First night of Wednesday night single handed; only three boats turned out.
6pm start, winds from south, 10 knots with gusts to 16 knots. Wind was to swing to the west. Reef main and #1.
Had a not great start, but with the other two. Autohelm quit before the start; you can hear the motor work, but doesn't go in or out, so a belt must have slipped off.
Had the boat moving well upwind, close to 5 knots, Thought about shaking the reef out on the downwind legs, but was doing close to 6 knots most of the time.
Had the starboard winch jam again on the final leg; sorry I gave Rita a hard time on Sunday. On this tack, you have to pull up on the sheet to keep it from jamming!
As I was approaching the finish, there was a fishing boat that went between me and the finishing mark 9 (about three boat lengths). I had to delay my tack to the finsh to avoid him. Friggin Ignorant asshole! I made sure I let him know it!
Finished last, but 10 minutes behind the Express 30.
After the race, it was starting to rain, and wind had swung around from the North at 25+ knots (squall gusts). Since the autohelm had stopped working, it was VERY difficult to get the #1 down. Kept on rounding up. Hove to and go the genoa down and bungied to the deck. Race back as fast as I could under main and motor. Max speed registered on the GPS was 8.7 knots!
Got in back before the rain came, and got the main away, and tried to fold the #1 on the dock, but the wind kept pushing into the water. I quickly folded it as best I could, and took it to the pub in the clubhouse. Dale and I folded it properly later upstairs.
Trip Odometer: 8.7 miles
Moving Avg: 4.5 knots
Moving Time: 01:55:04
Google Earth track: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12535935/Still%20Time/20110914.kmz
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