.png)
First: many thanks to Jack Campo, whose wonderfully pithy recaps of each week’s racing in summers past have been models of writing gracefully and economically. He’s left big shoes to fill.
This past weekend a low pressure system passed north of us. The counter-clockwise rotation of winds around the low brought us wind and rain from the northeast. Within this macro weather context, each passing cloud train brought its own set of updrafts and downdrafts, driving the puffs and shifts in the fifteen-to-twenty knot breezes in the harbor.
All of this was irrelevant to the seven participants in Saturday’s kickoff to HPYC’s 2021 Sunfish season, as each of our three races was only twenty minutes long. On that time scale, with the short courses we run, the furthest one can plan ahead is to the presence or absence of dark ripples on the water ahead (or behind) you.
So, as they say about poker, "You don’t play your cards, you play the others around you."
For us that meant jockeying for clear air at the start, sticking roughly to the middle on the beats, choosing your moments to go high or low carefully on the reaches (“Up in the lulls, down in the puffs”), and covering -- or splitting tacks if behind -- on the final beats. It also rewarded fundamentals: double-checking your rigging carefully before the races; and, hiking until you feel your soul leaving your body :-) (TMI? Jack said these notes should *encourage* folks to come out! Actually, the Sunfish is very friendly to a wide range of weights and ages, even in windy conditions, so don't worry; if you're new we'll show you how to tune your rig accordingly.)
(Results are posted at the club, and here.)
The forecast suggests Elsa will have passed us by next Saturday morning, and we'll have sunny weather and light to moderate northerlies for our 10am gun. To reserve a club boat, please visit http://bit.ly/hpycsunsign .
Two other things:
Meg Brogan Adley is offering adult sailing lessons on Tuesday afternoons from 4-6p. (With her permission to post it here) her phone number is 617-686-6519 if you're interested and would like more details on cost, rain dates, format, etc. The classes are open to HPYC members and non-members alike, and are limited to eight people, so reserve early!
Also, for sailors 15 and under, the Junior Commodore series is back on this summer, Wednesdays at 1230p through August 18. Once again, you can contact Meg for details.
Hope to see you soon!
Cesar Brea