my first racing season

My first racing season – having raced a bit on Cordelia during the summer of 2009, I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I have been a cruiser for the past 16 years and had very little racing experience – to be honest, the start line still scares the heck out of me. I recruited a friend and experienced sailor, Pat Ryan – who is also the director of the Compass Project, to help me - with my able crew – Deb Loveitt and Winter Robinson – we formed the “women over 55” racing team. In a few weeks, Kathy Reilley joined us and brought our median age down and brought some great racing experience. We did fairly well in the first few weeks, with some good wind and good advice – we were in fourth or fifth place when I left for my 3 week cruise to Penobscot Bay. When I returned, we had several weeks of light air and slow finishes - but we still had a great time and I learned a great deal and still came in 7th - not bad for my first year. I will definitely sign on for another year – the after race dinners were great and the camaraderie was fantastic – I had lots of support from my crew and from the race committee – Tim, Gregg and Mark – I would encourage anyone who is thinking about racing to do it – I’m looking forward to next year.