Thursday was the in harbour race. We had scored him a spot on our friend's boat, Cloud Messenger, and since neither of us had ever raced before Brad was pumped just to go out and race and see what it was all about. Holly and I delivered him to the boat early that morning and towed their dinghy back to our boat so they wouldn't have to leave it at anchor by itself. They spent the first hour just putzing around the course checking out the wind direction and familiarizing themselves with the course. Finally, around 11am, they were off. There were over 40 boats, but they were broken down into 5 different heats, each starting at a different time. Brad had 8 other boats in his heat and took an early lead. They were doing great, but unfortunately Brad quickly realized that the boat didn't point well into the wind, so in the upwind portion of the race, they fell behind a bit. The final nail was on the last leg of the race when they had a very near miss run-in with another boat. They gave way, since the other boat showed no intention of doing so, and it cost them a few precious minutes sending them into 5 place. But, Brad learned a lot and had a great time.
Meanwhile, Holly and I camped out on the bow of our boat, watching the action as it passed by. It was a perfect day for sailing and is always such an awesome sight to see all those beautiful sails up in the harbour.
Friday morning brought early morning beach golf. All three of us trekked over to the ocean side and Holly and I set up for a beach day while Brad walked down to the course to try his hand at golf. It was a perfect beach day, with calm ocean swell allowing us to get in and enjoy the crystal clear water. A couple hours later, Brad rejoined us, having not done so well at golf, and we all headed up for a delicious lunch at St Francis.
Lunch was followed by an very unorganized Bocce Tournament. We thought the tournament would be a somewhat short event as so many of the others had been, but instead it took a few hours. Holly and I played around on the beach and in the water, keeping one eye on Brad and his teammate. Brad had been paired up with a French Canadian who had placed in the tournament for the last four years. Other than curling, Bocce could be the country's sport - all French Canadians are inherently terrific at Bocce. And Brad being Brad and being fabulous at most sports he puts his mind to, the two made a great team and soon climbed through the initial rounds into the finals. It was a great final game, and they just barely lost. But they still came out with another burgee and a bottle of wine! That's a win in my book!
Saturday was the final day of the Regatta, ending with an around the island race. We once again ferried Brad over to the racing boat and towed their dinghy back to our boat. We waited until the race started and they had passed by our boat on their way North out of the cut and then we headed over to beach and hiked up to the Monument for a better view of the race on the ocean side. Another perfect sailing day and they looked great out there!! We had high hopes of them placing this time, until the line of squalls moved in. They were near the South entrance back in the harbour when the squall finally reached them. They hadn't reacted in time and were extremely over-canvassed. They opted to pull all the sails in and motor through the squalls. Once you turn the motor on in a sailing race, you are disqualified. They were only one of about 10 other boats who made this same decision, and there were a few squalls lined up behind each other, so perhaps it was the safer route. Either way, it was good experience for Brad and great fun for us to watch.
We attended the final party that night, along with most of the harbour and had a great time - we even closed down the party! Although we had fun with Regatta, it sure will be nice to relax tomorrow and not have to rush around to all these events. Seems like a lazy beach day may be in store...
No comments:
Post a Comment