Second 2007 White Sails Race

Saturday brought warm sunshine and 20 knots of true wind to the four boats that participated in the second of the WHSYC White Sails Series.  Competing were Mirage, Noatak, Radiance and Williwaw.

The strong southerly breeze and intense competition made for some very close maneuvering with boats piling up around the windward mark and several close crossings helped reinforce the importance and understanding of right-of-way rules.

Everyone made their start times within seconds for the first race and raced toward the south mark with high heel angles, lots of traveler work and fast boat speeds.  The fleet stayed closer together showing more tactical prowess and used right-of-way rules to its advantage when possible.  In all, the day brought fierce but friendly competition and saw the long awaited defeat of Williwaw from the number one position.  In the first race, Radiance squarely beat Williwaw taking first place with Williwaw second, Noatak third and Mirage fourth.  All skippers kept the heat on for the second race and other than Williwaw crossing 30-seconds early nearly fouling Radiance’ start, the boats set off for the windward mark sailing well.  Radiance caught Noatak at the mark and rounded just feet from her stern with Williwaw close behind.  While Noatak reached off, Radiance kept Williwaw astern until she finally reached off for a clear shot to the line.  With Noatak broad reaching back and forth and Radiance charging wing-on-wing, Williwaw fell behind.  On a bee-line for the finish and surfing at 8 knots, Radiance gained quickly on Noatak for a photo finish at the line.  While the crew of each boat maintains they crossed the line first, the “race committee” was not in a position to verify and so the race goes to Noatak with Radiance second, Williwaw third and Mirage fourth.  Great racing by all teams!