Spring 5 & 6 May 19

May 19 was a glorious day. We had sun, wind and blue skies. We had 4 boats. The only thing lacking was more boats.

The beach committee was on station by 10:15 and the start mark was in place.

Contrails, Endeavor, Sharyn Leigh and Aireeze came out to race.

The countdown to the start began at 10:55 and the boats began their maneuvers to the start.

The wind was from the Southwest and the course was set for marks to port, HI, to east mark to finish. Due to the chance of storms around 2pm, the course was kept short with only once around the marks.

The first race saw a clean start with Contrails peeling Sharyn Leigh off at the start mark, forcing them to have to come back around to start.

While the boats rounded the marks, the beach committee enjoyed a lovely brunch on the beach and great conversation. The boats made quick work of race 1 with everyone finished within an hour. Sharyn Leigh was looking good with nice sailing handling and nicely cut new to her sails.

Race 1 turned into a match race between Contrails and Endurance. The finish was photo finish worthy with Contrails beating Endurance by 1 second or less.

Race 2 began at 12:20. Contrails being a nimble boat were doing their normal maneuvers at the starting line, weaving in and out and watching the clock.

Sharyn Leigh came charging to the line but was early, attempted to slow down by luffing their sails. Unfortunately, they were too early and too close to the swim area and the dreaded sandbar shallow water. The beach committee could see what was about to happen and it wasn’t going to be good. There is a large sandbar running along the east side of the swim area. It was clear as day from the beach side but not from Sharyn Leigh. She drifted into the sandbar and came to a stop. The Beach Committee watched as the crew luffed the sails with the hope that they would float off the sandbar. When that didn’t work, the sails were put away and the crew went to the bow of the boat to shift weight. When that didn’t work, the engine came on and after a few minutes of power motoring, the boat bounced into deeper water. The start of Race 2 was at low tide, which did not help the situation in any way.

The races finished before any storms appeared. The beach committee enjoyed the day and managed to not get sunburned.

The after-race party was held at Cindy Goodrich and Jamie Cowan’s home in Deerfield Beach. Their home is a perfect location to have a party, enjoy the view of the intercoastal and on this evening, watch a storm roll through.

Thank you to the racers, the people who came out for the party and Cindy and Jamie for opening their home.

The beach committee was brought to you by our fearless Beach Committee chair David Burdett along with new member Denise Marchisotto, Rita Ertekin and Astrid Hunton.