2016 Opening Day, the Rise of Earv!

For the first racing date of the season, Saturday was spectacular! A cold spring has been the norm and water temps are very cold, but it turned out sunny, sort of warm and a perfect day to brush off the cobwebs and go sailing.

Sunny, flat water, winds from the ESE at 4-8 knots. Pretty nice, no holes in the wind, very consistent pressure, fairly large oscillations, not very puffy.

3 races were sailed. 3 Good races. There was lots of passing in all three races and I think each boat led in 2 out of three races at one point and the boat were never separated by more than a few boat lengths.

I am biased but the big news was the emergence of Earv. 10 year old Jenna Princing sailed the foredeck on Evil Dr. Pork Chop, by herself, for the first time! She did awesome! Not quite strong enough for much air, she was able to muscle the pole around to complete sets, jibes and douses, by herself up on the foredeck. It was really great to see a youngster making strides in sailing, in our fleet at our club. Not only are we as parents proud, her sense of accomplishments was sky high!

Also good to see the team on The Other White Meat making strides, getting better and faster. Julie and Terry sailing with JB on Pigs in Space brings that team some consistency and I think both of these boats will win their share of races this year.

While it was a cool spring, it was important to get out there sailing. These teams now have an edge on the rest of the fleet and have shaken off some of the rust.

1) Evil Dr. Pork Chop 1, 1, 1 3pts
2) The Other White Meat 2, 2, 2 6 pts
3) Pigs in Space 3, 3, 3, 9 pts
4) Hog Tide 4, 4, 4 12
5) This little Piggy 4, 4, 4 12
6) Jambon de Vie 4, 4, 4 12
7) Pork Bellies 4, 4, 4 12
8) Pygmalion 4, 4, 4 12
9) Squealer 4, 4, 4 12
10) Pig Dirty 4, 4, 4 12

Next up is the try a J/22 sailing day. As of Saturday, we did not have anyone signed up. Pretty early for most people, but I would request 2 boats in the water by 11am on Saturday and we will play it by ear.  We have: USA 695, USA 121, USA 275 all volunteered and USA 1552 can also be used if we need another boat.

Boats that have not sailed yet, this might be a good chance to get your crew together, set up the boat and go practice. There will be people around for advice and training if needed.

Our next race date is June 4, 2016. Noon start. Both USA 1552 and USA 275 will be unable to make this date. So buoys:

Start USA 121 and starting mark
Weather mark USA 454
Start mark USA 838
Buoys are in USA 1552 and USA 275

After this date, we do not sail again as a fleet until July 2, 2016. So you might want to get out there and sail. As always, J/22’s can race in the PHRF deals at TBYC, see the club website for schedule.