Day Two Update

change title to...'...the Human body will be tested..'

weather...- worse than yesterday

Hello all!

Well, it was a first for me,....the good news is that I did not flip, break anything on the boat,..or myself.
I finished all races ( 3)
Retained my 2nd place ( by 1 point)

Race 1


Started race, on 1st upwind leg, squall line came,...the I-17 will take wind,....it will take waves,....it will NOT take the combo Waves+ Waves,...not a good thing!
...finished,..all other boats flipped

Race 2
...this was the hard one, or I thought,..the squall came in the 1st leg again,...the local weather page shows a gust of 52 mph at 12:11pm ( 18 more mph and we have a Hurricane!),...well, now we know that the boat can take it,....I am not sure about me..
I finished

Race 3
This time the RC waited until the squall passed,..only to get hit by the biggest abd longest one of the day,.....
I finished

Bottom Line; This was not sailing. It was no fun at all. It was survival conditions all the way.
The I-17 would start to shutter upwind and get irratic in the gusts and shifts,..I would have to jump to the tramp and stay there,....trav out max,...mainsheet in max,...jam rudders 100% to try to keep noses to wind,.....the little rudders are no match for the sail area...
If I tried to go forward,..the acceleration was immediate and the bows would stuff in a wall of water ( waves ),....If I considered a fast jibe, ..forget it,...I would be in Puerto Rico writing this not...ha!
So, you sit there and ride it out,...you all have been there.

Here is a good site with a brief story line about the race, go to

www.caribbeanracing.com

Bruce