Mystic River Fall Regatta

Mystic River Fall Regatta Saturday 092405 Wind: NE to SE 4 to 12 knots Current: flood 1005 Course1: 060 at 1.5 nm (2 laps), distance 6 nm Course2: 150 at 1 nm (2 laps), distance: 4 nm Crew - Brian, Seth, Megan & RW 7th place With winds in the mid-teens during the motor out towards the starting area, we semi-prepared for a heavy air day. I had my doubts though, as we were in the southeast sector of a high to our northeast predicted to move overhead by mid-day.

There were two races back to back, two laps each, the first- six miles, the second- four miles. By the time our class started for the first race the wind was down to eight-knots, and we had good start about a quarter of the way down the line. The wind was left & right all over the northeast quadrant, up & down tantalizing with occassional bursts of 12 kts, though between 8 to 4 for the most part. During the first race, wouldn’t you know it, on both laps we had only four knots if that, while trying to round the windward mark against the current. That’s when horsepower helps, something we are quite short of compared to our competition. A quarter of the distance down to finish on the last lap, the RC requested of us a last place finish so they could reposition for the second race with minimum delay.

For the second race, they positioned the start just east of Seaflower and set drop marks out to the southeast, placing the windward legs directly into the current. We felt conditions warranted sailing out on port (the un-favored tack) clear the deeper portion of the channel. This set us up on starboard along the shallower water of the shore along North Dumpling for a current reduction. I did not want to get too close to the island for fear losing what little wind we had. We felt we may have over-stood a bit but I fought the temptation of bearing off for the mark too soon. All in all I believe staying high paid off so we adopted a similar strategy for the second lap to a windward mark now located even farther to the south.

Sixth out of eight in the second race combined with the last place gave us seventh for the day. We were less than one-second of overtaking Legacy for fifth in the second race. It was a beautiful day and we had a good time at the party later. Now it is time to start thinking about getting the boat out of the water and back home in the backyard. The weather is changing rapidly.

Race 1 Chart

Race 2 Chart

Link to Results

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