Wrightsville Beach, NC

Well.....I made it. Got in on Wednesday around noon. Amazingly, Bill Mitchell and Fred Schroth arrived with the boats in tact about a half hour before I landed. They had a smooth trip and I really appreciate their willingness to drive such a long way.

We rigged the boats up and got our for a late afternoon sail. It was great having done all of the boat preparation while back in Austin. There was no wasted time fooling around with the boat. Everything was perfect and ready to go which means more time on the water. We were among the first boats to arrive and get out and sail and it was a good thing we did. The wind was blowing from the East at about 20 knots and I would estimate that we had 6 foot waves. Quite a shock after spending the last few weeks practicing on Lake Travis.

It was actually quite fun. With the large waves, the apparent wind would swing back and forth depending on what part of the wave you are on. I found that I had to actively ease and trim the main sheet to keep the boat on its feet and I had to steer very aggressively to keep the boat moving. It will definitely be a steep learning curve to get this style of sailing figured out.

Downwind was very interesting due to the confused sea state. One second you were screaming down a huge wave while sailing by the lee for stability but then, once I got to the bottom of the wave, I had to sharply head up to avoid running into the back of the wave in front of me which meant steering the boat through the "instability zone" (dead down wind) on the way to getting on to a very broad reach (stable again) in order to pick up speed to catch the next wave.

The middle of that turn can be tricky and a prime opportunity to "death roll". I gained a little confidence as the day went on and I am anxious to get back out there to keep working on my technique.

I plan to hit the water around 12:00 today and sail for a couple of hours prior to the practice race. The forecast is for a little less breeze with a shift in the wind to the Southeast. A front is going to come through on Saturday or Sunday so I think wind is going to try and start clocking to the right in anticipation of the front. The waves are going to probably be at a strange angle to the wind so it should be interesting.

The only setback so far is damage to my compass on the trip here. I am looking around to try and find a replacement and it will likely be difficult to find one here prior to the regatta starting. I think it will be helpful to have a compass out there as long as the wind is blowing on shore. There are no landmarks while sailing upwind and it is very difficult to tell what kind of angle you are on.

More to come this evening.....