Last night was the first race of Dahlgren Yacht Club’s Spring Low Points PHRF season. It was our first race with Gemini, and it was an eventful first race. Gemini finished second, of two.
The average wind speed during last night’s race was 19 kts, so it was quite sporty. The water had two foot rollers, and white caps. With the crew on board, I fired up the now trusty M18, and threw her in gear. The wind was directly on our nose. I throttle the engine up to full power and Gemini didn’t move. We used the bow lines to help pull her out of her slip.
When we bought Gemini in the fall, there were visible barnacles on the hull, and I have not been able to clean it myself yet. I have a diver coming sometime next week to clean the hull. I knew both the hull and the prop were covered, and that was going to hurt us during this race.
With a reef in the main, the full 130 genoa, and the engine running, we made our way, up wind, out to the starting line. The race started before we even got to the starting line, but we were going to use this night as a chance to learn the boat, and learn each other as a crew. Eric and I crewed together last year on Blessed, now competition to us, and Chris hasn’t been sailing in a few years.
Three boats started the race in the Non Spinnaker class, Gemini, Blessed (O’Day 25), and Tipsy (Columbia 8.7). Halfway through the race, Tipsy called it off and returned to the dock, that left us and Blessed. With our fouled bottom, Blessed just ran away with the lead. There were multiple times where the leeward rail was underwater. It was a fun night, and we learned a lot about Mrs. Gemini and mine’s new boat. The crew and I look forward to continually improving our race record throughout the year.
Seeing as the conditions were so sporty, I was unable to take many photos during the race. I also hadn’t set my phone to record the track, so I hope to get those straightened out for next week.
s/v Gemini 