Kyle's Krazy Race Day 2024

Fourteen of us braved a daunting forecast to kick off the NMMYC season on Saturday. Krazy being in the name of race was pretty fitting. I am sure many were questioning their sanity as we drove to the pond in the cold rain.  Still, everyone showed up with great attitudes and pitched in to set everything up. Club members were well prepared for the weather and ponchos, raincoats, tents and transmitter covers were deployed.

I can’t say enough good things about Connie and Bart. They showed up early and brought everything needed for a regatta with them. They brought the marks, starting box, scoring system, two tents, a loaner boat, and a bunch of help and advice for new and old skippers alike. Between the two of them they literally showed a new sailor the ropes and had him ready to compete before the first race.  They are great ambassadors for the sport.

Now to the racing. Winds were lighter than expected and mostly coming from the east. We set a start finish line at the west end of the course and 3 marks upwind in a large triangle. Skippers started into the wind and rounded all three marks leaving them to port. After passing the third mark boats headed directly back to the line for a downwind finish. The course was relatively short, but with light winds and  13 skippers on the water laps took between 10-15 minutes. We logged 6 one lap races and 1 two lap race.

Bart took the win in the first race with a breeze that only he was able to catch. The rest of the fleet trickled in slowly as we felt out the course.

The rest of the day wasn’t such a runaway. In the second race most, if not all, of the boats sailed in a loose pack and stayed on the same leg from start to finish. It was great to see the entire club have a good race at the same time. Races 3-7 consisted of surprisingly tight racing on very light winds interrupted by the occasional lull.

When the scores were tallied Alan K was alone in third place. Bart and Mari were tied. On the strength of one additional 1st place finish, Bart won the tiebreaker and took first place, Mari taking second.

Congrats to the winners, and thanks to everyone. See you in June for the beginning of the NMMYC championship series.

Kyle