2008 Race Re-cap

We managed to get the boat in the water in June 2008, so the summer was spent enjoying the fruits of our labor. Jordan and I lived on the boat from June until October, but that didn't stop us from cruising and racing during every spare moment we had.

We started off with the Thirsty Thursday series put on by the Oak Harbor Yacht Club. It was a few months of relaxed racing that provided the introduction to skippering a boat that I needed. We had a good time learning the ropes and getting our crew experienced. Joe Flowers proved to be a valuable resource in getting Matt Lytle, Stuart Lytle, and me up to speed. We had some good laughs and made some serious progress.

We continued to race in everything offered in Penn Cove/Oak Harbor vacinity. I had Joe and Kevin from Shenanigans on the boat for the OH/Milltown challenge. There weren't many boats from Milltown, but we had a good time in the variable winds. We (Bob Miles - WINSA) kept the trophy in Oak Harbor for another year, so everyone went home happy.

The Saratoga Sprint was anything but a sprint. It took us 30 minutes just to cross the starting line the winds were so light. Jordan had come up with a clever design for our new Rock Lobster team shirts, however, we chose black T-shirts and found out it was not such a good idea for the summer racing. We fried like bacon, but eventually caught enough wind to finish 3rd in the race. The crew consisted of Stuart, Matt, Luke, and myself. This is pretty much the point where Stuart took over as sail trimmer/grinder/tactician for the boat. It's the one position other than skipper that hasn't changed since.

The fall series put on by WINSA gave us another opportunity to sharpen our skills. We had some boats that were campaigning hard all summer and were also participants in Whidbey Island Race Week. Slingshot, Lucky Jim, and Magic Juan proved to be too much to handle for this crew of newbies. We gave 'em hell and went down swinging, but ended up in fourth place. The series was broken up into "Race" and "Corinthian" groups, and I am proud to say our performance around the buoys kept us in the "race" group even though it was our first year on the water.

I realize the detail is not here, but I wanted to give some basis of what we are currently building on. It was an amazing summer/fall and I feel so fortunate to have the boat in the water and the crew to come out and play.