Report by Bill Buchan
We went to the Southern California Y.A. Midwinters in part to try out some changes I made to the boat. During the 2006 World’s I felt that the helm was different on the two tacks. Upon our return to Seattle I checked the boat over and noticed that the keel was not the same on both sides. Making the keel the same on both sides seems to have cured the problem. We now have some weather helm as well, which was also lacking.

Saturday, races 1 - 3:
In Race 1 there was a general recall but we were one of only a few boats to figure it out. We won the race by quite a bit in really fluky, light air conditions.

In Race 2 the wind went left just after the start allowing the boats to the left of us to actually lay the mark without tacking. Unfortunately we were heading off to the right when this all happened. We were in last place for some of the race, eventually picking off 3 boats. Not good, plus, I’m becoming more than a little worried about our downwind speed.

For Race 3 we were determined to stay more in touch with the fleet. We were 6th at the first weather mark and by playing the shifts we worked up to 2nd with Eric Lidecis winning the race. We passed 2 boats on the run to the finish when the wind came in from the south making our angle better than some of the boats around us.

Sunday, races 4 – 5:
Going into race 4 on Sunday, we were 2 points out of 1st and 2 points out of slipping back into 3rd. The wind was all over the place but hovered around 150 degrees. Our start was a little late and we went a short distance to the right to clear our wind. Of course, it paid to go left. We rounded the 1st weather mark 3rd but lost Will Stout on the run. We eventually finished 3rd with Eric Lidecis 2nd and Will 1st.