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.
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.
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