From the left (in TMS Flying Shadows):Emileigh and Durnia, Max, Isa, Sirius, Moon, Daenerys, and Xiao.
On the Race Committee boat: Cryptic. On the dock: Red, Caethes, and Vicky. On the pier: Stripey, Phillip, and Como.
Calm seas, with a nice fleet turnout, highlighted the first Cat Fight in The North Sea of November, 2022. With a fresh breeze of 21 knots out of the southwest, calming to 18 knots during the second race, The North Sea regions were mostly well behaved as three DNFs (Did Not Finish) were recorded on the day. One DNF, occurring during the first race, was due to a skipper pulling his boat from frustration. The remaining two DNFs, split between both races, were due to a skipper crashing while crossing across region corners. The crowds that gathered on the beaches on the islands in the Ziziphus, and Genip regions, and along the Poseidon Centre Spectator Pier and small race dock in the Eden Jakana region, cheered on the fit of fleet-foiled feline fervor on display from this weeks skippers. This weeks fleet, sailing on the North Sea Snipe and North Sea Copacabana courses, was made up of seven The Mesh Shop (TMS) Flying Shadows, six sailing single-handed and one crewed respectively, during the first race. One skipper opted for his TMS Nacra 17 to round out the weeks catamaran fleet during the second race.
For more photos of today’s race, please Sunday’s full album at Flickr.
Race Director: Cryptic
Wind: SW (225°) 21kts
Wind: SW (225°) 18kts
Note:
Did Not Finish (DNF) = number of finish +1
Did Not Start (DNS) = number of start +1
Today’s winner was Max (Max Starostin), with Daenerys (blondij Resident) second, and Isa (isab DeCuir) in third place. Congratulations to all of you. Thank you to everyone who came to sail and spectate.
North Sea Racing 
Too bad I missed the 1st race, it was a very even and competitive field today, with fun sailing action! The 2nd race definitely was that: after a slow start (5th on the line, sailing around Emi’s stalled FS in the pre) I managed good positioning on the beat, inside the other FS. At the tack to mark 1, I had managed to close the gap and was 2nd behind Dae, thanks to a close tack in front of Max (NB: I would have been STB on the cross with him on port had I pushed further South but preferred to avoid an incident and tacked earlier). Dae and I managed to extend our lead around the next 2 marks. We were at full speed on the reach to Sloe, very close to one another when we collided. Technically it was a foul for me (being behind I was to keep clear), but I had no time to react as she unexpectedly hit the blue mark in Sapote and stopped dead. We were so entangled that I had to stopped my boat to let her free. By the time I was ready to get going, all the other boats had passed and I was lagging nearly a sim behind. I managed to cut the distance in half by Ziziphus and decided to sail a very direct run downwind to the mark in Jakana. I guess the other boats being in tight formation helped me catch up as I was just behind them by the white mark! Again, I managed a shorter faster beat and could round the last buoy in Sapote a close 2nd, but not close enough to wind shadow Dae significantly on the final run. However, Max nearly got me at that game, as he finished within 2 seconds only! Congrats to all and thanks for such an exciting race. Until next time, Fair winds!
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