A finish....and only slightly injured!!

Sunday was always going to be a tough day. While my body was almost mended, a surfing accident involving bare feet and sharp rocks resulted in Scott not being able to sail. In his place we had Archie Massey, well known and successful I14 sailor partaking in his first race 18 race and certainly his first visit to the bow department! To compound matters, the forecast was for bottom end of No2 rig but the conditions when rigging said No1. The fleet chose No1 rigs and and so the die was cast.

Once onto the racecourse, it seemed to be the right decision. We had a little fun and games as Archie, 12kgs heavier than Scott, used his extra leverage to pull apart his trapeze system and do a quick dismount and swim before the start. Fortunately, we got up and running quickly enough and added a few extra knots into the system so a to avoid such happenings again.

For once, we lined up nice and high with time to burn and held on to our lane reasonably well. Archie was getting nervous as well were all pushing up on the line but having not had a single individual recall all year,w e knew it would either be a general recall or they would let us go. Celebrations of our good start were cut short by the third gun and sure enough, it was a general recall.

The next start was not as clean. While lining up, we noticed that where there had previously been less wind on the left of the course, now there seemed to be a fair amount of pressure everywhere. A few quick tweaks to the rig and we were ready to line up, but we lost control of the bow, ending up in a right mess that should have broken our pole but somehow didn't. Instead, it made sure were were at the back of the grid. Even worse, when tacking to clear everybody else seemed to have the same idea and we were chewing dirt for quite some time.

Finally, we found a lane and attempted to settle. A couple of good shifts followed by a couple of bad ones and we weren't pretty at the first mark, but set off in pursuit with me determined to prove to Archie that we could be quick downwind even with his extra bulk. And sure enough, by being a little smarter and a little faster, we made some serious gains.

The next beat wasn't pretty. We were at the top end of the wind range for the rig and it was not working well. It was the first time we had raced in that sort of stuff and it really highlighted some serious shortfalls in the rig that if we correct, should improve performance in lighter stuff as well. Having stumbled up the beat, we set off down the run with high hopes but they were short lived as the first gybe led to an opportunity to inspect the bottom of the boat. It really did show that it doesn't matter how good you are, if you haven't practiced sailing an 18 as a team, you are going to struggle.

We got up and running again and had some great rides but going for a gybe drop was, on reflection, a tad ambitious. This time resulted in another first for me. I managed to fall from the top of the wing and get my legs either side of the tiller. Ouch! While the "crown jewels" weren't trapped , everything else in that region took a bit of a hammering and it was just as painful as if they had been caught! I probably couldn't ride a bike for a few days, being rather bruised in the saddle area!

However, despite the mess and pain, we got sorted and sailed the last lap in great solitude to gain a hard fought finish. We might have been DFL (dead f###ing last) but 6 boats didn't survive. There were 2 broken masts and various tales but I think for some, the conditions simply knocked the resolve out of them. On returning to shore, my family, who had been watching on the ferry, told us that one of the sponsors had been saying that it was the toughest day we could have experienced. I certainly think that the 14-18 knots with No1 rig is harder than 22+ with No2. Talking to the experienced boys, it seems that it was a "big day in the office" for everybody.

The big learning to come out of the sail was that we need to work on tuning. I have been too accepting of the fact we were learning and that the boat had a reputaion for going well with the No1 rig but Archie has identified various areas we need to sort. So, it looks like I have a week of bimbling ahead.

Next weekend is a big one. We are racing on Saturday in the Australia Day race, followed by Sunday with a regular race. Lots of time to try new settings and ideas.

If I wanted to sail full time, I'd do an Olympic Campaign......

Aside from Olympic sailing, I don't know of any sailing that is as serious as 18 footers. There are a few "old school" types who believe practicing is cheating but we have ignored them as we needed to play catch up. The problem is, the top teams are out there all the time. Fiat and 7 train at least 2 days a week, with coach and sailmaker in support. Macquarie have a coach and sail regularly. All three have big time rig/sail programmes with North. Then there are the Ullman teams with Akso and The Rag doing the most work. All have new, different masts this year, with Club Marine also having a new rig. These 6 boats seem to have a bit of a jump on the fleet at the moment.

So, to address the balance, some have been training. We missed the pre-season stuff but have been fairly regular Thursday evening players. Thursdays usually sees between 3 and 6 boats out and a few others are out on other occasions. So, imagine my shock when I arrived at Double Bay last night, at the normal time, to find the park totally crowded out. It seems that a few people are getting the idea that practice makes.......less mistakes! In total, I think there were 10 boats in the park last night, although one never left the shore as they were trying to set up a mast to fit some second hand sails they had acquired.

And what a night everybody had chosen. Thursday evenings are usually 8-12 knots, with only one night requiring little rig and even then, it was marginal. But last night it was different. We had 20+ knots from the South East, flat water and an empty harbour. Game on! A few had some strange idea about sailing with big rigs and they got hammered. We went with the majority and obvious choice, little rig and we had a specific goal in mind.

Although our tacks have been safe, we have been very slow out coming out and up to speed. I have needed to use too much helm to pull us away and this has killed our speed. 20+ tacks per race was leading to 30+ boat lengths being lost - over 100 metres per race. We needed to gain those valuable metres back. First stop was the front of the fleet. I have found that most of the top people are only too happy to help with tips and advice. In particular, Cocko on Fiat and the Rag team have been of great help and yet again, they gave us some things to try.

Setting off from the club was interesting as it was a run out to the harbour, something which we don't get often. Puffs were hard to spot but once we had made a little progress, it was clear that there was some big black gusts around. Once clear of the moorings and with Scott getting very excited, the kite went up. Just as we were settling, a black one made it's presence felt! It started with a slamming 20 degree shift and then just built - not slowly but with all the subtlety of a sledge hammer. 3 months ago and we would have swum just trying to latch into the gust but this time, we were up and running.

Running is probably not quite the right word. It doesn't quite encapsulate the shear power, speed and ferocity of what was going on. And then, in front of us, was the Manly Ferry wake. Harrier jump jets use something known as VTOL (vertical take off and land). On that basis, 18's should be added to the list of armaments that should not be sold to certain countries. Besides being a dangerous weapon (see below), they are certainly well suited to VTOL! Probably having Scott in the boat added to the drama as all he wanted was big air and lots of speed. Trying to make an 18 do the same thing as his kite board seems to be a recurring theme with Scott!

With Kirrabili fast approaching, we went for the drop. I am not exactly sure what went wrong because we haven't made a mess of a drop before but at that speed, whatever went wrong led to 2 events, linked but totally separate. I don't know whether the capsize came first or Scott's teeth making contact with the D1's at a bit higher speed than there maximum working load, but while standing on the upturned hull I couldn't help notice that Scott's white rashie was going orange and he was spitting little bits of......material. He didn't appear concerned, even though he had spent $10,000 on his teeth in the last few months!

Anyway, we got the boat up and headed upwind. Wow! The boat was flying but it was shifty and slamming. And then we tacked, trying a few of our new found knowledge. The helm remained light throughout and we simply accelerated out of the tack. Astonishing! To prove it wasn't a fluke, we tacked again. Same thing! A few tacks later and it was all grins, even if one was slightly bloody! Mission accomplished.

We were very conscious that my body has been struggling to stay together, Scott's mouth was damaged and it was boat breaking weather so we didn't stay out long. However, it was the most exhilarating and useful session I can remember. Ashore, it seems that everybody else had stories of wild rides and big grins. John Harris, skipper of The Rag summed it up by saying "Now that's why we sail these boat"!

So, AOL is still in one piece but a tradition has been maintained. One of the crew got hurt, but for once it wasn't me! We had a great evening and a quick burger and beer in the bar gave lots of time for recounting tales of high speeds and big black gusts.

Roll on Sunday!

Happy New Year.............

So, the season of goodwill is now out the way and Sydney returns to normal. The Olympic sailors have left town, which means that my phone has stopped ringing with people begging for a ride on the Bladerider. A few were even angling for a ride on the 18, which reminds me just how cool the whole thing is. It is too easy to fall into the way of life and just take it for granted. In the same way, it is too easy to think that with a couple of good results, 18 sailing has been well and truly mastered! The first 2 races of the year showed just how much work is still to be done.

Back from the holidays and with a practice session under our belt, we felt ready to really rock and roll. We lined up for the first start, found our hole and as the gun went, the guys congratulated me on the start. The 3 boats to leeward were clearly over and once they peeled off, we were in the driving seat, except there was no second gun. WTF! All three of us are puzzled but what can you do. Next time we sail the fleet, not the line!

Worse was to follow as we seemed to be slow, or was it just because we were eating everybody's exhaust fumes. Tacking for clear air sent us deep to the wrong side and it got worse. Either we sailed the wrong way in clear air or we ate dirt. Downwind was a precession but we did have speed and the gaps closed. We started the second beat with hope and the will to attack. But then it became obvious. We had no speed and the problem was the jib.

The whole time we had been sailing the boat, we had been attaching the jib sheet to the sail incorrectly. I spotted this on the current World Champs boat (Fiat) before we rigged so corrected this. However, it didn't occur that the different way would prevent the sail being sheeted properly and sure enough, as the breeze increased, we couldn't sheet in hard enough. In fact, we couldn't get the last 50mm in. Under powered and unable to point, all the good work downhill was wasted by a really stupid mistake. I felt that I had let the guys down.

On the run, Jamie did what he could to sort out the sheeting and while he improved it, we were still 30mm off where we needed to be. Plus we hadn't sailed some of the run flat out. So we limp around at the back, , getting our worst result for months.

The following Thursday we practiced with the new No2 main. It is so sweet and so was our boat handling. Only fly in the ointment was that I damaged my hamstring on a bear away but it wasn't going to stop me. With the forecast for Sunday calling for 20 knots, we felt ready for whatever is thrown at us. And what did we find on Sunday? 18 to 20 knots. Perfect!

So we head out to the start in good spirits, ready to take on whatever is thrown at us only to be hit by something we haven't come across before. We bear away at speed, dig in a little and pop straight out without thinking. Then, very soon after (1-2 seconds) we come to an abrupt halt. We hadn't spotted the kite coming out the bag and we were suddenly doing a good impression of a trawler. To capsize or not............not as the case turns out but by the time we were sorted, we were well into the start sequence and upwind of where we needed to be. A quick bear away and fast reach followed by a gybe and we were lined up at the wrong end of the line, third row of the grid and with 10 second to go. Another fine mess!

So, yet again, we have to tack and go the wrong way to clear our air. Coming back, we are well down but we seem to be going well, even to the point of thinking we had speed. Then we hook into a good shift and we are climbing through the fleet. We got the top if the leg wrong and round with more ahead than we would like. A good hoist and a couple of gybes later, we had a good lane into Rose Bay and the gybe mark. A few boats were swimming and after another slick gybe from the guys, we set off on the tightest reach for the bottom mark, reeling in boats all the time.

I think by the time we dropped the kite, we had taken 6 or 7 boats through good handling and a little speed. Better still, we are close up behind a group and on a charge. Everybody is being pushed low and we drop some way low of the mark. On heading up, we realise we are a little short of the mark and have to pull away again. WE get to the mark and harden up and out I jump onto the side. But where I think the rack should be there is fresh air and I am heading to the middle of the boat. The rest was inevitable, although the problems we encountered shouldn't have been. A very slow recovery and some further stupidity from "Surefoot Simon" saw us heading in with some muscle in my shoulder damaged enough to stop me raising my hand above my head.

I was devastated. The guys had sailed really well and we were actually very competitive. We swam from a silly mistake that I probably couldn't repeat if I wanted to. We all had friends watching and I felt I had let the guys down. My body keeps breaking and it isn't funny any more. I sit here typing this with a shoulder that nearly works, a damaged hamstring, a damaged thigh and bruising all over! It takes too long to recover, a bi-product of getting older, and I hate it! It feels that all the good work I did to get my body into a state to take the stresses and strains of my lifestyle has all been undone!

The festive break gave me a chance to catch up with my Moth sailing. I treasure the time I get in the boat and look forward to after the JJ (18 worlds) when I can spend more time in the boat. It is a truly addictive experience but at the moment, I am only using it for joy rides. While the boat handling might be going OK, for the first time I did some tuning against somebody who is close to the pace and I realised that the boat is currently set up for ease of sailing rather than speed. After some chats from Rohan, I have been sorting a few new bits and settings and cannot wait to try the boat again.

Sydney, the place to be in December!

Things have been a bit hectic in Sydney of late. So many people are in town and there is so much going on. You cannot go anywhere near a sailing club without bumping into another Brit. If I was still in the UK, I would be wondering where everybody was!

First off, after no more than 24 hours to recover, our "drunken sailor" was back on duty as we headed out for a photo shoot with the iShares VX40. The 18's were represented by Rag and Famish and us, with Cameron stepping in as sheet hand for the evening. Also out to play were 2 Tornado's, one of which had Darren Bundock and Carolijn Brouwer on board, so there was no doubting the quality! Against a background of a thunderous sky, the VX40 showed us all who was the Daddy! I think they had to slow down every 800 metres or so and wait for everybody to catch up.

We all knew that the VX40 would be quicker, but what about the T's against the 18's? Well, downhill there really wasn't anything in it but upwind, the T's had an edge. I didn't think it was that much, but talking to Carolijn a few days later, she commented that she was a bit disappointed with the 18's upwind. That told us! However, looking at the photos, the 18's looked by far the most spectacular, 3 guys on the wire and the front half of the boat out of the water.

We had a practice session on Thursday in which we tried a few new tricks that Cam had shown us and we were ready for Sunday. The usual wait in the boat park was made even more tedious with the "which rig" debate. The forecast called for wind and little rig, the conditions on the harbour said big. In the end, all but 2 set out with No2 rigs and were slightly under powered while the other 2 were slightly over powered. How we needed our new square headed No2 main, but it wasn't ready.

So, we hit the race track with little idea of how the boat would go or how to set the rig. A bit more aggression at the start saw us just on the front row, third from the pin. It was actually easier than trying to do a safe mid line start. Speed seemed OK and we played the shifts to round the top mark in the top 10. We sailed around fighting for between 10th and 12th until the last beat when we simply got it wrong and dropped back to 15th, under huge pressure from behind.

At the last gybe, we were fighting to save us from the lower regions of the results sheet. The closest of fetches was all that was left and we had to fight, not just for our place but to get to the finish. Ahead we saw everybody struggling and a capsize gave us a chance of gaining another place. But to achieve that, we had to hold the kite, sailing the boat on its ear while ensuring we didn't leave a passing lane for those behind.

Sometimes, age has it's advantages as with age comes experience. While the others kept sailing fast and getting driven off low, we kept high and slowed enough to keep the apparent wind behind enough to reach the finish, in 14th place and with a bow hand whose arms were now half a metre longer! So, the improvements continue!

During last week, everybody was arriving for SIRS, the grade 1 Olympic classes regatta hosted in Sydney each year. This year was especially significant, as it is the first showdown between Ben Ainslie and Ed Wright for the GBR Finn spot at the games next year. Ben looks as large as I have seen him and still has the most wonderful, modest way about him - easy to talk to yet there is no more determined sailor on the water. If he does have a sense of his place in sailing history, it doesn't show in his manner. Admire the sailing achievements, but admire the man as well.

On Friday I organised a little foiling for some of thge visiting sailors. One was Paul Campbell-James, which was a bit of a strange feeling as I used to race against his parents before he was even a twinkle in their eye! Another was Graham Biehl, who is crew in the USA 470 that is going to the games. Clearly a talented helm in his own right, his reaction said it all "that is the coolest ting I have ever done!" He's in town a bit longer so I am expecting a call for a repeat performance as soon as SIRS is over.

Of course, the Moth is just a distraction from the real thing and Sunday was on us again. The forecast was for "Light and Shite" followed by a Southerly storm so it was with some in trepidation that we set off with big rigs. If the forecast was wrong by an hour or two, we could be sailing in 25 knots with the big rig (again!). The light winds, a tide underneath the fleet and some really poor discipline saw the fleet get away at the 5th time of asking, under a black flag. And the black flag caught out 4 of the top boats, which made our job easier. Our own starts were "educational", including our own attempt at taking out a section of the fleet on the second attempt to get the fleet away.

With a boat biased line, we lined up a bit off the line, ready to accelerate into any gap while making sure we were where we needed to be so as to tack off into the favoured tide. And sure enough, right next to the committee boat, a gap opened and we accelerated for it, only to have another reach down into the same gap. Now, we could have taken them out, but we would have been in a worse mess than starting behind them.

So we tacked off into the tide and made our way up the one sided beat. We were doing OK and seemed to be with the leading bunch but it was hard to tell exactly where we were, more so when some of the leaders were pulled out of the race for their early start. With a 4 lap, windward/leeward course, we began to find our position down the first run and we were up there, really up there. By the bottom mark, we were 3rd and we worked our way up the next beat to take the lead at the top.From there, we managed to maintain our spot at the front and led at the last mark.

However, we got it wrong. Under pressure from DeLonghi who suddenly tacked underneath us just before the mark, we should have gybe set which would have won the race for us but I got it wrong. We should have managed a slicker hoist, but things went a little pear shaped and we should have gybed earlier, but we didn't settle. So 2 boat gybed before us and it was a straight race to the finish line, with us in the cheap seats. We tried. We gained some back but it wasn't to be. We were 5 seconds behind the winner and 1 second from the next boat. Still, 3rd was a great result and we know there is still more to come.

And no sooner had we finished but the wind started to pick up and then the rain. The front had arrived and for a brief 5 minutes, we were sailing in 20 knots and driving rain. No sooner had it arrived and it was passed leaving a gentle 12 knots to sail home with.

So that is the 18's done for the year. The next race is on the 6th January, which gives me some time for some much needed TLC to the boat. And with the rest from the 18 comes a little time to go foiling.

If I don't post before, I would wish all my friends a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

What shall we do with a drunken sailor...........

We were warned. We decided to take the risk anyway and it led to an amusing day. Scott (bow) had a house warming party organised before we even started sailing the 18 so it had to go on. Jamie (sheet) went as well but left at 4.00am and managed a reasonable amount of sleep. However, when Scott arrived at the boat park, our worst fears were realised. He had under 2 hours sleep and had stopped drinking at 10.00am! His speech was blurred and every time he walked past our supply of water, we had to change the label as the alcohol content went up just from proximity!

Jamie and I rigged the boat and we managed to launch with incident. A delayed start, waiting for the wind to settle gave Scott a chance to take on more water and finally the course was set, in a shift ENE wind 10-13 knots as it flicked from gradient to sea breeze. After the poor starts of recent weeks, I had promised the team we would really mix it at the start. Watching videos of recent JJ's, it struck me that nobody ever made good start mid line, so with a pin bias, we headed deep into enemy territory. And to my surprise, we kept finding holes. We lined up, looked below, saw another hole, bore away and back up into the hole until we were 3rd boat from the pin, with a nice gap to come down into and on time. maybe we pulled the trigger a little late, but we were up and running in a lane we could live with for a while until we had a chance to flip over.

The beat was long and shifty, with variations of pressure all around. And there we were, crossing tacks with Fiat, Club Marine and other front runners. We weren't having any speed issue and for the first time, Jamie and i had our heads out the boat, looking for wind and shifts. In fact, we even managed to make a few decent tactical calls that saw us round the first mark in the top 10. For some reason, the hoist wasn't quite as smooth and fast as we were used to and we had to defend for the first part of the downhill leg. Fortunately, we were sailing windward/leewards, so were able to gybe and clear when we needed to.

The next 2 laps saw us battling for a position in the top 10, never higher than 9th but not lower than 13th. Crossing tacks with The Rag and Club Marine was great, and we never felt outclassed. In fact, we remained very pleased with our speed and also our positioning, regarding the fleet.

However, as the race went on, our shortcomings on the hoists and drops slowly took a toll until at the end of the 3rd downwind, the drop let 3 boat through. Try as we might, we couldn't get them back on the beat and the final hoist saw another through. The hoist did have its lighter side. My normal job is to call out how far the kite had hoisted and this time it went rather like this - "First spreader, second spreader, 1 metre........1 metre........1 metre........1 metre. Scott, why are you out on the wire?!! Jamie looked up and with a resigned smile said "I will get it! and finally the kite was set.

I twas a shame that we weren't sailing to the best we could because we finished less than 1 minute off 13th place and should really have been higher. Scott was very apologetic, in the funny way that only somebody who is drunk can manage. Credit to him for having survived and for not chundering until on his way home. I did have to steer the boat back under him a couple of times, but he stayed with us the whole race. If we had a substitute on board, we might have done better but that wouldn't have been good for either Scott's ego (they do better without me) or for team building.

So now we have proved we can get up there, the next task will be be to stay up there. We have 2 on the water sessions planned this week, so stand by for more news to come.

Now, what exactly does "keel hauling" consist of..............

Variety is the spice of life.......

As a busy week draws towards an inevitable conclusion - Sunday at the League - I find myself reflecting on just how much you can pack into one week. I don't often talk about work on here, mainly because my main role has been as "Director of Leisure" for the family, a job I have taken seriously by testing and maintaining as many toys as possible! However, there is also the renovations on our home and the current project, renovating the Mother-in-Law's apartment. Dealing with builders and tradesmen in Australia has been a real eye opener. I have never experienced anything like it. All elements of construction and trades are significantly more expensive than in the UK, even though materials are no more costly. And as a customer, I feel like the builders are doing me a huge favour and that I should be grateful. Overall, it feels like I am being beaten up and at the same time, I should be thankful!

When it comes to our own house, having had a QS do the sums, it seems that if I act as an Owner/Builder, project managing the job myself, I will save the equivalent of 4 years salary (before tax). If I could get a builders licence over here, that is what I would do. 1 decent job a year would earn me more than I have ever earned in a single year!

3 trips to the apartment, dealing with all the issues, left me ready for a bit of R&R. It has been great to be able to catch up with an old friend who is in town. Hugh Styles is in town with the iShares VX40 he project manages and I was able to get close up and personal with one of these machines for the first time. And what beasts they are, all carbon, autoclaved and very sexy! The boat will be sailing in the harbour all of next week doing some corporate entertaining and promotion work for iShares. It should be a sight worth seeing.

On Thursday, we took the 18 out for a training session and what a good one it was. A 8-12 knot easterly in warm conditions and enough light to stay on the water until about 8.00pm saw some real progress. We were particularly fortunate to have Craig Ferris out in a coach boat and we made great progress. The boathandling went up another gear and having somebody looking at the rig from outside taught us a lot about how to set the rig. Hopefully, this will move us up another level and from my point of view, the session was the first time I thought we really felt like we deserve better results on the track. Now the problem is to take it to the race track and to get as slick in more breeze.

The week finished with a bang, literally. Last night I went to see My Chemical Romance in concert and they put on quite a show. A good honest band, with 4 guys dressed in black and thumping 0ut good guitar led thumping anthems, the young crowd entered into the spirit with some great slam dancing and crowd surfing down in the Mosh Pit. The stage show was a mix of a good old light show and a great display of....fire! It seemed like they had 10 burners from hot air balloons which, at suitable times, fired up in spectacular style. You could feel the heat instantly. The show ended with the biggest "bang" from some explosives that really rocked the house. My Chemical Romance delivered, continuing to enhance their reputation as one of the best bands of recent times.

One postscript to the concert was a reflection on the times we live in. Much of what went on at the gig could have happened any time from the 70's onwards. However, one thing has changed. When years ago we held up and waved lighters, today the illumination of choice is the mobile phone screen. My phone, which also took the picture above, ran out of battery, having forgotten the golden rule of concert goers - charge the phone fully!

Now I look forward to Sunday, although with some sense of impending doom. Scott is holding a big party at his new apartment and Jamie is going as well. They have promised to try to get some sleep before coming sailing and they hope to have sobered up, but my expectations are not high!

The agony and the ecstacy......

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.