To summarize at the beginning: they were animals out there.

6 guys raced 5 races last night. I wimped out when the air temperature dropped
to something more like February than May.

WSW winds continually built thoughout the evening. This is the reverse of the
usual pattern of wind fading as the evening wears on. By race 5 I was measuring
a solid 18 mph on the pier. Gusts to 22. However, I didn't notice much
gustiness on the pier. The guys will probably comment.

Holding on to 10.8, 10.8, 11.0, 10.7, 8.0, and such sized sails on big heavy
longboards is something that even the most animal-like of those guys started to
have trouble with by race 5.

4 were on longboards (Mark, Glenn, Greg, Bret) , 1 on a Prodigy (John), and 1
formula board (Leslie with 9.5). For the first 2 races the wind was too light
for the formula (FW) board. However, once the wind came up by race 3, the FW
board hit its stride, and Leslie was flying around the course in fine fashion.
He even won race 4.

There was some really good racing, with some pretty close finishes. It was
great theater on the pier. Some guy up there with a long-lensed SLR camera took
a couple hundred pictures.

Cheryl, our intrepid scorer, stayed warm with 6 pairs of pants, 4 jackets, and a
head wrap. She's been there before.

Once I tally the scores, I will post them here.

--Rick



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