Sunday. 2.30pm. Sydney Harbour. 10-12 knots and Sunshine. It must be time for some 18' sailing! But there was something different, something strangely unfamiliar about everything. And what were we doing sailing towards the Squadie? Well, for the first time this season, the wind had swung to a tricky Easterly and we were going to sail a new course. Now, I have nothing against the Beashel Buoy, but it was going to be good to visit another part of the harbour, or so we thought.
The boat park on a Sunday morning is a good place to be. The initial race for a place in the park is getting a bit competitive, with 10.00 am beginning to look like a 3rd row of the grid start. Some of the guys have given up Saturday night drinking, just to be in a fit state to get the boat down to the water early. The reward - a place next to a slip and an easy carry to the water. For those that do arrive early, there is a lot of friendly banter and there was a regular theme to what people were saying to me. It seems that a fair number of skiffies crew the Wednesday twilight race on leadmines and they had seen our little practice session in the big breeze. I don't know who was more surprised - the other sailors when they learnt we were caught out with our No1 rig or me, when 3 different people on 3 different boats confirmed that the squall was actually 27 knots. In fact, more than one leadmine ran for cover in the same way as we did. So, overall, I was pretty pleased. A bit of street cred, more wind than I imagined and others making the same decision to go home. Best of all, the damaged sails were back and looking as good as ever.
Out early, a bit of practice and we were ready for the start, which was postponed to allow the spectator boat to get out. Lining up well in the middle of the line, we found a hole , held our position and powered to the start in clear air with the boats around us...............only to find that our perfect start was actually 3-4 boatlengths down, due to the sag in the line and we were sucking fumes very quickly.It seems such a basic mistake, but so many report it that I am beginning to conclude that you need to be really good to start mid line. Maybe we will be better off mixing it with the fleet at an end, so as to be sure where the line is. It doesn't help that it takes all our concentration to hold our position, so we aren't getting our heads up to find transits etc.
Anyway, we were off towards Rose Bay and with little clear wind, it seemed the practice was paying off. We had good height and speed and were in the bunch. Approaching the bay, it became clear that the entrance was busy with Woolahra race start lines to sail through and more important, wind shadows from Shark Island, headlands and the windward shore. However, a good line into the mark saw us arrive mid fleet, somewhere around 12th or 13th. Oh, the ecstasy!
3 minutes later, we were leaving Rose by DFL (dead frigging last!). Once around the mark, wherever we went and whatever tack we were on, there was a boat screaming for right of way and I think we did more crash gybes in the first 300 metres of that leg than I have done in the last 300 races! I don't understand how we didn't hit anybody or go for a swim, but we had to play catch up. And that we did.
By the last lap, we were at the back of a group that were battling it out for some very minor races. A whole beat of crossing tacks, edging closer and place changes but on entering Rose Bay, the leaders got richer while we fell back a little. A humiliating slip in form beckoned, as we set off in not such hot pursuit. But, ahead somebody capsized and the others began to slow each other down as the gybed on top of each other and one by one, got spat out the back. Even still, were we going to be able to get back in the mix?
Approaching the finish, we remembered the old adage that you should always approach on starboard, gaining the right of way and maybe an overlap. A good gust allowed us to soak down and sure enough, we had overtaken one and caught the other who had to gybe to avoid us. We held them out and then gybed for the line, beating one boat by a matter of seconds.
So, overall, an improvement of 1 place compared with last week, further evidence that we are getting on the pace and some good racing. However, we know what we need to practice. Starting! I used to be able to do it so why not in the 18's? Only time will tell but one thing is sure, the highs and lows of 18 sailing have a long way to go.
The boat park on a Sunday morning is a good place to be. The initial race for a place in the park is getting a bit competitive, with 10.00 am beginning to look like a 3rd row of the grid start. Some of the guys have given up Saturday night drinking, just to be in a fit state to get the boat down to the water early. The reward - a place next to a slip and an easy carry to the water. For those that do arrive early, there is a lot of friendly banter and there was a regular theme to what people were saying to me. It seems that a fair number of skiffies crew the Wednesday twilight race on leadmines and they had seen our little practice session in the big breeze. I don't know who was more surprised - the other sailors when they learnt we were caught out with our No1 rig or me, when 3 different people on 3 different boats confirmed that the squall was actually 27 knots. In fact, more than one leadmine ran for cover in the same way as we did. So, overall, I was pretty pleased. A bit of street cred, more wind than I imagined and others making the same decision to go home. Best of all, the damaged sails were back and looking as good as ever.
Out early, a bit of practice and we were ready for the start, which was postponed to allow the spectator boat to get out. Lining up well in the middle of the line, we found a hole , held our position and powered to the start in clear air with the boats around us...............only to find that our perfect start was actually 3-4 boatlengths down, due to the sag in the line and we were sucking fumes very quickly.It seems such a basic mistake, but so many report it that I am beginning to conclude that you need to be really good to start mid line. Maybe we will be better off mixing it with the fleet at an end, so as to be sure where the line is. It doesn't help that it takes all our concentration to hold our position, so we aren't getting our heads up to find transits etc.
Anyway, we were off towards Rose Bay and with little clear wind, it seemed the practice was paying off. We had good height and speed and were in the bunch. Approaching the bay, it became clear that the entrance was busy with Woolahra race start lines to sail through and more important, wind shadows from Shark Island, headlands and the windward shore. However, a good line into the mark saw us arrive mid fleet, somewhere around 12th or 13th. Oh, the ecstasy!
3 minutes later, we were leaving Rose by DFL (dead frigging last!). Once around the mark, wherever we went and whatever tack we were on, there was a boat screaming for right of way and I think we did more crash gybes in the first 300 metres of that leg than I have done in the last 300 races! I don't understand how we didn't hit anybody or go for a swim, but we had to play catch up. And that we did.
By the last lap, we were at the back of a group that were battling it out for some very minor races. A whole beat of crossing tacks, edging closer and place changes but on entering Rose Bay, the leaders got richer while we fell back a little. A humiliating slip in form beckoned, as we set off in not such hot pursuit. But, ahead somebody capsized and the others began to slow each other down as the gybed on top of each other and one by one, got spat out the back. Even still, were we going to be able to get back in the mix?
Approaching the finish, we remembered the old adage that you should always approach on starboard, gaining the right of way and maybe an overlap. A good gust allowed us to soak down and sure enough, we had overtaken one and caught the other who had to gybe to avoid us. We held them out and then gybed for the line, beating one boat by a matter of seconds.
So, overall, an improvement of 1 place compared with last week, further evidence that we are getting on the pace and some good racing. However, we know what we need to practice. Starting! I used to be able to do it so why not in the 18's? Only time will tell but one thing is sure, the highs and lows of 18 sailing have a long way to go.
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