Tuesday, July 30, 2013

classes

Mike and I catching a moment to chat.
Last week we finished up our intermediate sailing class, which included four 2-hour sessions. It was both a fun and frustrating experience. Fun, because we were out sailing and we couldn't make schedule excuses not to get out to the lake. Frustrating, because we had some near-dead wind nights, and then we also had 6 people in the group at very different skill levels.

Our instructors are good people, but they do not always communicate well, which gets really frustrating. On top of that, I spent most of my time on the water trying to avoid other class members, but there were still collisions. A couple members seemed to forget what that the rudder is the steering wheel, and so when I would call out "I'm starboard, turn X!" they would keep the rudder dead center and then scream that they couldn't turn. But they could. So, I'd have to abort, and usually at that point there was only one way to go, and it would put me in irons.

We also had a chance to sail some Lasers in one of the lessons. Very different feel from the Sunfish and much tippier. I didn't tip, but I came close a few times. I'm not sure if I'm a fan yet, but Mike's interested in getting one down the road. We might take a Force 5 out before the season's done.

The best lesson was probably the last, because we were on the edge of a storm cell, so the wind was kicked up and steady across the lake, with some odd lulls and puffs here and there. We took long reaches across the entire lake, and I'm apparently fast. I'll loose a race on my tacks (I tend to overshoot or overcompensate and undershoot), but apparently I'm good about finding the right puffs at the right time. Our instructors told us that I don't look like I'm going fast, but then if they compare me to the other boats, I'm scooting along. Mike looks like he's sailing fast, apparently, but he couldn't catch me Thursday.

Hopefully we'll get out this week or weekend with Woody, and hopefully we'll get Blue and the second deck on the trailer before the season's up. It'd be fun to race our two boats, though the question is: Who gets the new, crispy sail?

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