Chris Miller at the helm of "Wind Dancer" leading the Lightnings in Sunday's first race
Photo by Scott Watkins
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Sailors that stayed home Sunday missed a wonderful day on the water. With just the right amount of wind blowing across the water on a hot day, nature's air conditioning system was operating well.
Chris Miller continued to spend time at the tiller of "Wind Dancer" and put a first and second place finish in the books. With crew Gil Chesbro and Pat Dolan coordinating to call tactics, Chris directerd her attention to sailing the boat fast. It was one of those days where the "Wind Dancer" tacticians called almost every shift and Chris made the calls look good.
"Bananas" heading upwind with Jim Fletcher at the helm
Photo by Scott Watkins
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Larry Koster, with Tom Rasmussen and Gary Marx crewing, came up fast at the final windward mark to close within striking range of "Wind Dancer" - and then rode a gust of wind on the downhill leg to get within a couple of boat lengths. Skipper Miller kept her boat in clear air however, and sustained her lead to the finish. Koster brought "Shibumi" over the finish line in second place while Jim Fletcher finished third.
In the second race, it looked for a short time as though Chris Miller had closed "Bananas" out at the start when Jim Fletcher couldn't make the start line on starboard and Miller pinned him out past the pin end of the line. Tacking at the pin, Chris quickly put distance between herself and "Bananas". However, a huge left shift suddenly put "Bananas" to windward and in front. Fletcher got top crew work out of Maribeth Fletcher and Bob Miller and they kept extending their lead around the course, eventually winning. Chris Miller was second with Koster and crew third.
Gil Chesbro bringing "Wind Dancer"to the windward mark
Photo by Scott Watkins
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Gil Chesbro took the helm of "Wind Dancer" for the final race of the day. Anticipating a left shift, Chesbro employed a dip start and was going fast at the pin end of the line when the countdown reached zero. Within a few seconds, the wind did shift further left and, tacking immediately, Gil crossed the fleet. Chesbro led at all the marks in the six leg race, but at the final windward mark, Koster again came in with great speed - closing the distance to the leader and putting himself in a good position to pass. However, Chesbrow and his Miller-Dolan crew were on top of things and Gil added another first place to the "Wind Dancer" record.
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