This year was similar to last, a slow ride down the bay to Smith with a fill from the south late. Although it took almost 9 hours to get downwind to Smith Point, when the wind filled in, it came in from the south giving us a spectacular 2nd downwind run. It took us less than 5 hrs to get back. Sailflow predicted this shift almost perfectly. After 8PM the wind filled in huge, much bigger than we expected. By 9 We were holding 7kts steady with surfing in the mid 8's and 5 foot waves. We were near dead down wind and it was very difficult to steer, with the boom and pole taking turns nearly kissing the water. At around 10:30 we broke our speed record for the boat, hitting 11.4kts!! We then got caught between breaking waves and had an epic wipeout...I thought we were going to destroy the chute with all the shreddy flogging. It took a bit to clean up, but we were still moving 6-7kts under main alone. We popped the 155 and continued up to Cedar Point. At cedar Point, we jibed over to port tack and rode the fastest reach on this boat I've ever experienced..breaking our speed record for a second time that night with an 11.7kt surf which lasted for almost half a minute. It was a great ride back and one that will be hard to top. Preliminary results have us winning this race which puts us in great position for SMSA season highpoint award and the middle distance series.
http://www.tqci.net/~jkriz/AkoniSmithPoint2010.htm
