Bissell Racing

 The Snipe PreWorlds began today and the weather was perfect for sailing.  It was the type of breeze where you are only kind of hiking out.  It was sunny, about 73 degrees, but the water temp was about 60 degrees, so a little chilly.   There were three races and we didn’t start the first race until 2:30pm.  We went out with our Medium Air setting, but ended up tuning down to our Light Air setting for the third race. 

We felt pretty fast in the first race.  We did exactly what are coach suggested; started near the committee boat and tacked right away.  There seemed to be a persistant right hand shift all day, but we were the first to nail it.  We rounded the first winward mark in 1st.  While sailing down the first reach leg of the Olympic Course, I told Danny that I have a serious superstition about winning races in the PreWorlds.  I never like to waste a bullet in a race that doesn’t matter.  But, the conversation soon shifted to the reach mark and the ensuing jibe.  Danny joked that our first jibe in Portugal was going to be around the jibe mark in the first race.  I think we psyched ourselves out because we completely botched the jibe.  There was a good deal of current sweeping us downwind into the mark and I misjudged the turn.  By the time we got sorted out, the 2nd place boat jumped into the high road and passed us.  We finished the race in 3rd and we were happy knowing that we will have a bunch of days to get our boathandling down. 

The next race we were sitting in about 5th place on the final beat and decided to experiment by going left to see if we could make it work.  Well, we lost 7 boats and ended up 12th.  The left doesn’t work, but this regatta is the good time to find out. 

The last race of the day we started a little bit down from the committe boat planning on tacking as soon as possible after the start.  We looked over our shoulder and thought we could cross a few boats on our hip so I sent it.  We botched the tack and only crossed 2 of the three boats, the third boat had to avoid us and started screaming at us in Portuguese.  So we spun a 720 (which made us the only boat all day that took penalty turns and I know from first-hand experience that we weren’t the only boat to committ a foul).  The 720, 20 seconds after the starting gun put us in last place by about 50 yards.  By sailing smart and fast, we were able to climb all the way back to 11th. 

 We are currently in Sixth Place overall and close to the top 5.  Our only goal for this regatta is to get some good practice in, and try a few different tuning ideas.  So far, we are achieving the objective and having a good time in the process.  We have taken to placing bets with eachother.  Danny thinks he can run 20 mph.  I say no way, so we’re going to have a car pace him tomorrow.  I’ll keep you posted.  Thanks for tuning in!