MOCR Day 3 and 4

The wind has been basically the same as Tuesday; a bit lighter on
Wednesday and a bit heavier on Thursday. It's been nice having the
same conditions three days in a row as we have started to put some
things together. We had 3 races on Tue and 2 Wed. The first race on
Tuesday we did not have a good start and were behind. There's no clean
air under a fleet if this size, so when behind you have to go towards
one side or the other. We went left, as the top of the course was
supposed to be favored on the left, and most of the fleet was heading
left. Unfortunatly a 30 degree wind shift to the right came in,
putting us on the wrong side. It was a long and painful race as the
wind continued to shift right.
The next two races were better as we started to be able to find some
holes on the start line. In the third race we were up with the fleet
for most of the beat. We tacked onto the starboard layline early, and
learned a hard lesson as 10 boats sailed over us to tack on top of us.
Now we know not to set up on the laylines early in this fleet.

It took the women's fleet a few tries before we finally got a race off
on Wednesday. The first race of the day was our best yet. We found a
hole on the starting line and got off with the fleet. We managed to
stay in phase with the shifts and didn't set up on the layline too
early. Our downwind speed is improving as we coordinate pumping the
waves. We made some gains on the second upwind, and managed to catch 2
boats on the reach to the finish!
The second race of the day we had a huge hole on the start but didn't
accelerate as well as we'd hoped. We struggled in dirty air and got
left behind on the beat. We continued to work hard and sail well but
couldn't make up the distance lost. We were very happy with our
sailing Thursday: the boat speed is better, we are starting to find
holes on the starting line and working more as a team.
Friday is the last day of racing with two races scheduled. Then we
pack up the boats so Jen can drive them all the way home!