J22 Worlds–Hello, Gold: Well, we’re in…barely. When this regatta started Team Wetass’s main goal was to try to get into the top half of the fleet, so we could get our butts kicked by the top J22 sailors in the world for two days (Thursday and Friday). The top 64 teams would be in the Gold fleet, and after 3 races on Day 1 we were in 57th place. Day 2 (yesterday) was light and shifty. The Race Committee got two races off and then had to abandon them as the wind shifted wildly, making a joke of te course they set. They finally got a third race off, and it was oh so painful. Wind very light, current ripping down the course, boats creeping along. These are the worst conditions to sail in, and anything can happen, so it’s a total crap shoot. We arrived at the first mark in decent shape (top third of boats) but then went the wrong way on the run and found ourselves sailing against a 2 knot current at the bottom mark. Since we were only going about 1.5 knots we never got there, and watched most of our fleet (which went upcurrent first) round and sail off. All we could do was sit near the leeward mark, drink beer and hope the 2-hour time limit for the race would run out before anyone finished. Out on the course, the conditions were so heinous and stressful you could hear the sound of heads exploding. The Race Committee refused to abandon the race, and so the abuse started up on the radio. “Race Committee, we have just been passed by four anchored boats,” was one helpful hint that a lot of the fleet wanted the race cancelled. Eventually, the time limit expired with the lead boats well away from the finish, and racing was abandoned for the day. Our first day position stood, and Team Wetass snuck into the Gold Fleet. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good…



We’re out there somewhere…

(Photo: Paul Parks)