The race track...
Another great pic from the HCW weekend... shame about the dark weather conditions, a bit like sailing by braille as we tried our best to figure out the course... all I can say is thank god for the big cat "Two Tribes" for going balls out from the start line and leading all the way, sure made our race much easier by following their giant mainsail that was just visible in the mist Final race time was 3hrs12mins some 7mins behind Two Tribes and about 4mins behind Brett VanMunsters 18 from the League Kinder Caring... with Brett being a local from the Lake Maq area i was quite happy to follow him around the Lake course as our main aim for the day was to just finish in one piece.
With forecast winds of anything from 14-24knts from the S.W. the boys really didnt know which rig would be the best option to take, so we went a little conservative and chose No.2 rig, in the end we got it rite for about half the race which meant we could get some rest in the lighter stuff and in the fresher breeze we could push the boat hard withour fear of any major breakages.
Considering we had made a lot of untested changes during the last month the boat and my young crew Sam and Benny performed flawlessly...having had no small rig training over the past 8 months
With an 11am start time the team had plenty to sort out just to make the start on time... something which most skiff sailors, or maybe just me, struggle to do at best.
So with an early rise in the cold and rain we rushed around like crazy to get the chase boat fuelled and in the water and loaded with plenty of food and water, but most important was a huge bacon and egg breakfast to keep us going for the long day ahead. The 2 ways were charged and ready, GPS and video cam sorted along with any other safety and wet weather gear... most of which I planning to do friday nite but couldnt due to the rather ugly weather
With less than 5mins till start time we finally hit the water - not knowing we actually had to sail past the start boat to officially sign on 10 mins before start time.
As we slowly floated out to greet the start we noticed the Kinder Caring sailing to the line, they where late too!!!... but they had gone No.1 rig and we thought maybe this was gonna be a rather long day with our baby rig, but not to worry this was just a cruise day...
So we started late behind the crowded fleet just ahead of KC, but in about 10knt of breeze their big sails quickly ran thru the fleet as we bobbed about trying to find some upwind pressure. On the first long starboard tack we headed low to get away from the fleet, KC headed up and around and soon were off in the distance... this was really going to be a slow day... in the rain with the wrong rig.
Slowly we got some more pressure in the middle of the lake, then more, then more, and soon enough we had the hammer down in a nice 20knt breeze, and closing in on KC, their huge square top main just flagging around in the fresh stuff. They had grabbed a big lead of a few mins from the start, but now at the first mark at Wangi the gap was down to about 200 meters. The big cat Two Tribes still held a big lead. Then a great 2 sail down around Wangi Point - and we had KC very close ahead, but as we tacked our way back around the lee side of the point and thru the gap at Pulbah Is the breeze went soft and KC bolted .
Slowly we got some more pressure in the middle of the lake, then more, then more, and soon enough we had the hammer down in a nice 20knt breeze, and closing in on KC, their huge square top main just flagging around in the fresh stuff. They had grabbed a big lead of a few mins from the start, but now at the first mark at Wangi the gap was down to about 200 meters. The big cat Two Tribes still held a big lead. Then a great 2 sail down around Wangi Point - and we had KC very close ahead, but as we tacked our way back around the lee side of the point and thru the gap at Pulbah Is the breeze went soft and KC bolted .
Just about past Pulbah, near the shollow sandy bottom Pt Wolstencraft, we thought WOW... how nice, a dolphin swimming around slowly under the kite pole... fuck guys thats no dolphin... its a shark... I actually had to steer hard to avoid running the damn thing over, it was so close we couldve reached out and touched its fin... the last thing we needed was an upset shark under our feet. Thats when we decided this would be a 100% NO swim day
Around past Sunshine the breeze freshened again and we tried to gain some lost distance on TT and KC, visibility was getting worse with some big rain squalls. I guess by now we had been sailing for well over 60mins and we hadnt really been thinking how long this race would take, so we signalled to my niece on the chase boat for some drinks... that didnt go too well as we had also forgotten the 2 ways in the early morning rush to get ready and rigged... so the guys got close and tossed the drinks to us... and missed, so we parked for a minute to have a quick rest while the guys rescued our lost drinks...lucky we didn't tell them about the shark...
By this stage I really didnt know where we were on the lake until the very familiar 3 chimney stacks from the Vales Pt power station came into view thru the mist... my Nan had a holiday house at Mannering Pk and my family basically spent most holidays and weekends there when I was a kid growing up, I think my first sail was on this very water... ah the memories
So around the Vales Pt mark and finally we could set the kite for the first time...thankgod said Sam as he had been working pretty hard on the mainsheet by now... TT and KC were still well in front and the 3 leading boats had cleared away from the main fleet. Pushing pretty hard down the lake we were back at Sunshine in no time at all and heading fast towards Pulbah Is and catching KC. I think the KC guys had to back off a little with the big sails, and we had them very close. Kite down and 2 sailing into Nords Wharf the breeze went soft and once again KC bolted, round the mark, kite up again and running fast downwind towards Swansea we noticed the channel markers at Pelican and got a little lost and confused... with TT and KC no where in sight and not wanting to run aground at max speed, we thru in a few quick gybes and hammer down we entered Belmont Bay and into some solid pressure in the wide open bay... as we gybed back onto starboard and heading towards the Belmont mark we entered the big Etchell fleet in well over 20knts of wind.... must have confused some of the Etchell guys as they tried to wave us out of their way, while they were heading straight towards us... on port tack!!!!!!!! Somehow we stayed uprite and didnt crash but had badly overlayed the Belmont mark, so kite down and out of control 2 sail back across to the mark. Approaching the mark we were happily greeted by the sight of the KC in the tide... these guys had sailed extremely well to keep hold of the big rig in some pretty fresh stuff and for a couple of seconds we thought we would join them in the piss. They were up and sailing off by the time we gybed around for the 2 sail across Green Point, kites up again in some nice fresh gusts and super flat water, we both screamed down into Warners Bay...but the KC could run a little deeper than us with the big kite and stayed ahead as we had to complete a few gybes to get back to the mark, with the big cat TT a further 200m ahead.
But by now I was completely shagged and just praying for the finish. Luckily, for me anyway, the breeze was fairly lite and I could rest my tiller-locked hands as we headed around Bolten Pt and past the last mark then over the finish line... the leaders had gained a few minutes by now but we really didnt care too much... just very happy to finish, and in one peice...
Yeh HAAA 3rd overall and about 12th on corrected time
The boys and the boat had done brilliantly... no swims, some awesome flat water rides and nothing broken, apart from Sams hands (his gloves were on the endless list of stuff we forgot!) ... and I was happy just to see the beach, and the much needed hot shower, followed of course with more bacon and eggs
The race really didnt feel like 3hrs plus - I guess the super quick kite run all the way down the lake had blurred our vision of time... so me Benny and Sam felt pretty damn happy with our great result... and the wonderful Lake Maq had lived up to its reputation as one of the best sailing venues in Aus... oh the joy of flat water, no ferries or jet boats or container ships or hundreds of day cruisers, just good fun sailing
Big thanks to all the HCW organisers and fellow racers and special thanks to Shaun Lewicki for a truly unique skiff experience, one im sure me and the guys will never forget
