Actually, a little of both. As my crew is fond of saying "on the Gulf coast, think opposite" and this strategy seemed to pay off.

Conditions were primarily offshore in the 5 - 10 kt range. Conventional knowledge would presume that land features would cause problems with boats hugging the lee of the shore, but with the northbound current, this proved effective.

In some cases, two boats within 10 meters of each other would be on different points of sail (one with spin and one close hauled) on the same track.

As the afternoon wore on, the seabreeze appeared to push shoreward, effectively negating the breeze offshore. Combine this with an opposing current, and those unfortunate souls who went offshore to stay out of the shallows were left making poor progress against an opposing current