Finally had a chance to meet Megabyte Fleet 3 for some friendly racing at the annual Lake Washington Sailing Club Turkey Shoot Regatta (yes, they do give turkeys as prizes. ) Very nice group of enthusiastic sailors. We had six boats all with the new Mk II rig, and the gusty wind was certainly testing the new rigs. The last race of the day got pretty nasty with big gusts and large shifts. Headed for the final leeward mark, I managed to build up a lead. I was flying downwind on the edge of control with the vang eased off on that big old windsurfer-like sail --bad idea. A big gust hit, the boat got all squirrely, and death rolled (as my friend Dean says, "upside down is slow.") That whole de-power thing with the new rigs doesn't apply downwind! Too much twist, and bam! More vang next time. With the boat now upside down, I thought for sure, that was the end of it for me. Then, I saw Charles (#338) do the same thing right behind me. I got my boat up first and pointed at the mark. 50 yards later I rolled it again and Charles went on by. By this time, I was tired and struggling with the boat. Charles swung by to see if I needed any assistance--very nice gesture. Once I finally got her back up, Charles sheeted in and I followed his transom to the finish line as usual. :-)
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