Do you believe in magic?

Race night for Tsavo was another one of those come from behind miracles. This race was almost identical to the August 4 race except this time we had to settle for second – 4 seconds per mile behind Yes. We caught up and passed everyone but Yes at almost the exact same mark - the PCRC mark at Cedar Point. We got the same amount of rain dumped on us. The sky was the exact same color. The only thing different was an extremely high tide which after looking at the chart again was probably the only reason we didn’t run aground after we turned sharply at the mark. (If you look closely at the chart there is the symbol for a sunken ship off that point as well as submerged pilings – whew!) What does all this mean? Probably it means that we should never give up on ourselves. Or maybe that God has a plan for us but it’s hard to see with a spinnaker flying wildly or our focus on getting maximum speed on the next tack. One day we will figure it all out.

The other great thing about Wednesday’s race was we had a local celebrated

photographer recording our every move – namely Mark (the photo-shark) Schaeffler. These are the best pics of our boat racing we have, although Melissa got some great shots from on board when she raced with us. All of Mark’s works of art (or oeuvres d’art as they say on the mayo peninsula) will be up on the web in addition to the ones shown here! Check them out when I send the link to the team.

Tsavo Bowman

I found a great description of the bowman in Sail Like a Champion by Dennis Conner.

“In a perfect world, the bowman would have the height of basketball-player Manute Bol, the strength of bodybuilder-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the agility and light weight of gymnast Nadia Comaneci. The bowman also needs fabulous hand-eye coordination and must show an imperviousness to weather. This crew member should be able to hang on to a small triangle of real estate—the foredeck—in a confusion of seas and wind.“

Sounds like Martin and Kurt to me! So last Wednesday it was just Kurt and me. Kurt was not only impersonating Todd he was playing Martin’s role as well – talk about a split personality? I wish I had gotten a picture of Kurt with spinnaker guy to the pole in one hand and the other hand tightly gripping the spinnaker sheet. He had the pole and sheet perfectly coordinated – it was like a symphony. Not only that he managed to get the spinnaker up and down twice in the race and it never touched the water . WOW – maybe Kurt can also walk on water? So our next move is to perfect the jibing spinnaker douse. That will take perfect coordination on the team’s part but I am confident we can pull it off. So far September has been nothing but beautiful racing nights – plenty of wind and gorgeous sunsets. Life is good!

Tsavo Goes for Gold

Wednesday night was near perfect conditions for Tsavo – plenty of wind but not overpowered. Probably 10 to 15 knots out of the South until close to the finish when it died just a bit. With two new crew members on board, Mellissa and Sean, and Todd and Martin searching for perfect sail trim we were balanced and fast. All of the boats except Yes got a good start, but Hustle grabbed the first good puff and pulled ahead to a nice lead. We were all pretty close out to the PCRC turning mark and heading out to the bay. We were a bit overpowered on the beam reach out to the red mark with the spinnaker out. After our usual debate we switched to the 155 Jib which turned out to be a good decision allowing us to stay high on the mark and make a very fast rounding.

Hustle still had a pretty good lead at that point and Defiant was right with her. Wavelength was right on our tail the whole way back and tried to pass us twice but we covered her well and it paid off. We were slowly gaining on Hustle and Defiant but not enough to win. Then we got a huge break – Defiant, Hustle and Yes all hit a lull while we managed to stay right on the edge of the wind line and we made up ground very fast. Meanwhile Defiant was attempting to sink Vivace by turning right in front of her at the PCRC shoal mark causing her to miss the mark and for some reason Hustle went wide of the mark and that gave us the opening we needed. We turned the corner inches from the mark and we sprinted for the finish in clear air and managed to pass even Yes for a few moments. That felt soooo good. Then at the last red mark Yes came back charging hard at us on the starboard tack and I got ready to duck behind her until I hear Todd yelling “she’s tacking – she’s tacking.” I got the message! I immediately swerved back on course on the windward side of Yes – another great break! It was bow to bow all the way to the finish so we new we got Yes on corrected time. It wasn’t until I checked the standings this morning that I saw we took first place over Defiant by 6 seconds. Go Tsavo Grrrrr!

A Beautiful Night on the Race Course

It was the best sailing weather on the course last night – great sailing conditions and as always the company of a great crew. I gave Susan the helm this time so that Martin and I could take a shot at the sails. It was a hectic start – we just made it on the course 10 minutes before our start. Susan was very cool under fire and we got a good start as Martin and I set the spinnaker just in time (our starting timer was off by 5 minutes so we had to guess the start). Martin was definitely back on his game and really had perfect control over the spinnaker. We lost a little ground up to the pin but we separated from the pack on the way to the G mark and ended up in the lead until Yes finally passed us. Hustle was caught behind us and Susan fended her off as the tried to pass. Defiant was a ways back.

The pack finally caught up to us at the last mark H and we lost our lead then but we sailed very competitively the whole night and the crew came back relaxed and ready for more. The Highlight of the night for me was martin and Susan pulling of the smoothest tack I have ever seen on Tsavo. The Genoa just seemed to float across the deck to the other tack and slid down the deck to the new position as if one of the crew carried it back. I think we actually gained speed on that tack. It was a little bit of heaven.

So with God’s blessing we had a beautiful and exhilarating night out on the race course!

Tsavo Strikes a Blow to Long Races

Tsavo was the race committee this week! Turns out it was a good thing not to be racing - 100 degrees and flakey wind. Quite a few boats called it a night but the judges (photo) remained sober and vigilant - for the most part.

We picked the shortest possible course avaialble and it was still too long! Most skippers thanked us for our smart choice - hopefully it will catch on even in good sailing weather. The start went smoothly although we did catch one boat over the line early and had to call her back - so she comes back to the line part way and then takes off again - we had to call her back a second time. That cost her a lot of time. Hope we never make that mistake.

The finish line got a bit hectic with everyone showing up more or less at the same time. Todd and Susan had to work fast to record all the finishes accurately but it would be great to have a recording system of some kind to keep track in real time. We are back racing next week!

Tsavo Sizzles

Tsavo made an amazing come from behind dash to the finish line on Wednesday. In light air we struggled a bit at the beginning to find the wind line but we did not lose much ground and made most of it up on the home stretch. Hustle had a good lead on us nearly all the way but we slowly closed the gap and and made a good call at the end to stay on the port side of the course where the wind was still fresh. That ended up giving us the narrowest of leads to the finish line with Hustle on the windward side trying to pass us - we won the match by less than half a boat length giving us third place - down one notch from last week.

Life is a lot like sail racing - one week you think the world is your cupcake the next you are the crumbs. The challenge for all of us is to get up in the morning and make each day unique and adventurous in some way. If we do then the winds will be favorable and we will find life worth celebrating!

Fast and Furious

Tsavo Lions were very fast Wednesday night. With a clean hull and fired up crew we took second place in the Wednesday night race - just 5 seconds behind Yes. The practice before the race paid off - we had two perfect spinnaker sets and a pretty good spinnaker takedown around the Z mark. Martin made the first set at the start look like the spinnaker exploded in front of the boat - then he worried about the second set at the G mark. "Not enough time Captain Ed" but five lashes with the jib sheet got him going and we had another perfect set on our way to the P mark.

The real turning point for us was the crowded turn at the green mark with everyone jockeying for position. We managed to slip by Defiant and Hustle and squeeze inside the fixed mark by letting the spinnaker pole go forward to avoid collision with boats and marks and got a great lead position heading for the shoal mark. From there it was all about not making any mistakes that would provide an opening for the competition.

The race back to the finish line was really tight but exciting - best of all we settled in for some cold beers at Mary's dock bar.

Will we be able to keep it up?