Y'all its getting intense out there!
On yet another gorgeous Wednesday night I was pleased to witness competitive and aggressive starting strategies as every team worked hard to position themselves to hit that first shift!
Everyone seems to be getting faster and faster each week and it shows in the scores. So it's time to check in on the competition, because there are plenty of heated battles brewing on the race course. In the Low Cruiser fleet only 3 points separate the leaders, in High Cruiser, 2 points separate the top 3, The melges top 3 are split at 3 point intervals, and the Large Sportboats have 3 boats within 3 points of the lead. In The J24 fleet, second place is only 2 points out, and the top 4 are within 6 points. In High PHRF, the Ol' Bullit Team had tracked down that silly 22 but burned a drop this week. Of course, these scores will change a lot if we add another drop and as the averages update, but keep an eye on your competition, they may be closer than you think!
I'm eager to continue to watch as we see more aggressive starts, tighter covers, and riskier crosses coming in the next few weeks. However, be careful not to push it too far... One mistake will send you plummeting down the order when the scores are this tight. And a DSQ, OCS, or DNC can send you even deeper into the fleet.
So sail hard, but sail clean; and most importantly, don't miss out on an upcoming race!
Thanks to the RC team of Tony Stanley, Marten Kendrick, Ansley, Sophia, Shannon, and Eric for getting us racing on another Wednesday without our friendly neighborhood X mark. Also thanks to our culinary team led by Will Brown who made some phenomenal spaghetti and sausage! That's my first experience with sausage in spaghetti and well it won't be my last. And y'all went above and beyond to bring some delicious banana pudding!
Also thanks to all our freelance photographers on the facebook group! Y'all have been killing it recently.
Thanks again to all our volunteers! Let me know if there are any corrections! See y'all Wednesday!
-Kyle
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Y'all I'm so mad!

I was determined to get a BUNCH of sick photos from RC this week and then my dang phone died after the 3rd fleet rounded the windward mark... (I've put some of my fav pics here but I'll post the full library to the Facebook group)

But let me tell you what.... I talked last week about making sure that you take a moment to enjoy the beauty of what we do every week. Look outside your boat and be cognizant of the sunset and spinnakers and smiling faces all around you. Y'all I was jealous because of the pictures but they don't do it justice. 

I was fortunate enough to be on the mark boat for RC this week (if you didn't notice X is missing, so we had to make do). And after my phone died and a few more boats rounded the windward mark, the sunset poked through the clouds and lit up a rainbow of spinnakers running all the way down the lake. We motored around the edges of the course to go watch the leeward roundings and check in with the barge and to glide across the water and watch the spinnakers and sunset almost rotate around you is one of the most majestic scenes anyone could dream of. 

So this week I would like to thank all of y'all for showing up and showing out with your beautiful kites. If you haven't done RC or if you haven't brought a safety boat with you for RC. Do it. It's amazing. Volunteering is totally worth it!

Speaking of volunteers I need to thank Mike Harrington for organizing dinner last week! Yes, it can be as easy as ordering pizza to volunteer for dinner. If you're interested in helping out, reach out to the officers. We can always use more volunteers!

​This week, our RC was Davis MacLeod, David Reddaway, Wheeler Sutton, Matthew Simpson, Tim DeWitt, and Team Highlander. We apologize for the difficulties with the radio (note to future RCs, the front radio on the barge apparently has a VERY limited range. use the one in the back of the boat). That being said, I'm proud of y'all for figuring it out the old school way. 

I've also attached corrections to last week's race. As always let me know if there are any corrections!

Thank you, 
Kyle 
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Guys.... Y'all making me jealous.

I heard through the rumor mill that it was a fantastic Wednesday Night with gorgeous weather and a comfortable 6-8 knot breeze. And then I saw these pics on Facebook and I had serious FOMO. I can try to make something up about the experience, but for this week I will just let you bask in your own glory. Sometimes we don't realize what we have while we're in the moment but when you take a step back, you realize just how majestic and beautiful your experience was. So take a look at these pics and let them remind you of just how special each and every one of our Wednesday nights are.

For this special Wednesday, we need to thank the RC Team led by Brad Bowers and Mike and Rebecca Krantz. I'm not sure what happened with the dinner this week, but hopefully you thanked your server and I'll be sure to get them a shoutout in next week's write up!

As always, let me know if there are any corrections needed!

Thank you, 
Kyle
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