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The wind looked pretty good one hour before the
start with some white caps at Crissy Fields. The wind dropped so I went out on a 8.6 thirty
minutes before the start, the wind was reasonable at that point for that size
sail. My first start was pretty good, I was first at the first gybe mark. The second reach was really broad and he wind
was light at that spot so the Formula boards overtook me. I was struggling to plane
on the reach number 3 so I decided to abandon that race to go back to the beach
and rig up the Formula Board. The course was modified after the first race so
we had a short break. The wind picked up a bit for the second race so I decided
to go back out on my slalom board. The wind was to light still and the Formula
boards were faster on race number 2. So I decided to switch to the Formula
board for the next race. That proved to be the right decision, so I got a few
first places with the formula board. It was pretty close with the Slalom
boards, being faster on the tighter reaches. I had a good battle with Jason
Voss all the way to the finish. I jibed the H mark a little bit too tight and
the tip of my sail clipped the infamous nails at the top. It ripped instantly
the second panel from the top. I did one more race with that sail, and I
decided to change down for the next race. The next size down was the 8.6 on the
Formula board, it was a bit small for the broad reaches but it was easy to
handle around the jibes. I used this combo to good effect by winning the last
race.
I wasn't sure who was going to win this last
event of the Crissy Fields Slalom Series, since several of us had won some
races. In the end I did enough to squeeze ahead of Chris Radkowiski and Steve
Bodner.
Jean Rathle, Soheil and Steve Bodner for the award ceremony, not only I won the last event of the series but they awarded me the Bill Weir Perpetual Trophy.
I never met Bill Weir since I arrived in America in
2010 and Bill sadly passed away in 2009. Jean Rathle said that Bill was extremely
competitive in both Slalom and course racing. He loved sailing at Crissy Fields
so I can definitely identify myself to him. I was honored to have his children,
Logan and Sophie present at the award ceremony to give the trophy in the memory
of their father. It was great to see my name on the trophy alongside
Phil McGain and Wilhelm Schurmman.
A big thank you to Soheil, Steve and Jean to
bring back Slalom racing to Crissy Fields. Jean Rathle, Soheil and Steve Bodner for the award ceremony, not only I won the last event of the series but they awarded me the Bill Weir Perpetual Trophy.
I look forward to the next season.