Hyannis pre-pre-worlds
September 19-21

Race 1 - Friday morning

Friday the fleet sailed out into fog which delayed the start of racing. Once it cleared, the RC got off the first race in a light marginal trapezing breeze. Ethan Bixby/Ali Meller and Tyler Moore/Scott Ikle were going well in the conditions, leading at the weather mark and continuing to pull away from the rest of the fleet. The breeze built for the second triangle of the race, but at the last gybe mark the leaders were informed that the race was over. Both teams were sailing a Worlds course while the RC had set an Olympic course. Moore/Ikle had sailed through the finish line without realizing they had finished - the RC did not fire a gun or blow a horn- and had continued while Bixby/Meller had not sailed through the line at all. DNF for Bixby/Meller and 1st place for Moore/Ikle.

Race 2

The breeze stayed up for the second race, which was a full trapezing and depowering breeze for Bixby/Meller (160 lbs. each), and probably marginal trapezing for everyone else. Gating late paid and Jonathan Phillips/Les Crane led at the weather mark in a tight pack. Moore/Ikle who had gated early were able to get by them on the first reach as the fleet realized they were high of the gybe mark. The second reach was quite tight and many teams two sailed it. At the leeward mark it was Moore/Ikle, Phillips/Crane, Ken Elliott/Allen Kilgore, Bixby/Meller, and Tim Collins/Bill Smith (racing their newly acquired Kulmar for the first time). Bixby/Meller were able to leebow Elliott/Kilgore on the starboard tack layline, but the fleet had closed up as the leaders had overstood due to current. However, the top three positions held to the finish. Fowler/Dyson tore their spinnaker, retired from the race, and sailed in to get another. They returned just as.....

An attempt at a third race was abandoned as the fog filled in. Part of the fleet tried to beat the fog in, while the more conservative members chose to follow the RC in. Some of the former group found the Hyannis Yacht Club without problem, while others had some interesting adventures on the way in. Barry Kuehl/Frank Thomson were found on a beach a couple of miles from the club and towed back, while Ken Elliott/Alan Kilgore finally arrived back at the HYC several hours after everyone else, after exploring Hyannisport (one Bay over), and going ashore to ask for directions.... And get this! They were the pathfinder!

Race 3 - Saturday morning

It was colder and rather windier Saturday morning - the RC reported 26 knots with higher. A larger fleet (some teams could not race Friday, but arrived Saturday morning) went out for the start. The racecourse was close to shore in shallow water - not where the worlds will be raced - and the waves were short and steep. Neal Fowler/Dave Dyson led at the windward mark, and blasted down the first reach with the kite up. The remainder of the pack held off as they could not see the mark. When the mark was found, it was considerably higher than Fowler/Dyson were able to sail, though they were able to drop the kite and close reach back up to the mark, only losing one boat. Moore/Ikle led at the gybe mark with Fowler/Dyson in second and a very light, very fast Bixby/Meller team in third after passing four boats on the first reach. Bixby/Meller went through Fowler/Dyson to leeward on the second reach, but Fowler/Dyson quickly regained second place up the next beat. Moore/Ikle only just led at the windward mark, and gybe set to head towards shore, while Fowler/Dyson and Bixby/Meller did bear away sets and headed for the other corner. At the leeward mark, Moore/Ikle were down to third. Fowler/Dyson easily held on for the short beat to the finish, while Bixby/Meller blew a tack and let Moore/Ikle power through into second. Barry Kuehl/Frank Thomson were one of the fastest boats upwind in this race, nearly leading at the weather mark, but lost some ground on the reaches.

Several teams were casualties, as there was not enough water depth for masts.

Race 4

No one tried to carry kites on the reaches in this race, but the boats were very fast two sail reaching, with numerous place changes on the two reaches. Phillips/Crane led early, but were down to third at the leeward mark. A capsize down the run took them out of the top spots. Moore/Ikle won.

The fog re-appeared cancelling racing for the day after two races. When the casualties were tallied, there were 5 broken masts, I believe all were due to turning turtle in the shallow water.

Sunday

Sunday was colder and may have been windier. The fleet rigged up and lined up on the beach, with Kivney/Johnson being the first to launch and blast off. However, the RC sent them in to wait, and then a little while later cancelled for the day due to the conditions. This ended the series at four races rather than the scheduled eight, and meant that all four races would count. A number of teams that had been hoping for a throwout were forced to count bad races, pulling them down, while consistency paid off for Moore/Ikle, who won three of four races.

Results

Ali

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