The 8am thunderstorm scared almost everyone away from the bay but by lunchtime there was a steady 10kt NW breeze and glipses of sunshine. Terry "million dollar man" Ellis with his brand new knee took the reigns of the Ghetto Sled and Ben got out of bed on the right side after a heavy night of drinking and debauchery. A dissappointing turnout for the days races. Skinny made the call to take his RL24 "Sportz" for a gin cruise rather than pull his harness on. Rumour has it he pulled the pin on that and ended up being dragged through the shops in trendy "the valley" looking at blouses. B-Mad forgot about his formal (who holds a formal in skiff season) and had to pull out at the last minute. John and Spiesy got scared by the rain and another defeat at the hands of a skinny boat.
Down at the club, the only 18 to show up was considering abandoning and then gave in after realising the "junior" fleet were heading out. After a 30min kite ride to the start on the other side of the bay, we got underway, big rigs trying hard to get both crew on trapeze. About halfway up the long first work, the breeze battle began. The forecast SW breeze filled on the left side of the course and the NW was on the right. We were in the middle. Terry learnt that balancing a skinny 12 with big rig and no wind is quite a challenge and his knee felt the strain after a few "dives" across the boat. We got to the NW breeze eventually after trading the lead with the Squid for a couple of Nm. They snuck around the mark first and head East. We got to the mark courtesy of the SW breeze (yes it was swinging that much) and headed South. Then the breeze died again.... and came in from the EAST..!!!! The only place it hadn't come from all day. And the only place it wasn't forecast to come from.
Therefore the Squid walked away with the win and the Bert Squid remains in the fleshy tentacles of its previous title holders. The 10-12kt Easterly gave up on the way home and we de-rigged in calm. CrewBen must have felt sorry for taking such a solid, hardfought victory so bought rums for everyone. Much appreciated.
Next week the wind shall blow and the battle for supremacy of Waterloo Bay will continue.
Richard
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