As I eluded in my previous post, in the final Race 4 on PHS Handicap, Rogue Wave scored a 3rd place in DIV 2. What I failed to mention was Rogue Wave also held off every DIV 1 yacht including a TP52 and FARR 40 OD! So we actually scored a 3rd place from a combined fleet of 19 yachts.......lap it up while it lasts I say!!
A few words from Decky Daz:
Almost 2.5 months off RW, a couple of new spinnakers, Ruth getting all the good
skills training whilst I've been away, the Jensen's now part time crew, and our
first serious off shore race…….. what did I expect……. one big rude awakening for
me, but no idea how we would go. With Kev giving me the foredeck duties in messy
2metre swells and chop I soon got my sea legs back. My other main task was
grinding, and in the 20-25 plus knot winds with Kev trying to squeeze every last
bit of performance out of RW, the body got a good work out.
Well after 3
races on Saturday and finishing a little later then expected, I was truly
knackered, but had a ball. I wasn't sure how our Handicap would help us, feeling
that we didn't really do that well with little mishaps/breakages and the courses
not really suiting RW's strengths. Would have to wait until we hit the club
house to find out……..Unsure how I broke RW's spinnaker pole, even with slow motion replay of the GoPro footage, it still didn't help - sorry Kev. I think RW bit back though drawing blood from me after a sheet hook up near the mast……. me getting too confident running gloves and not taking more care. Thanks to pit nurse Tess for trying to bandage me up, but I've now left my signature/DNA on the new Asym spinnaker sock……. again, sorry Kev. Results in……..well at least we didn't finish last and the beers were free…..I'm sure the club thought better of it after Jenno & Kev set about making up for lost time during the day. ha ha ha
Sunday - I'd say Jenno & Tess were no good for crew on Sunday after Saturday nights efforts anyway, but we had a new member - Max - come on board. With a little less wind but some big swell ( minimum 3metres) it was prime sailing. We hoisted the Asym spinnaker to start and was actually catching the fleet (woo hoo - that felt good!!), until we cleared Newcastle harbour and then it was game on. Ruth was working her magic trimming the spinnaker, giving Max a baptism on grinding. It was a great day for sailing, had a ball, we weren't being left behind by the fleet today, keeping close enough to feel like we were hunting them down the whole time. We worked out a quicker way to hoist the Asym spin with the calmer seas when the winds swung around it seemed to suit RW. The only thing that killed a good day was when the water pump let go on the way back to the marina…. Skip was a little pissed off I think.
Anyway, cracked a
couple of beers and some nibbles back at the dock, had a laugh at Ruth still
trying to score a t-shirt or hat from the "YES" crew or maybe it was the banter
she had going with Kev about defecting to the "YES" boat……..
Back at the club house for presentation, we were pleasantly surprised when RW was mentioned as 3rd place getters in the PHS handicap for division 2 for Sunday's race - woo hoo, look out next year!!
All in all I had a great weekend, some good sailing, a few ales, some footage taken, and was a good eye opener on what to expect for our next Off shore event…….
Oh, hopefully Kev will post up the link of the short clip I did of RW's first IRC event. for ay's to check out…… FORGACS Regatta Video
And from Ruth.....Rogue Wave's
first foray into the world of serious sailing was brilliant. The weather was
outstanding, even if the "load up on Qwells" had scared the crew into thinking
that the swell and seas were going to have them heaving into a bucket for hours
upon end.'
Image by Craig Wakefield, Mike Eggleston, Greg Jackson, Kevin Abrahamson
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