15 June 2010

I never thought I'd ask but...where's the wind?

The local sailing club that we belong to had its annual regatta on the 5th and 6th of June. With all the rain we've had, the lake was very full and all of the sailors were ready for a great weekend of racing. Unfortunately, Saturday was a beautiful day - the kind you wish for with sunshine streaming down, temperatures in the low 70s, and a very slight breeze. Perfect! Except if you want to sail. There were over 70 boats registered to participate, with a couple of sailors flying in from East Coast and midwestern states. At one point, the breeze seemed to pick up. The race committee spotted it from the docks.You could see the wind filling in on the far side of the lake. Everyone dashed to docks, untied their boats and hoisted the sails...it was time to sail!
Well, maybe not.
Only one race got run on Saturday and from what I heard, it was a pretty slow race. When I got to the club around 3pm, the sailors were sitting around the club grounds visiting and anxiously watching the water. Watching for wind...that never came. This is Team Frenzy...being hopeful that the wind is filling in!Oh well, there was still Sunday. And if conditions were right, it would be possible to get enough races in for the regatta to still count. Randy and I had volunteered to prepare the Sunday morning breakfast. When we woke at 6:30am, we could hearing the rain beating down on the roof. It wasn't a good sound. We hurried to the club to get coffee started and pancakes mixed for those sailors who were camping. Let me be very clear, this wasn't just rain. This was like monsoon-type rain. It was rain like we get in January. The amount of rain forecasters warn could trigger flash floods. And there just didn't seem to be an end to it. It finally let up - just a bit - about 11:30. With rain gear donned, the sailors headed out once again. Only to have what little wind there was, die completely just as the race committee was preparing to start the first fleet race. The sailors floated around on the lake for well over an hour before cancelling the races. Let me just make this point...Sailors aren't very happy people when they don't get to sail.

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