What A Beautiful Evening For A Race.......

15 Knots of wind, small flood tide and 15 Folkboats on the starting line. What else could we ask for? That is exactly what we had for the first race of the SFBFA Wednesday Evening Series. I love to think about just how lucky we truly are; sail minutes from our slips in the marina to one of the best playgrounds in the world for our sport, all after the grind at the office.

Tonight was one of the most beautiful evenings to race that we have had in a long time. And yes; I said 15 boats on the line. Great showing, great weather, and even greater company.

The evening started with the standard Knarr general recall, opps......I meant a Folkboat general recall !!!!! Sorry, just typing out of habit I guess. On the second attempt, the Folkboat fleet was off, with Mike Goebel in USA 109 shooting out front, and gaining ground on the fleet. The fleet was grouped tight on the beach, fighting for water and clear air. 113, 122, & 111 were able to break free from the group and put a little distance behind us. At the first mark it was 109, 113, 122, 111, & 112 rounding in the top 5. Downwind was more exciting then we have seen so far this year, but very little for position changes. The second upwind leg was the spot for the biggest gain. The top 4 boats headed to he beach, when 122 tacked out for clear air and stayed. At the moment it did not look good, but as we reached the mark, 122 had passed 113 and was nipping at the heals of 109. Great job...... In the front of the fleet it was pretty much follow the leader from that point on. 109 and 122 had their race going on, 113 and 111 had our little race, then 74 and 106 had their race behind us. The top 5 were:

USA 109
USA 122
USA 113
USA 111
USA 74

What a night.......It was amazing to see more Folkboats on the line then any of the other fleets. Lets keep up the numbers. The next race is a week from tonight and #2 in the the Wednesday Evening Series.......Let's see if we can't get 16 or 17 boats on the line.