As I Saw (and remembered) It

Great to see 8 boats hit the start line this week for the first round of Squadron Champs. Marty is claiming to be time poor this season, so he’s handed over the keys of The Saint to Dave Smith. Jason in Knot East was back on deck after a long injury layoff. He carried a 4^th crew member this week as part of his plan to blood more crew. Not the best day to be well overweight!! All the other usual suspects were there this week including Jeff and the Bludging crew and The Project.

The forecast promised a 10kt ENE’er and that’s pretty much what we got though were some pressure differences that were noticeable, particularly downwind where a boat only 20-30 mtrs off to one side could be in a completely different pressure line – more about that later.

With 8 boats and close racing it was hard to see who was where and when so you only get highlights this week.

Race one saw a clean start with a fleet spread across the course on the first beat. Brad and the boys on NGHAM continued their form from last week and led around the top mark by a couple of lengths from Rapscallion who had Waterloo Too on their transom with most of the fleet in close proximity behind.

At the bottom NGHAM took the left gate while just a few seconds later Rapscallion rounded the right hand one followed by W2 3 lengths back and The Saint a couple more astern.

On the beat NGHAM played the right while Rapscallion and W2 played the middle. It was just a matter of playing the shifts and towards the top Rapscallion got out of phase allowing Brad and co to extend while W2 closed the gap.

Rapscallion was unable to reel in NGHAM on the run who took their third bullet in a row and looked to be comfortable in second place until W2 picked up a puff on the final gybe into the mark and stole 2nd by a second! The Saint held off Knot Easy to grab 4^th.

Race two started in similar conditions. While W2 and NGHAF battled it out at the boat end, Athena looked to offset their late start in race one but got too excited and were held up over the line by Rapscallion.  The majority of the fleet all headed left only peeling off to the right as the boats above tacked off. By the time the final leeward ones tacked they weren’t far from the corner. Shortly after, a 10 degree left shift saw most on the layline or overlaid. The Saint was the big beneficiary of this by being on the lay at this point. Rapscallion was forced off their hip and had to put in a clearing tack while NGHAM managed to salvage their unfortunate position of being on the wrong side on the shift by lifting up to the mark while most of the others came in with cracked sheets.

The Saint had an easy 5-6 lengths at the top followed by Rapscallion, Knot Easy, NGHAM , The Project and W2. The run saw a bit of seesawing of positions though The Saint maintained a comfortable lead. The beat was all about trying to catch the boat in front while not giving anything away to those behind.

It was still all very close at the top the final time around. With The Saint long gone Rapscallion rounded just ahead of NGHAM while just behind them was Knot Easy. W2 and The Project had a coming together as they simultaneously tacked for the mark but as they say “rubbing is racing”!!

The run didn’t look to offer too much in the way of opportunities until towards the bottom NGHAM and Knot Easy found a pressure line. Just ahead and on the left were Rapscallion who saw them coming. They put in late gybe across minimise the damage but could stop Brad getting through. Up ahead The Saint’s lead suddenly reduced as NGHAM carried the breeze down to them. Fortunately, they got back into the pressure to take a well deserved 1^st.  NGHAM finished a couple of lengths ahead of the Rappers who held off the fast finishing Knot Easy by a couple of lengths. Just a few more lengths further back was W2 followed by The Project.

It was close racing all day with Boat of the Days honours to Nothing Good Happens After Midnight for the second week in a row. Well done Brad and Scottie.

The day rounded out with prawns and birthday cake at the hard stand in honour of fleet stalwart Dave Healey who turned 75 during the week. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to make the most of it during the week due to being crook which culminated in a trip to the Emergency Dept on Friday night so it was great to have him sailing on Saturday. It just goes to show his commitment and determination to be there week in/week out. 

Yours in Etchelling

The Nearly Ancient Mariner

(This author accepts no responsibilities for any inaccuracies, distortions of the truth or outright lies.)