67th Annual Island Race - Ram Island Yacht Club
Crew: Brian, Seth, Bob & RW
Winds: ESE 9.5 kts, peak gust 15
Weather: Few clouds morning, clear by noon, 75 F, 30.32
Current: ebb - 0630 North Hill, flood - 1350 Race Point, 1300 Napatree
Start time: 1020
Start/Finish: Groton Long Point / Ram Island
Course: counter-clockwise Fishers Island; Distance: approximately 14.5 nm
Our strategy was to minimize exposure to adverse current and maximize the effects of favorable current, which we accomplished very well. I misjudged the current at the start, and with the pole already up, could not head up enough to avoid the push over the line. So we lost a minute or more returning for our restart.
After the set we had a good spinnaker reach well west of the fleet towards Race Point and switched to the genoa halfway past Silver Eel. Stubbornly running the spinnaker maybe longer than we should and now a bit wide of the buoy and unable to cut Race Point as close as I had hoped, we ended up in more chop than I had planned.
We rode the current out fifteen minutes or so past abeam Wilderness where we took a starboard hitch towards shore and at the nexus of smoother water / less wind, then port tacked out to the layline.
At Lords, we bore off, set the pole, hoisted at C7 and continued on starboard well inboard of Latimer’s then jibed to port for the finish.
SeTherin - First in Class, First Overall Corrected Time