Key West Race Week 2013

Watching the races during Key West, our first sailing venture for the new year. We went out with Luke and Jan. Seems as if the number of boats is still shrinking, although there were well over 125 boats entered.  The mini-maxis, which were the big draw in years past managed only two entries. Swan 54 and 45s racing with them still made for exciting pictures.

But the new big class is the J-70s, with 48 entries, including boats from Russia, Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. These boats were fast, exciting, and trailer able. They provided lots of great moments from our seat on the sidelines.

Part of the reason for the sail was to check on our mainsail, which had given us a few problems the last time or two out. So, we tried raising the mainsail. Dang! Big problems! After 45 agonizing minutes, using lots of muscle, sail out, sail in, sail up, sail down, we finally properly raised the mainsail and refurled it in readiness for Sunday's Wreckers Race!