Races 7 and 8

I woke up tired on Friday after listening to the wind howling and whistling all night through the rouladin (sliding window shade) box between our ceiling and the sliding glass door of our bedroom. I would've been tired and sore even with a good night's sleep, so I was wishing I could have had our lay day to rest, explore Punta with Rusty and the boys, and help Mom with the Thanksgiving dinner she was preparing. At least I got to have a relaxing breakfast with them since races weren't scheduled to start until 1 p.m. when the consistent breeze usually filled in. Upon arrival, we were greeted with white caps in the harbor and the Coast Guard's yellow flag and the race committee's D flag flying, telling everyone to wait on launching. Leandro told our team to have the mindset that we would go out and to be ready. I was tempted to bike home for a quick lunch while others enjoyed the tasty yacht club "Snipe Menu" and best Cevitas (their version of hamburgers) in town--according to our team, but that seemed risky. Suddenly, all of us in the boat yard felt the warm land breeze from the north shift to a cool NE/E breeze coming from the ocean. This was the shift the committee had been waiting for, so soon after that, they lowered the flag, blew the whistle, and set up a course much closer to shore (between the island and the harbor). I knew this would mean gusty, shifty winds, but a better view of the races from our condo for Rusty and Mom--I just wish they hadn't seen me rounding the windward mark next to last at one point!

In spite of Doogie's and Leandro's advice to keep my bow up with the other boats, I got worked both starts of races 7 and 8 when more aggressive sailors squeezed in and around me during the last 15 seconds as we trimmed in. I felt I was improving at holding my spot for over a minute, but I needed to be more deliberate and proactive in protecting my hole until the last few seconds while also accelerating with the front row. Augie Diaz later told me that once he picks his position, he has his crew keep track of the line while he concentrates on protecting his hole, pointing his bow down and yelling at anyone who would (in my words) be stupid enough to want to sail under him. This sounds basic to most sailors--I remember Charlie McKee explaining the shark/port approach vs. protect your hole to leeward/starboard approach when I was a kid-- but in this fleet nothing is easy.

As usual, we had recalls and Z flags go up, but it was still hard for the pin end and committee boats to identify everyone who was over each time. Left was favored as usual and courses were Olympic, but it wasn't as windy as the previous days, and we were usually able to catch a few boats on the upwind legs. Our boathandling, surfing, and whisker pole manuevering on the second reaches had definitely improved, and we were holding our position to claim room at the leeward mark.


During race 8, we were able to sneak inside a gigantic pile up at the jibe mark just as it was breaking up, but many of these very fast sailors were even or ahead of us within seconds of our rounding. Our next rounding was very unlucky as I tried to pass Stephan and Monica's stern while they were stuck at the leeward mark after being hit by another team; I barely tapped their hull but felt I should do a 720 since they were on starboard and I was on port at the time. I thought they might have been going slightly backwards, in which case, they'd have no rights, but I didn't want them to think I was trying to get away with anything. So, we did them and tried not to hit oncoming traffic. This really put us back, and I was less than enthusiastic when the Chilean women's team match raced us during multiple tacks all the way to the finish line, even taking us past lay line as a Columbian boat snuck in at the boat end of the line. We would end the day one point behind the Chilean women and feeling a bit discouraged.

To make matters worse, Christin slipped and badly cut her hand on the sea wall (probably barnacles) while valiantly trying to jump in to fend us off another boat. She bandaged it up well with Doogie's help and they loaded up on supplies from one of the many pharmacies--banks and pharmacies are in nearly every block of this little town. We definitely had bad luck with mishaps at the launch ramp, but it was tricky going out/coming in without a dock and sharing the same space with about 20+ boats often in 15-20 knots! I already mentioned hidden rocks under the water that were a problem at low tide, too.

I cheered up seeing Rusty and the boys on shore before they went to find the nearby Punta del Este lighthouse. We had a fantastic turkey dinner, too, while being entertained with Peter and Jerelyn Biehl's stories. It was a late night, though!