The fifth annual Fagawie went of without a hitch. Beautiful moon with just enough clouds to make it interesting. Five boats rafted up prior to the race and shared a potluck dinner. The start was very light windsa and I was 3 minutes late getting to the line...after a sail change to the new drifter I took off and had caught up with the fleet at the first mark. From 2 to 4 I was feeling good about my choice of sails but by the time I rounded 5 it was building to the limit of it's rating. After the downwind run back to 2 I decided it was way too much and doused sails to return to the marina and pick up Joe Aiello and Tom. For whatever reason they didn't show so I changed into long pants, reefed the main a put up the jib.
Good choice! The rest of ther night went fast! Strong winds and a beautiful night. Every once in awhile a cold breeze would come thru followed by a warm one. I chased Bruce Budy for about two hours before finally catching him at mark 5. It was perfect, I ran south as far as I could when he decided to tack to the mark, he ended up tacking three times and I only tacked once. When we got to the mark he was going slow and pinching and I was on a beam reach and hauling. As he rounded I cut inside and blew by. Bruce called, "out well done!" and we raced back to 2. Later he passes me on a reach but I coasted by at the finish...so I won before the handicap which was of course reversed by the PHRF. The real winner was Joe and Denise Chinburg who really raced well and didn't miss a stroke. We celebrated after the race with a breakfast at IHOP.
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