Monday, July 22, 2013

Saturday, July 20 - RYF

Saturday, July 20, 2013

It was an exciting and beautiful day as I attended my first Chicago Yacht Club racing event. With full sun and a light breeze, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to enjoy Lake Michigan and have some fun in the sun.
As a guest observer aboard the 41 foot twin diesel boat (that interestingly enough used to be an off-shore oil rig tending), it was interesting to see how all the positions on the Race Committee Team worked so efficiently together, like a well-oiled machine. With Liz N. as a first time DRO, JoAnne G. as chief recorder, and Denise K. as flag hoist, it was an impressive first day for all of us.
The first race began at 11:00 am, with the wind at NW 350, and about 3 knots. We watched as it steadily marched to 208 by the end of the day. Our highest velocity was 9 knots, with majority of sailing at approximately 5 knots.
Our race was 8 Etchells on a long - long course, with two boats that couldn’t break the custom of a long – short course apparently. Both withdrew after finishing. It was a mixed variety of one T-10, five Shields, and seven Etchells.

There were a total of three races sailed on Saturday, along with a few valuable lessons learned. Some things we learned were to check flag inventory at the beginning of every day (the Mac crew left out an X ray and Lima flag) and to have our signal flag waving in the correct direction (right side up). Our final docking time was 16:20, with the ending of the day just as picturesque as the beginning. 
Katherine T., RC Rookie  

Look for more PR work from Katherine, who is an intern working on the NACC




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