19th May
The course this time had 2 reaches at the top of the downwind leg. As the wind was already in the high teens at 12:30 I decided to go for the 9.0. As soon as I made it out I realised it was the right decision. I was comfortably powered up on a 9.0. The reaches at the top were good fun. I could jibe easily with the 9.0. The 167 wide was really quick on the reaches.The recesses on the deck at the back make it easy to rail the board, so it flies on the fin. In the fourth race I didn't have a very good start. I was late by several seconds, I had to dive down to get some clean air below the whole fleet. By the time we reached the starboard lay line towards the top of the beat we were all together in a tight bunch. Even though the wind had dropped a bit at that point, the small sail was an advantage to do some quick tacks. I managed to come out in second place at the windward mark. The wind dropped quite light in the last race, maybe 10 to 12 knots. My start was OK, but not the best. I think the 167 wide is a real weapon in light winds. Despite the small sail I had a better angle than the rest of the fleet. I sailed a bit too far to the left and got stuck in a lull. when I tacked on port I saw Chris Radkovsky and Eric Christianson had tacked early. They were flying in stronger winds in the right hand side of the course. I rounded the mark in 3rd place behind them. However the 167 wide was really flying even in light winds with the small sail. I caught up with Eric on the second reach and Radkovsky on the downwind leg. In the end I won that race with a good lead. I must thank Steve Sylvester for teaching me to make the small kit work! You can check some pictures of the action and results on the link below:
http://www.calcupevents.com/