As I Saw (and remembered) It

Seven boats hit the water this week. Great to see Dane with Aspen on the water for the first time this season though Dane did sail on The Saint last week. This week he was support by The Saint crew as both were struggling for crew this week.

With a westerly forecast for 8-10kts and going left, you are never sure of what you were going to get and it lived up to form. Mid morning the RC flew the postponement as there was a big storm headed our way looking to arrive close to starting time. An hour or so later it has fizzled out so they had us out on the course on time.

For race 1 we started in 10-14 kts at 280 degrees. Just moments before the start NGHAM got a hook on Waterloo Too to upset their starting plans while Knot Easy shut the door on Rapscallion at the boat end. Needless to say, neither boat got a good start. Most of the fleet headed left while Rapscallion and W2 went middle right. Halfway up the beat it was looking very promising for the Rappers and W2 but those on the left came in on a good shift which saw NGHAM round the top mark with a comfortable lead. Second round was Knot Easy followed a few lengths further back by W2 and Rapscallion. Aspen was 5^th with The Project and Athena close behind.

The run saw Rapscallion pass Rapscallion and Knot Easy and all rounded the bottom gate line astern. The beat saw NGHAM hold their position to the top. When Rapscallion and W2 came together just before the top there was nothing between them. With Rapscallion not crossing on port they went for the lee bow tack. Patto was able to live on their hip and lift off and Rapscallion had to subsequently dip them when tacking for the starboard layline.

They rounded in 3^rd a length behind with Knot Easy still in the mix a few lengths back. With no passing lanes on the run, Brad and Scottie continued their winning ways easily taking the first gun of the day. W2 were ½ dozen lengths back and held off Rapscallion by a couple. Just a further length back was Knot Easy in 4^th. Dane in Aspen helming an Etchells in a race for the first time finished a creditable 5^th ahead of The Project and Athena.

Race 2 saw the breeze back off to around 10 kts. A big left hand shift in the last 90 seconds saw those at the pin end struggling to make the line on starboard. A few short tacks were put in as boats flipped flopped between port and starboard as they looked to cross the line and avoid the starboard tacker. The fleet eventually settled on port for the long beat to the top mark.

As they approached the top NGHAM came in from the right forcing Rapscallion on port to dip them. Also in the mix was W2 and Knot Easy. At this point the fleet had caught the VX1s as well as were mixing it with the Finns so things got a little messy forcing unwanted manoeuvres or suffering interference – but that’s yacht racing.

At the top NGHAM had maintained their lead and led Rapscallion around by 3 lengths. Just 2 lengths back was W2 and on their transom was Knot Easy. With the breeze still in the left it was a reach all the way to the bottom mark. NGHAM’s bottom mark rounding wasn’t helped by a Finn who had the tenacity to call for room. At the bottom the breeze was still in the left but the top mark hadn’t been repositioned so after rounding the right hand gate it was a quick tack on to port for the soldiers course back to the top.

Rapscallion tacked first with NGHAM tacking a few seconds later. W2 was forced to get a clear lane before tacking. As they drag raced up to the top mark the breeze continued to go left and soften. Rapscallion managed to get bow forward to leeward and gas NGHAM forcing them astern. By the top both boats were well overlaid. At the top there was a faint glimmer of hope for NGHAM. With the offset mark now upwind from the top mark Rapscallion tacked on a very tight layline and looked marginal to lay while Brad carried on a length further. Rapscallion got a little gust enabling them to lift up and safely get round a length ahead. From that point it was just a reach to the finish and we saw Rapscallion claim their first win of the season. W2 crossed in 3^rd with Knot Easy 4^th.  Aspen was again 5^th holding off The Project by just a boat length.

We then settled in for the long beat back to the boat harbour. According to some it was a 3 beer beat home!!

Boat of the day honours to NGHAM – this is getting a bit tiresome!! 😊

It’s good to see various boats introducing new crew members to the fleet. Please all make an effort to make these guys feel welcome and hopefully we will see them become regular crew members. As we get them trained up, they can hopefully form part of the general crew pool as it seems that there is a crew shortage this season.

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