Race committee of John McCarthy, Brad Bowers, Graham Bowers, Samuel Trimble, Will Shirley, Ken Blankenship, Paul Blesse, Ansley and Tim Thompson had a difficult job this evening because John McCarthy dropped our crystal ball and put a crack in it, making it very difficult to predict the weather this evening.
 
It was a difficult call for RC this night with the daily and sometimes twice daily storms we have had to deal with for the past week.  When these pop up storms show up, you need a crystal ball to decide whether to continue, shorten or even abandon the race.  A difficult decision when you see storms on the radar and need to decide how to proceed in the next couple of hours.  The Weather Channel is not always right!  
 
But I want to thank this race committee as well as the other 30+ teams of sailors that have taken on this responsibility each week for the last 18 weeks of racing we have enjoyed.  We appreciate your dedication in providing the best possible race course each week. 
 
The racing is getting tougher each week, this is obvious in watching the starts of each fleet.  A big thanks to Will Shirley for taking photos of the starts, which in some fleets were very competitive.  

​See you on the race course, Dana
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All I can say in my defense is that I requested the Moon to wait until after the fireworks were finished to put in an appearance.  So, if you sailed to H and back after we Short Finished at X, you got a great view of the fireworks and then when you got back to the dock the Moon provided a gorgeous glimmering light.   It was a fabulous ending to our Moonlight series.
 
This is the order of finishes by elapsed time.  Since we SF- short finished at X, the distance changed to 1.52nm and then a handicap was given to determine the corrected time (see the file attached).
But it is fun to look at how everyone finished:
 
C&C 99                ET = 42 min 27 sec
Wavelengh 24  ET = 43 min 35 sec
J-22                      ET= 49 min 35 sec
Beneteau 310    ET= 49 min 43 sec
C&C 36                ET= 51 min 41 sec
Hunter 34           ET= 54 min 01 sec
E33                      ET= 51 min 03 sec
Santa Cruz 27    ET= 54 min 59 sec
Beneteau 285    ET= 1 hr 01min 47 sec
 
I have bought some great trophies for this series and will be giving them out at the Wednesday Series 2 awards on Wednesday, September 7th.
 
It was a great night for a Moonlight race.  See you at the first Fall LARC race on Sun, Sept 18 at 1pm.   Dana
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The gauntlet has been thrown down in some fleets.  In almost every fleet, somewhere in the top 3 places there is a one point difference in the overall results.  The starts are also getting more competitive and most people can now recognize the Individual recall “X” flag and what they should do when they are over early.  Being in one of the last fleets to start, you get a great view of some of the more innovative starting solutions people try, like the infamous “dip” start.  I have seen that in the last 3 races.
 
Thanks to race committee of Mike Iuvone, Warren Collier (temporarily out of medical retirement), Paul Stouffer, Greg Aksamit, Steve Griffin, Mary Lyons, Julie Stuart, and Colton Spell.    We appreciate their efforts in these days of difficult weather.  
 
We can thank Will Brown and his supervisors Jonathan Stewart and Chris Jackson for the excellent meal of Chicken Tetrazzini after this race.  I noticed some great kitchen helpers of Marie Umberger, Linda Cellamare, Rose Mazzotta, Jordi Lobon, thanks so much for volunteering.

See you on the race course,   Dana
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The important question of the evening was “Did you finish with the same number of crew that you started with?”  If you answered to the affirmative, then you had a successful evening.  Listening to the stories of mayhem and carnage that occurred during this short and eventful evening sent chills up my spine but also taught me some very valuable tips on handling these pop-up storms.   I have to commend the team on the J-22 ( Pyg) of Will Bryant, Oliver Sobering, Abi Anderson and Stephanie Griffin for handling the storm this evening and completing the course.
 
Race committee members of Tedd Meinersmann, Brent McKenzie, Lisa McKenzie, Reid Collins, Doug Thome, Lisa Thome, and Terry Vick probably had the most difficult RC we have had so far this year.  We had lightning, thunder, shifty East wind and wind gusts probably up to 30mph and how can I forget, THE RAIN!!!  We appreciated the announcements but had some difficulty following the countdown (just kidding RC) and it’s corrections.
 
We are looking for volunteers for future Wednesday night dinners.  You will need to feed about 80 people and we do have a budget.  Let any of the officers of the keelboat fleet know of your interest in volunteering to make a meal and Will Brown will get in touch with you.
 
Don’t forget that we will have dinner next week.  Watch facebook for an announcement of this coming Wednesday’s culinary delight.
 
See you on the race course,     Dana
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