Our start was a little rough. The headsail caught on the forestay and tore a 2 ft gash in the sail. We had to drop the damaged sail down and change it out - which resulted in us being 7 min late to the start line. Although it was a challenging change - it is one of the fastest sail changes I have every accomplished.
On the upside the winds were strong and we got moving pretty quickly. SV Northern Lights had a mixed crew of rookies, newbies, seasoned experts - the common thread was that all aboard were kind and good hearted salty souls.
As the winds strengthened past 25knots we reefed our main to maintain an efficient and safe point of sail.
Reefing paid off, and we passed this vessel on the leeward side BOOYA!
We were also passed by the notorious Flying Tiger SV Mai Thai on the run home. SV Mai Thai is a much smaller and lighter vessel that races in a different class. Her race time was several hours shorter for the same course that we completed.
One of my favourite experience from the race was flying the spinnaker on the run home. It's an incredibly physically demanding job - but also very rewarding.
We were on the water for a total of 16 hours, 8 sail changes, and 78 nautical miles. There was enough adrenaline, laughter and camaraderie to render the whole experience one of a lifetime. I am still grinning ear to ear - two months later.
You can view my Golden Hour shot of the night before the race here
You can view the race course here
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