Thursday Night Race

Well it's July 4th weekend so it has been a few days since the Thursday Night Race at DIYC, but the experience of this Thursday night race adventure is worthy of noting. The few days prior to the race have been very rainy with some severe thunderstorms as well. All related to a tropical depression turned hurricane which went for Mexico. We met at the boat and headed out to the racing area in very overcast conditions with building cloud cover throughout the area. It was obvious that we were going to get wet and that there was a strong chance of winds kicking up. We decided to reef the mainsail and sail with a full jib prior to the start. Our start was great and we were on our way to the second mark. After rounding the second mark I trimmed the Spinnaker for a downwind run. The winds were picking up and we were definitely flying along ahead of our competition. Nearing the next mark it started to rain and the winds started to kick up as expected. We doused the Spinnaker but unfortunately a little to quickly for the foredeck crew who had to handle the sail. The Spinnaker got stuck and torn on the anchor, causing a rip along a the top portion of the sail. By now the rain had really started coming down and visibility was very poor. The bay water became very choppy with whitecaps all over the place and some of the waves reaching their rolling effect. Because of the combination between needle sharp rain, strong winds, the excessive heal of the boat plus the wave and poor visibility of the race area; we decided to ditch the race and make it back in.

Those conditioned not only persisted but intensified on our way back to the slip. Because the visibility was so poor, we were all acting as lookout for oncoming traffic of other boats in the area who were facing the same conditions. Our decision to reef the mainsail was obviously the right one and proved to be beneficial given the conditions. If we had gone with full sail, things very well may have turned out a little differently.

Needless to say it was a very exhilarating ride and the adventure did exactly what this sail was supposed to do, allowing me to forget about all the other stuff I have going on with work and life. We made it to the dock in the downpour with the winds calming down enough to make docking easier. We tied her off and after everyone left, I enjoyed a rum and coke with Pat, Lea and Martin.

It was an awesome ride and refreshing to get some real wind to sail in.