Fremantle to Busselton - Iberia Race

Photo courtesy of Bernie Kaaks

For 2010, the Royal Perth Yacht Club Iberia trophy was assigned to the newly formed Fremantle to Busselton race, a feeder event for Western Australia’s largest annual regatta – Geographe Bay Race Week. The event was scheduled for a staggered start on Saturday 13^th February, with division 2 taking off at noon and division 1 heading off 6 hours later, in the hope that the two would converge by the finish line.

However, after some bar talk at the Farrawa presentations and on the sailing website www.freodoctor.com.au, a number of the competing skippers approached the race committee to have a standard 9:30am start, not only to make it more convenient to get back to Perth on the Sunday, but to gain a larger number of entrants. The move proved positive as the fleet was bolstered to 20 entrants, and with the forecast moderate sea breeze and clear skies, an enjoyable race was sure to ensue.

Out of Phase

At the proposed start time, the Easterly and the Southerly started to dual, unsettling the wind with 30-40 degree shifts and windless holes everywhere. Race management postponed (they must have been watching the Americas Cup!) and waited until the wind had settled down before laying the pin and day buoy and sending us on our way. After 20 minutes, the easterly, whilst still quite patchy, had taken a hold of the start area and we were set for a start. Our unfavourable position at the boat end combined with a lack of wind had us starting by ourselves on the middle of the line, which didn’t seem so bad after a quick glance at the pin end carnage and a 30 degree lift we hooked into shortly after the start.

The Next Factor (TNF), an IRC optimised Farr 40, continued their hot form and had the pick of the starts, hitting the pin and tacking across to port, clearing the cluster of boats and eventually us, to lead the fleet to the top mark. We recovered well and once we were up to speed, crossed in front of our arch nemesis and recently relaunched Charlotte, another Marten 49, to take second spot trailing TNF by a mere 100 metres halfway to the day buoy.

As quick as a flash though, we slipped down the leader board as every tack we made was out of phase with the shifty breeze, one of the more frustrating moments in sailing. TNF was first to turn at the day buoy, with just over a minute buffer to the Runnalls 40 Jaffa, who stayed left and caught a nice lift along the beach, closely followed by Charlotte then ourselves a further 30 seconds behind.

The Chase

The 2^nd leg, out to the Cockburn Sound channel entrance saw a changing of the guard as the Easterly lost out to the Southerly. We managed to hold our A1 longer than the rest of the fleet as we slipped to leeward of Jaffa and gained on Charlotte. However, the southerly breeze filled in from the west and the two leading yachts were able to pull away, around 4 minutes in front of us now. The chase was on.

We weren’t quite close hauled down the channel, so it was difficult to make any gains on Charlotte, and it was never a good sign to be behind a Farr 40 this deep into the race! Once we started the upwind leg across to Challenger Passage, we were finally able to roll past TNF and set our sights on Charlotte, making gains at every turn slowly but surely. Once out of the passage, with flat water, the wind at 14 knots and expecting to build, we tack-changed to the Heavy jib. Charlotte, around half a mile further to sea followed suit shortly after. A few of the crew asked me if I needed a break, my reply was “not until we’re in front!”

Over the next couple of hours, we were able to close the half mile separation down to about 200 metres whilst still holding our noses neck and neck. The seaway started to build as we passed Golden Bay, and I decided to bear down a couple of degree’s as each wave we hit head-on was taking a good slice of speed away from us. The separation grew again as we poked our nose further south before the seaway flattened off slightly as we got into the lee of Halls Head. It was touch and go to who was leading this one with Charlotte sitting on our hip to windward once again.

Flat is Fast

Charlotte tacked off earlier than us to clear the reefs off Point Robert and we had a track to get us between the reefs, but decided to follow our competition as we had a slight speed advantage. Plus we didn’t want to get too far apart, a move that has cost us in the past. The call from the nav was that we could clear the reefs, but Charlotte was still heading offshore, now about 1 mile further out. We decided to stay closer to shore and make use of the flatter conditions.

As we closed in on the beach at Falcon we headed back to sea to clear the Dawesville Cut. I was optimistic on our position against Charlotte as I had seen them bouncing off waves during the couple of times I peered over my shoulder, which should have slowed them a bit. I could see them out the back of the main, which is always a good sign, and called out “Trev, your turn, now don’t stuff it up!” as we crossed around half a mile in front of Charlotte.

On the approach to Cape Bouvard, it was Charlotte this time to take the inside track as the roles were reversed from earlier at Garden Island. This time they tried to close up on our line, but were falling back. They then changed plans and beared away to head along the shore line as continued to follow along the Bouvard reef line. Fortunately we still had the better combination of pace and height, pulling the lead out to a mile and stretching away.

Bungers or Bust

Sitting above the rhumbline it was decided to crack off a couple of degrees down to the Bunbury channel marker bearing as we picked up a knot of pace. Charlotte was now heading higher to avoid and early tack, and between our gain in speed and their loss, we shot off further south to what could be considered an unassailable lead as we watched one of the most magnificent sunsets you’re likely to see. But if the approach to Bunbury had taught us anything in the past, it’s that anything can happen and it’s not over til the fat lady starts chirping!

Fortunately we were only 11 miles out when the expected SE’ly change started happening, and even then the breeze held when it got to 185 at 14 knots as we swapped out to the Medium Jib. Knowing that Koombana Bay has a habit of turning into a vacuum during the transition, and given the wind was now poking below 10, we headed offshore again and decided to approach the channel from the west as the breeze still held south and slightly heavier. After a quick dodge between a couple of wheat ships we rounded the Bunbury outer channel markers and made haste for Busselton, which was slightly above close hauled.

Into the Unknown

This was the first time we had raced to Busselton, so the stretch of water between Bunbury and the finish line was foreign for most of us. In the back of our mind was the story of Crews Control in last year’s Silo’s to Jetty race and how they managed to sail around the whole fleet that became becalmed on the shores of Peppermint Beach. On the other hand, we didn’t want to give Charlotte the inside line if the breeze was to clock further east as predicted. The game was still open for the taking.

The breeze clocked early enough that we were able to stay along the rhumbline and had a visual of Charlotte, now 20 minutes behind. The breeze continued to swing around to 145-150. Without a hard point for the Genoa Staysail, which we’ve previously only hoisted with the Jib Top, we were a bit tentative on putting it up. After Frankensteining some systems, we managed to get her working and picked up some extra power at the front of the boat. With the wind continuing to drop and now being consistently under 10 knots, we swapped back down to our No.1 jib.

...And Back

With around 6nm to go, the wind again had a change of heart as she turned back to the south. The next problem was finding the finish line, between 2 strobe lights, and if last year’s Geographe Bay Race Week night race was any indication we probably won’t see it until we’re on top of them! Closing in on the final 2 miles, one of the crew finally got a visual on the finish, slightly to windward of us. On our final tack for the finish we got a nice pressure lift to carry us over the line for the gun, or horn, rather, which sounded like it was going through puberty. Now we play the waiting game.

Charlotte made their way across the finish 25 minutes astern, a great showing since the boat was only put in the water the previous Monday and only managing one tune up session. Knee Deep 1 hour, 8 minutes further back rounded out the podium. The next group, which consisted of TNF, Farr 40 OD Southern Star, Bakewell-White 36 Al Fresco and Jaffa were another hour behind which was more than enough to give us the triple of Line, IRC and YAH honours.

Not only were we able to take the triple, but more importantly, it brought us right back into contention for the Siska Trophy, the WA Offshore Championship. TNF is still leading, now by the narrowest of margins, 8 points clear and with Al Fresco slipping to 57 points behind us it looks to be a 2 horse race over the final 3 Siska races. Next up, we look forward to a tough week of racing and festivities at the Geographe Bay Race Week from 19^th – 26^th February. Check out http://www.gbyc.com.au/ all the event info and http://www.freodoctor.com.au/ for all WA sailing news including coverage of race week.

Gero here we come.

Saturday was set aside for making the last preparations the the Fremantle to Geraldton Race hosted by SoPYC. The morning was filled with ticks being made on the jobs list and plenty of ticks were made. Just a few last minute things that need sorting, aren't there always, but as the boat stands she is good to go.

In the afternoon we went out just to check a few of the systems not used for a while like reefing. All proved to be fine and the IT department sorted the electronics. Two MOB drills which we were very happy with and how all assumed the required roles leading to a quick recovery of one of our fenders and we are in good shape to get to Gero fast and safely.

The weather forecast altered on Saturday night for the better. Condition should suit OP well and give us a quick run up the coast so we can enjoy lunch up there.

Now just really looking forward to the start on Friday!

Around The Sound

The season opener, a nice short 38nm race down to Rockingham and back... or so we thought. The forecast wasn’t looking good, 4-5knots in the morning before building 10-12 in the afternoon. As usual, the forecast was way off and we spent most of the day in between patches of 0 and burst of up to 14 knots wind.

We rounded the day buoy 1^st, thanks to some navigational errors by Southern Star and Jaffa, and we’re hoping to extend our lead from there given the unfortunate dry docking of Charlotte and that Knee Deep had slipped out the back of the fleet. And then we hit our first windless hole. We were sitting ducks as the much lighter and nimbler racers crawled passed us along the beach, and by the time the 5 knot NW’ly filled in it was a pair of Farr’s in, would you believe it, Knee Deep and Southern Star that held the top spots.

No quicker than the NW had moved in, a WSW took over as we entered the channel, The Next Factor breathing down our neck and Knee Deep extending out to a half mile lead. We kept pushing as the wind started to die out again, cutting the lead in half and moving away from the 40 footers. Another wind changed followed, this time Huey threw a Northerly at us. All boats behind us were working their way under kite, and even Knee Deep got the new breeze before us thanks to a tunnel of wind coming between Carnac and Garden Islands.

On the drift out to Challenger Passage, we were absolutely smashed by the front runners, but held our own on the guys behind, having our required time on IRC to have us in 2^nd behind Knee Deep. The challenge was set, and given the events of the day so far, we knew we were never out of it. On the Run to Jervoise Bay, we got our break. Another new line of Northerly pressure came through as we promptly hoisted spinnaker and were hunting down the leader, doing 6.5 knots in 6 knots of pressure, and by the turn, we had cut the lead down to just 200m.

During the tactical run towards Southern Flats or ‘Blinky Bill’ as the locals call it, we managed to make a couple of crucial gybes to make use of the 60 degree wind shifts, and had pulled up next to our rival. This forced them to gybe back to the beach, and luckily for us, the wind shifted 30 degrees in our favour as we took a 5 minute lead at the turn mark in the pristine waters of Rockingham just after 3pm. Then we realised we were only half way, and those black clouds approaching didn’t look friendly at all!

Then came the rain, not hard or heavy, just constant. But with the rain came the wind as we were charging back to the channel at 8 knots, it looked as if the wind had finally settled as we were debating whether to change jibs. We brought up the medium, plugged it and and were set for the hois, closely followed by Huey throwing us one more kick in the pants. The wind dropped, and dropped, and shifted until we were adrift with the spinnaker up, doing nothing but flap in the swell.

At around 5pm, the last change came (for us anyway!) and it couldn’t be more of a relief – a 8knot Westerly which shifted around to an 8 knot Southerly – and got us home at around 6:15pm. It was finally over as the crew sighed relief, aching for a drink on what was a mammoth day on a person’s spirit and well-being. Grunter could now be happy that we weren’t going to fight him for his roll, the last scrap of food on board. Our perseverance didn’t go unrewarded though, as we claimed the trifector – Line, IRC and YAH honours. Hopefully it’s a sign (the result not the weather) of the season ahead!

Winter Results

The winter series has been and gone, and whilst it wasn’t the most successful winter we’ve had, there was still plenty to take from it in preparation for the 09/10 summer season and a tilt at the Siska Trophy.

Valmadre

We only managed 3 from 4 races in the series, with one being blown out from storm activity, and only 1 of the races had constant breeze throughout the day. Unfortunately, in the other 2 races we had built large early leads only for the wind to drop to nothing and fill from the back of the fleet, compressing everyone for a virtual re-start halfway through the race.

However, we managed to finish the best of the 40+ footers, earning a 3^rd on IRC for the series behind Archimedes and Aquila who were prominent in the light races.

Inshore Winter Series

This just wasn’t our series. Out of 8 races, we weren’t ready for the first, hooked an occy pot in one, ran aground in two of them and went the wrong way on another! We managed to scrape through a 4^th on IRC for the series, but we’ll definitely be putting that one behind us.

M49 Match Racing

After slipping 2 races in a row, Charlotte had regained the lead for the first time since back at the Autumn Invitational, but in the final couple of races we had strong performances to finish winter up 8-7. Sadly, they have suffered sever keel damage as the result of hitting a submerged object, brining them to a screaming halt, bending the keel and flattening the front of the bulb. They should be back with us after the Gero races.

Bring on summer!

Winter Series Race 4

Another light day forecast, it seems that we either have too bloody much or not enough lately!

 

We got out to an awesome start, clear air with pace towards the favoured end, and ensured that the Marten 49 match racing is our top priority, tacking on top of Charlotte early in the piece. As we headed seaward, we chose height whilst Charlotte opted for a bit more pace, cracking off a bit. When they tacked back at us, we still held the ascendency by a couple of boat lengths as the breeze clocked left. The wind held left which didn’t help us being on the right hand side of the course, and it was the Foundation 36 who made it to the top mark in top spot, followed by ourselves and Charlotte in close proximity.

 

We quickly took back the lead from the 36 and made a couple of boat length gains on Charlotte with a quick hoist and set at the mark. Again, Charlotte chose to take more pace, heading a higher angle as we stayed low to get down towards the gybe mark. The moved seemed to pay off as we had pulled away to lead by a minute at the bottom mark.

 

Then it went pear shaped... again.

 

In the last 300 or so to 'E' the depth gauge was consistently in the 0.0 - 0.3 range, we've unknowingly hooked up a submerged occy string, tacked around 'E' and wrapped the occy string around the mark. We ended up having to send Woodsy over (apparently it’s a long way down to the base of the keel!) to retrieve the sting, cut the line and untangle ourselves. It' was a real big kick in the figs considering we had Charlotte in our back pocket again.

Then to rub salt in to our wounds, Syrenka pipped us on the tight reach to the finish with their reaching kite. We didn't have our fractional reacher, and if we tried our light reacher I'm almost positive it would be in tatters.

 

So the Marten match racing series is tied up again at 5 -5 (should be 6 -4!!) as we prepare to hit back next weekend in the 3^rd instalment of the Valmadre Series.

 

Sydney Hobart 2008 Video

Valmadre Race 1

The Valmadre series, WA’s offshore winter series, kicked off this past weekend and as has been for the past few weekends, there wasn’t a lot of breeze. It was more of 2 races in 1 as midway through the course the breeze dropped to nothing, forcing a virtual ‘restart’ as the back markers brought the wind to the bigger boats.

 

The race started in very fickle conditions, we didn’t dare deviate from the line inside the 5 minute start sequence and we’re the 1^st cab off the rank. However, it was the 2 Farr 40’s in Southern Star and The Next Factor who again mastered the light winds to lead the fleet at the top mark. We had to duck Charlotte who came across on starboard, but looked to have missed the lay line, and as we approached the top mark we were expecting them to tack and have to duck us. But they pointed, and pointed, and pointed, lifting about 30 degrees in the final approach to sneak around the mark ahead by a bow sprit.

 

We launched our light weather reaching kite, whilst Charlotte hoisted their big runner which initially paid off, sneaking away ever so slightly. So we changed our angle of attack and worked the lulls and gusts, 40 degree’s down, 40 degree’s up, and managed to slip to leeward of Southern Star, The Next Factor and Charlotte. We were the first to gybe off in that group, which paid off immensely as the wind was fluctuating around 30 degree shifts. A few gybes later and we had rounded windmills 5 minutes ahead of The Next Factor and Charlotte. A huge effort from the crew to work the wind and keep the boat powered up.

 

The next leg was interesting to say the least. We ran out of wind first, sitting on 0.00 TWS for quite some time, painfully watching The Next Factor, Charlotte, Knee Deep, Al Fresco, Syrenka, Southern Star and Jaffa getting closer and closer. To make matters worse, the breeze filled in from the SW, and we just happened to be NE of everyone else! So there we were, The Next Factor and Knee Deep to our right and Charlotte to our left, with the rest of the fleet closing in at pace. As the breeze slowly filled, we choose a more southerly track to Campbell buoy and were able to take advantage of the slow filling breeze and were back in top spot by the turn.

 

From there on we were able to sail our own race and pull away from the pack that formed behind us, taking line honours by around 4 and a half minutes. Not bad considering. Of course, we got nowhere on either handicap systems, but we did take out another flight in the Marten 49 match racing over Charlotte, giving us the advantage 5-4 over our main rivals.

 

This coming weekend is Race 3 of the inshore winter series, but by the looks of the very blustery forecast, it might not happen. Here’s to hoping.

Back In Black

This past weekend was host to the inaugural Autumn Invitational Regatta, featuring the best 40+ footers fighting it out in a windward/leeward format off Bathers Beach in Fremantle. The event was to be a 5 race series, with 4 to count and run on both IRC and YAH handicaps.

 

Before the race we had our own battle just to get out on the race course. With only short notice given a lot of our crew weren’t available, which lead to a barrage of phone calls and we were lucky enough to scrape through with some late inclusions, having 5 debutants for the regatta. Also, during the week we pulled OP out of the water to give her a well deserved scrub and new black anti-foul, which also included removing and servicing the prop. The boat was due to go in at 8:30, but when we got down there at 8:20, we looked up to see the prop wasn’t there. S#!t.

 

After a few phone calls, turns out the prop hadn’t even been serviced, only got as far as taking it off and luckily it was still on board. So half the crew climbed aboard and got the boat rigged while the other half self-taught each other how to install a Gori 3 blade folding prop. We finally got the boat back in the water and by the time we’d passed the FSC breakwater we had 10 minutes until the first race started. Luckily, Charlotte hit the bottom where the start line was initially set which gave us the breathing space we needed to get the sails up and do a bit of pre-race tuning whilst the course was shifted.

 

Race 1

 

The moment of truth. Was it a dirty bum or was it simply us that was the cause of our recent poor form? After a passive start looking at Charlottes stern, we cleared out and made our way to the top mark, crossing tacks a few times with Knee Deep and C, and at the turn it was C with a 20 second lead, followed by ourselves with KD on our hammer. The positions held on the next lap but we had clawed our way back on to C’s stern and created a nice buffer to KD. Coming in to the 2^nd leeward gate, we closed the lead right up and C must have been feeling the pressure as they opened the door for us by mucking their drop.

 

We gave a loose cover for the last lap and were able to get the first bullet, followed by a huge sigh of relief as the monkey was off our back. Unfortunately for us The Next Factor continued their excellent form, taking out IRC honours for the race by a clear margin, hopefully it wasn’t a sign of things to come.

 

Race 2

 

We got the second race underway in a dying breeze, forcing race control to reduce the course to 2 laps. We started just under Charlotte, but were able to climb up on their line and forced them to tack as TNF, KD and ourselves headed left with C and Jaffa heading to the right side of the course. As it turns out the right hand side was immensely favoured, as the breeze filled in from the East giving C and J the top spots at the turn. On the run, again the East side of the course paid dividends as KD took the lead, J taking second from C and TNF getting past us.

 

On the second lap we were too far gone to recover as KD took line honours closely followed by C, TNF, J and us. TNF were able to sneak away with the IRC win by 7 seconds over J and KD in 3^rd. We needed a 5 race series now so we could drop this race!

 

Race 3

 

As the breeze continued to fall out, I don’t think any of the competitors thought we would get a 3^rd race in, but to the RO’s credit we were able to dawdle around 1 lap to get the planned 3^rd race in. Off the start we hit the boat end with pace, as much pace as was available anyway, and didn’t look back. We managed to keep the boat moving, which is quite a feat in an 11 tonne boat under 5 knots, to pull away from the pack and take the Line, IRC and YAH triple honours to close out the day. C held on to claim 2^nd whilst TNF continued their good form to finish with a 3^rd.

 

At the end of the days racing it was TNF leading IRC on 5 points (1,1,3) followed by ourselves on 8 points (2,5,1) with C breathing down our neck on 9 points (3,4,2).

 

The forecast for Sunday wasn’t looking promising, with some of the forecasting indicating 0 knots by lunchtime! Fortunately, the wind held in at 7-10 knots for most of the day and we were able to get in both scheduled races, however, the committee decided 2 laps was enough for today as they didn’t want to push their luck with the weather.

 

Race 4

 

In the fickle conditions, we had planned a boat end start so we could tack off ASAP, but with a 20 deg shift in the closing stages it was the pin end starters of TNF, Southern Star and KD that held early ascendency. We kept with our plan and tacked away early as the breeze continued to shift left, lifting us to the mark alongside SS with KD on our heels and TNF with a 3 boat length lead. As we needed to give SS room, we took a wide rounding to the separation buoy and KD tried to pounce by sticking their nose between us and the mark. With the new rules on our side and less than 6 boat lengths between the top mark and separation buoy, KD had no rights and the risky manoeuvre didn’t pay off as they hooked the separation mark, needing to bring it on deck to untangle themselves.

 

We didn’t go without drama’s on the hoist either, with the martin breaker catching and firing our tack line on the hoist. A quick recovery saw us hold our position with C looking closely over our shoulder, heading higher to gain speed but dropping significantly as they came down to the mark, leaving us to chase down TNF on the last lap.

 

By the top mark we had closed within inches of TNF, and in what is uncharacteristic behaviour from the guys, they appeared to let us pass by at the mark as they overlayed by a healthy margin. We pushed on to take line honours and 2^nd on IRC behind TNF, with SS having a great race, pipping C on the line to take 3^rd over the line and on IRC. Going in to the last race, TNF had sewn up the series with nothing short of a DSQ being able to help us snare the win.

 

Race 5

 

Another drifter and I had just about had enough of it! We got out of the blocks quick and were able to tack above C, which is good for trimming as we were getting instant feedback on the changes we were making. Early on they had height and we had pace, but as we got into the corner at South Mole, the wind was dropping and we were able to take some huge gains in both height and speed.

 

With the wind clocking left, it was almost a one board downwind leg, missing the lay line by about 50m. We decided to hold our pace and do a quick double gybe at the mark rather than drift in at a lower angle. Some slick work by our largely foreign crew had us gybing, hoisting the jib, and drop gybing in a synchronised symphony which emulated how our crew work had been all weekend, efficient.

 

On the second lap we were able to consolidate our lead to run away with line and IRC honours, C coming 2^nd in both and TNF rounding out the IRC podium.

 

Overall, it was a tie on points after the drop between ourselves (2,1,2,1 = 6 points)  and The Next Factor (1,1,3,1 = 6 points) with the count back rule giving TNF the win, and Charlotte finishing 3^rd (3,4,2,2 = 11 points). On YAH the top spots were reversed, 1^st Optimus Prime; 2^nd The Next Factor; 3^rd Charlotte.

 

The weekend was certainly a success, with the competition format being a breath of fresh air and hopefully a format which catches on in events to come. A huge thanks to Fremantle Stone for putting up the bucks, Noel and his committee for organising everything and all the on water crew for running a tremendous regatta.

Cape Vlamingh

It just wasn’t our day…

 

After a month off the water the crew was itching to get back on the race track, this time we would be joined by both our sister ships, Sea Sue and Charlotte. Whilst we had faced SS in the past, and beaten them comfortably, Charlotte was always going to be a tricky one to judge, with the crew fresh from Farrawa Cup and GBRW wins on their previous boat, the Sydney 36 ‘This Way Up’

 

We didn’t get off to a good start, those few niggling repairs had been neglected, and we missed the start by about 3 minutes after some pre-race tuning in a dying breeze. We managed to work our way up behind Jaffa and Steele de Breeze, hoisted spinnaker and head out to the windmills. We were getting smashed – C, SS, J and SdB all taking off at a rate of knots in the light conditions with Wild One sticking to our hip like glue. Something had to be wrong, and about 1/3^rd through the race we figured it out.

 

With Woodsy attending to his new-born and future OP foredeckie, Oliver Zared, Trev took the opportunity to do some calibration with the instruments and give down below a decent once over. It was during this that he noticed a humming through the hull and it suddenly clicked. “Chuck the throttle in gear” So I obliged and the humming stopped as we climbed half a knot of boat speed instantly. The prop must have been in ‘overdrive’ when the engine was switched off, which turns the blades, stopping the prop from folding as it normally would by putting the throttle in reverse.

 

Finally we said goodbye to J and SdB and were gaining on SS, with C holding around a 10 minute lead over the next few legs. Then came the final blow. On the run back to the finish, the breeze decided to drop right out and shift East, meaning the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The IRC honours mirrored the line honours results, but unfortunately for us the bad run didn’t finish there, receiving a 3 position penalty for not calling in at the ‘Fairway’  Buoy.

 

This put us down to 5^th on IRC, only the 2^nd time we have finished off the IRC podium in WA. Whilst there weren’t many positives to take from the race, it could well have been the kick in the bum we needed for the upcoming winter and summer seasons. We had a busy bee, got a to do list together and assigned jobs ready for the final race of the 08/09 season this Saturday… and there is no way we’re going to have a repeat effort like that!!

Westender and Taking a Break

Last Friday night we took part it the Westender night race, starting at 8pm and taking us out Challenger Passage then heading 25nm offshore to a couple of FAD marks before heading back home around the Northern End of Rotto.

 

We started the race with a minor hiccup, heading too high for the day buoy (which you couldn’t see until you were on top of it) causing us to zig zag back and had us rounding the mark behind Steele de Breeze and Jaffa. We quickly accounted for these two and started our beat up the channel, which on a boat as heavy as OP isn’t fun, I can assure you. Nevertheless, we managed to extend the gap back to line honours rival Knee Deep and head out through Challenger Passage with a comfortable half mile lead.

 

Then the race took a turn for the worse. On the Western end of Five Fathom Bank, a night sailors worst nightmare as I felt a knock on the rudder, and looked back to see a float getting sucked back under the hull. On went the handbrake as we had hooked a craypot, bringing us to a near standstill. Out came the torches, boathook and knife, but we just couldn’t locate the line. The jib was dropped as we tried to put the nose to weather and back up, but every attempt was met with the 4m swell which pushed us away time and time again. 15 minutes later and we had finally got some response by locking the main central and the boat started to back up. The call from the front came as the floats popped out and we were free.

 

We hoisted jib and rejoined the race just in front of Jaffa and Adrenaline Rush with Steele de Breeze and Sue Sea in striking distance, whilst Knee Deep had forged ahead to take a 2nm lead. By the 1^st FAD we had reclaimed 2^nd spot and enjoyed a technical 10nm downwind run, taking Knee Deeps lead down to 1.7nm. Another long 2 sail reach followed as we headed for Fairway and settled with our Jib Top and Staysail combination as Knee Deep became clear in our sights.

 

The final upwind run to the finish in the flukey conditions was always going to be a tough leg, and we would need to be extremely lucky if we were to get close to Knee Deep. The crew pushed hard for every gain and we were able to close  their lead down to 7 minutes by the finish, giving us at least IRC honours over our main rivals. However, it was Steele de Breeze who managed to walk away with the IRC gold, beating us by a mere 12 minutes. If only it wasn’t for that bloody pot!!

 

We have a month’s break now as we won’t be competing in the Albany race, but it will be a good chance for the crew and the boat to get the salt out of their veins ready to hit the Winter Series at full throttle in preparation for next year’s Siska Trophy.