July Race Recap by John Ebell
DF 65
July’s Race Day was one we have seen many times in Columbia. The wind was forecast to come from the East, and possibly clock to the South East. Given the conditions, RD John Houfek set as good a course as possible. It was the standard left to right variety. However, the addition of near and far marks made for better racing in the larger ODOM Class, and no additional race management was necessary. Good job John.
Early on in the Victoria class, due to the slightly skewed wind, it was determined a port tack start at the pin was the way to go. Dick White showed everyone how it was done, and had several excellent starts in the Vic class, going on to win the day for that class. Way to Go Dick. In the DF 65 class I continued to mostly apply that logic and it paid off well usually getting me to the first mark first. When I was successful in getting a couple good starts, it was the age-old game of trying to stay in front, cover, and not screw up. Several other starts were difficult, as the wind was beginning to clock and back, often throwing all logic and strategy out the window. At that point, it was again, apply the principals of stay in the middle, stay on the favored side of middle and sail clean.
There was a lot of good racing by the 7 DF 65 competitors. New comer, Kevin Brennan, really had his older version 5 humming along with his new self hand made sails. Kevin won two races and had two, second place finishes, taking second place for the day. Congratulations Kevin! I want to see how his sails keep working for him. I might want to upgrade! Stalwarts Tom Walsh and Dick White each won a race and had a second-place finish. I thought the remainder of the fleet all sailed very well. As always, it was very important to sail clean. In addition, there were some occasional weeding issues that caught a couple boats. I did not encounter any, so sometimes its good to be lucky too! I believe I was this day.
ODOM
Due to vacations, Summer, forgotten sails, etc. the ODOM fleet this month was a little thin. Several skippers were missing as only 6 boats hit the water. Unfortunately, Kevin Brennans mast came down before racing and we only sailed with 5 boats. By the ODOM class the wind now had begun to clock more towards its predicted afternoon direction. This made starts very difficult as the direction and velocity were constantly changing even more. After a couple lack luster starts and finishes in the first couple races, I finally determined to just get off the starting line with speed and way and hopefully tack into a new favorable air. Well, that seemed to work, as I won the following four races. Along the way, the wind did clock a little bit more, making the boat end favored sometimes. Tom Walsh, in his ever-aggressive racing mode, wanted to capitalize on this potential advantage. Unfortunately, this time I had guessed the time to the mark correctly, and was able to pinch him off at the starting mark gaining free clear air. Sorry Tom, I had to do it, otherwise you would have been camping on me all the way to the windward mark. For those of you who may not know, Tom and I have been racing against each other for almost 30 years both in big and little boats. So, when something like this comes along, it is fun!
During this series, it was again stay to the middle, and the favored side of middle and keep the boat moving. They say that starts may not be that important, but in this series this day I believe they were. Being able to sail in clean air, and because the course was a little short, getting to that first wind shift first, was (to quote Danny Thomas “Crucial”!
Tom Walsh had a good day too, winning two races and two second place finishes for second for the day. Dick White had a first and two second place finishes for third place. Bob Kehoe had a second and a third and at least a couple weed catches. Who knows what might have been. And finally, after several months of issues, Bob Adams was able to sail his new to him ODOM, finishing all 7 races. However, he finished on a high note taking a third place in the final race of the day. Way to go all! It was a very fun beautiful day! Ah but isn’t any day sailing?
Look forward to seeing you all at our next race day!
