Shreddin

Well at least we finished the race. That’s what I repeated to myself after another adventure out on the WEASEL. From the very beginning things were going against us when we headed out for our last FCYC Thursday Night Race. The wind was blowing between 15 and 20 knots from the west producing big waves in the bay. The tide was coming in strong and we were late (thanks Cheryl). In an effort to make it out there on time we had pushed the engine. Combined with the current it decided enough was enough and it began to overheat. With our main up and reefed we decided to let the engine cool down and we hoisted our #2 jib, a 110% reef-able down to a 90%. We began the beat out to the start line. The WEASEL bashed its way through the 3 foot rollers sending spray over the crew. The boat had excessive heal and did not want to point well. I decided to have Miles sheet it in another few inches so we could point better and make it to the line on time. Exactly as Miles began bringing in the jib I heard a god-awful ripping sound and saw the sail tear from the leech almost all the way to the luff. I immediately pointed the boat into the wind and the crew dropped the sail and threw it down the forward hatch. We shook out the reef in the main and began beating towards the line. Obviously the boat wasn’t pointing at all without a head sail and I had only my big #1 that in that wind was not a good idea. To cut along story short it took us 45 minutes of beating under a main alone to get near the first mark. Things were not going well. One of the crew, David, as usual was vomiting off the back and I was in a less than happy mood. Then I got an idea. I hadn’t seen where the sail had ripped so I headed down below and examined the tear. It was right below the reef in the jib so I could reef it and put it back up. I tied up the loose ends and threw it back up on deck. Finally we were in the running again.In the end we finished 45 minutes behind everyone else but hey we finished!