Our course for this race was a repeat of the previous race, right down to the unique starting line: Buoys to starboard S-2-3-4-S. This time, Dan and I emerged from the pin end mess in far better shape and had a front row seat as Bill Selick and Bob Buchtman picked their way through the minefield of soft spots beautifully and rounded first.

At least we were far enough to leeward that these guys were not taking our wind and we did harbour the hope that as we passed the bits of land sticking out nearer the rhumb line to #3 during the last half of the leg (see chart above), we would get a funnelling effect and better breeze by being nearer the shore along which the wind was blowing.  - click here for full-size pic

It was cheering to see that a fine team like Robert (l) and Steve obviously shared our belief. These two slowly but surely worked their way past us to leeward. The gybe mark was one of those situations where a foot or two can make a world of difference. Perhaps 30 yards from the mark, Robert broke our inside overlap, rounded into clear air with no one ahead and went on to finish a convincing first. Dan and I lured into staying where we were with Bill Selick inside us by the reasonable hope that (a) we could keep our overlap on Robert, and (b) break our overlap with Bill who had to sail far lower than we did to reach the mark. In the end, it became clear that Bill would be entitled to room. Recalling only too well what had happened to Neil who went low on this leg the last race, we tried to go wider and then cut inside Bill, a move that would have been easier, had I not been coaching Dan through it. In a move that added years to Dan's age, we blasted across Bill's transom at full speed, missing his rudder by a comfortable hair's breadth, luffed up almost into the mark and then bore away.

We tried to pinch up but Bill was doing the same and we kept falling further behind. To make matters worse, the guys behind seemed to have no trouble pointing considerably higher. So we bit the bullet and tacked across to get their wind. It was perhaps a mistake to then tack onto starboard to leeward of Jack Sanderson instead of crossing astern of him and making sure we got into the better breeze at all costs. I think we lost at least half a dozen boats on that accursed leg and realized just how fortunate we had been on this leg in the previous race! At the finish, we didn't feel nearly as good about our 8th in this race as the 8th we had rescued from a disaster in the day's first race!

The top 10 in the 5th race (race 7, officially): As mentioned, Robert Krahulik and Steve Craver took the gun in this race, putting the heat squarely back onto Dave Nickels. An excellent race for Jack and Karen Sanderson who made big gains on the 3 to 4 diagonal across the lake and ended up with a well earned 2nd ahead of Dave Nickels. The latter showed all the earmarks of a true champion as he fought his way out of the middle of a large pack of boats when the chips were really down and rescued a 3rd to maintain a 3-point series lead over Robert. Seeming to come from nowhere on the 3 to 4 diagonal, Frank Traeger and David Davies rolled on to an impressive 4th ahead of early leaders, Bill Selick and Bob Buchtman who had to be content with a 5th.

Two more local teams, Bob Zimmer with son, Josh, and Paul Bryan with son, David were next before Dan and Uncle Al limped home in 8th. One consolation for the irrepressible Dan was that we just edged out George Vurno and Joan in the ongoing guest- host rivalry. Rounding out the top ten were Al and Karel Vorel.

... Awosting Community Hall for our steak dinner and the much awaited annual Rebel Raffle. Shortly after this picture was taken, the skies opened and we had a torrential downpour that made us doubly glad to be inside where we enjoyed delicious steak and salad, not to mention ice cream for dessert. And then, it was time for ...

Being busy trying eat my ice cream before it melted, I can't remember what this gem was. Whatever, it was a fun night! About I recall one last thing: When Catie was trying to convince her grampa, Ron Reading, that her "new" Rebel should be pink, and I allowed as that would be a great idea, Ron actually tried to butt out his cigarette in my pants pocket!