Another great Cuttyhunk event.  Perfect reaching conditions for us and it showed.  Had a good start while exiting the harbor and the A0 was working for us until things got funky by Fort Wetherill.  We found a great current outflow (please all: remember what that looks like!) and in the light air it really kept us moving upwind.  Great!  Unfortunately (well, fortunately for them), boats that headed off to Beavertail got the new breeze first and launched.  Nonetheless, we were still in contact at R2.

The initial set at R2 to the 1.5 I think was the right call.  It isn’t the A2 but given that we were still trying to decide if the wind was going to go further south and/or increase in strength I think it was a reasonable call.  Overpowered and fighting the rudder is definitely not fast!  : )  But once it was clear the wind was as far south as it was going to go I was very happy with the “peel” to the A2.  And now the Marrones have a time to beat of two minutes!  : )  The A2 was awesome at the angle and pressure we had — literally perfect for those conditions — and given our ability to keep the boat flat and bow up we just converted every extra puff into speed.  Had the forecasted shift back to the west come through then likely the boats that stayed high (Vento and High Energy) could’ve gybed and made out, but the wind didn’t shift so rhumb became the right strategy.

Overall a really nice race!  Excellent crew work across the boat, especially with all of the spinnaker discussions and changes.  I also appreciated folks messing with the instruments and gaining good knowledge from them (BTW, targets, set/drift etc).  As the boats get farther apart (as compared to say JYC for example) then understanding your local conditions and making good decisions from them is key to doing well.  : )))  Next stop: Block!