Jeff Kent once said, of some place long ago and far away: “it’s not that far”. Driving in the traffic on I 95 through Bangor the cars begin to drop away, exit by exit. Orono, Old Town and then whoever is still on board after Hermon is, like you, there for the long haul. But time gets compressed when all there is are trees and road. When you finally pop out at Houlton you realize that Jeff was right. It’s not that far.

The wind forecast was for 10-15 NW at Loring yesterday. It was all that and more. There is no video to show because, quite frankly, it was two hands on the sheet nearly all the time. And just like our lakes, a different wind direction creates an entirely different sailing venue. It would go just enough west every now and then to allow fetching the entire runway upwind and then down in one tack. Then it would veer a bit and we’d need to throw in a couple of tacks.

A couple of thoughts regarding the regatta. First, here is the official logo for the event. Please feel free to use it in any way you want: coffee cups, tee shirts, underwear…

Keep in mind that we will be sailing on a race track. We’ll be driving race cars without brakes and without the ability to always point them in the direction we want. If we have good wind we’ll be sailing fast. We will all be familiar with the rule of the road, but the most important one is to do all you can to avoid a collision no matter the burdened vessel. Anticipate the other guy’s move as best you can. If nothing else then bail out onto the grass. I’ve had to do it myself more than once and I’m sailing alone!

There will be a very challenging technical part of the course in an area called the Sideroads. If you look at google maps its a grid of small roads on the west side. This is the view looking down from there to the runways:

You might find yourself short tacking up the hill.

If you are on the roster (scroll down a few posts) and not planning to come please let me know so we can begin to finalize the head count. Conversely, if you plan to come but don’t see your name there let me know and please send in your registration. The Bunker Inn has started to get back to people to confirm reservations; they have been on vacation. We are working on having breakfast catered at the Inn. Nothing fancy, but more on that later. Dinners will be at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center, a fifteen minute drive.

Three weeks to go: is your land yacht set for sea trials?