Race 2 Spring Series 2017 - Report and Results
/The second race of our new Spring season was another great sailing day. The forecast Southerly over 25 knots never really appeared but there was plenty of wind to get 7 boats competing strongly over the Manly course. For me, as crew on One Mo' Time, there were a few standout moments. Firstly, we found Megisti and Crooz having a close battle near the Gowland Bombora, so we sailed between them to follow Crooz round the Manly West mark before a gybe to put us in front at the Manly East mark. Then a close reach down to the Eastern Channel mark with Crooz in close and tactical pursuit all the way to the Shark Island mark. And finally and unexpectedly, we then found Breva and Celete battling it out for first place between Shark and Clark Islands, with the latter ultimately beaten into third by One Mo' Time near the finish. Martela was also out there somewhere, but clearly we were having too much fun with others.
But what happened to Blue Sky? We knew she started, and this fast boat is usually among the early finishers. The post-mortem in the clubhouse (Blue's Point Hotel) revealed that Cap'n Carl had been unable to get crew, so decided he'd sail the race himself with just a headsail. Now that's admirable dedication - and a great way to avoid DNS points - and he received a warm round of applause for his efforts.
Our Starting boat, "Wherever", was NoWherever on the day, due to unfavourable conditions at its marina, but all competitors responded very well to a last-minute change to a radio-call starting procedure and took their own finishing times. Thanks to all.
In terms of results, Breva notched up yet another win, followed by One Mo' Time and Celete. These first three boats finished within three minutes of each other, and the first six boats finished within eight minutes of each other. This is great racing.
Congratulations to Breva on its hat trick. Prior to this race, Breva's Cap'n Paul suggested that the boat coming first should in future get a full handicap change, rather than a half change as has been the recent custom. This will be implemented for the next race (because I'm sure Cap'n Paul would be too embarrassed to win another race).
Winner of Race 2 - Breva