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| Vallejo Season Opener at Vallejo Yacht Club | May 1 - 2 |
| Story |
| From the eyes of Chimo....
Vallejo Race Recap We felt the pin end was favored as was the left side with a big port tack lift showing at the weather mark from the fleets in front of us. We fought hard for the pin end and won it except that Moxie was just above us and forward giving us some bad air. Too far forward as it turned out. They were over early and had to go back. Luckily they did it quickly and didn’t hurt us too much. The left side worked out well. We were a little late on our tack to port for the weather mark which gave Swamp Donkey just enough room to get inside us at the mark. We rounded together and they kept us from bearing away for a bit. I think their new crew, Hannah, was having trouble easing the Genoa. We both eventually bore away for Red Rock. They took a lower line towards the shallows and the Richmond docks while we elected to stay high in the channel with the dying flood. The fleet behind took the lower line as well. I was very worried about their progress with better wind and/or current. Our tactician (Derik Anderson) and cockpit man (Tim Gulley) “encouraged” me to stick with the plan as boats appeared to sail by us to leeward. Our patience paid off. As we approached Red Rock, we were the only boat high enough to have the choice of taking it to starboard. This turned out to be the key decision point of the race. We saw slightly better wind to the left of the rock with it continuing past the bridge so we went that way. As we came out from behind the rock and under the bridge, we realized that everyone on the other side was having trouble getting through. We sailed happily along headed towards Pt. Pinole extending our lead to about ½ a mile before the rest of the fleet made it into our little breeze. But from there, the breeze got even lighter. We covered the fleet along the shore for most of the way down with Swamp Donkey, Bobs and Moxie giving chase. Thanks to Mike Brennan, our bowman, for flawless jibes. Our lead fluctuated between 3/8 and ¼ of a mile as we made our way down to the gas dock. Swamp Donkey was making big ground cutting our lead to maybe 200 yards at the gas dock. A few boats in other fleets headed towards shore after the gas dock but it looked very light inside and they appeared to be heading away from the finish. We elected to cross the channel at this time and thankfully so did Swamp Donkey. Swamp Donkey and Hannah were right on our heels at the jibe (entrance) mark giving us lots of acid indigestion. They dove lower to the right as the wind ahead was dying on the left side. We dove lower to improve our wind and to stay in front of them but our lead continued to decrease. Again, thanks to Mike Brennan for a great call and perfect Genoa set and spin douse, even though the skipper screwed up the sheet release. Once the wind filled, Swamp Donkey came up above our stern and at one point overlapped with maybe 200 yards the finish. But from this point, we could control them by staying between them and the line. We crossed the line a few seconds ahead. It was a great race with an exciting finish. And congratulations to Hannah on her first race! |
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