I believe I mentioned that dinghy race #3 did not go so well? Yes, I did.
As suggested by the photo I chose to illustrate "Dark Spots", I was the rear. In every single race. In fact this time I didn't even make it around the same number of marks as everyone else - I was SO far behind in the 2nd to last race that the committee told me they were calling me finished as I was passing them on my way to the last turning of the leeward mark, so that we could get on with things.
I do still plan to do a "Bright Spots" post, a la Tillerman, but in the meantime, I'd written a comment that struck me as a nice concise description of why I did so badly & I figured I'd toss it up as a quick lunchtime post:
I'm just not as experienced as the rest of the sailors who were out that day - I can have a blast in 10-15 kts if it's steady; Sunday was very gusty & shifty & I still get a bit flummoxed in those conditions - not good enough to respond instinctively to rapid changes, I have to think everything through & then try to do what I've thought about & by the time I finish doing whatever it is the wind has shifted 3 more times & then I look around to see where the mark has gotten to and...aw, shoot, how the heck did I end up all the way over here???
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BTW, the handsome Appaloosa rump I picked to illustrate this post (one of several wonderful photos of a Nez Perce memorial ceremony I found at nps.gov) really makes me wonder why it was that we humans picked the horse's rump as the one we would specify when we want to be particularly derogatory. A healthy horse's rear is a lot nicer to look at than an awful lot of human ones.
5 comments:
If you do good, it is no longer a challenge.
Bonnie like challenges:-)
He's right, of course. That's why I decided to do as many of the October races as I could - because I want to be better at sailing & the best way to get better at sailing is to go out & sail in conditions in which I don't sail well at all.
You know, if you hadn't been trying to race, you probably would have thought it was a thoroughly successful day, with only bright spots.
Why do so many people race sailboats when the eventual result is to turn a perfectly good day of sailing into one filled with angst and disappointment? Racing turns brother against brother, sister against sister, brother against sister, second cousin against nephew, well, you get the idea.
Just saying.
Um....because it's good for you, like inoculations & cod liver oil? Right? :D
ODOCKER has a good point. After racing Moonstruck (76 O"day 23)for 15 years. I have officially retired from racing. Now I am back to sailing for the pure joy of it.I dont need mylar sails or all the electronic wizzbangs. Watching the telltals and feelling the wind on your cheek does the trick.
Dennis G
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