More Training in Clearwater

I've had three more productive days of training here in Clearwater, FL.  Despite the fact that we're in Florida, the weather has not been that great; cold temperatures in the 50s and rain have been the norm here.

The first day, we did a 15 mile downwind sail to John's Pass.  It was blowing about 20-25 knots and there were 6 ft waves.  It was so much fun to do some reaching and see the boats get airborn as the skipped across the waves.  It was really cool.

On the second day, the wind was out of the same direction but at a lighter 5-10 knots.  We decided to do the downwind once more, focusing on the things we learned from the day before.  When it's windy, you don't have to be as precise because it's very easy to ride waves when they are huge and it's windy.  But when it is lighter, it's a lot harder to ride the waves.  Even though the sail took about one and a half times longer, it was really worth it.

Finally today we went out and did a bunch of shorter, 30-minute long races with a larger group.  It was an offshore breeze blowing about 12-20 knots and very shifty.  Fun racing nonetheless though.

The plan is to sail three more days before the Midwinters East regatta starts next Thursday.  Hopefully the weather warms up a bit!