(Editor’s note: Tuesday is the name of Bill’s boat and Outback is a regatta on Lake Murry. At first, I thought he was going to give us a restaurant review. Jimmy) The Ronnies and I decided to try the Outback Regatta. With a combined age of 182 vs 30 and and estimated 70 we had the experience, but not necessarily the the agility and good sense to sail a smart race. On the first race we were 3rd at the first mark, very close to the 1 and 2. We were ready for the spinnaker set because Ronnie #1 (Young) and I had practiced the spinnaker set and retrieval a few times a week or so earlier and all had gone well. Ronnie #2 (Hartley) had decided to work on the committee boat for the “good of the team” as the air was light, building to 7, and he knew we did not need the extra weight. I think he also knew that it was going to be a hot light air race. Anyway, since we had done so well in practice, we left the spinnaker in the boat rigged just the way we had taken it down on our last retrieval. Back to the race: The spinnaker went up OK and we were OK but the course dictated a jibe. We jibed the spinnaker and all went to hell instantly. The spinnaker and sheets wrapped around the forestay in a bad way. After a few “casual” conversations about what might be going on, I realized that when we had set the boat up, after leaving the spinnaker just as it had worked well during practice, we had left the spinnaker sheets inside of the forestay when we set the boat up. We pretty much waved the fleet by as we worked through the disaster. We were so bad that the committee gave us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. In all fairness, in the end, they gave both of us the dsq for Jay going through the closed start line. You should be punished for doing dumb things! In race 2 we were caught below some really big boats at the start, and tacked away into a hole and were never heard from again. End of racing, day one. Day 2, the air was once again light and Ronnie #2 had once again abandoned ( I mean volunteered for the committee boat) After a bit of a delay, the race #3 was started. We were 4th at the first mark very much in contention. We rounded and hoisted the spinnaker and it would not budge out of its dark little hole. We pulled the halyard hard and still no spinnaker. It had worked well in race # 2 and it was just as we had left it except for the knot I made in the halyard to the forestay to keep it in place while towing back to the launch ramp. If you pull on a loose knot hard enough it gets very tight. Once again we waved the fleet by as we practiced boy scout knot un-doing. The regatta was great!!!!! If any of you miss this event next year, you are missing a major happening. I have never been to a regatta with better food and beer. Period! If you like to sail and you like a good time, put this regatta on your calendar next year. Hyatt $107 a night for a 3 bed room. How does that compare with Boston? In the end, Alex wiped Jay and me on the course, and we really don’t care. I think Alex is the southeast’s hope for beating up on some of the Marblehead group in the future. He sailed a great series, but more importantly was a great host for his home regatta. Put the Outback on your schedule next year and come try to beat Alex and enjoy a whole bunch of Columbia Sailing Club hospitality