Conserving Resources...

Yesterday was a day of good and bad... the good was that I was going fast upwind and getting good starts. The bad is that I was painfully slow downwind. I arrived at the weather marks in the top 5 or 6 boats.. turn to go downwind and immediately lose 2 or 3 boats. it would be the same leaking of places all the way down the run. At the leeward mark I had fell back to the mid twenties! Depressing because I'm normally very fast or at least even speed in most of the regattas I go to. I caught a few boats on the second weather leg and limped into the finish in 20th. The second race I was determined to better my score. Being near or with the leaders of the regatta gave me new motivation to sail my "complete race". My second start was brilliant.. punched out from my group and heading to the left with speed in good company. As I got to the first mark I was battling for 5th place. I worked up the left side of the course and I was coming into the mark on a tricky port tack layline. Tricky because port has no rights and has to keep clear of other boats rounding. The winds had piped up to the mid-twenties and boats were moving fast. I crossed Hummel the regatta leader but couldn't cross my friend Tracey Usher. I went into a crash duck to try to go below him but ended up getting almost clothlined by his mainsheet. We touched so not I was obligated to sail a 720 penalty turn before continuing. 720s are hard enough in 15 knots of wind.. But in 20+ they are outright dangerous in a laser. I managed to pull off two pretty clean turns and rejoined the race. Exhausted from the upwind and the 720, I was maybe too slow to react and the first big wave sent me into the dreaded "deathroll". That's all she wrote.. I was done. By the time I rode the boat and got back in I was well back in the fleet. Time to conserve my strength and equipment and call it a day. The world Championship allows for two discard races from your overall score card and that's what I did. I took my throwout. Racing today may be lighter winds. Well see how it goes. Peter