Race 9, closing ceremony, and return

Saturday was true to its forecast...light winds and rainy. I waved goodbye one last time to my family on the balcony of our condo as I rode away on my pink mountain bike down streets that were so familiar to me now but in conditions that were not...the clouds, drizzle, and cool air were more like Seattle than the Punta we had known during the last two weeks. The yacht club's flags that had been outstretched and snapping were now oddly hanging straight down. We waited and wondered if the wind would do its normal switch and build, and finally the committee sent us out to wait some more, have a few starts in which boats were tagged with OCS or the Z flag penalty, and drift around getting wet and chilled while the wind gradually filled from the NE/E. It wasn't as miserable as it sounds since we were often close to other teammates joking around and friendly faces we'd come to recognize.

We finally started a double windward leeward course close to 4 o'clock (an hour before the deadline for the last race). This would mean a 2nd throw-out race and a Z flag 20% penalty added to scores for those who were caught (including Nick who admitted he started at the boat 3 boat lengths over). It was more right today as Leandro suspected, but light air and a brief left favor helped several Japanese boats round the windward mark in the lead. I had a good start but eventually had to tack out for clear air and played the middle right. With a starboard lift and current pushing us up the course, we ended up overstanding the windward mark both times and then almost not clearing both it and the leeward mark as I rounded due to the current vs. light air. We felt a bit slow downwind and unsure about our heal but in good company with several top sailors nearby having bad races. In the lighter air the fleet seemed more compact this race and exact positiions seemed difficult to guess going downwind.

The Chilean women once again rounded near us for our last downwind leg, and they took us up away from the leeward mark right into a pack heading upwind, but we were able to jibe onto starboard, avoid traffic :), and force them to head down. We immediately heard a lot of high pitched arguing on their boat as we prepared to round ahead of them. They didn't come close to us again and after throw-outs, we beat them by just one point (in spite of them getting redress for two races for their own boat's breakdown). Ha! It's all a game, as Leandro reminded us, and everyone was always friendly on shore.

Speaking of being back on shore, we had to deal with replacing or finding the elusive tiller that had disappeared the previous week and getting our boat out of the water and wheeled to the charter area without our dolly tire that had exploded all by itself that morning (we were relieved to discover the loud bang and swinging rig wasn't from a large bird slamming into our mast or something happening to our boat!). Monica had used her Spanish to help me try to find a cheap diver to look for the tiller in the murky, oily launch area, but no diver surfaced, so later she and her husband Stephan came to our rescue with a generous offer of their tiller and extension which we would replace more cheaply in the States. Thomas loaned us a wheel long enough to return the charter boat to its owner who said he knew his wheels were shot. I can't remember if I mentioned the boat took on at least a liter of water a day in spite of our efforts to track the source and reseal loose screws in the cockpit--the owner didn't seem surprised about this either and was pleased with his new tiller fortunately. It was nice to have a charter boat and not worry about container expenses or getting a boat to/from Jacksonville, Florida, where the container was loaded/will be unloaded. I can definitely see the advantage of having your own boat and equipment, though.

After we showered and hung up all the wet sailing gear to drip as much as possible until it had to be packed, we drove to the club for a very nice evening of awards, socializing, contact info exchanging, and many hors d'oeuvres offered by the club's waiters in white tuxes and red bow ties. Christin and I were surprised to be called up to receive our own trophies topped with fur seals for placing third in the Women's Championship! We had been ahead of the Japanese women but their 21st in the light air Saturday plus throwouts put them substantially ahead of us but still behind the Brazilian women's team. My mom stayed back with the boys so Rusty and I could enjoy ourselves, but we returned much earlier than most I think!

Our return trip was 29 hours long door-to-door and a bit stressful with delayed flights in Buenos Aires and Santiago, but the boys were excellent travelers and now we're all nearly back on this time zone. Taylor even wanted to go straight to P.E. and history class as soon as we returned home! Today he took his shark jaw to show to his classmates, and Barrett passed around his rock and shell he found. He also returned the classroom traveling bear we took several photos of which will go in an album this week. Several people asked me how the regatta went, and my response has been that it was a very challenging competition but I learned so much. My students loved seeing the trophy, and it felt good getting back to the normal routine together.

I'm sure I'll wistfully remember Punta del Este when I'm working on progress reports this weekend or during a cold, winter day. It is a beautiful spot with very friendly people and great sailing!

Maybe we'll also do a little thinking and dreaming about other international regattas in places we'd love to see. Rusty and I would be the perfect weight together, and he sounds up for trying a Snipe. Peter Commette says the Piada regatta in Italy is worth considering if we might be taking a trip to Europe next summer...

Thanks for following me through this experience, reading my first but lengthy blog, and supporting/encouraging me (and any other sailors you know!).

Haley