Hey all, quick update here.  Obviously you know from the virtual crew meeting there’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment regarding sailing and racing.  You likely know Navy has closed the marina (to anything other than checking on your boat to make sure it hasn’t sunk) until June 1st.  For sure May is pretty complicated now.

Spirit is in the water at NEB and will remain there for at least a week or two.  There are no restrictions on us operating from NEB and in fact, we knocked out a pretty good, albeit sporty, first sail yesterday.  16g24 and increasing for the hour or so we were out.  But, the boat held up well and everything seems fine.  If nothing else, our smooth, fast bottom seemed to have a bunch of speed — Marky R hit 9.5 knots with just an old main and jib catching some of the small rollers running with the wind between Prudence and Dyer Islands.  And after returning the rig to pre-season numbers the spar looked pretty good and it’s shape was about as expected.

I’m not really sure what the immediate schedule looks like.  I’d like to get more folks sailing to shake out the cobwebs.  Four or five crew total seems like a manageable number.  And this coming weekend (Saturday) seems promising.  I’ll keep everyone posted but meanwhile, please always feel free to write me if you want to go sailing.

I’m also not too sure about future races.  We are awaiting a decision from JYC.  Cheryl Rienzo deliberately decided to NOT delay the start of those races . . . not yet anyway.  Our first race would be three weeks away, so she still has plenty of time to make a decision.  Twenty Hundred Club, barring something unforeseen at the moment, will likely stick to its schedule, with our first race being the brand new Three Bridge Fiasco, slated for early June, followed shortly thereafter with the Around Aquidneck.  It is very conceivable those might be the most significant races on the entire bay in June since the big NYYC and Bermuda events are postponed or canceled.  I expect we will race the Twenty Hundred Club events with a somewhat reduced crew number.  Again, I’ll keep you posted on developments there as things progress.

Lastly, I really want to thank everyone for the help this winter.  We got a lot done — just not as a big group and not all at once!  The bottom is as nice as I’ve ever seen it and exterior and interior maintenance (winches, engine, etc) all seemed to go well.  For the sure the boat is ready to race.

Thanks and catch up soon,
EC