I was somewhere in the middle of the fleet on race one. The wind shifted a lot! With each shift I would loose postitions and regain them with the following shift. It was the first time I had worked the spinnaker with any real efficiency. I almost caught two of the A cats and was well ahead of the H21. No idea where the rest of the fleet was.

As most of you know, lake sailing can be very tricky and I had problems most of the day when approaching the weather mark. There was one spot that seemed troublesome for the fleet as a whole and I had more trouble than most. I blew a number of tacks in the same spot!

When I went over in the second race, I broke one of the bridles that support the spin pole. I was unable to repair it on the water and opted to sail crippled. When the wind dropped off some I could use the spin on starboard tack, but not on port. I tried it once and almost broke the pole! Needless to say, with my troubles at A mark and no spin, I was dfl the rest of the day!

I bent the boom when I went over but suffered no injury. Better a bent boom than a broken rib! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Back on shore, I put the boat on the cat tracks and pulled it up a concrete ramp. An old friend who still sails H16 was very impressed at how easily that was accomplished!

All things considered, it was a great week end, an excellent learning experience and the only regret the broken bridle.

I'm really looking forward to the Lake Jackson clinic!