Toucan Report

One of my favorite things about the Toucan is the simple lifestyle
for three days. If you sail barefoot, then you don't even need no
stinkin' shoes for three days. OK, I exaggerate; I did put on my
XC
ski boots for a ski both Sat and Sun morning. The kick `n'
glide was
better than I thought it would be, but it was best in the cool
morning air.
Ironically, the sand at Lake McConoughy is better than the sand at
the ocean beach. Miles and miles of pure white sand with a beach at
least a hundreds yards deep. Compared to last year, the water was up
something like seven feet. This made the main body of water about 15
miles long and over two miles across. Gary and I went cruising
around on Friday, wearing nothing more than shorts and lycra tops.
My GPS reported almost a 2-1/4 mile reach across the lake and we
went sailed down to the dam, over five miles east of the launch.
Although we weren't course racing until Sat, there was a speed
check sponsored by NavMan [you'll be seeing ads in the
windsurfing
rags for their products]. As the wind improved Fri afternoon, Gary
and I became more and more addicted to bettering our fastest speed.
I had a 27-kt run on my first pull of the trigger and sailed around
determined to better my speed. After working my way upwind and
waiting impatiently for a big gust, I finally recorded a speed of 29
knots, which held as the fastest speed over the entire regatta.
There's a joke that Lake McConoughy means `place where it
always
blows at night.' In the seven or so years I've attended the
Toucan,
I've always planed at least one night, even though there are
years
when I didn't plane at all during the day. It was tough last
year,
with no moon, but this year we had a waxing first-quarter moon.
After sailing almost the entire afternoon of Friday up until
sundown, I opted to skip the evening session and enjoy the lovely
sunset, dinner, and head off to sleep relatively early. Of course it
blew all night and dusted the inside of my tent with copious amounts
of sand.
After my morning tea and a quick sand ski, I got a chance to try
Karen Marriot's brand stinkin' new Olympic rig [it birthed
from the
bubble pack the day before], the RS-X with the women's 8.5 sail.
After flailing around for a few minutes, it's been a while since
I
have sailed a high performance board with a centerboard, I had a
very enjoyable morning session. Although the board is relatively
heavy, at least compared to a formula board, once on the water the
board is fairly responsive with the centerboard kicked up.
I'll refrain from boring you with the racing results for Sat
and
Sun, but in nutshell: we schlogged, we pumped, and planed a wee bit.
And of course, true of most regattas, the wind was stronger
[planable] both days before and after the races. Thankfully, the
wind did stay down during our Sat on the beach pot-luck, awards
banquet and bonfire.
After nursing my wound of not winning the first place door prize,
a new board, the wind picked up enough to keep my tradition alive. I
attached a glow stick to my sail and a flashing light to my harness
before launching. The light, from a beautiful setting moon, was
pretty good when reaching out. However, about half my reaches back
to the beach were spoiled by someone trying to `help' me by
aiming a
zillion candlepower light in my direction. Nothing like having to
figure out which campfire I launched from, of the dozen or so
campfires up and down the beach, by having to squint with one eye
[from the spotlight] and not run aground.
Any of you remember Kim Kent? She was there with her husband,
Brian, 10-month-old daughter, Tallis, and pack of dogs. In a future
issue of WindSurf magazine, there will be an article on the Toucan
–
Glen Dubock, you're seen his photos in the windsurf and surfing
rags, was there firing away with his camera for three days. Pretty
cool that a windsurfing mag would even consider sending Glen to a
regatta in Nowhere Nebraska. And Nick, have you ever heard of
carpooling? We could have easily fit you in Gary's rig.
Put the Toucan on your calendar for next year – it's always
the
weekend AFTER Labor Day.

-Barry
1st Place NavMan Speed Check
2nd Place Formula Course Racing