'll be racing again this year. Perhaps next year for one or two of the big races, but not every week. It can be a good way to loose friends.