“Captain?”
Stephan blinked, refocusing his thoughts. Eric had raised the mainsail halfway to give them enough power to get out of the harbor, and Brice stood ready with the jib sheets. Both of them looked at him inquiringly, waiting for the command to go to full sail. He nodded. “Hoist sails!”
Winches creaked and canvas flapped as the sails were raised. Stephan adjusted his heading slightly to allow them to fill and nearly bumped broadsides into another vessel doing the same thing. Brice gave him a speculative glance as he grabbed the boathook pole to fend off the other boat. Stephan cursed under his breath. A collision before the race even started would be a bad omen.
“We’re clear,” Eric said as he secured the main halyard to a cleat and settled into the cockpit. “Looks like a great day for the regatta.”
Stephan chastised himself silently for not even giving the weather a thought this morning. He needed to concentrate if he intended to win this race. And he did intend to win.
He looked up at the sky. Eric was right. A few cotton-puff clouds drifted lazily overhead, the wind was moderate, and the barometer holding steady. “Good conditions.”
They sailed for a few minutes in silence as Eric double-checked the winches and cleats while Brice adjusted the sheets to get a feel for filling the sails with the maximum amount of wind. Stephan checked the compass and made a sweeping glance of the deck to make sure it was totally clear.
It didn’t take long to reach the anchored boat that held the racing committee and the buoy a short distance away that served as a starting line for the race. Soon they were joined by nine other boats, each jostling for position as they awaited the gun to go off, signaling the start. This part was always tricky, and Stephan gave it his full attention. Every captain wanted to be as close to the line as possible to break away from the crowd, but if the bow went over before the gun, the captain would have to circle around and cross the line behind the rest of the fleet, losing valuable time. Bumping into another boat was cause for disqualification before the race even began.
“I see Captain Flannery is back,” Brice said, gesturing toward whereSea Masterhad just come about and was heading slowing toward them, sails luffing to keep from crossing the line before the gun. “Too bad Flannery didn’t stay away another day. We would win this race hands down.”
Stephan spared a quick glance. With the captain back, the race would be tighter. Flannery had more practice withSea Masterthan Johnson did, but Stephan had been sailing with theLadyfor years. He could feel every vibration in her hull as well as when she strained at her sail sheets, wanting more leeway, and when she made the slightest shift of her bow to point higher. He knew the exact degree of heel theLadyliked and the amount of wind she favored. Today’s weather was perfect.
“I talked to him last night when he returned,” Eric answered. “He said Tisdale sent him off to visit his wife who’d been taking care of her mother.”
That matched what Caroline had told him Tisdale said. Stephan felt a sense of relief that Flannery hadn’t been sent to gain information on him, but then he frowned. Why had Tisdale wanted the captain gone? Stephan thought back and then realized it coincided with when Caroline was scheduled to sail with the earl. Had he had nefarious intentions that he didn’t want Flannery to witness? Stephan wouldn’t put it past the man.
“The flag is up,” Brice said. “One minute.”
Stephan pushed all thoughts away except jockeying for the right spot. Unlike the solid traction of land, boats on water were in constant motion. The gun went off just asSea Masteredged past him. He could see Tisdale’s triumphant grin as he went by.
“Easy does it,” Eric said, tightening the main sheet slightly. “We’ve plenty of time.”
Stephan nodded, his attention now fully focused on the race. The first leg was to windward. TheSea Master, being a somewhat lighter boat, would make good headway. The second leg was a beam reach where they would be pretty much evenly matched, and the last leg was downwind where theLadywould come into her own. Flying the big spinnaker sail to starboard and the main let out to port—Stephan loved the termwing-on-wingsince it really did feel like flying under that configuration—would allow her to use her greater hulk to bear down.
The ten boats rounded the first mark without too much contention. No flags were thrown for violations, even though several boats just missed scraping each other. As they adjusted sails for the second leg where the wind would come directly across the side of the boat, Stephan managed to edge theLadypastSea Master. Tisdale raised his fist and shouted something, but with sails rattling, the words were impossible to hear. Stephan noticed Flannery was looking unusually grim. The lone crew member looked stone-faced as well.
“It does not look like they are having a good time,” Brice remarked.
“Tisdale is desperate to win,” Stephan answered, thinking about the contents of the report his solicitor had sent. According to that, not only wasSea Masternot paid for, but the earl also had a number of outstanding vowels among the gambling set, as well as a nearly empty bank account at Rothschild & Sons. And Tisdale’s investment broker’s name was linked to several of the over-invoiced shipments that Stephan’s men had pirated. Stephan suspected the broker was the same man Eric had seen with Tisdale at the Portsmouth harbor.
“Desperation makes a man dangerous,” Eric said and pointed. “Take a look.”
Stephan steadied the tiller to hold theLadyon course before he turned around.Sea Masterwas several boat lengths behind, and as he watched, Tisdale attempted to grab the helm from Flannery, nearly colliding with another boat and causing it to veer away abruptly.
“That could disqualify him, right?” Eric asked as the aggrieved boat owner raised a red flag for violation of right-of-way.
“It depends on the race committee,” Stephan answered as he turned back, “but I am sure Tisdale will appeal a negative ruling.”
Brice eased the jib sheet a bit to allow more wind to fill the sail, and theLadygained speed. Behind them, Stephan could hear more shouting, but since they were nearing the second mark, he didn’t take the time to look.
“Great Thor’s hammer!” Eric exclaimed. “The blighted earl just took the helm away from Flannery!”
“Good God,” Brice replied, “that is going to be a disaster.”
As he rounded the mark and gave orders to go wing-on-wing, Stephan only hoped the other boat captains would giveSea Masterroom. Tisdale was not an experienced boat-handler, and Stephan doubted he even knew the specific rules for racing. Given the financial straits the earl was in, he probably didn’t care. Winning had become everything. The man needed the purse, but the fool also thought he’d be getting Caroline’s dowry.
Stephan grimaced. Tisdale had an icicle’s chance in hell of gettingthat. Still, the easiest way to put aside all controversy was forLady of Fortuneto win.
“Keep the spinnaker poled out!” he called to Eric, who was already on the forward deck, maneuvering the oversize sail.
“Aye, Captain!”