Did we end this series with a bang or a whimper, no we ended this series end with a DRIP.  It was a very wet Wednesday night race for everyone involved, but it did end up being an exciting ending for those of us who braved the weather.
 
Despite our wet and bedraggled condition, we had a great meal waiting for us compliments of chef Wheeler Sutton and his merry band of cooks.  But the highlight of the evening was the Keelboat Fleet band that played all evening for us.  It was an awesome night of music and a big thanks to organizers/musicians Will Brown and Q, with the addition of the musical talents of Brad Griese, Lee Estes and a few other talented gentlemen.
 
A big thanks to Warren Collier, David Jackson, Doug Early and crew from Your Move for doing race committee for this series.
 
There will be many trophies given out tomorrow night (10/18/23).  We will be presenting the LARC trophies for the 2022 Fall series, 2023 Winter series and the 2023 Moonlight series (see attached files).  These will be given out in addition to the 2023 Encore series awards. If you are wondering if you are getting a trophy, look at the scores and if you are in the top half of your fleet then your chances are excellent.  Please be sure that you have someone from your boat or a friend that will pick up your trophy for you.  
 
Look forward to seeing everyone,    Dana
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If there was any doubt that Fall is here, it was this wet and wonderful day!  What a surprise after the light air race we endured last Wednesday.  I know everyone had a fabulous time and a big thank you to Stefan Schulze, Amy Larkin and Chris Jackson for setting up the 8 mile course we had for this race.  It was not an easy race, but the kind of day that really makes you glad to be on the water.  The wind came out of NNW and I clocked wind speeds from 6-20 mph.  We got some fabulous videos, though I am still working on sound quality and I had some difficulty in that some of the videos at the end of the race were accidentally put on Slo-Mo video or I was running out of battery, but I did not include those.  
 
A super big thank you to Chris Jackson who provided some very insightful observations of the participants in this race.  It was a challenging and fun afternoon.  Thank you everyone that participated.  After the race we all gathered at the LLSC clubhouse and had snacks and watched the videos.  What a great way to end such an exciting afternoon.
 
You will have 2 more chances to see your sailboat from a different perspective on Sat. Oct 21 and Sat Nov 18 with a 11am skipper’s meeting and 1 pm start.

LARC Fall #2 video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uOIYshnmDcNLW978Sipn9h3rfPA7gkkj
LARC Fall #1 videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iLjKYIIsp3PTfytCrTPBfZt7fMxIgYFn
 
The picture above is of #77 Strega on a close reach going to “H” mark.  You can tell the wind speed by the huge wake behind Strega and her mainsail is fluttering.  Notice the whitecaps in the background, it was an exciting day.
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f I told you that 7 boats retired from this race that went from X- E- C- X, what would you assume about the race?  I think an apt description of this race was painful.    The pileup at E mark gave any Nascar race a run for the money.  It is hilarious what people will do when they get bored..  As we all painfully drift around E mark, just ahead of me  Ol Sole Mio puts up there black and red spinnaker and starts to drift slower.  Here is the highlight of the race, Ol Sole Mio decides they are going to help their spinnaker by starting the engine and going backward.  The spinnaker filled and we were all excited until we noticed there was something funny afoot.   Obviously we did not follow suit, but I applauded their tenacity to make their spinnaker fly.
 
A picture is worth a thousand words and this picture shows the pile up at E mark.  Thank you Dona Cardenas for this great shot.

A big thank you to Dona Cardenas for the excellent Gumbo this evening.  I believe next week Wheeler Sutton and company are preparing our dinner for Week #5.  Something new and different every week.

I want to encourage everyone to register for the Barefoot Open Regatta.  There will be great sailing conditions, but getting a Tshirt with this great logo should be great incentive.  I have to applaud BFSC, they put on a great party (this year it will be at UYC) and really know how to put on a top notch regatta.  Go to BarefootSailingClub.org to register.
 
See you on the race course,   Dana
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