SYSCO Spring Series Race 2

Another so so start.  The course was start-1-3-finish.  We walked the line a while on the start.  We started to turn back upstream thinking we were over the line, but the committee boat said I was clear.  We started back to starboard tack but lost a little speed in doing that.  We rounded the windward mark third with La Dolce Vita and Wildheart ahead of us.  

After the windward mark we stayed to the Oregon side to take advantage of the shallower water and weaker current.  We were followed by Blew Streak.  We were in clear air all the way around the finish mark.  We pulled down the pole, which was set to port, after the mark.  We set a beam reach toward the leeward mark.  The other two boats reached the mark before us, but had to take their poles down and come to a starboard tack.  They both had difficulties.   We thought we could duck under them after the mark and just come about to a starboard tack easily.  However, the mark caught our rudder and we became one with mark.

I called the committee boat to send Poncho to us to help free the mark.  About that time the Race committee announced a barge coming down stream at the 205 bridge.  We had a little time before it arrived.  Poncho was about half way to us when we realized we were dragging the mark.  We waved off Poncho and told him to become the mark.  Poncho told us they were becoming the mark and to get out of the channel because the barge was coming.  We tried to go to starboard, but the boat and mark would have nothing to do with that.  So we tried to go to port and the mark left us.  We headed for the finish line.  We had to get clear of any boat near us to do the 360 penalty turn, which we did.  We proceeded to finish the race.

Upon reviewing the race results, we were scored DNF, did no finish.  This is the time I would have loved to have a track of the race, which we did get the next race.

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