They say our old boat is slow, well she is a sailboat, but a slow sailboat is not good. Since they are by nature slow, because they are sailing with wind and no engine, then they must sail fast in order to make it challenging. That being said, we have proven that OneEighty is not slow, and that she is in fact a FAST sailboat. What that means is, when the other sailboats are sailing 6 knots, we are sailing 7 knots. Now, that's fast. So for the Dauphin Island Race in 2015 we sailed in a fleet of cruising sailboats and not only did we have fun, we took FIRST PLACE in our fleet. Bo Jones, Quinn and I were the crew, and as soon as we got through the slow start of the race due to very light air, the breezes began to pick up and by early afternoon, we were sailing strong in a 13 knott breeze.
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| Bo Jones at the helm |
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| Sailing by Sand Island Lighthouse |
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| Bo Jones, taking pictures of brilliance |
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On Friday we sailed over to the
Fairhope Yacht Club on the Eastern shore and rafted up to some other boats. The Race was sponsored this year by
Buccaneer Yacht Club on the Western shore, but we did not get over to the party. The next morning, early, in a mist of fog, we all headed out to the starting line for the 9:30 a.m. race start.
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| Hazy ride to the start line |
With a slow start due to very light air, hence the fog, after about an hour, the morning haze began to burn off and the sea breeze began to set in, building as the day went by. By early afternoon the breeze was up to 12-17 knots, and OneEighty was in her element. We spent the rest of the day passing boats, leading us to a nice finish.
After the race finish, we all sailed/motored over to Dauphin Island and rafted up for the after-race party and awards presentations. Food, beer, friendship, frolicking, and this time, we got a trophy. Yes sir, we took FIRST PLACE in our fleet.
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| Boilled Crawfish on the shell. |
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| ....and got the T Shirt. |
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| Who would have ever thought it....we won first in fleet. |
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| Buccaneer Yacht Club Awards |
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| First In Fleet |
We rafted up with some friendly sailors from Pensacola and elsewhere, and spent the night eating crayfish and enjoying the music from the band on the island.
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| Island Packet 35 from Pensacola rafted up to us |
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| Quinn at-ease |
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| Bo going with the flow. |
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| Carlie and her now Husband, Capt. Ron. |
