2 and 1/2 races at Lake Pleasant. The last race was an upwind sprint to the windward mark and the runabout–a shortened course for a day that was short on wind. We had good starts and decent boat speed but race course management and execution at key points left us with a 4th as our best finish of the day.
The center and right sides of the course paid off today on the upwind legs. We were on the left. In the first race, we stayed left longer than we should have, and rounded the windward mark of the triangle course in 5th. After closing the gap during the reaching leg, we headed up on the downwind leg, had better boat speed, and, for a while, continued to gain until the pressure dropped around us and the boats further downwind stretched further ahead. The breeze filled in after we rounded the windward mark but by then it was too late to catch anybody else.
Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, sailing from the leeward mark to the starboard lay line on the last upwind leg allowed a lighter and faster boat to get inside us. We would have done better to tack sooner and then cover that boat.
When one crew did not show today, we sailed double handed, and will do so again tomorrow. Mistakes are more unforgiving when there are fewer people to correct them. We will have to do better tomorrow.