Thursday Night is Race Night

Last night was the first of the fun evening races at BBSC.  The idea is to encourage everyone to add a little bit of competition into their sailing.  The format was a simple out-and-back one.  This meant that there was only one mark and so it was easy and quick to set up.

Several people turned up on all sorts of boards, from full-on retro longboard racing kit to 130 L freeride boards. This did make it hard to figure out a fair approach, but it was decided to ignore the differences and simple race for the fun of racing against one another.  With a "one, two, three, GO!" the first race started and it was soon clear that the retro longboard still stood head and shoulders above the newer kit in the very light winds, but even so it was good to see the youngest sailor, Dominic, first to the mark (with only the smallest of head starts).  I was not far behind, but managed to fall in as the dodgy sliding mast track and grip-less board conspired to undo by cat like balance (these old race boards are tippier than I remember).  This allowed Nick (on full course racing gear) to sneak past me and Dominic and hold off Chris for the first victory (although will be disqualified by the Race Officer for having raced in the past and also having more skill than is allowed under the Rules).

As the first race ended the wind become even lighter and more flakey so most sailors spent the rest of the evening free-sailing practising lightwind freestyle (I will claim the world's slowest duck gybe).

All in all it was good to simply be out on the water.  Next week we may see if we can organise a one-design race on Starboard Rios and 5.5m sails.  More in the next report.