Hair Trigger

I was getting the boat ready for racing and thinking about how to make things better. I thought back to a time when because of how long it took me to throw up the flag, I lost the protest. I've seen a design with a small tube and a thin line that let's you launch the flag emphatically... I'm too cheap to buy something like this, I'd rather make it out of stuff I already have. So, this "one time use" design popped into my head. It relies on a piece of tape, I'll probable upgrade to a Velcro of sorts, but this will work for the first day of the season.

I didn't need it today, if we could have managed better starts we may have actually challenged Team Wilson for the win, both races! We were at the pin end too soon the first start and barely cleared it, Wilson rode over the top of us and we tacked away. We botched the tack, had to tack back... it got ugly. We made good on a shift in the middle of the course while others floundered. Made 2 stupid tacks and rounded 3rd close behind Goebel, Wilson was gone. Mike went ddw in light air and we scooted out to the breeze and better current. We were catching the Knarrs, but the the wind shifted from a north to a west south west. It became a parade to the finish.
Second race we were over early, went back, gybed and went right when everyone else went left. It didn't kill us because we caught up to the group at the windward mark. Gybe set at the mark and scooted past three boats, caught Freddie just before the leeward mark. Tommy was still ahead of us, we rounded poorly and let Freddie get on our hip, but we pulled a head not pointing high, but going fast. Up the course we split from Tommy somehow and on our first cross we had to duck him. But that put us in great position on the next cross too close to the three boat circle to lee bow us... Wilson was gone. We defended second place to the finish. Then, the race back to the harbor Kurt drove Josephine and crushed Wilson!!! No points for that though.
Let's all have a moment of awww, that's too bad for Tommy who lost his jib halyard at the very end of race 2 (held off Peter for 3rd place) and had to go all the way back to the harbor on just a main in 20 knots and ebb lump.