Miami ICE…report on the first day…

Good Morning:

The ice held up relatively well despite the Miami-like temperatures and with very strong winds in the morning. The Race Committee was able to get in four races before the wind died at 1:30 PM.

The silver qualifier and the first race for the gold fleet were in both in big breeze with powerful gusts. I had my ABSS sail up, but I put in a stiffer top batten and then loosened my rig slightly. I choose my 95 degree inserts, but the top sailors were sailing 100 degree inserts. When I got to the line, I saw one of my bolts that screws my plank in was rolling around in the cockpit with one of pins on my stud plate broken off. With no way to fix it, I just hoped the bumps and speed would not rip my plank off. For the gold fleet race, the left side was favored and I started on the right side. Go figure, but I was able to keep up with Ron and Chris Berger for most of the windward leg. Unfortunately, when we tacked over the left side was pretty much already at the mark. I kept sailing my race and finished a respectable 19th out of 38 boats.

For the second race, T suggested I put on my MS1 as four of the top sailors used that sail in the first race. I felt like the wind was dying, but after some back and forth with him I put on my MS1. When I got to the line, the breeze totally dropped out. Paniced, I looked back and saw several others (including T!) quickly changing their sails. I ran back to the pit and thanks to Paul Chamberland who was next to me, we were able to put my ABSS sail back on just before the RC said "Ready on the Left…"

The breeze was light, but I was able to get off the line well and built speed. I made it to the mark somewhere in the top 10. I just kept working to keep my speed on the downwind leg staying high and I was sliding forward hard for my gybes which powered the bow around to then catch the breeze. I was seeing people getting out of their boats pushing and I just was determined not to lose any speed. Approaching the finish line on my third downwind leg, I saw a lot of recognizable boats in the pit. Had I been passed? I was confident no one passed me, but worried a bit. When I got back T said many boats had been barded (lapped so they have to stop racing). I waited for the sheet to be posted. I finished 8th!

By the end of that race, the wind completely died and Race Committee said we were done. When we were heading back to pit, you could actually see waves of heat moving across the surface of the lake and the outdoor temperature display on the van dashboard was 61 degrees!

Video: https://vimeo.com/916958969

Results: https://iceresults.org/dn/2024nas.html