Road Runner Regatta

March 20, 2023

The Road Runner Regatta took place at Austin Yacht Club.

The Road Runner Regatta takes place at Austin Yacht Club on Lake Travis, a once beautiful but now tiny lake caused by the exposed shoreline. This is because of the amount of water that is used in the surrounding areas. For example, water used for farming and other household uses comes from this lake, causing its depth to go from 120 feet to only 60. Despite this, it was still a very fun regatta with a good turnout of about 80 boats participating in all classes. This event had some extremely light winds with lots of shifts, puffs, and heat on the water.

We left for the regatta at 2 o'clock on a Friday afternoon pulling a trailer with my boat on it and ready for a 3 and a half hour drive to the club. Once we arrived at the location where the racing would take place the following day, we dropped off the trailer and went to our hotel. The regatta started out on day 1 with lots of general recalls on the starting line and abandoned races because of no wind, but by the end of the day we got in a surprising 4 races. Then on the second day there was even lighter wind. The fleet completed two races, and there were a total of 6 races for the regatta. Overall, this regatta was a great event because of the good times off and on the water despite the light wind and unseasonable heat.

Shifts- A change of the direction of the wind

Puffs-A increase of wind is a particular area