Oshkosh Recap 2016

After a rough night of sleeping in a tent, the sun rose and so did we. Saturday morning started off well. Right away I could tell that the wind would call for a great day of sailing. My family and I headed off to the beach where we would be setting up the boats. Immediately we were being greeted by all of the other competitors.

The water was rough & there were a lot of waves with inconsistent puffs. However, this made a perfect day for sailing. Saturday we got a full five races in. We watched Gary capsize, Jake and Mark’s mast fall at the start of the fourth race, and Dale and I helped Fast Eddie save Chris when he fell out of his boat. Saturday was an exhausting day, and everybody was ready to head back in after the fifth race. Saturday night we met everybody for a nice cookout at the campsite.

Sunday the waves weren’t as crazy as Saturday, yet there was more wind than predicted. This resulted in some great races. As I was still getting the hang of things, I enjoyed racing and being able to hang out on the wire both days. During the first race, Dale and I got a bullet! Even though Dale had to reattach the boom at A mark.

The second race of the day was a bit rough for all of us. The mark dragged while coming downwind for the second time so everyone missed their timing. Dale as well as many others had to hang out on the wire going downwind in order to make the mark. Sunday we got three races in.

Overall, Oshkosh was a great weekend. There were a lot of funny sailor tan and burn lines that were noticeable on almost everybody. I can’t wait to get back out cat sailing in a few weeks and see what the next sailing day brings.

Lily Stemper