Race Results

On Sunday, November 22nd, we raced in the 8th and final race of the Carl Anderson Memorial series in Long Beach. As part of the crew we had Dave Lyon and John McAllister plus Bill Beaver joining the crew for the first time this season. Thanks to all for a great day of racing.

The winds were light at the start as they usually are but right after the start we headed out towards the Long Beach breakwater and the winds were steady in the 10-12 knot range. In addition to ourselves, we had "Wine Down" a Catalina 32, an Olsen 30 and a 27 foot trimaran. Although PHRF is one of the better rating systems even it doesn't square up racing when you have a rating range of 100+. In reaching and running to make the first mark we made good time and were in 3rd place at that point. The downwind leg was slow and particularly uneventful. Racing in the non-spin class almost assures that if you have a downwind leg, it is going to be slow. The last leg was a reach back to Marker 39 (the usual start marker for Shoreline Yacht Club) during which the boat and crew performed well. After rounding the last mark and heading for the finish line, we had better wind and were able to close haul to the finish with two short tacks thrown in to avoid pinching into the finish.

We placed third overall on both order of finish and the corrected results after the PHRF handicaps were applied.

Thanks to all of the crew that raced on Mille Onde for her first races. We all look forward to some good racing next season.

Happy Holidays to all

Race Results

On Sunday, November 1st, we raced Mille in the Carl Anderson Memorial Series Race 5 with crew of Eric Doyle, Dave Lyon, Jim Merk, Capts Risa and Stephen. The start proved to be slow as the wind was light in the area between Island Grissam and the Mainland in Long Beach but the wind picked up and we had a good run out to the marker near the breakwater. After a good run back to the closing mark and a very close rounding that almost involved being bumped by one of the other competitors, we made a run to the finish line. After crossing what was thought to be the finish line, we fired up the motor for the trip back to the slip in Rainbow Harbor. The only problem was that we weren't over the finish line and therefore we were disqualified. Not a great finish but still a good time in sailing the boat.

On Sunday, November 15th, we raced Mille in the CAM Race 7 with a crew of Dave Lyon, John McAllister and Capts Risa and Stephen. As with Race 5 the start was slow but after we got out onto the race course, the wind picked up nicely. We made a long run with several tacks to a mark outside the breakwater and then the opposite run back into the closing mark. As would be expected, the wind lightened as we got deeper into Long Beach and at that time we were able to close on the two boats ahead of us. The finish (yes, this time we found the finish line) is a little tricky as it is between the breakwater just outside Long Beach Marina and Island Grissam. As you might expect, the winds are really light and shifty. We didn't play the shifts quite right but finished a respectable 3rd of 5 boats.

Last race for the season is Sunday, November 22nd which is the Carl Anderson Memorial Series Race 8. More to report after that race......................

Race Practice

On Saturday we took Mille Onde out for a practice to get her (and the crew) ready for her first race. Thanks to Gary Muller and John McAllister for their help. It looked like it was going to be light winds, much like for Sunday's race, but the winds cooperated and we had a great time. We got to round several of the marks that could be used in the actual race. The race we were preparing for was the fifth in the Carl Anderson Memorial series sponsored by the Shoreline Yacht Club. As should always be the case, we continue to tweek the rig to try and squeeze a bit more speed out of Mille on each run.

More about the race later............................