The Coming of POD?

Friday couldn't have been more different than Thursday. First of all, there was no buffet breakfast - just some "continental" crap, which means donuts. Second, there was no wind, or at least very little. We had a good day though - I think everyone on the course had some good and some horrible races, as happens when the wind is fickle. It blew about 5 knots most of the day, with some puffy shafts up to ten or so, and the closer you got to land and the weather mark, the shiftier and more frustrating it was.

The first start was the most organized of the week as the current was flowing up the river, holding boats off the line. Team Gill found a nice lane about a third of the way up the lane, and then we just had one of those legs where every shift seems to go your way. It didn't last though. At the top mark we were a couple of lengths ahead of the fleet, but we dug a little too deep after the hoist and got rolled by Lamorak and by Bretwalda - at least both boats have Anarchists on them. We held off the rest of the fleet to the bottom, and spent the rest of the race sailing from one patch of breeze to the next - it was the only way to stay ahead of the curve. We got Bretwalda back, but Pollard and Scott Nixon both passed us on the second downwind. Nixon wouldn't have gotten us, but at the final leeward mark (all the races have had upwind finishes) Nixon held his kite a little longer than we did and went around us on the outside with better speed, taking and holding the third spot all the way to the finish.

The second race was so shifty that I've lost most of my memory of it - I guess that's my defense mechanism kicking in. The current had started back down the river, so there were a lot more OCS boats, but the wind was all over the place. The RC signaled course change, yet by the time the fleet was headed for the new mark the wind was back to the left and it was a fetch. We were stuck in the middle the entire time, unable to get to the left where everyone made out like bandits.

By the third race, the current was ripping at a knot or better. This is textbook port-tack start conditions, and both Team Gill and Flyer went for it, Bora at the pin and us at the midline boat. Bora made it, we were over early and had to go back, and by the time we went back and rounded the end, we knew it was going to be a long race. We got to the top mark with just a few boat behinds us, and spent the rest of the race trying to stay in the pressure. We passed about 20 boats during the race, and we got most of them during the downwind legs. Jonesy (www.bettersailing.com) was happy in these conditions, sniffing out a puff that was coming down the course and calling our gybe right on the edge of it, then staying in the same puff for two or three more gybes. It was amazing how many boats we were able to pass in each puff, but it wasn't enough to get back into the top ten. We actually blew a nice chance on the last upwind, when we banged the left corner rather than staying to the middle left, just on top of Stuart and the Barbarians team. We let them by, and went out to the left where Morgan was, only to see a 30 degree lefty come in. Would have been a great thing if we weren't 200 yards past the real lay line. OOPS.

Jack Jennings and Joy are doing a nice job reporting on the action on the US Melges website. Joy was all over the race organizer getting those results up quickly, especially after I told her how many people were on SA yesterday searching fruitlessly for results until sometime after midnight. She does a great job, and Jack's having fun sailing with Bob McElwain's Silver, a new boat, while writing up race reports for the class. For some reason though, they just don't write about the party, which yesterday was truly hilarious. I have still never seen a class that parties like this one- nearly every single competitor was at the YC bar after the race, drinking like, well, sailors. I spent most of my 3 hours at the bar trying to get John Podmajersky to talk to me. Most people who visit this site have watched Pod's drama unfold, and I won't rehash the story here. Suffice to say that I am intricately associated with SA, and SA has been raking Pod over the coals ever since he filed that lawsuit.

So, when I heard that there were guys that literally wanted to kick my ass for what I was saying on SA, I went looking for them. I haven't been in a fist fight in years, and I was just drunk enough that I thought it would be a really fun way to end a great day. Alas, nobody wanted to fight me, and we all had fun chatting about the issues for a good hour. While Pod didn't set the record straight, he did promise to tell me the whole story from his point of view. I'll tell you why I'm curious: He's got Max Skelley sailing for him and building his sails - and Max is a very good guy and does a great job for every customer of his I've ever spoken to. He's also got some other guys that I trust sailing for him, and they all say he's a great guy to sail for. These sailors are not doing this because they're desperate to sail for anyone who will pay them, they can sail for almost anyone, and they choose to sail for Pod - and no one's getting rich sailing for him. I promise you guys that when Pod tells me the whole story I'll pass it along. You guys know that I don't mince words - I don't think a lawsuit over a trophy could ever be considered anything but a douchebag move, but I'm pretty sure there's more to the story, and that by the end of it, that fine vinegar scent will be on some others as well. Besides, Team POD and Team Gill both have 56 points, and we win the tiebreaker - so, as I told Pod yesterday - IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG, BITCHES!

Thanks to my awesome pal Katie McCord for all the photos - she's going to be selling them cheap after the event, so stay tuned for updates and eventually, a website where you can buy them, or trade something for good pics.

Mr. Clean