The Jack Hollman race is a one-off race that does not impact the Summer Series so it was a good opportunity with the forecast 7-10 knots to try out the symmetrical spinnaker with new pole. I spent Friday rigging up blocks for the correct leads and trimming the guys to reduce the amount of line in the boat all ready for Saturday. Well, once again the forecasters sort of had it right.....except there were no showers and the wind came from the South and it was about 12-15 knots.
Max joined Ruth and Kev to crew again after being absent for the past month training for the Hawkesbury kayaking marathon in which he won his over 50 division....well done Max and great to have you back on board sharing the workload.
Our start was not looking great when we were boxed in and headed for the line with a minute to go on an ebbing tide. Fortunately a gap opened and a quick tack about-turn and reach saw us sailing back into the fleet as they bore down onto Rogue Wave going in the opposite direction! Now this was not a bad thing entirely as we were able to harden up across the stern of the fleet and pop out to windward in clear air...albeit behind by 300m. When heading for Salamander Bay mark on an ebbing tide, the trick is to stay out of the main current or you get dragged out and away from the mark. The other tip is to tack as you get knocked (i.e. windshift causing you to sail away from the direction you want to go). By the time we made Salamander mark we were ahead of all our normal rivals except Young Pretender. The ebb tide made for some fast beating to Shoal Bay mark.
The new pole was set however the breeze was now about 18 knots and gusty. I chose to pole the headsail rather than fly the chute which cost us a lot of places.......but no beers were spilled in the making of this event!! I messed about on the foredeck with the pole trying different adjustments whilst Ruth helmed and Max trimmed. On the final run for the finish the breeze had again shifted more to the south so my planned Assy run to the line turned in a couple of gybes before we crossed under spinnaker. It was nice to see Goodlife 2 have a good race and cross ahead of Rogue Wave. We would have finished well down the batting order however it was a great day sailing in good company with cold beers!
Todays craft beer was a My Wifes Bitter which ranked 10/10.
Next week is race 4 of 8 in the Spring Series. We need to put in some solid performances to keep our club championship hopes alive.
Todays craft beer was a My Wifes Bitter which ranked 10/10.
Next week is race 4 of 8 in the Spring Series. We need to put in some solid performances to keep our club championship hopes alive.
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