As I saw (and remembered) it – Saturday 25th October

By Kevin Molen

Aspen didn’t get their new halyard in time so unfortunately didn’t make it for this week’s Squadron Championship round. With their absence we had 7 boats hit the start line, though Patto did his best to rip their rig out while leaving the pond when their mainsheet caught a cleat on the pontoon. Jason was off flogging his paintings 😊 so he handed over the keys of Knot Easy to Jake. 

It was a 15-20 SE’er in the morning with the forecast offering 15 gently easing as the afternoon went on, though based on recent experience you just were not sure what was going to happen. 

Race 1 saw both Waterloo Too and NGHAM go hard right while the rest of the fleet played the middle and left hand side of the course. At the top W2 led NGHAM by a couple of lengths with just a further length back to Rapscallion. Just a couple of lengths behind was The Saint followed by The Project, Knot Easy and Athena.

The run didn’t present too many passing lanes and W2 led around the bottom. Rapscallion and NGHAM rounded alternate marks simultaneously. A jammed job halyard on The Project cost them 2 places as they lost significant time resolving the issue.

On the second beat the 3 leading boats went right while The Saint went left. With Rapscallion struggling to hold onto Patto’s transom they tacked off to the left and sailed back to The Saint. By the top W2 had a comfortable lead over NGHAM. A left shift in the final metres before the top allowed The Saint to get into a lee bow position on Rapscallion and round the top in 3rd by half a length. At this point there was a big gap back to Knot Easy, Athena and The Project.

Brad couldn’t challenge Patto on the run thereby giving W2 the first bullet of the day. The Saint and Rapscallion were side by side for much of the run and with The Saint at the favoured end of the line they grabbed 3rd by just 2 seconds.

By race 2 the breeze had backed off to 13-14 with a 10-15 degree left shift just before the start. Rapscallion at the pin end struggling to make the line in the last 20 seconds flipped onto port and had a great port tack start ¾ down the line. At the other end NGHAM went for the boat end and both boats headed right while the rest of the fleet went left. Strangely while those on the right were getting headed as they went up toward Lota those on the left were getting lifted with The Saint ending up overlaid. Waterloo Too got it perfect coming into the top just a couple of lengths below the mark and had a handy 4-5 length lead as they rounded. Rapscallion managed to get around clear in front of The Saint. Behind them was Knot Easy, The Project, NGHAM and Athena.

With is a straight drag to the bottom there weren’t any tactical options and it was just a matter of keeping clear air from the chasing pack. With the left heavily favoured it was just a case of following the boat in front around the right gate at the bottom, though Brad did take the left one in a attempt to find a passing opportunity – it may have worked a couple of weeks ago but lightning doesn’t tend to strike twice!! A top mark change to the left tried to even up the track though it didn’t make a big difference as it was still just a short hitch towards Green Is before tacking onto port for the long beat to the top. With W2 in the controlling spot everyone else was forced to tack off early and hope something happened somewhere. Rapscallion was next in the queue followed by The Saint and Knot Easy. By the top W2 with good pace and height had lifted away from Rapscallion to have a very handy dozen plus boat length lead at the top. Rapscallion were well clear of The Saint and Knot Easy. NGHAM managed to get up into 5th ahead of The Project. The final run saw NGHAM trying to sail over Knot Easy which subsequently forced those below higher but it was to no avail. Waterloo Too took their second gun of the day with Rapscallion getting onto the podium with a 2nd while The Saint held off Knot Easy for their second 3rd of the day. It was a disappointing 5th for NGHAM though the rest of the fleet did take some satisfaction to see them finally have a bad result.

Boat of the day goes to Waterloo Two who lead around every mark!!

Great to see everyone back at the hardstand for beers and b/s.

See you all next week.

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