Thanks to the crew for doing a bang-up job.

Subtract 3 minutes from the start + almost 2-3 minutes with the twisted spinnaker after rounding the Phinney's mark brings us ahead of Gunsmoke at the finish and closer to Gunsmoke on corrected.

It was a beautiful sail with excellent crew work; keeping in mind, we sailed with 5 crew, including a laser sailor who is not used to winches and winch handles. By the end of the race, they knew how to manage the guy line and that the winch handle was worth $1,000.

Starting last was also great as we kept passing boat after boat and coming within 5 or 6 boat lengths of Gunsmoke near the Phinney's mark. Gunsmoke, just ahead of us, got a puff and a lift while we got a knock and rounded the mark 2 minutes behind Gunsmoke.

The other exciting part came at the end when we finished seconds behind Gunsmoke, who had pulled ahead of us spinnaker reaching after Phinney's on the way back. The wind backed just past Aylmer, and going downwind, we closed on Gunsmoke in a hurry and almost caught it sailing by the lee the last ¼ mile to the finish as the pitch dark from the cloud cover closed in fast behind us.

It has been years since I night raced, and hopefully, we can night race (not the 100 miler) again soon.