Hello Friends!

This past weekend, I raced the Sail Newport Regatta with veteran team, Mark, Rebecca, and Kevin on their boat Zehn (Can you guess what ‘zehn’ means?). It was interesting to be back on the mainsheet and tactics after steering at the last event. I was better able to anticipate pressure changes on the helm and know what the boat needed from its sail trim. It really goes to show how much you can learn by changing positions on a boat.

One of my favorite things about this team is how prepared they are. Not only is the boat always in tip-top shape, but they arrive a couple days early to get themselves dialed into the boat and conditions at the venue. This is how I like to race events myself.

After some great practice conditions – thanks to Jeff Siegel and his team for lining up with us – the regatta began in a light and rainy Easterly. Day one of racing brought its trials, including a downwind where we gybed into huge hole and lost seven boats! But, on day two, the sea breeze filled to give two pleasant 8-12 knot races. We sailed very well in those two races, keeping our boat speed on track and battling with the top teams to score a 3, 4.

We finished the regatta in 5^th place of 10 boats and know where less points could have come from! It was a successful event and I look forward to sailing together again.

Complete results here. Click on the Etchells results link.