Run to the finish...

After getting off to a decent start and being very competitive for two thirds of the race, the final push to the finish line sucked.

Everyone said at the Skippers meeting that morning that the "Race" was going to be basically a fun tour around the course while relaxing and taking pictures of all the Cat's in the race. For me, my goal was to record the event on video, hoping to get some great footage of all the boats, unfortunately, when the flag went up to start the race, it was every man or woman for themselves. Boats were tacking all over the place, scattered to the four winds as it were. So, my friends at the Regatta, I did not get the footage sought after, what you got and have is a lot of video of Lee Marie and her crew.

The following day we were scheduled to sail out into Buttonwood Sound in convoy, a concept that would have made for better video and sailing, that never happened and it was decided that there was going to be another race instead. Well, having reviewed the video from the day before and seeing that there was very little coverage of other boats, I decided that I was going to stick with the original plan. As the others gathered for their final race, my crew and I headed out at had a great sail around several Keys and ultimately headed for home.

We had several boats and crew who never sailed in the Keys before, they were limited in their exposure to what the Bay has to offer in the way of it's vastness, peaceful nature and wonderful sights. One sailor came all the way from Michigan only to sail around a race course three times. Additionally, Geoff Marshall came from Massachusetts to deliver a new Sanderling, I'm quite sure that he would have enjoyed seeing more of what Florida Bay has to offer.

Perhaps next year, the "powers that be" will stick to the Plan and allow the participants to sail more than a half mile from the UKSC Clubhouse.

All that said, it was still a great gathering of Catboat owner's and their vessels, the weekend certainly was a resounding success. Hats of to Wavy Davy, Skipper Larry and anyone else who were the driving force behind this event. Thanks to the UKSC for hosting the Regatta!

Davy, I did my best to capture your Regatta!