The team arrived on Thursday evening and spent a few hours inventorying equipment and rigging. We were able to practice a few hours on Friday afternoon despite wind conditions of 25-30kts discouraging some teams from leaving the dock. The training session was helpful for boat handling purposes but the excessive breeze and the lack of a training partner prevented us from dialing in our upwind speed. On Saturday morning, the race day was postponed by the regatta officials due to excessive wind steadily in the high 20 knot range. A new harbor start at 12pm allowed the breeze to decreased to a more manageable 18-23 knots. While sailing out to the race course, we experienced an unfortunate breakage in equipment as the cloth grommet at the head of our jib ripped open. We were forced to return to the dock to retrieve the halyard and acquire a replacement jib. We arrived at the race course narrowly in time for the first start but lost precious time to set up our boat for the conditions. After a good start at the boat end, we were unable to keep pace with the fleet. During the first upwind of the second race, shortly after
another good start at the boat end, we had another unfortunate breakage in equipment when our backstay adjustment rigging snapped in the transom of the boat. The mast flopped without tension on the backstay and we slid back in the fleet until we were able to jury-rig a replacement system. On Sunday, a breeze of 12-17 knots provided beautiful racing conditions. Our boatspeed and team chemistry continued to improve throughout the regatta and we were able to close the event with satisfying 13th place finish in the last race.