Our first race

 

Our first Race of the Season

​It was a cold and wet Sunday morning. The Temperature was 8C, and the wind was light, falling from 14mph in the early morning to nothing in the late afternoon when there might be some sunny intervals. Today was the day of the A-Rater 9-mile race and a handicap race for other boats. We were going out for some fun sailing, but Paul got talked into us entering the Race.

The A-Rater Race

Rain and light winds coming directly from upstream at 8 mph decreasing with a river flow of 1 mph.

Tacking: I get plenty of practice

With the wind coming directly downstream, going upstream against the wind required much tacking. The wind was also variable, so sometimes, when we turned the boat with no wind to push us, we drifted back downstream with the river's flow. It was like one step forward and three to ten steps back. 

Everyone else in the race seemed to be going up and down the river. We seem to have opted for a more across-the-river and back race. We indeed managed to cover some 3 miles but only managed to travel at best 250m upstream. We are not sure due to a lack of data from other boats, but we may now hold the record for travelling the longest distance to have made the least progress.