Elise : 2015

Saturday, December 19, 2015

Berkeley Midwinters

Caitlin, Scott, Nathan, Nat and a last minute Aussie addition (and fabulous sailor) sailed in the Berkeley midwinters.

Photo Latitude / Chris
© 2015 Latitude 38 Publishing, LLC

It was a fabulous day overall - and I was so happy to be back on the water racing.

We had a great start. The line was at an odd angle and you could only cross it at a very tight angle to the wind or on port tack. We owned the line and crossed it with speed. The boats below us had trouble accelerating as their angle was too tight so we walked over them. We also had clean air because the boat on the higher end decided to tack instead as it would be a shorter time to crossing that way. However it seriously reduced their speed at the line.

Like many winter races, we had no wind in the morning and we set out under engine, towing Peaches some of the way. Photo by Nathan Bossett

Most other photos either by Nat or Caitlin.

On the way back, Peaches returned the favor, helped by their protector.

I was so happy to see Scott again - the best foredeck person I have ever sailed with and also the best crew coach. He also had a couple of light air sailing advice which I adopted and it made us go faster.

Nay, we were not that fast most of the day... Although this is what 9 knots of boat speed looks like on Elise.

Waiting for the start (and the rain), Scott lost in thoughts

How I love the winter lighting

Photo by Nathan Bossett - before the start and before the wind picked up.

After the windward mark rounding, we trimmed the kite well, and dropped it at the very last minute at the leeward mark rounding where we picked up three boats.