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Highlights:
Just finishing without breakage
Downers:
Lack of crew, especially Bob. All because he's writing a thesis. Not being able to fly the bitch as a result, especially when the conditions were so perfect for it
Result:
2nd on PYR and 5th on PER.
Lessons Learnt:
Reef before a race in conditions of 20+ knots when you don't have enough large, fat crew on the weather rail.
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Autumn Series Race 5. Friday 25th November
Wind 18-23 knots, North Westerly.
Bob has wimped out of racing today at short notice as he hasn't managed to finish a tiny little 15,000 word thesis. Andy's off in the Big Apple or somewhere, being a high-powered executive, and Freddy (our Reservist) is sailing his own boat, so it's down to Hamish and I to race. We've invited Hussain (a 'boating newbie') and Neil (a novice who's been out twice before) as 'ballast' - so we can't fly the spinnaker. And in this wind it would be downright dangerous given our lack of experienced crew.
So, following the 9am briefing and our signing-on declaration of no-spinnaker, we head out for a 10:45 start on the Pumphouse to West Pole transit. It's a long inshore today and the wind is certainly stronger than forecast. Rigging the boat takes a while, but eventually we get settled and start hardening up, checking the angle of heel, wind direction etc before the start. We start quite reasonably, but find the wind is gusting and overpowering us (dammit - should have reefed) on the first leg up to East Bouy. Rapscallion beats us to the mark and we're edged out as we don't have overlap, so we round behind them and set off on a downwind to Earth Station. It's a good wind but Rapscallion sets her spinnaker and draws away. We've just noticed that Trifler (trimaran) is way in the distance, trouncing us and the 'Rapper' . We gybe and head off to South Pole, trying to run reaching angles to maintain boat speed, which we manage quite well, although the seas are picking up now and we start surfing down the swells.
Around South Pole, onto a beat, still behind Rapscallion, things are not looking so good. Firstly, we don't like being behind. Secondly we are hammering into the waves which are stopping us dead. Thirdly we're lee-rail under at times right up to the cabin sides. So I try to pinch, scalloping our way upwind between the waves, letting Jackal carve and round-up her way upwind. The wind has increased to around 25 knots easily. We tack over to the left side of the course to try and find flatter water and find that we have taken a huge chunk out of Rapscallion's lead - so much so that we're well up on her at the weather mark. Not bad.
Turning for a run down to South Pole again we try sailing angles again, cursing the lack of crew and wishing we had our spinnaker. This leg would have been ideal, a perfect 'bitch run' - long way, great wind angle - we would have been absolutely flying at artound 18 knots or so... But we havn't got any crew, although Neil and Hussain are having a great time.
Hamish, on the other hand, isn't. The swells, combined with his eager and copious consumption of wine, whisky, Drambue and Baileys at last night's Caledonian Society Dance cause a virtually non-stop attack of seasickness. The poor lad starts chucking all over the place and this continues when we round South Pole and head back on our second beat - even during tacking manoevres. But he valiantly keeps working the boat, only rushing to the lee, wallowing around in the lee-rail-under part of the boat with head down once we've completed the tacks.
Rapscallion made up on us again downwind, but again we take a huge chunk back on the beat, lead again and turning, scream off downwind on a tight reaching angle to Earth Station and gybe our way down to South Pole for the last time before the final beat to the finish transit. This beat is very much more lumpy than the last. The wind is still right up and the tide against wind is kicking up nasty water. We don't see much of the lee-rail and it's hard to keep sail shape as I've dropped the traveller and our slot is all confused. But we struggle on while Hamish continues to enjoy a rather garish green complexion.
Neil discovers he has a weak bladder and asks if we can stop so he can take a leak. I point out that on a real boat if he was caught short while hiking out on the weather rail he'd have to relieve himself where he was, but I relent and let him scramble to the stern.
We finish at 14:35:10, relieved that nothing has broken and, thankful to see the lee rail again drop the sails and motor back to the quiet of the Marina. What a splashy day!
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