LimpetRacing.com

I never had training wheels on my bike as a kid.  I went strait from a tricycle to a two wheeler with a little courage, quite a few scraped knees, and my dad spending hours running up and down Creso lane holding the back of my seat.  At some point he let go and I was just riding on my own.  I don’t know how I was doing it… I just was.  Something happened, and the same things which had always seemed to end with me in a crying heap on the asphalt, were now allowing me to cruise along with the wind in my hair and a smile on my face.  I felt a very similar feeling on Fleet #1s last race this Saturday, when Chris handed me the helm of Wooglin, and we were able to win the race by our largest victory of the day.  I’m not sure how it happened, it just did.

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I know that it has been quite some time between postings here on LimpetRacing.  It is not from lack of amazing experiences I have had this summer.  I had a couple great cruising adventures with Limpet, and attended the San Juan Western Nationals in Coos Bay Oregon.  I will undoubtedly get together some belated posts on those outings in future weeks.  One of the major insights from my experience at Nationals is that I clearly suck as a sailboat racer.  My traditional back 1/3 finishes in Fleet #1 races translated into near dead last finishes with the increased competition of Nationals.  Luckily I went to Evergreen where I learned one of life’s most valuable lessons… “You can learn anything. . . if you know how to learn.”  The first step in learning you ask?  Get a good teacher. 

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Each year San Juan 21 Fleet one in Seattle puts on a rigging clinic in February to get the boats of the fleet ready for spring racing.  This year we hit the Washington weather equivalent of a trifecta: sun, mild temps, and a 10-15kt NW breeze.  It was as close as a winter sailor in Seattle can hope to come to a perfect day in February.  The beautiful day also brought out the masses, and we had 10 boats, 12+ skippers, and several Sea Scouts who took part. Continue Reading »

I am not sure about the rest of fleet 1 but I am excited about our next to last race of the season which is taking place tomorrow.  I thought I would post some valuable links for the race:

Alki Point Wind Forecast

Seattle Tide Charts

I also want to focus on my starts tomorrow.  To that end I would like to know if there are any thoughts from fleet 1 and beyond on the start strategies & skills which have (or have not) worked for you?

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