Flying Scot 2010 NAC Report - Part 1

Part 1:  Sam and I arrived Saturday at Bay Waveland Yacht club after a nice uneventful trip down with a lunch stop to see Natural Bridge, VA, an overnight in Knoxville, TN and audiobooks to keep us entertained.  The clubhouse is big and beautiful with an incredible view of the bay, and today with a light breeze and flat water the sailing conditions were welcoming.  We set up the boat, explored club and met other sailors preparing for tomorrows Juniors race.  Down the road to our hotel we passed by miles of beautiful white sand beaches and calm waters.  Race Day:  After the skippers meeting we launched and headed out to the race area about 1/2 mile in front of the club with Sam at the helm for the day.  It was sunny and hot and the water was calm but there were thunderstorms off in the distance.  About the time of the first warning the wind picked up and began gusting in the 15-20 range.  We followed the example of other boats and hove-to while waiting for our sequence to start.  But there was no turning back and we got into sequence and started with our class of 13 boats.  We took all the heavy-air measures available to us flattening the sails but it was a struggle to keep up with the heavier boats and we consistently slipped behind.  They ran 3 W-L races with offset and gates and the winds were pretty steady at 10-15 with a few shifty puffs.  We were able to hang with our competitors downwind but trailed the fleet across the finish line each time.  Many of the competitors in this Junior fleet are obviously well trained, practiced and experienced sailors and we congratulate all of them, they showed us how it could be done.  And a fine group of young men and women they are too off the race course jumping in to help maneuver boats and trailers for the fleet.  Afterwards the club hosted a "bail the bilge" (pot luck) dinner and welcome party for all the racers that we enjoyed after cooling off in the pool.  It was a learning experience and today is a new day.  We begin the qualifiers today with me at the helm and Sam as (the much better) crew.  We look at it as two days of practice before the real competition begins and were hoping the winds won't overpower us.