Big Expectations: not realized

[experienced1]

BIG Expectations: not realized

Sorry for delaying this write up; lost my notes..but here goes from memory.
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Big expectations for Big wind surrounded the fifth night of racing in the 2010 Cabrinha Race Series. Two days before the racing, the winds at Anita (Crissy field)
blew 25-30 at race time. One day prior, the wind blew 25-29…and race night was forecasted to be the windiest night of the week. Race night, 4pm, wind had been building for the previous two hours and was at 25-34. So, would it continue to build or begin to back off? Most of the racers rigged their 9s and several went out to test their decision coming back to the beach indicating they were fully powered. One hour before race time, some doubt was creeping in among the regulars; they would be racing in a 2.5-3knt ebb…and would the wind hold? Many began to also rig their 11s…most waited to the very last minute to hit the water and finally took their 11s. As the gun went off for the first race, the wind had dropped to 20-25, with lulls about 15. Well, the forescasters turned out to be correct…just didn’t have the right day. The Big wind blew the next day, Friday…..


The night was won by Adam Koch from the Seattle area, with 3 points (2,1), Chip Wasson was second with 4 points (1,3) followed by Stefaans Viljoen with 5 points(3,2) and Joey Pasquali and Geoff Headington with 9 points.



The first race saw 9 racers start on port…port was definitely favored. At the windward mark it was Adam, Chip and Stefaans. At the leeward mark it was the same three with Adam in the lead. Adam had about a 5 second lead and closing on the finish when he pulled up and let Chip take the horn at the finish…? This impacted the scoring for the night/mini series #2 as without this maneuver, Stefaans would have tied with Chip for the evening, but would have won the tie breaker due his better finish in the last race of the evening, and would have taken the second spot. In this observers opinion, I think the results will be reversed at the end of the season as Adam is not registered/competing for the series championship, so his scores will be erased, meaning that Chip will get a 3 points for the evening (1,2) and Stefaans will also get 3 points (2,1) with Stefaans gaining the tie breaker and taking first for the evening. I could be wrong…we’ll just have to wait and see :=)


In the second race, the port start was again favored only this time half of the 30 racers started on port. It was again Adam at the windward mark by about 10 seconds followed by Chip and the Joey. At the leeward mark it was Adam by 17 seconds over Chip and Joey with Stefaans close behind. At the finish it was Adam by 19 seconds. After rounding the leeward mark, Chip decided to cover Joey as he would not be able to catch Adam …this was a mistake as Stefaans outraced both to the finish to capture second leaving third for Chip and then Joey.



The wind continued to drop, and with a fairly strong ebb, the race committee decided to call it a night. The next race night is this Thursday, June 24. There is a nice write up by waterhound of the June 10th race night here:
http://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/f...php?f=1&t=8525

The Cabrinha Race Series is sponsored by Cabrinha, Ozonetravel, Captain Kirk’s, and hosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club.