Solid Start to Sail Melbourne

Today was the first day of sailing at Sail Melbourne and we opened the regatta with great conditions:  a steady 15 knots, big chop and waves, and lots of sun.  We sailed two races with a late start time of 3 PM.

In the first race, the left side was a little favored, but the Race Committee made the boat the favored end of the line.  Because the upwinds didn't look too long, my plan was to start at the boat and leg it to the left.  I had a great start at the boat and stuck to the plan of heading to the left.  When the leaders from the pin tacked back, I lee bowed the group and hiked back to the mark.  Turns out the left was a little better than I thought, as I rounded in about 14th place.  I had a pretty good first downwind to catch up a lot of distance and up to about 10th in the race.  The second leg was a parade to the left, and I rounded the mark in 10th again.  I passed on more boat on the last downwind and reached into the finish in 9th.

The second race was an O2, which means we had an extra lap on the outer loop.  I had a pretty similar plan and it worked a little better this time.  I had another great start at the boat and sailed off on starboard tack for a while.  This time, however, I took a hitch back right earlier and played a righty.  The small righty helped enough to get me in a good spot among the leaders.  I rounded in 4th at the first mark behind Mike Leigh (CAN), Malte Kamrath (GER), and Daniel Mihilic (CRO).  On the downwind, I caught up some distance and passed Mike Leigh right before the leeward mark.  Another parade out to the left and I was 3rd at the windward mark still.  On the downwind, I was able to close some distance and rounded right behind the top two guys.  I had a great upwind leg and passed the two leaders to round the final windward mark in 1st, but I had Mike Leigh and Malte right behind me.  On the downwind the three of us were neck and neck when right as we were about to round, Mike went around the outside and passed me.  I reached into the finish in 2nd.

So overall, not a bad start to the event.  With a 9-2, I'm currently in 4th place.  The forecast for tomorrow is similar breeze.  Wednesday is supposed to be REALLY hot and breezy.

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