Monday Night Race April 8th 2025
Faced with temperatures in the low 40’s, an occasional drizzle and decent breeze 
I decided to keep the sailors close to the school. We went short course windward – leeward racing between Horn Point and 2E into a fairly steady north west breeze. Four boats braved the conditions and we got five races in.
I decided to keep the sailors close to the school. We went short course windward – leeward racing between Horn Point and 2E into a fairly steady north west breeze. Four boats braved the conditions and we got five races in.The three takeaways tonight:
Play the shifts. Stay on the lifted tack. If you are sailing close-hauled, and the wind shifts, and you have to turn further from the windward mark to keep your sails full, then the other tack is going to be pointed closer to the windward mark. Generally, this means you should tack.
Start on time. With the short course it was imperative to have a good start. If you spot another boat 45 seconds in a 12 – 15 minute race it will be hard to make up. So get to the line on time, be a little early even and kill time by luffing up or running down the line.
Race Clean and if you don’t Do your penalty turns. With the short race penalties put you behind without much racetrack to pass boats back. Hitting a mark or fouling another boat are race killers. In response, some skippers choose to “forget” to do their penalty turns. First of all, you need to do your spin as soon as possible after the foul or mark rounding. There should be no “forgetting”. Get clear of the other boats and do your spin. Secondly, do your spin. We only require a 360 for all fouls, it is not that big of a deal. It is not fair to the boats that are sailing penalty free that you haven’t done you spin and you are still taking their wind and in their way.
Here are the pictures:
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