20 April 2013
The event didn't start very well for me with a late night at work until
11:30pm on Friday. Wake up call at 6am on Saturday morning was a bit tough and to make
matters worse I realized I had left my 490 mast at home half way up to San Francisco. Luckily Chris Radkowski lent
me a new 490 mast. However my 9.0 which
dates back to 2008 did not seem to fit well on the 2012 mast.
The sail didn't have as much shape as usual in the foot. The first race was
a disaster. I was struggling to make it to the start line at low tide in the
mud. I had to sail backwards about half
mile with my weight on the nose of the board to keep the fin clear of the mud.
So I was late for several minutes at the first race. I returned the board a bit
for the second race. The second race was better in the sense that I was on time
at the start. However my speed up wind was no match for that of Al Mirel. I
finished second on that race. During the
Third race I managed to stay closer to
Al Mirel for the upwind leg. I had more speed downwind and managed to take the
lead. Unfortunately I hit what one felt like a plastic bag. Later on we found
out that there was a shoal of fish in the area. At that point I swore quite a
lot as I saw all chances of winning the regatta slip away. During the 4th race I had good speed upwind and I
managed to round the upwind mark in first position. I won that race with a good
lead. During the 5th race my angle upwind was not so good. But I had good speed
downwind. I caught up at the last gybe before the finish line, by then Myself
and Al Mirel were neck to neck. Both of us struggled with the last gybe. Al
had a cramp in his forearm and fell in. I managed to stay up and finish in
first. The organization of Berkeley Yacht Club was very good. Our usual race
officer Anders Petersson was present supporting the event. It is great to see
that the Calcup is in good hands. It was nice to have a drink with everybody at
Berkeley Yacht Club after the regatta.
See you at the next one.