23 Seconds

On Saturday I competed in the Stratford Shoals race, sailing double-handed with Todd on his J/92 Thin Man. It's a 45 mile race, with a long delivery at either end to get the boat to the starting area from City Island. I'd been feeling under the weather all week so I was definitely not at full strength when we met at the boat Saturday morning.

Fortunately the adrenaline kicked in, and we knew we had a great boat and all the tools to win the race. After a close study of current models and wind conditions, we made the choice to head to the Long Island side of the Sound. It looked like about 60% of the fleet agreed with us, and the rest headed for Connecticut. We ran down the Sound in 6 to 9 kts of breeze with the jumbo kite up, holding our ground well against the larger boats that started 5 minutes behind us. But as we converged on Stratford Shoals, the Connecticut guys had come out way ahead.

Once we rounded the mark, it was a rhumbline close-hauled/close-reach course to the finish. We kept the boat going as fast as we could, finishing after 10 pm and hoping for the best. Results were posted on Sunday, and we took 2nd place in the double-handed division, only 23 seconds behind an Olson 30! Great news, all things considered, but it's tough to lose by such a slim margin. Thanks to thinmansailing.net for the chartplotter screenshot - click the link for a Todd's race report.

I was back in Brooklyn by 0200 on Sunday, then off to Norwalk at 0830 for a Sabre showing, followed by a daysail with a client and his family on their Mason 44. What a weekend!

The Right People in the Right Boat

While we seem to be in the middle of monsoon season here, I was able to spend a very career-affirming and sunny day sailing with clients on Friday. I was up at 0530 to drive out to Long Island - in this case WAY out. The first stop was Orient Harbor on the North Fork, where my clients were just getting to know their brand-new Alerion Express 28. The goal was to go for a sail and make sure they're getting the most out of the boat, and also troubleshoot a few minor post-commissioning issues (a wayward lazyjack, among others).

It was calm and foggy when I arrived, but by the time we dropped the mooring we had sunny skies and a perfect 7-12 kt breeze. It was obvious that the boat has been a great addition to the family; everyone was smiling, and with 7 of us aboard - 3 adults and 4 kids - we never felt cramped. It was fantastic to know that I had put the right people in the right boat. After an hour or so of sailing around Orient Harbor (an ideal venue for the AE28) and going over the fine points of sail trim, we practiced picking up the mooring under sail and then headed in.

My next stop was Sag Harbor - two short ferry rides and a culture shift away. This time I was meeting a happy new J/105 owner and his 9 year old son. Again, after a month or so with the boat the client was SO enthusiastic about it. Clearly all his expectations were met and he was having a great time. The breeze was getting lighter but we worked our way upwind along the east side of North Haven. The one thing he hadn't done on the boat yet was fly the spinnaker, so we popped that up (with just the three of us!) and scooted back downwind in about 7 kts of breeze. After a near-perfect douse we went back to the mooring and I reluctantly drove back to Brooklyn.

It was a great day, and seeing how happy my clients were with their new boats was extremely satisfying. Sorry there are no pictures - I was having too much fun.