by Dave Martin, 3/31/2003
My son and I were on board Gerri de's Flying Circus for a cruise to the Farallones before he left for his tour of duty in Iraq. We thought we would join the DHF to be sociable. When we were swept over the starting line on the strength the ebb tide, we looked back, the whole fleet was behind us. I reverted to my daily to do list, deluded with the hope of winning. 1. Get a grip. 2. Hold on.
As "Blade Runner" cruised by I felt our grip slipping. We keep the middle close to the rhumb line. As many other boats slipped by I felt we were an embarrassment to BAMA and the Multihull Fleet. The wind lightened but the current kept pushing us out towards the Farallones. We sailed well clear of the island, even with the light wind the breaks looked nasty.
On the way back it was difficult to keep the chute full. We lost our racing focus many times as we talked of life and the events of the day. We were only able to "surf" a few times, as we made our way back to the Bay. The city lights were beautiful as we eased under the bridge. We had a great day of sailing and talking, even though it wasn't really a typical multihull day. Of the six multihull starters "Blade Runner" was the only other finisher.
Dave and Mike Martin, Gerri de's Flying Circus.