11 boats showed up in the moderate SW winds where the crew of High Jinx set a windward-leeward 5 leg course from the start line to North Canoe to a pin set to the NE of the Committee boat. Welcome to Moonlighting for their first race of the series!
As it turned out the shifting winds created huge holes forcing the committee boat to shorten course to a 4 leg race. At the start the SW winds suddenly increased and then shifted to the West favoring the boat end of the line where Cut Loose won the start with Crackerjack right behind. Animal followed and quickly tacked which allowed Crackerjack to follow suit and clear their air. Heading into the west wind early may have been the deciding factor as the wind started to oscillate with big puffs from the west. Those boats that held on to the East side of the course soon found themselves battling into the west wind.
At the first mark Crackerjack led the way with Spirit and Vaporize in close pursuit. The tight spinnaker reach down the next leg saw Dave hitting over 10 knots but was unable to catch Crackerjack. Spirit gybed earlier than Vaporize and rounded the second mark inside of Vaporize. Looking back upwind the lead boats saw what a crazy wind pattern had created. A few boats had yet to make it round the first mark! The ensuing wind shifts from West to South to East drove crews crazy as they tried to keep momentum towards the next mark. Spirit and Vaporize switched positions and closed in on Crackerjack several times during leg 3. As the lead boats slipped down the last leg to the finish the wind steadied. Crackerjack took lines honors with Dave seconds ahead of Spirit across the finish line to take a third for the evening.
Next week marks the last race of the first half with the crew of Animal hosting us as Committee Boat. 17 boats have participated in the series thus far with promises from several more J/22s to be out on the course for the second half.