Mug Race

Posted By: Ben, P-18
Date: 5/4/09 7:58a.m.

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We had quite a long day on Saturday, this was by far the most grueling Mug Race out of the four I did. This time I did it with a crew - my dad and my son My father is just as crazy as I am, so I knew he would be fine, but I wasn't sure how my 5-year-old son would handle several hours of baking in the sun with no wind, but he did quite well (he slept through the worst part). Unfortunately the start wasn't fair with us, we had very light winds for the first hour, so the bigger boats quickly caught up with us (for those who don't know, the Mug race has a reverse start, with start times determined based on PHRF, slower boats starting first). Then, as usual we did well in the light downwind sailing until we chose the wrong side of the river and got stuck with no wind, while the boats on the other side sailed away. We drifted for several hours and I was just watching that line of clouds, the sea breeze front, but it did not want to come closer... Finally it came through just in time, so we finished about 7 minutes before the limit . There were about 3-4 boats that finished behind us in time, and many more who didn't make it. We raced from 7:32am till ~7:53pm. I could not stay for the price giving, but apparently we still managed to get third in our class. We met with John / Andiamo, but unfortunately with my parents being here, I had to get home soon after the race, so I didn't have time to talk - sorry John, hopefully next time!