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August 13, 2000

Dear Friends in Sailing,

When Steve McKay promised ten knot southeast winds for the day with a coastal sea breeze kicking in, we felt in good shape for race number seven. Instead, the wind dropped from 2 o'clock on like a battery powered wind machine. The staggered start turned into a mass start with the entire fleet taking as long as 15 minutes to clear the line. The last boat took 55 minutes to reach the painfully long first leg. What wind there was we found on the southern shore which managed to group the boats together again for the final two legs.

The Barry Cohen led race committee garnered a fleet of admirers by shortening the race by a leg. The committee even toyed with the idea of knocking off two legs. But, the wind kept threatening to pick up in the afternoon--a hollow threat that never came to pass.

Race highlights include:

- Two guest racers in a Hobie 16 and Sunfish doing surprisingly well.

- Another seemingly implausibly good finish by the three person crew Red Lightning to finish a strong fifth place in light wind.

- Chuck McClead's multiple attempts at passing the guest Sunfish because of trouble climbing their wake and finishing a very strong fourth Actual and Portsmouth.

- Janet and Mark feeling the pressure of hosting the after race gettogether and turning it into the motivation they needed to finish five minutes ahead of the nearest cat competitor.

- Joe Guaraldo's and Cliff Eames' smart decisions to turn the third leg that passed by their camps as their final--a decision shared by the rest of us except that the finish line was between us and our places.

- The Mountain came to Muhammad as the committee boat motored over to a marooned Green Lightning to give them the horn (maybe the committee is just buttering up next year's commodore elect).

- Very good come-back after a congested start by Doug Craig to post a second place Actual and Portsmouth behind yours truly. I guess the loose drain plugs finally took their toll. (Tip of the week: always double-check your boat when competitors are seen milling around your equipment before the start of the race.)

- Great get together at Mark and Janet's with an outstanding spread--made me forget I was a vegetarian.

- Strange how all the multi-hull drivers seem to mill around together at these soirees (I checked spelling with my wife). What secret could they possibly be sharing.

- Meeting Doug and Lisa's newest yacht club member and teaching him to say "monohull."

See you all next week on the water,

Mike