Fog Sailing Frustrating, like Racing Ghosts

Written by: Brad

After being disappointed with my finishes yesterday, I was ready to improve today. I was in the blue fleet and the second start sequence out of three.

After a few general recalls for the yellow fleet, my start was next. I started close to the committee boat end and sailed the right hand side of the course. Oh, and I forgot to mention the FOG: so thick that it was basically impossible to see anything! And I mean anything.

I found myself alone, sailing upwind on the right hand side of the course. I decided to cross back toward the middle. Crossing a fleet you cannot see is difficult - boats just appear out of nowhere. After crossing back for what I felt was a suitable distance, I tacked back to head to the right again.

The fog was getting worse and the visibility was basically 50 feet in any direction. At this point, I was lost and seemed to be following the person in front of me, who was no doubt following the person in front of him. This was not fun sailing and really annoying because I couldn’t believe the race committee was continuing with the race.

It turned out I over shot the windward mark by a long way. I was very frustrated to find I was basically the last boat. Or who knows, anybody could have skipped marks. No one could tell. The fog cleared a little and I was able to catch a few boats by the end of the race (well, if that’s what you call it). It was very frustrating; I was all ready to improve today and then something out of my control messed things up.

The fog cleared for the start of the second race. As soon as we started, the fog came back. And again, it was thick, so I once again found myself having no idea where I was going and not knowing how far away the marks were. I sailed to the left side this time and it seemed to be working well.

It felt like I was sailing by myself again because no one was visible anywhere. Some boats would appear and then I would look again and they were gone. It was like racing ghosts. I ended up following another boat that seemed to be bearing off to more of a reach. I was getting even more frustrated thinking of the last race and how I was so messed up because I couldn’t see a thing.

I rounded the top mark in about 15th place. I was instantly relieved and was getting ready to take on the downwind leg when the race committee sounded 3 horns, signalling abandon race. Okay, to say I was mad was an understatement. The conditions were exactly the same as the previous race and the race committee let that race stand. Everyone was sent back to shore, and the race officials were calling it a day. This was definitely an interesting day and a patience testing one at best. However, I hope tomorrow will have some more positive moments!