Was up in Santa Barbara last weekend crewing on a J-105 during a series of one design races... Sunday it looked as though the racing might be called off... the morning fog had lifted and we were expecting the breeze to fill in. Local sailors were suggesting that the race was way too early "local winds don't come up until 1:00." Well the race was scheduled to start at high noon... and here was a new fog settling on the area, and as that fog crept in, the seas turned flat, and "oily;" not a ripple to be seen.

The race was delayed for about a half hour as any little whisper of wind kept changing directions... finally, tiny cat's paws could be seen here and there and the race committee, determined to have a race, called us to order and set things in motion. We barely had 4 kts and there was a 25 degree shift that would roll though the course from time to time.

The start was on the edge of hilarious as boat after boat, filled with serious racing crews, slowly crept toward the start. Cat like movements, lee weight, and roll tacks were the order of the day. The shortened course took nearly two hours to complete, with boats moving at just almost 3 kts. In these calm conditions, voices could be heard clearly all over the course. It was a battle of patience.

We had two races in those conditions, with fog masking and revealing land, the marks, and the finish. Boats would appear ghostly, and fade away in the gray blanket that covered the area.

Shortly after the second race, the fog vanished, like virginity after a prom. The sun bore down on us and a whopping 6kt breeze filled in.... the last race took just 27 minutes.