Lake Erie Interclub - sailboat racing can be expensive!

I left off the last post at this point;

The last fleet (Storm Warning, Outlaw and Sledge Hammer) ready to start.

They are all across the line clean and Outlaw's spinnaker is up while Sledge Hammer's asymetrical sail has an "hourglass".

Storm Warning powers past even though their asymetrical sail isn't up yet.

Sledge Hammer's sail is full and pulling well.

Outlaw is away, Storm Warning still doesn't have their "A" sail up and Sledge Hammer is trying to pass them on the windward side (good race tactic as it will steal their wind).

But Sledge Hammer's "A" sail is huge and its getting water in the bottom which could pull the boat over so

They change direction slightly and slip by Storm Warning on the leeward side.

Sledge Hammer is on her way but Storm Warning has still not got the downwind sail up.

Its still not looking good.

Then its up and flying and looks like its going to be fine - whew!

But that sigh of relief was too soon, looks like it's ripped.

Yes that is definitely a ripped asymetrical sail - that will be expensive.

They took it down and then disappeared in the fog that was rolling in. I suspect that they put up their white downwind sail (we had seen it previously) but they had lost considerable time against their competitors.

Sailboat racing is expensive. That was a huge sail to get repaired or replaced. In past years I know there was a boom broken and a rudder in another. It is not unusual to hear of ripped sails, shredded spinnakers, broken blocks and other hardware. But the same boats keep coming back year after year, they must love the competition, camaraderie and just the event in general.

Dense fog for the ride home to Dover

We pulled up the anchor (with about 150lbs of clay that we had to knock off it) and were very thankful for the GPS and chartplotter on Unison to guide us back home. Looking forward to some relaxing after 3 tiring days on the water. Not as tired as the sailors who still have 2 more races in Buffalo after this one to Port Colborne.