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Why It Pays To Get Your Butt Kicked At The InternationalsThe 56th Annual Missouri Governor's Cup Regatta
Valley Sailing Association
Machens, Missouri
Alton Pool of the Mississippi River
October 1 & 2, 2005Our goal in attending this year's Comet Internationals at Deep Creek Lake, our first time competing against all these great sailors, had been to not finish last.
On the final windward leg, 100 yards from the finish, we past the boat we were tied with and achieved our goal, placing 13th out of 14 boats. However, we had won: we made many new friends, we learned a lot about racing our little boat, and we gained invaluable experience. Experience you can only get by playing with the big dogs. (We are only little dogs, in our fifth year of sailing a Comet)
It really paid off one week later, at our biggest regatta of the year - The Missouri Governor's Cup.
Race 1 saw moderate, shifty wind, the type we had just begun to master one week earlier. After a windward leg using our new techniques and playing the shifts, and after two reaches utilizing our outstanding human whisker pole (Corina), we were ahead of the second boat by a quarter mile. At the leeward mark, however, the wind lightened up and we found ourselves downwind of the start of the cabin boat fleet. We had to sail off to the left side of the course to avoid the bad air and were not able to play the shifts properly. Phil Cotton, displaying his expertise in light air, rapidly caught up, picked his way through the reaching cabin boats, and took the lead and the win.
The wind came back for the next two races, both Jerry Chapman and Don Hanson displayed excellent technique, and each took a first. Day one ended with three different boats having a first, but with Team Chara barely in the lead with three consistent seconds.
When the wind filled in on day two, we were treated to strong shifty wind. We couldn't seem to get great starts, and found ourselves behind. Due in large part to Chara's ability to plane more easily than most boats, we gained most of it back. In both races, we took the leader at the final leeward mark and covered to the finish, scoring two bullets.
All five races had been tight. All five boats typically rounded the first windward mark in close proximity. None of the races were decided until the final leg. It was exciting racing, due to the skills of all our fellow sailors. But the experience and confidence we had gained the previous weekend was the deciding factor. We plan to hit the road again next year, with the goal of beating two boats. And when we return home, we'll try to hold on to the traveling silver bowl for another year...
Greg Polanik
3881
Chara
