My dear friend Bob during our race Wednesday night on the Pearson Triton “Solitude”. The Triton was the first production sailboat ever made. My town, Bristol, Rhode Island was home to the production fiberglass boat pioneers Clint and Everett Pearson. Clint produced Bristol Yachts, and Everett produced the Pearson Yachts line, and then the modern J Boats. My mom worked for both of them as a trusted office assistant for her entire career. Bob and I have been friends for almost 50 years. After the race he told me that when we get together it is like we never left one another’s presence. We came in second place on a light air night with many wind shifts and adverse current on the windward leg. Being “old salts” we were usually in the right place at the right time. We got second place, finishing behind our usual nemesis who has a much better handicap rating than we do. We beat the boats behind us by 7 minutes or more on corrected time. It was lots of fun. Mollie, Bob’s daughter and her husband JJ are regular crew and I fill in when they are not able to sail. They are in Japan for a few weeks, so I will happily be on the water on Solitude again this coming Wednesday.
