To quote one of the literary greats, John Burnham, “Shields don’t like sailing with other Shields. That’s something Charlie Levy always told me, and it’s true. You almost always go faster when you’re in your own patch of wind”; an excerpt from http://www.northsailsod.com/class/shields/shields_teamprofile1.html
That being said, I don’t have anything tactical, tuning, or revealing, just this: the need to keep clear air heading into this ebb was going to be critical (and don’t tack too much!). We were able to nose out with a good start at the boat, and stayed middle-left of the beat, finding the wind was best right in the middle of the channel approaching the bridge. Every time we looked around, it appeared either side of the course was doing better, then much worse, then better again. After lee-bowing 217 and then passing under the bridge, we noticed #1 had come out of the right side looking fast, and we crossed over to the Coaster’s
Downwind we were able to keep our momentum and clear air, and a hot angle and the outgoing tide seemed to keep us pointing toward the bridge, and we headed to the middle of the channel again. After the bridge, 33 and a couple other boats had taken the low road along
Thanks to Race Committee for another great race!