Tampa Regatta 2021 Racing Recap (Wildcard)

 

Regatta: Tampa Regatta 2021.

Crew: Rick Wojnar.

Finishing Place: 10th out of 20 boats racing.









Tampa has become my favorite travel regatta.  This year we finished mid fleet but the score card doesn't represent how well we sailed.  We broke a vang fuse in the last 1/4 of the first upwind leg of the first.  Rick is a strong dude and just shredded the thing with one big arm pull.   We had great upwind boat speed and would round the first mark in third, but we'd get destroyed on the second upwind in big wind and drop to the back of the fleet because we didn't have a vang.  This is so incredibly frustrating because we wanted to break out and start winning trophies during these Florida District races and quit screwing ourselves with avoidable mistakes.  I feel Rick and I together are a very strong team and we have the boat speed and boat handling to compete with these guys if we could avoid mistakes.   We'd finish 12th after passing some boats downwind on the second downwind leg as the gust kicked up past 30 - only because we survived and others bailed.  This is a race where we should have finished in the Top 5.  Frustrating, but one cool thing about this race is we had a drone following us and a camera in the boat.  Check out this great video!  Pay attention in that video as Rick saves us from a capsize with exceptional boat handling skills!! 

Race 2 and 3 would take place on Sunday in light air.   I just couldn't get the boat going off the line in race 2 for some reason.  My boat speed vs the boats around me just plain sucked and couldn't figure out why.  It's the kind of frustrating when you just want to scream.   We finished way back in 14th, but then rebounded with a strong top 5 finish in the very challenging 2nd race.  Had great boat speed upwind and downwind in very light air.  I can't explain what happened in the third race vs. the second but it was night and day.   We held off the pack and sailed great that third and final race.  

Where we did well

Our light wind boat speed in the third race was exceptional.  Don't be afraid to heel the hell out of the boat.  Upwind boat speed was exceptional - we cranked vang and sat back in the boat.  We let the bow float over the chop.  Rick's spinnaker handling downwind allowed us to pass boats in big wind.   We had good starts and kept our composure after the broken fuse.   Got a great start in the third race and we're fast in light air when we can get just a little separation.  

Where we can get better

If we're going to use a vang fuse, we need to be able to do a quick fix so we have a functional vang.  We didn't get a great start in the second race and then couldn't get the boat going.  Need to practice drag races in light wind and not have to rely on getting great starts to compete in light wind.  

Eric Bussell
FS#6135 Blue Eyes 



Location: 1315 Severn Ave, Tampa, FL 33606, USA

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