The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Results

Today, Sunday, there two races as usual. This time I was early, to make sure I rigged the Laser properly. I went out for the first race and I managed to mess up the start. On my last tack before crossing the start line I managed to get in-irons. By the time I started moving again, picked up speed and crossed the line I was 30 seconds late. The rest of the race didn’t go that well either, so I decided not to finish, because I got frustrated and I wanted to have more time to relax before the second race.

At the second race I had a better start. I was racing most of the time with another Laser and although he was more experienced, he was making more mistakes than I did. Whenever he would make something wrong I would overtake him. Whenever I would something wrong he would overtake me. I wish I could say that when he wasn’t doing something wrong he would overtake me because I am heavier, but that wouldn’t be the whole truth. I know for sure that towards the end I was definitely doing something wrong and I slowed I was left behind quite a lot. I know that he didn’t have he sail right either but because he is lighter it didn’t affect him that much. The point is that I was doing something wrong. My aim is to win because I am good, not because the others aren’t. Well, this time I didn’t win anyway, but I wasn’t the last of all the boats like last time either. I was one before last! That’s a progress, isn’t it?

So a bad and a good result. Not an ugly one yet. We’ll see how it goes.

At the end of the race I checked the hull of the Laser because last Wednesday I thought it was leaking but it seems that is not as bad as I thought. Initially I thought there was a hole in the hull and water was getting in from there but now I think is getting in from the self-bailer. Someone with more experience should have a look at it. We have three new members at the club and only one of them owns a boat. The other two will want to use club Lasers. This means that soon we might have to start fighting over boats. The club has only 3 Lasers, so one for each one of us. If one more member wants a Laser, we’ll have a problem. I would like to get my own boat, but at the moment I cannot afford one. We’ll see how it goes.

More action on Wednesday. Hopefully this time I’ll manage to leave the office in time.