Saturday night William and I joined one of our neighbors from the marina as crew for the night race. During the race we had a few slow tacks and fought a light wind that seemed to have a mind of its own, going away at just the wrong moment. It was one of those disappearing acts that left us with a dead stick and drifting into an oncoming boat on our starboard side and another larger boat closing to port. The wind finally came back, with just enough time and just enough force, for me to pull on the port jib sheet and get enough wind in the sail to steer clear of a imminent collision, that, however, pushed us towards the port side boat.
This happened while all three boats were trying to round the south marker in the dark. Talk about a "pucker moment", but for once, the wind had mercy on us and allowed all three of the boats, including the one we were on, to clear the marker and head north to the finish without further incident.
We ended the race ahead of two boats, but may end up last because of handicaps. What really matters is that four people, who hadn't raced together before, on a boat that was unfamiliar, and the boat owner who is a seasoned sailor, was the first time he had raced, all had a great time and will race/sail together again.
After the race the wind picked up with an incoming rain storm so we headed back down the lake to do some faster sailing before the conditions worsened then called it a night.
All in all, it was a great night of sailing with my son and our marina friends, as always, we learned a few things to help us better prepare for the next race and in the end make us better sailors.
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