North Carolina Govenor's Cup Regatta; Elizabeth City, NC

This year's NC Gov Cup Regatta only drew seven entries but racing was close none the less.  The wind was out of the North which for Elizabeth City means not only a PITA for launching and retrieving boats, but also extremely shifty wind with extremely variable pressure:  one minute you're dead in the water and the next minute you're hiking hard to counter a harsh gust that came out of no where.  At one point I was trailing a fellow competitor by perhaps three boat lengths only to discover we were on the same heading but on opposite tacks!  Lots of ups and downs on the leader board during the day's racing.  At the end of the day 2nd place through 4th place had to be decided on  tie breaker rules.  I was in experimental mode for this regatta trying out  both a rig and a sail modification.  I know, I know, I should try one variable at a time but opportunities are limited.  Anyway, neither mod seamed to work to my advantage and I came in 5th out of 7 boats after working hard all day long.  But there's always next week when the racing schedule moves to Rock Hall, Maryland...

The Goodly Elisabeth had to stay home and work so I didn't have my usual excellent photographer.  As a result photos are scanty.

Beautiful Carolina blue skies. Temps in the mid-70s (all the Swedes in the audience just eat your hearts out; yes I put on sun screen and yes I still had some sun burn on the nose. Oh, did I mention drinking beers at the end of the day?).  Three Moth Boats, three distinctly different transom shapes.  Isn't a development class interesting?  The venue is on the Pasquotank River: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasquotank_River.

Team Albaugh entered two boats.  My ex-Olympic Europe won (loaned to a hot skipper), so I managed to retain a small shred of dignity...

Team Albaugh's entries in the fore ground.  The day's ultimate winner is the boat with the "USA" and Olympic rings on the hull.  But the skipper was NOT your diarist.  I had loaned one of my boats to a fellow competitor with a broken boat who at the end of the day won the event.  The boat I raced is Nr 64.  For this year my age and racing number match.  I haven't decided if this this is a good thing or not, but it beats the alternative.