2009
Race Recap by Ron Kern
The pre-race. Organizing
a race you feel responsible for making good choices. The weather system
that was heading our way was seemingly unpredictable by the weather
experts. I was concerned that even though a bad forecast doesn't mean
bad weather it does keep some from supporting the event. I was dismayed
to watch the great forecast get whittled down the day before the
race. But nature prevailed over the weather service and good
racing conditions came through just about like I thought they
would.
We had a skipper's meeting at 9:00 a.m. which answered questions and
gave the course for the race. The wind gusts were near 20 mph and the
mantra passed on to me for long distance racing, "Rig to be
comfortable", kept going through my mind and prevented me from rigging
a 12m. I think my setup was about right, 10.7m sail, normal 70cm fin
which was the ticket, and was glad I didn't put up a bigger or smaller
sail.
The start and to Port Everglades Inlet channel marker.
I was early to the start. I had some time so I readjusted my boom
length in the water and got it just right. High tide was in about 30
minutes and as we crossed the starting line I realized it was a beam
reach to the first mark. I was thinking the incoming tide would make it
inadvisable to put any insurance on the mark. I sailed straight for the
mark and got out in front of the fleet. My strategy didn't work
as the wind clocked a bit more onshore and the current wasn't very
strong, I had to tack for the mark. Luckily Fernando had to do
likewise and he rounded the mark just a couple board lengths ahead of
me.
Downwind leg to Hillsboro Inlet marker.
I was concerned about staying with Fernando downwind. He usually
has an edge downwind and I upwind. We stayed very close for quite
a ways downwind crossing within a board length for the first few
jibes. My plan was to stay far enough out to catch the north
running current but out of the weeds riding along it's edge. I
was super comfortable riding and was starting to open up a lead.
So it went to the mark where I found myself about ½ mile
ahead.
Upwind leg to finish.
My plan for the upwind was to stay as close as I could inside in
flatter water and if there was a current hope the south running counter
current was working. I also needed to be far enough offshore to
stay in the wind. I didn't want to get too far offshore
especially closer to the finish in case the wind shifted abruptly to
the NW. Also I was feeling pretty fresh so I wanted to sail hard and
not get overconfident or lazy. Lastly I needed to cover Fernando.
The plan worked, I held my lead and opened it up some more.
Finish line. Woo hoo! Done.
Finish. The
tide was lower now but the offshore winds kept the landing pretty
civilized. Now just wait to see how everybody else made out. Thanks to
Sergio, Mike & Alex for helping finishers get their gear up to
safety.
Awards. Thanks
again to the generosity of the shops and distributors we had another
great year of prizes to hand out. Adventure Sports Miami had a Neil
Pryde 5.4m RS:Slalom sail as the top prize among many. Very notable too
was the motivation award Jim DeSilva and Liquid Surf & Sail put up,
$150 Liquid Bucks for the 8th place finisher overall which was awarded
to Daniel Borutzky. Also thanks to Sandy Point.
Party. This year's party was back on the patio of our house for pizza and beer.
Wrap up. It
was a tough race again this year. It was great to see so many returning
entrants along with quite a few new entrants. I was really happy
everybody listened this year and came with phones in waterproof cases.
Other than the wind quitting about 2¼ hours into the race it was
good.
Next Year. Hope to see you all back next year along with some new entrants give it a try. Keep December 4-5, or 11-12, 2010 open on your calendar. Next year we'll give the longboards a bit of a head start if possible and perhaps run a shorter course for them so that we can keep the sailing time under 4 hours for everybody. Thanks to all for helping make the event happen.
Ron