Pat Dolan's boat, "Wind dancer" was skippered by Doug Carlson and featured Stacey Koteki and Helio Vogel as crew. They had a respectable showing with a first, a second and a third. Ron Marshall with Jane Marshall and Bob Hill were right in there with two seconds and a third - a good showing despite not flying the spinnaker. Larry Koster and crew again raced with Bill Davidson's boat "Shibumi", this time with crew Derrick Spangler. Larry seems to get the boat going faster each week. David Baron sailed with dad Don Baron to complete the fleet.

The highlight of the afternoon was the half gainer Tom Rasmussen executed off and "out of" Blaine Severin's "Flying Pigs" when he missed the hiking strap. After some consideration, Blaine decided he would go back for Tom, not for his hiking agility but because Blaine needed the points! But the judges did award Tom about an 8.5 for good form and smooth entry into the still warm waters of Lake Lansing. Thankfully, no injuries except a little pride and racing continued to the finish of the day.

Mike Moody with Ken Knight and daughter Kim Knight won top points for the day. They started with a third in the first race, due in part to an over early start. They were then able to improve on that with two bullets in the last two races.

On Friday, I found a nice spot in the shade on Shelter Island and watched as the tall ships sailed into San Diego Bay - escorted by hundreds of sailboats and power boats. These ships are examples of period ships dating back to the eighteenth century and are truly magnificent representations of the art of shipbuilding. The oldest, built in 1863, is the "Star of India" - one of the first iron hulled ships to be built. A bark 278 feet in length with 18,000 square feet of sail area, she has been restored and makes her home at the San Diego Maritime Musuem, sailing on special occasions.

"Lynx" is the most recently built of the group, a square topsail schooner completed in 2001. She is a modern interpretation of a privateer that sailed the East Coast during the War of 1812 and makes her home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The remaining tall ships in the group represented other periods in history.

Kevin and I toured the ships on Friday evening. While on the "Star of India", we participated as crew to "walk around the capstan" and helped raise a staysail. Standing on the dock, surrounded by the masts of these beautiful ships, we were taken back in history to the days when sailing ships filled the harbors of Boston, New York and other port cities.

On Saturday and Sunday, I took a boat handling class from J-World. Our J-80 was one of the hundreds of boats sailing in and around three or four of the Tall Ships who were engaging in "battles" on San Diego Bay. Tourists paid $40 per person to join the crew of a Tall Ship and helped trim the sails as the ships positioned themselves for engagement. Then, the booming of cannons and the smell of smoke filled the air, adding to the fun.