Racing on Talion again with an all Portland Crew!
Racing on the 50 foot Gulf Star Talion with skipper Patsy Verhoeven is truly an awesome experience! She is a captain unparalleled in the fleet! Here she demonstrates her unique "Look, Mom, no hands!" technique of driving.
Seriously, Patsy takes her sailing to heart and works hard at it.
There is never a dull moment on board, from the pre-race strategy discussion of how to start, running the starting line, avoiding boats ahead of and around us, trying to keep track of the time until our start...through the decisions about when to tack as we try to find the fastest course to the windward mark...to the final moments as we work our way up to avoid hitting the committee boat yet not having to gybe (again!) under spinnaker.
It gets real quiet on a racing boat when you find yourself in a deep, deep hole, surrounded by calm, still water, watching your competition, a mere two hundred yards away, enjoying the rush of 15 knots of wind in their sails. You racers know what we are talking about.
But we had a great time, finished 2nd to a fine crew on a boat called Tomatillo...and young, up-and-coming sailors (Patsy's delightful granddaughter, Andrea) got their chance to practice both driving the boat and painting commemorative images of the event.
We made the front page of the Banderas Bay News.
Photos of the Opening Ceremony
More photos on the official Regatta page
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