Race 6

Saturday 24th August

Today is the final race of the series, and we have an uphill battle ahead of us, as it looks like another day of light breezes, perhaps lighter than the last 2 races.

We are scheduled for an early start (10.20am from the eastern start point), so headed out from the marina at 9.15 am, hoping the wind would appear. We were followed out of the harbour by Next Light, a quick little boat in Cruising Division 2 who have been in the habit of playing the bagpipes on the foredeck on the way out to do battle.

Everyone motored anxiously, some more so than others, around to the start line to checkout the conditions. There was about a 4-5 knot breeze that was running out of puff. The start was postponed and we eventually got away at 11 am. It was one of our better starts, out into clear air quite early after the start. Fortunately today's race is a shorter one, just over 14nm.

We were on the wind for the first leg with about 5 knots of breeze. Everyone was making slow progress with a couple of the smaller boats doing best. Salacia did remarkably well in this light breeze, as unlike the previous days , we did not sail into absolute dead spots, and tactically we did well.

 Whilst we were on the windward leg, Wild Oats X1 powered past leading their race by quite a margin

Our first mark, Pentacost Island.

           The field was well spread out heading for the first mark, the line we chose worked well for us

Once we got on to a spinnaker run, still in only 5 knots we started pulling away from the field, with only Abracadabra and Broadsword keeping ahead. The breeze stayed in the 4-7 knot range for the bulk of the rest of the race, and steadily, we made ground. Abracadabra was too far ahead to catch, but we passed Broadsword in the Dent Passage, crossing the line second and gaining 4th place after handicap.

We sailed a great race today, and considering we are carrying full cruising gear and dacron sails, it was a great result.

When the finals series results were published, we were delighted to find we had finished 3rd, 1 point behind 1st and 2nd place getters.

Tonight is the presentation dinner, here are some pics of the successful skipper and jubilant crew.

                                                            Steve with the trophy

                                                      Ron, Cherie and Ben

                                                                     Steve, Di and Ross

                                                     Cherie, Ben and Carole

                                                                 Series Results

Race 5

Friday 23rd August

After a nice meal last night at the only Asian restaurant on the island, Coca Chu, we went to bed hoping for more favourable winds for our next race.

A quick look out over the balcony this morning dashed our hopes. There was very little wind and we expect it will be another day of frustrating sailing through variable winds.

We met at the marina at our usual time, only to discover it was dress up day for the boats that wished to participate in this event. Our neighbour at the marina, Holy Cow, were a standout. They decided to launch a new political party at race week, "The Cow Party", and did an outstanding job at promotion (Kevin and Tony would do well to study their no-nonsense approach).

                 Each boat on our leg had been targeted with advertising promoting the party

                                        The Cow Party launch is under way

          Then it is straight out campaigning with only a few weeks to go before the election

A number of other boats also had entertaining themes, but Holy Cow really did well on the costumes.

         Here is few others

This one had a marriage theme

Not sure what this one was about, but they were having a great time

There was also some Asylum seekers

And Ragtime, Steve's previous boat really dressed up for the occasion

Our race started at 11 am from the Eastern Start point well away from the dreaded Dent Passage. The breeze was around 5 knots, at best and continued between 5-6 knots and less for the first 1.5 hours of the race, very frustrating and not ideal for a big heavy boat. A bit like yesterday, there were periods where boars were parked with no wind, the rest of the field caught up, and then the breeze would come in and the race started again. The tide, as usual also proved a major challenge.

Once again we got caned on handicap, as did most of the bigger boats. We ended up 17th, and are now 8th overall for the series. Tomorrows forecast looks pretty soft, so it looks like another day of light winds which is hardly what we are looking for. Let's hope the forecast is wrong.

Race 4

Thursday 22nd August

Sadly, when we looked out off the balcony this morning, the strong breeze of yesterday was gone and it looks like we are back into another race in light winds. The wind did appear a little stronger than the earlier races.

We met up on Salacia at the usual time ( just after 9 am) to find out from Ross that we will be sailing a longer course today, 27.1 nm which will take us out of the Northern end of Dent passage, then heading to Pentacost Island before heading down the western coast of Lindeman Island, rounding a mark for a spinnaker run back to the finish opposite the yacht club.

Today the current in the passage is running against us at the start, and we are starting in the 6th start , behind the slower divisions. We got off to quite a good start with spinnakers up early and, not surprisingly, we quickly caught the earlier fleets in a huge jam up at the exit of the passage. We did a remarkable job of weaving our way through the mess without drama, but heard a lot of strong language around us from others not doing as well. Nevertheless, it cost us time.

Finally out into some clear air we started picking up ground and steered a good course to Pentacost Island, with a brief run with the shy spinnaker, before we hit a dead spot near the island. All of a sudden the fleet came to a halt and there was lots of tacking and seeking out the best position to maximise the current and fluky breeze.

                                                                       Where is the wind ?

Once the island was clear , there was a brief period where things were moving again, but at the next mark, it looked like a parking lot. We all struggled through this section and finally, we were back on the wind and making our way to the last mark, before turning to run home. It was not looking to be a good day for the high handicapped boats, with the race taking around 4 hours to complete.

The handicap winner overall was Sir Thomas Sopwith, a lovely old restored ketch which crossed the line last on time, but had a handicap ideal for todays conditions. Salacia finished 18th on handicap, Condor 19th, Eureka 11 20th and Hammer of QLD 21st. Whitebirds put in great performance blitzing the field with line honours, but it was only worth a 15th place on handicap.

We are now 3rd in the series, after a count back. There are 3 of us on 35 points.

It was probably not our best days sailing but I am sure we will improve in the last 2 races. It wasn't through lack effort, trying anything and everything to try and deal with very frustrating conditions. At least we got better at tacking.

Lay Day

Wednesday 21st August

There is no racing today, providing an opportunity for people to have a good look around the island, relax, restock provisions (mostly liquid) or attend one of the many organised lunches or events that are planned.

We decide to relax and have a bit of a look around the island. We set out on foot, initially heading to the Resort Centre on Catseye Beach, to see what is happening there. They have a pool party organised with a Mexican Theme, so we may come back there for lunch, if we don't find anything more compelling on the marina side of the island.

Resort Pool being set up for the pool party

Catseye Beach

We continued walking over the hill to the marina and down Front Street toward the yacht club. The wind is a lot stronger on this side of the island, and we see quite a few yachts heading off in the direction of Whitehaven Beach for the day, probably taking the shore crew for a day out.

Along Front street it was reasonably quiet and we ended up at the Yacht Club at the far end of the street and watched a few more boats go out, before heading back. We ran into Steve and Cherie who had bought the dinghy over from their apartment to stock up on refreshments, so gave them and hand before going back over the hill to check out the pool party. We ended up trying the Mexican Food around the pool, but at this stage (about 12.30pm) it was pretty quiet, I suppose it will get going a bit later in the day. The food was OK.

                                        We are obviously not the only ones replenishing supplies

             It is pretty quiet at the pool party ( Coca Chu Thai Restaurant in the background)

After lunch, and a bit of a wander around the resort, we went back to our apartment and sat back and relaxed, never getting sick of the spectacular view.As the day progressed, we started seeing boats returning from Whitehaven, we estimated about 20 went past in total.

Tonight Steve has organised a BBQ at his apartment. We left for the apartment at 5.30pm and the pool party down the road is now in full swing, with a few of the inflatable white swans from the pool seen travelling the island on the top of golf buggies. An early night is planned, so we arrived around their at just after 6pm, had a most enjoyable evening, and were back home at a reasonable hour.

Race 3

Tuesday, 20th August

When we looked out our window this morning there was a nice breeze off Catseye beach, so we headed around to the marina hopeful of a good days sailing.

By the time we were due to start (11 am), the wind was weakening, but the committee continued with their plan and started our race. We found ourselves with no wind and a strong favourable current running up the Dent Passage. Some boats were travelling sideways, whilst a few got out of the channel and seemed to be getting a bit of wind. The start of the next race ( Cruising division 2) was postponed, and when it was clear the boats in our race were going nowhere, the race was abandoned for a restart, waiting for a SE change came through. We were happy the race had been called off because we had a poor start, as did a number of the bigger boats. It was a potentially dangerous situation as the current was sweeping boats towards a reef at the Northern end of the passage.

We restarted at 12.15 pm in a light SE breeze, but at least we had a breeze and a revised course, similar to yesterday.  This time we had a good start, and were not far away from our main rivals, Condor, Hammer, Whitebirds (previously Bobsled) and Eureka 11. The spinnaker was up as soon as we cleared the Dent Passage, and held our ground with the above boats and started to pull away from the fleet. A Dehler 41 "Solutions" had a great start and took a bit of running down, but we passed him before the first mark.

                                          We quickly left the bulk of the field behind

                                                         Whitebirds is making a cracking pace

                                          Solutions is ahead of us after the start

And soon after, they were behind us

After the spinnaker leg, (rounding white rock) we were back on the wind all of the way home, around Denman Island and back to the finish line in the Dent Passage, opposite the yacht club.

We continued to do battle with the big boats listed above, and no-one else was anywhere near us through the return leg as they got left further behind.

As we came into Dent Passage we saw a boat that had run aground on the reef at the Northern end of the passage. As mentioned earlier, it was a real risk in the starts where there was little wind and strong currents.

We finished at 3.04 pm just behind the bigger boats, and had to find somewhere to park for a few hours as it was close to low tide and there was insufficient depth for any of us to get in the marina.

                                    Hamilton Island Yacht Club from the finish line

Sailing condition today were very pleasant with 9-14 knot winds and very little swell. We only had 1 whale sighting.

We ended up coming 4th on handicap (which is ever increasing), and now lead the Cruising Division 1 after 3 races.

Race 2

Monday 19th August

As we headed off to the marina this morning there appeared to be marginally more breeze, although the forecast is still for light winds.

The start is only postponed by around 15 minutes as the wind fills a little, and our course today takes us in the direction of the Molle group of Islands, leaving Pine Island, White Rock and Denman Island to starboard leaving a spinnaker run home to the Dent passage. The start and finishing lines were just off the Hamilton Island Yacht Club .

We have been given a very tough handicap of 1.1, so it is going to be hard work to do any good.

By the time we started, 11.15am, there was a 2 knot current running North through the passage, and the challenge was to dodge all of the other boats in a very crowded Dent Passage, and make sure the tidal current didn't sweep you over the line early.

We had a conservative start, but started to catch up ground quickly as we got into clear air. The vrew was a bit more slick today and errors diminished, but there is still room for improvement, but things were starting to fall into place and we worked our way through the field. The breeze built to 9-14 knots and we were up over 9 knots on quite a few occasions.

We had a bit of a tacking battle with a Hanse 540e, One O Nine, but surged past them once we had a clear run. There was the usual whale sighting off Pine Island, but everyone was intent on the sailing.

Ross trimming the Spinnaker

The finish was a bit like the start with lots of boats crowding into the very narrow Dent passage, with the wind falling dramatically as everyone entered the passage with the wind dead behind us.

We ended up finishing 4th today on handicap, a much better result. One O Nine , who we had left a long way behind, ended up winning on handicap. We are now equal 2nd in our division after 2 races, so the crew is inspired to do better again tomorrow where we expect a bit stronger breeze, which should suit Salacia.

After the finish we had to motor around outside the harbour entrance for an hour, until there was enough water for us to get in. A few of the big boats went in early and were either sitting on the bottom or turned around and came back out.

Overall, it was a great days sailing and Salacia did very well. We were down to a crew of 7 so the girls had to pitch in and did very well. The sailing conditions up here are hard to beat, with spectacular scenery and the odd whale sighting on relatively flat water.

Race 1

Sunday 18th August

Today is our first race, scheduled to start at 10.45 am, the proposed course will take us around the Molle Group of Islands with the start and finish line in Dent Passage, between Hamilton Island and Dent Island. As we head off towards the marina on the shuttle bus at 8.30am, things are not looking encouraging. There is virtually no breeze.

Everyone is sitting around on their boats at the marina, waiting to see what the race committee will do, and at around 9.30am, the flag went up signalling a delayed start. By around 11.30 am, everyone is getting a bit agitated and decide to head out of the harbour and wait for directions outside.

Finally we get notice that the first start will be at 12.50pm, and the course has been altered to take us south down towards Lindeman Island, dodging a few islands and rocks along the way, before heading back into the Dent Passage from the South. Cruising Division 1 starts at 1.10pm. Also the start has been moved around to the NE part of the Island, just east of Catseye Beach. The breeze is still light, but at least something is happening.

                        Boats rushing around to Catseye Beach once a start is finally announced

                                 Our apartment is in the building behind this yachts mast

With little breeze and general chaos prevailing  the start was a shambles, and we got off to a poor start, (avoiding being T boned was more  important that a great start with a hole in the hull), but made up ground once we got into clear air. The breeze remained light (around 6-7 knots) and once we got going, we held our ground well.

All was going well until we had a bit of a mishap setting the spinnaker, and lost a few places whilst we sorted it out. Once the kite filled we made up a lot of lost ground. We set our course to put us in good shape to round the last island (Sidney Island) and head home, but what we didn't realise was the course had been shortened, and we found ourselves in lighter air as we approached the finish line. Others who were aware of the change had stayed well below us, seemingly sailing away from the mark and enjoying much better boat speed. 

At the finish line, there was no breeze and the water was like glass. All boats came to a halt and relied on the tidal flow to get across the line. The end result was we came 9th out of a field of 21. I am sure we will do better tomorrow as everyone becomes more familiar with the boat. Overall we were pretty happy with the result.

                              As we motored home, the skipper looked pretty relaxed

                                             The crew was also pretty relaxed

                     As was our youngest crew member, Lucy, Steve's granddaughter

THe bulk of the fleet was still behind us and it was a spectacular sight seeing all of the under spinnaker

As we motored home we saw a pod of  3 whales seemingly unaware of all of the activity nearby.

By just after 4 pm, we were back at our berth at the marina, with just enough depth to get in comfortably.

It is Carole's birthday today, so we decline the generous invitation to join the crew back at their apartment for dinner, and book in to the Beach Club Restaurant near our apartment. It was an excellent meal, and with very full stomachs, we decided to have an early night to make sure we are at our best for tomorrow's race. We also hope we got a decent handicap, as the first day's race forms the basis for handicapping for the rest of the week.