Go / No Go

Waiting on go/no go from Andy for CRW...I'm predicting a GO at the moment but then again I'm an optimist. Originally we hoped for 3 weekends of practice before trucking down to Charleston. Andy had so many issues with boat & trailer prep we were only able to get a couple light air sailing hours in yesterday.

We worked all Friday afternoon and Sat afternoon until dark but did finally get on the water with Dave Nickerson coaching us from his Sea Nymph until his engine died, then from the dock at Ram Island Yacht Club. After a quick sail, Dave swapped out with Andy so Eric and I could receive instruction from a most excellent sailor. He put us through all the evolutions, cool boat, accelerates fast, very sensitive like a big Laser. Then Andy swapped back in for more boat handling drills.

It was blowing only 6-8kts and it seemed like we were only on the water a couple hours. We can only think about Viper boat handling in heavier though we are scheduled to have one practice day down south. Forecast for CRW is mid-teens and with 31 boats on the line the mark roundings are going to be interesting, especially if we don't figure out what's wrong with our douses... current thinking is the knot vs grommet placement in our retrieval line if not correct..need go to Viper class website next and do some research...

Anyways, Andy has still alot to do, including installing a new axle, rewiring trailer lites, enlarging the plate for the keel bolts that holds the keel down in the event we capsize (one is mis-aligned), getting a travel cover made, packing up for a 14 hour drive, etc. before we can leave Wed 0400. And then hoping the new mast makes it to Charleston when we do. Confident he can complete all tasks. Learned a great deal about Viper rigging, tuning, adjustment etc over last couple days. Can't wait to sail a Viper in some breeze!

On another note, in between Viper stuff I was able to do finish prep on my J/105 so we'll be splashing later this week!