BLIND MONKEYS ATTACK RC!

It started out as nice a night as you could want.  We've certainly had our fair share this summer.  7 knots of breeze coming solidly from 210.  Silver Eel Bell.   E.  Slowly I turned, step by step....  Then there was this strange sound...a small yelp it seemed, soon replaced by many yelps and yappings and before I knew it, a pack of blind monkeys had taken over my bald head and filled it with incomprehensible notions that tonight, of all the nights, after all the years, tonight Silver Eel was going to pay off.   And the next thing I remember, we were turning on the lights to show our friends the way home.

So, it didn't turn out to be one of those halcyon nights of sailboat racing.  Monkeys happen.  But, the race was on.  Right seemed to be the call upwind.  Ya think?!  I swear a couple of boats tacked at Sarah's Ledge.  We think Wild Horses got to the windward mark first, but it was hard to tell....because E was SO FAR AWAY!   Wicked ebb current....or was that an eel current?   Then the forecast build fell apart and the breeze went real spotty.

Toby Halsey of Patriot suggested there were "...four or five different races out there."   He went East after Silver Eel, hugging Fishers along with Tunes.  Bill Canning in Wild Horses went North.   The breeze held on, light as it was, until about a quarter mile from the finish and it was just no man's land.   Horses lost what little it had not 50 yards from the finish.  Some one on board suggested they were close enough for the gun, weren't they?  I suggested we were still considering an abandonment!   Bill came right back, "You better not!"

Then a zephyr and they crossed and the breeze freshened to 3...from the north!    That was enough for Patriot to get across and then the first half of the fleet followed.   Leda and USA 43 duked it out right to the end.  The northerly allowed Chris Field and Company to glide over for the Class 4 gun.  Brer Rabbitt looked very strong as they were the 6th boat to finish and corrected out for the Class 3 win.  They snuck in front of Looney Tunes who approached the finish line from the North!  Huh?

How do you sail in no breeze?  Well, that's part of what we learn in Fishers Island Sound.  Bill Mortensen on Wunder Dog took the Class Two gun, taking advantage of another zephyr to edge out Ursa Minor.   Jolly Mon and SeTherin were the only two to finish in Class One, 23 minutes apart.  

In the end, 6 boats missed the time limit, but were actually not hurt too badly because TLE (Time Limite Expired) means you get points for finishers plus one.   Those who lost their patience, take a couple of extra points with a DNF, starters plus one.

And this morning there is a new red X on my chart, that goes right through Silver Eel MOA.  But, man, you couldn't have asked for a nicer night to be outdoors, playing on the water after dark!  Here are the results with penalties.