Race Report 27/11/2010 by Skinny plus Wolfie Photos

Word up players..!!!

What a sensational weekend..!! Brisbane certainly turned it up for us.. Absolutely perfect 2nd rig conditions..!! We even had 4 boats on the water..!!!
MAGIC..!!

I'll give a race report but it wasn't really a day for the racing... Unfortunately..

Race 1.. With 4 skiffs on the rigging lawn things were looking hot..!!! The breeze was in and there was little doubt in anyone's mind that it was going to be a glamour 2nd rig day... Due to a myriad of extra curricular activities, 2 of the 4 skiffs could only do the first race... Oh it was promising to be a tight one..!!! The Grove Team were rigged and ready to go when the other 12's were just arriving.. They were ready for a big one..!!!
We all threw in our 2nd rigs and headed out to join the party.. This was when things turned ugly... The start was a shambles... The start committee changed the sequence... The all boats were starting with the contenders.. FIRST..!! All 4 skiffs missed it as we've never been first off the line... PB were closest to the line when we realised we had started but we were still a few hundred meters behind the 29ers etc... We called out to the other skiffs but Challenge was miles away and couldn't hear us, and Squid was upside down fixing a backstay... Only Grove could hear us and they were a fair way behind too... It was catch up time..!! PB went left and Grove went right... Ooooo It was on like Donkey Kong..!! Right payed and the Grove team caught up a fair distance.. The race could be interesting..!! PB rounded the top mark behind the 29er but in front of Grove.. We set the new kite and whoompa.. Off we went..!! Grove had a slight issue with their set and lost a few boat lengths.. PB sent her deep but couldn't pick a lay line to save themselves and ended up well below the bottom mark... We had to drop the kite and 2 sail up to the mark... This cost us a little bit and we rounded with the 29er.. Grrrr... Unfortunately Grove also over layed the mark and also had to two sail... That was their chance to make up the gap... The second beat was solid from PB.. We just played a few shifts up the middle and it payed.. Grove went far right and I think we put some time in to them... Bravo for trying something... It's hard to catch up by following the leader... PB got line honours but unfortunately I think the 29er will have come home with the Club Championship points...
It was disappointing that we didn't get the dream race with all 4 twelves racked up on the start line and smoking away from the other boats.. But hey I guess that's racing and the one thing we have learnt from Saturday is to pay special attention to the start boat.. If your flag goes up, you're starting... It was just a bit disappointing they didn't let us know before hand that they were changing the start sequence... Never before have we started before the etchells..!!

Anyway..

Race 2... We were ready for the start of the second race... The two remaining skiffs were on the line and on time... The Squid boys were a bit further down the line than PB but hey... On the line on time is fast.. End of story... PB started well.. We found another gear and climbed up and over a 505... It was exhilarating..!! Squid was the next target.. We sailed above them and eventually they tacked off.. We tacked not long after and well.. We rolled them again... Sorry lads.. Sometimes it's important to lay the smack down... The two 12's were out in front... By a considerable margin by the top mark... Still pacing each other it was good racing..!! Up went our new kite and well.. That was that.. We had a little issue with out jib sheet going through the kite sheet block so Tristan took the silly stick while I dived down below to clean up his mess.. I came back out and everyone was happy... The Squid may have picked up a bit on us that downhill but not a lot... Again PB, aka me, picked a terrible lay line... This new kite pulls and hard and I guess that's no excuse so I'll quit my complaining.. I just sucked at picking the lay..
The 12's got around the bottom mark in 1, 2 with plenty of daylight between us and the rest of the fleet... The second lap was much the same as the first for PB... Consistency is a precious commodity in 12's sailing and if you've got it, you're always going to be hard to beat... Unfortunately the Squid boys got a bit hot and decided a jolly good tea bagging would cool them down... It did... Big Time..!! The boat dipped to windward and both boys got swept out the back... They were too far away to save it... Splash.. There was another soft splash tack in there somewhere too.. Luckily there was enough distance between 2nd and 3rd that they were still comfortably ahead of the rest of the fleet... PB picked a champion line coming in to the finish... We were sick of over laying it so we thought we'd go early and gybe through the finish... It was the perfect lay.. THANK GOD..!! We blasted through the finish to get the gun and the cheers from the start boat.. Woot woot..!! Squid came through in second..

All in all it was a perfect day to be sailing a 12... Comfortable sailing but still with a few great exciting kite rides...

One highlight was after the first race watching Terry and Wayne showing off for the spectators (and ex skiffies) at the Trailer Boat Club by smoking in to the harbour under kite... From where we were we could see a few good leaps in the shallow water... Looked pretty exciting Terry..!!

Thanks lads for another exceptional weekend of racing..


Regards

Skinnyman..!!