If you're looking for the Ride the Bull race report, you can find it here.
If you're looking for the Casco Bay Challenge race report, you can find it here.
With light SE winds and a high tide, course #4 was to be our evening's entertainment. This is a double-header course, the first leg being to Black Rocks and back, the second leg being to the red nun and back. I had high hopes for the race. I was well rested. We'd be doing an upwind-downwind run in mild conditions, so instability wouldn't be a significant issue. Deciding to sow my wild hubris, I flipped my GoPro around to face backwards. With any luck, I'd be able to catch Francisco's anguished look as I pulled into the beach ahead of him to regain my share of the season lead. In retrospect, I may have poked the bear.
Ed started us off after we had lined up for our short run to the boats. I got off to a relatively good start, meaning that I didn't actually have to squint to make out Francisco and Matt. Kirk was on Matt's wash to my left and Francisco was up ahead to the right. As Matt led Kirk closer to shore to duck out of the wind and incoming tide (but going close enough to do a little beach-combing while they were there), I stayed out further with Francisco.
In the past, I've been able to catch Francisco after several minutes of paddling, although passing him after that has proved a hit-or-miss proposition. Tonight I couldn't seem to make up any ground. As we approached Black Rocks, I remained 3 or 4 lengths behind him. Just as I was completing the turn, I felt my boat bogging down. I quickly reversed to shed some weeds (whether real or imaginary, let's not speculate) and put myself to the task of tracking down Francisco.
I kept way outside hoping to take advantage of the wind and waves, but there wasn't much in the way of help. Even though I felt stable and was hammering away, Francisco was pulling away. By the time we hit the beach to finish the first leg, he had an insurmountable 53 second lead. Matt inched out Ken about 45 seconds behind me - a remarkable recovery by Ken after stopping to perform some kind of mystical leash escape trick during the Le Mans start. Kirk, Bill, Timmy, and Mary Beth rounded out the finishers.
The second leg was very similar to the first for me. Francisco got out to an initial lead of several boat lengths, followed by Matt and myself. I managed to pull past Matt, who then stuck on my stern to provide a soundtrack for my misery. Although it looked like I was making up ground on Francisco, I stalled at several boat lengths back. After the turn at the red nun, he pulled away effortlessly, ultimately putting another 30 second advantage on me. I barely kept ahead of Matt, who took third by besting Ken for the leg by 40 seconds.
After 4 weeks of extremely close races, Francisco had schooled me by almost a minute and a half. Given that I didn't feel like I had paddled badly, I wondered how exactly I had done so badly. Until I checked the historical results, that is. Francisco had run the fastest course #4 since 2008. That's not a good sign for the rest of us. Here are the results for the evening...
Francisco now holds a two point lead in the season standings. If tonight was any indication, it's going to be difficult to knock him from his perch.
If you're looking for the Casco Bay Challenge race report, you can find it here.
With light SE winds and a high tide, course #4 was to be our evening's entertainment. This is a double-header course, the first leg being to Black Rocks and back, the second leg being to the red nun and back. I had high hopes for the race. I was well rested. We'd be doing an upwind-downwind run in mild conditions, so instability wouldn't be a significant issue. Deciding to sow my wild hubris, I flipped my GoPro around to face backwards. With any luck, I'd be able to catch Francisco's anguished look as I pulled into the beach ahead of him to regain my share of the season lead. In retrospect, I may have poked the bear.
Ed started us off after we had lined up for our short run to the boats. I got off to a relatively good start, meaning that I didn't actually have to squint to make out Francisco and Matt. Kirk was on Matt's wash to my left and Francisco was up ahead to the right. As Matt led Kirk closer to shore to duck out of the wind and incoming tide (but going close enough to do a little beach-combing while they were there), I stayed out further with Francisco.
In the past, I've been able to catch Francisco after several minutes of paddling, although passing him after that has proved a hit-or-miss proposition. Tonight I couldn't seem to make up any ground. As we approached Black Rocks, I remained 3 or 4 lengths behind him. Just as I was completing the turn, I felt my boat bogging down. I quickly reversed to shed some weeds (whether real or imaginary, let's not speculate) and put myself to the task of tracking down Francisco.
I kept way outside hoping to take advantage of the wind and waves, but there wasn't much in the way of help. Even though I felt stable and was hammering away, Francisco was pulling away. By the time we hit the beach to finish the first leg, he had an insurmountable 53 second lead. Matt inched out Ken about 45 seconds behind me - a remarkable recovery by Ken after stopping to perform some kind of mystical leash escape trick during the Le Mans start. Kirk, Bill, Timmy, and Mary Beth rounded out the finishers.
After 4 weeks of extremely close races, Francisco had schooled me by almost a minute and a half. Given that I didn't feel like I had paddled badly, I wondered how exactly I had done so badly. Until I checked the historical results, that is. Francisco had run the fastest course #4 since 2008. That's not a good sign for the rest of us. Here are the results for the evening...
| Francisco Urena | Stellar SE | 0:40:39 | 12 |
| Greg Lesher | Epic V12 | 0:42:02 | 11 |
| Matt Drayer | Epic V8 | 0:42:58 | 10 |
| Ken Cooper | Epic V8 | 0:43:43 | 9 |
| Kirk Olsen | Epic V12 | 0:44:49 | 8 |
| Bill Kuklinski | Epic V8 | 0:47:29 | 7 |
| Timmy Shields | Think Evo II | 0:48:30 | 6 |
| Mary Beth Gangloff | Huki S1-R | 0:55:42 | 12 |
Francisco now holds a two point lead in the season standings. If tonight was any indication, it's going to be difficult to knock him from his perch.
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