Frozen Few

A nearly perfect  day of sailing today Start!: 9 of the 11 skippers crowd the line - 24Jan10with 11 boats on the line. At first, prospects looked bleak.  There was no wind and a thin layer of ice on the course. But as race time approached, a nice S/SE breeze filled in and skippers skimmed through the ice with bright sun.

Scores were tight, forcing tie-breaking between Fauss and Kyle, and between Doug and JonC.  Thanks to Gene for clearing the deck before skippers arrived, and to Fauss, who "paid" for his first-place by providing clam chowder for the whole FrozenGang, to go with Madelyn's cheese biscuits.  

Because of easterly winds we moved the starting line off the dock and into open water. Skies were overcast, winds were moderate, and temperatures were relatively mild.

This was a big day for ties! Michael, Jeff and David W tied for second place. Catherine and Dave S. tied for seventh. The online scoring system now knows about rules A8.1 and A8.2, and has broken the ties accordingly.

Sunny skies and cold, steady winds greeted our new skippers to the spring season.

Overcast, Winds NNW 1-5kt  (Tide running South)Weather mark flag staring down the approaching skippers

Jeff and Michael tied in points for the day.  Jeff for having won the last race, benefitted under Rule A8.2 and took the New Year's Day trophy. 

This was not a high-wind situation. 

With no waves, and only a little wind, the tide became a major factor.  The upstream weather mark (seen in the photo)  was a serioius challenge, and for one skipper, a resulting Rule 44.3 penalty turn became the topic of  cheerful comments from other boats, and was the subject of a video, that was not viewable yet at the New Year's Day pot-luck that followed the racing.