Races 1 and 2 plus boogie boarding

I was nervous with my stomach tied in knots this morning, but Rusty made me a nice breakfast I couldn't resist and even packed a lunch for me to take in the boat. I got a ride down from him, too, since I had extra gear today, and we met Christin and Doogie at the boat already working on today's mini list of boat to-do's. We had a brief team meeting and the skippers meeting before all going out to get ready for at least two races maybe three.

We did speed testing and split tacks simultaneously with Nick, Peter, and Stefan which showed us we should avoid the fluky winds below the island even if tempted by more pressure or a shift early in the leg because you would have to ride a header back to the middle while more pressure awaited on the upper left. It was blowing about 10-15 knots for the first race which we started in a good position on the line but too far behind the windward boat's bow so we quickly fell back and struggled to get out of the bad air. Left was favored again, and we played the left but probably didn't go left soon enough or far enough.

I was determined to be more aggressive the second start, and we ended up being over early/OCS. I thought I might be but couldn't easily dip down, and Christin said, "That was an awesome start. We're just going to go for it!" She was happy to see us be more aggressive even if I didn't put us in the perfect spot. She was also happy to hear me shouting, "Agua, agua, agua...I need agua NOW!" to the Chilean boat that was trying to squeeze me out at the leeward mark and finally gave me room to round when I sounded determined enough to get it. On the downwind leg the wind switched further left and the windward mark was changed from 105 to 60 degrees, and this was followed by the wind nearly dying completely on the back side of a rain cloud as we tried to make it to the finish line losing boats on both sides of us it seemed. Something we will work on tomorrow will be faster reaches/putting up pole later after heading up after marks and then heading down to get pole up once we're in clear air moving fast. I'll also work on being in line or just ahead of boats in my pack without being over early at the start.

Rusty, Taylor, Barrett, and my mom went out with a local yacht club member Pablo on his very comfortable power boat along with several other spectators to watch. Sandwiches and drinks on trays were passed, and a Japanese spectator brought cookies for everyone...a very friendly group indeed! It was fun to see my family (and some of the others, too) waving to us and cheering us on between races. I just wish we'd done better...at least there's room for improvement and several more days of racing.

The day ended much more happily for me by going to the Brava beach with Rusty and the boys to boogie board (I watched, cheered, and took pictures). I also made it to the nearby casino/hotel with my computer in time to talk with my grade one students and teaching partner Tony via Skype. It was fun to see and hear my students; they were very cute asking me questions and wishing me a happy Thanksgiving. I hope their party goes well tomorrow that I helped organize.

Now I'm caught up on blogging, too, although photo posting will have to wait again until tomorrow. Time to ride my bike back to the condo!