A gorgeous Sunday morning at the VSC. Marathon and triathlon weekend in Huskisson had left our sailors feeling very inspired to take on the building nor’easter, which we watched roll in across the bay until it hit us at a perfect 17kts.
A big thank you to Jamie Martin and Jake on the start boat, and to Lisa who jumped in to cook the BBQ when no one else could!
On the 16s, MB kept up with Mel’s training, and they were zooming around the course! Matt had Gracie on the front, and by all accounts, she was loving it. James took Elliot out for a joyride before returning to shore to pick up Steph, and the pair took on what they say was their best sail in 18 months. Steve & Angela elected not to race in favour of taking full advantage of the breeze to run around towards Moona Moona.
In the 14s, Andrew McKenzie was showing the rest of the fleet how it’s done. Dobbo was tacking here and there, and Bridget was tacking right with him to his windward, even getting in front of him in one race. MB did ask Fionnbarr if he and Bridget were tied with a string, because you could almost guarantee that where you found one, the other was also there. Fionnbarr’s tacks were getting better and better as the day went on, and his downwinds put the rest of the fleet to shame. Adrian and Doug were the most consistent of the day; we could learn from them!
Egbert & Helen, as always, were flying about, but potentially not making many friends when they stole all the breeze from Adrian every time they rounded the bottom mark. (In all fairness, they did share the love and everyone copped some dodgy breeze off them at some point!) The last race saw them absolutely flying downwind, and they did exceptionally well to save a nosedive across the finish line.
Adam and Lilly took on the challenge of taking out a Wave by themselves, and Rennie jumped on the helm with Ellie on the front of another Wave. We’ll see these budding sailors crushing the course in no time, the way they’re going!
Each race was reasonably consistent in terms of the breeze and chop – that is to say that we were properly punching through the swell on the upwinds, and riding the waves heading back down. Bridget was the only one who tested the water temperature after a slightly overenthusiastic bear-away.
And finally, we’d like to remind Rennie to always uncleat your jib when you leave the boat on the beach, and ideally you want the boat completely on the sand!!
Grom Squad
In the morning, while the breeze was still meandering over the bay, the groms paddled out a Wave to tip and play. Then, it was all hands to stations and the Dragoon was well worth its weight, as Joel, Violet, and River went three-up. The trio did three races and absolutely smashed it. Fionnbarr, as above, had one perfectly textbook start and some very quick downwinds. On the 16s, Elliot enjoyed a joyride, and Gracie had the jib well in control and mastered by the end of the day.
The VSC’s Twilight Wave GP starts this Friday – details will be in the Whatsapp. We hope to see you there, and if not, we’ll catch you next Sunday for another edition of the Round the Bay Rally!
