Macho Man - part 2
Well, evidently Steve had enough from what the last 2 days dished out.

There will be photos and race results posted on Tampa Bay Catamaran Sailors shortly.

Anyway, to continue....Race day and the cats were here. The I20 hot dogs were in town. We decided to get in the thick of things with the cats in a confined starting line. Probably not the thing to do, but what the heck. I was helming, and it was a tack - jib- tack- tack affair trying to avoid the cats. Bang...off we go. Needless to say the cats popped the chutes and started their dog fight down the bay. We set the chute and followed. When we rounded McDill heading for the Skyway bridge, we noticed that there were some serious damage to the window on the main. The air was light at this point, and decided to drop the main and make repairs while carrying the chute. This took the better part of an hour. Once underway, we sailed toward the Skyway swapping jibes with a Hobie20 that was not carrying a chute. About two miles before going under the bridge, the wind died. So, we sit in a hole for about an hour and a half sailing backwards on the incoming tide. Man, not a pretty thing!

The Hobie 20 finally got some wind on the seabreeze and took off like a shot. I stood on the pulpit looking at the wind line that was so close, I could almost reach out and touch it. It didn't get to us for another 1/2 hour

When it finally arrived, it was the same strength as the day before. We get hooked up and head for the Gulf with the wind on the nose. Once we got into the Gulf we were able to tack over and head for Dunedin.

to be continued
Dave