Sunday was one of those classic Indian Summer days. Seth & I had the fortunate experience of some one design racing on an Etchells with Greg Geiger. We arrived at the Milford Yacht Club a bit before ten to assist with the launching of the five Etchells. Following the launching, Greg and I took the Grady-White out to set marks while Seth made the run to the deli for our sandwiches. We were last to leave the dock shortly after noon, due to Greg 's additional responsibilities as the one-man race committee.
The start was just west of Welsh Point with the windward mark offshore of Charles Island about 1.5 miles at 240 degrees, both races W/L with downwind finishes. We got off two races, the first with winds into the mid to high-teens and the second low to mid-teens. We trailed Bruce Kuryla across the line and worked our way upwind. At the layline, I took over driving for the rest of the day, & Greg switched to middle as Seth set the pole. Soon as the chute was up Seth took over the trim and Greg began all the downwind mods; and folks think SeTherin has a lot of strings!!! The second lap was similar to the first, allowing Seth & I to become more comfortable with the boat.
We started the second race with the wind still at 240, now diminished to the low & mid-teens. We got squezzed out at the starboard end, bailed out and crossed the line last. After Greg made some tension changes to the shrouds we were soon out pointing the fleet, arriving to the windward mark second. We had a good set with a couple of jibes on the downwind and a smooth douse. We rounded the leeward mark and held on in a header, tacked and laid the windward mark. Something in the outhaul control failed to work properly, giving us a load of helm, slowing us and tiring my arm a bit by the time with got to the layline. Not properly set up for a jibe-set, we set and threw in an immediate jibe to port, though still could not catch Promise, (Greg's older #11Etchelles) and finished second. All in all we were pleased with our efforts- a third and a second for the afternoon.
Thanks to Greg for the opportunity and a great time! Hope we can do it again.
Milford-LIS: Etchells Fleet 30 Link to Milford Yacht Club