The forecast was for 80 degrees, partly cloudy and decent wind. A regular fairy tale for sailing in November, as we suited up in shorts and tee shirts and headed out to finish off the OSYC racing year. We choose the standard distance course – from the club around Hauck’s Reef and return. Sailing were Jay Harrell, David Huggins and Doug MacMillan on Jay’s Viper, Bill Shaw and Carl Saylor on Bill’s Viper, Jimmy Harrell and Calvin Smith on Jay’s Beneteau, and John and Sherry Davis on their O’Day. It looked like a normal day until we got past Erin Point. The wind was NW giving us a close reach up the lake with an occasional tack away from the shore. But I was busy getting the feel of my new boat and didn’t notice the big veer left in the wind direction. We were having a blast eeking out every bit of pointing and boat speed from each gust and lull, until I started looking for the island that marks the reef. It should be right there, yes? NO! We had sailed up the wrong creek. After sheepishly turning back downwind, we eventually caught Calvin and Jimmy – “Where ya’ll been?”. Grumble. We passed them before the turn at the reef, but not by much. Bill and his Viper were far ahead with the spinnaker up. But I had already been tricked by the wind once – we stuck with the jib and were rewarded. In the meantime we also watched what happens to a Viper when a spinnaker broach takes the mast horizontal. To wit: nothing, it just comes back up. And that’s with the heavy aluminum mast. (Note to Justin, the keel is heavy enough already.) Granted Bill and Carl were just out playing, but we still managed to beat them back to the finish line, then turned and did a bit of a joy ride to practice out spinnaker work. We obviously need more. Here’s the kicker: this year, the record run on Hauck’s Reef has been 1:41 for keel boat and 1:35 for a Thistle. We finished in 1:23, even with a detour and no spinnaker, and didn’t break a sweat. I’m wondering what we can do with a good wind. Bill finished a short time after us, and Jimmy some time later (I forgot to record the times.) John and Sherry suffered from a distinct lack of wind and got in somewhat later. Sunday dawned cool and howling for our final “fun race” of the season. Unfortunately, the howling died down to meerly “good breeze” by the time hit the water. Jay and Paul Bolinger took out the Viper, and Jimmy and Anastasia Bolinger and Bryan Jackson took out the Beneteau for a few cruiser quest points. Paul and I worked out a few more of the bugs with the spinnaker drop and I’m starting to have some hope for the one line retrieval system. It’s still harder than using a turtle, but it’s improving every day. And that’s all folks. The club goes dormant for the holidays, but we are already thinking about the ‘Frostbite’ series in January.