We sailed a lot of regattas in 2024:

• Davis Island in January
• Lake Eustis Midwinters in February
• Buckeye Regatta in May
• Egyptian Cup in June
• NACS in June
• Ephraim in August
• Glow in September
• Mallory Cup in September
• Bourbon Fest Regatta in October

9 regattas in all, plus a week of training in April.

It was at NACs that we turned a corner.  We determined that it works best if we discuss where we want to be at the start and Kevin gets us there, Kendall calls tactics, and Kevin makes the boat go fast.  Given that the horsepower is in the main and kite, this makes sense.

NACs was also our best performance.  Not just because we came in second in Challenger fleet, but because when we did do well, we dominated the fleet.  Our three bullets were not by just a little bit.  They were by a lot.  And our seconds were just a few seconds behind the first place boat.  We’re demonstrating that we can sail well.

And then there was the Mallory Cup.  Ten competitors from 10 different regions sailed on supplied boats rotated every race for 10 races.  Very fair.  We weren’t in the money in that one, but we were always competitive, except for maybe one race where we hit marks as often as we rounded them.  Current and mark-set-bots are very challenging.  The top four boats were Flying Scot sailors, demonstrating that knowledge of the boat can trump local condition knowledge.  We also met some really great people, and had a terrific time.  This regatta truly was set apart from all the others.  Kudos to US Sailing and the Detroit Yacht Club for making a truly first class event.

Some things we need to improve upon:

• Keeping the kite full during jibes
• Starts on crowded lines
• Not hitting marks (especially in current)
• Staying between competition and next mark (especially in light winds)
• Determining the favored end of the finish line
• Tacking on headers (straightforward!)
• Taking strategic losses—letting one boat slip by when challenging them can result in letting 7 boats slip by.
• Identifying course wind splits and capitalizing on them.  (This was a challenge at Eustis, Glow and Ephraim, all lakes.)

And, perhaps most importantly, not getting mad at each other.  We’re doing this for fun.  If it’s not fun, we need to stop doing it.  Mistakes happen.  Drop it and move on.

All but the last is well within our capability to do.  The last is challenging.  The Glow regatta (Race 1) showed where we got it right.  (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_dgYaiSxuk at about 15 minutes to the end).  We rounded the second windward mark in about 15th position (of 20).  We went left with the wind and everyone else went right.  We jibed just a bit late, but screamed into a 5th place finish.  That’s us in the image below with the yellow kite way off to the left by ourselves (circled).  Risky, but it paid off, based on the wind split down the course.  (For comparison, Mark Taylor was in 3rd or 4th around the top mark, went to the right, and finished 4th just in front of us; so we passed about 10 boats going way left.). Unfortunately, we didn’t repeat this, but should have in Race 3 where we completely screwed up the race and passed right by the gate.

Looking ahead into 2025, we already are planning a slew of regattas, and have not really examined the fall Florida series.  Here’s what we have planned so far:

• Lake Eustis George Washington Birthday Regatta in February
• Fort Walton Beach Midwinters in March
• Chattanooga Choo Choo Regatta in April
• Buckeye Regatta in May
• Egyptian Cup in June
• NACs in June
• Ephraim in August
• Glow III in September

And, we’re considering the Bourbon Fest Regatta in October, the Fall 48 in November, and possibly Jacksonville in December, and then the Midwinters in 2026 at Sarasota in March, 2026.  That could end up being about 1 regatta a month on average.  Probably the wives will not support that much sailing, but you can’t do it if you don’t even ask!  We’d love to do them all, but that’s just not feasible.

This means that the majority of the time we’ll be either sailing, editing videos about sailing, or prepping the boat to sail.  Add to that Brother Kevin’s responsibilities as Commodore of the Lafayette Sailing Club, and sailing becomes his full-time job!

Here’s hoping for fair winds and smooth waters!