Long Distance Race, Wednesday Sail 2/13/13, Lake Havasu

Long Distance race event today at the Lake Havasu Pocket Cruisers event. I started off with flotilla B. Which was for the less serious racers? The start was hectic with over 80 boats starting off in flotilla B. I waited for them to sort themselves out and get started, before I ventured up to the start line. There was a lot of close sailing and jockeying for position at the start line and it was just sailing too close for me. Several, what I thought, were close passes. Some did not even see each other until the last minute and changed course to avoid contact. The weather report called for winds gusting over 25mph. I put in a reef to be safe. It turned out that the wind was mild, with one leg of the race downwind in about 4 mph winds. I lost a lot of time on this leg of the race. I did not need the reef. But, better safe when sailing, so no regrets on the reef. We sailed a little over 14 miles. Looking at the race results, it looks like I came in 60 out of 80. Not sure if that is with handicap/Portsmouth ratings or not. My top speed was 6.1 knots. A fun sail.