GNS

I had problems finding crew for the last GNS race.  Sylvie as always was keen but thought we were leaving at 11. The start of the first race was 11.

We motored WOT to the racecourse which was at the west end of the lake because McGill / ETS had a shark race on the east end of the lake.  We departed the dock at 10:30 and got to the racecourse just in time for the 11:05 start while shutting down the motor.  We did up to 7 knots over the water and did give some minimal time for Mr. Diesel to warm up and cool down.

Winds were very gusty with gusts lasting 10 minutes.  In our division were Jim, the new owner of Chaos, and Airway with a novice crew.  Airway did not to the proper course - basically bypassing the gybe mark.

Between the races, we rested in heave-to.  Winds picked up and we decided to reef the main.  So did Chaos.  But Chaos eventually shook out the reef because the winds declined.  We missed the second start because we were too far and not paying attention.

I kept the reef on since we could not win trying to catch up but maybe we could win if Chaos made a mistake without a reef.

We messed up and the windward mark caused us to tack and then messed up the tack.  

Sylvie steered and I handled the sheets.  Very tiring.  Sylvie did not show her big trademark smile as much as she normally does.

We came back to the club for lunch. Met Jim of Chaos at the club and he says he apparently did not sail the proper course, skipping the gybe mark.

We came in first as we were the only Royal to finish.

I lingered around cleaning the dinghy and doing an oil change, emptying the locker into the car.

At 7:30, I had the urge to go out but it was too late and I was too tired.  So I wrote this blog