Grinning triumphantly, Sally put the tiller to port and started the sheets. They sailed briskly away.
“Beautifully done!” praised Penny. “Not one sailor in a hundred could pull that off. It took nerve!”
“Pop taught me that trick. It’s risky, of course. If the sails should decide to take charge, or the tiller should fail to go to starboard, one probably would collide with the other boats.”
“You surprised Jack. He expected you to crash.”
“We’ll surprise him this afternoon too,” Sally declared confidently, steering out into mid-stream. “If this breeze holds, it’s just what the doctor ordered!”
For an hour the girls practiced maneuvers until Penny was thoroughly adept at handling the ropes and carrying out orders. Although the rules of the race did not allow them to sail the actual course, Sally pointed it out.
“We start near the clubhouse,” she explained. “Then, taking a triangular route we sail past Hat Island to the first marker. After rounding it, we keep on to the marker near the eastern river shore, and sail back to our starting point.”
Sally was in high spirits, for she declared that if the breeze held, Cat’s Paw would perform at her best. Though no one knew exactly what Jack’s new boat, Spindrift could do, observation had convinced most sailing enthusiasts that it would be favored in a light breeze.
“I hope it blows a gale this afternoon!” Sally chuckled as they moored at the dock. “Get some rest now, Penny, and meet me at the clubhouse about one o’clock. The race starts sharp at two.”
Penny did not see Jack when she returned to Shadow Island, so had no chance to tell him of her plan to sail with Sally in the competition. Her father, whom she took into her confidence, was not entirely in favor of the decision.