Good point! A couple years back, maybe three, I didn't finished that race until after 5pm on the F17. Race started at 11am I believe. Plus we had this God awful storm that occurred not long after the start. You could barely see 100' or so in front of you. I didn't have a clue where I was going so I just followed this Hobie 20/w-spin crew that I knew had a GPS. Lots of lightning and gusts 35-40 plus. Boats flipping everywhere. I was going over issues in my head such as ...........life insurance; paid up to date?, check. Mutual funds and IRA's ......POD to my son; check. Well, thank God I got to live on the Gulf Coast for a few years anyway.

We (the spin boats) were doing the long course. Wind dropped off quite a bit after the storm. We were sailing into this strong out going current when we were going under that far bridge and on the other side til we rounded the mark back there. It was a long day.........

Also, your better have a GPS or be able to stay "in contact" with your fleet if you are not local because some of the marks can be hard to find.


Tom Turlington
NACRA F17 #12