Sorry for the delay, but my laptop crashed and had a two-day drive back to the Keys. And then had a mad rush to get the next issue out.
<br>I can only give you a rough idea of the results:
<br>Racing was very even -- in a 55-minute race all the fleet were finishing within 3 minutes of each other. Winds were around 5-8 the first day with lots of boat chop, 15 the second day with huge waves and then back to the first day conditions.
<br>On the first day, I took two bullets and a second -- my weather performance was very good.
<br>The second day it was mostly Stan Woodruff. Although Sharon Woodruff won the last race of the day by inching out her husband. I settled for a 3 and a 4. Meanwhile, the folks I was covering (Norm Freeman, Bruce Williams and Matt ) all had worse races. This left me in great position -- only needed to cover Stan and Norm.
<br>Then, for some reason, Norm left. Then I only had to cover Stan and ascertain that no more than 4 boats got between us.
<br>The last two races had Sharon Woodruff winning still another race. I took a 4th and Stan a 5th. Things were looking rosier.
<br>The last race Stan and I were glued together and split from the fleet (we were in 6th and 7th position. But the side where we went was extremely favored and we rounded the last windward mark neck and neck and in 1rst and 2nd. At that point the regatta was over. Stan won the last race, but I won the regatta.
<br>Newcomer to the fleet was Betty Bliss, World TheMightyHobie18 Champion and many times North American Champ in the Shark Class, who got the hang of the boat and was always right in there. Her best finish was a 2nd, but her consistancy allowed her to campture the 1st place for Ladies. Sharon had some great finishes near the end, but had some really bad races early in the regatta.
<br>So, the finishes went
<br>Rick White
<br>Stan Woodruff
<br>Bruce Williams
<br>Betty Bliss
<br>????
<br>The rest of the finishes are coming and I will post them as soon as I get them.
<br>Rick White<br><br>Rick White
<br>Catamaran Sailor Magazine
<br>email: rick@catsailor.com