BPYC Results and Race Report - 1st Sue Heyder Christmas Race & Lunch - 8 December 2018
/But it ain't me, babe
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe.
Bob Dylan, June 9 1964
Sure, the BPYC fleet is not familiar with sharing the start line - they only do it 3 times a year; today and at the Don Deller races in Pittwater.
Despite that, I really wasn't ready for the certainty of conviction when I got back from the finish line to the picnic. Every boat's crew was absolutely sure that every other boat was over the line at the start. Best idea; have another Cider (thanks, Kate) and tune them out - sort of like a handicap discussion for me, in fact.
Main offender seemed to be (Start) One Mo' Time. But I wasn't there so I couldn't possibly comment, Your Honour.
You know, that when I wander off to the finish line, I find that our favourite Pub is conveniently half way there. Luckily I only had a Midi this time or I would have missed the big blue boats powering up to the line. It was a seriously quick race this time but I was all set to record the times.Then lo, what is Crooz doing arriving way ahead of schedule and out of sequence? Not at all in the right order. But later I learnt that they had not one, but two Heyders on board. They were fully powered up and smoked the rest of the fleet by more than a minute on corrected time. Blue Sky and Celete completed the podium.
After the race we all gathered in Quibaree Park for our annual Christmas lunch. What with cruise boats setting down and picking up, 3 very public wedding proposal ceremonies (when did that idea start???), a Hen's party, and all the usual strutters and gambollers, Lavender Bay was going right off. Not to mention the view! AND the bloody brilliant new catering from The Brazilian BBQ guys. Hats Off to them!
Then it got interesting . . . .
Ross Heyder & his Daughter, Ingrid, made the great gesture of providing a trophy for this first commemoration of Sue's many years of hard work and generosity to our club. They travelled over from Perth for our event and everyone agreed that it was perfectly appropriate that this new trophy took the form of a WINE COOLER + bottle of Cloudy Bay.
So Crooz won the race with Ross and Ingrid on board. Which meant that Ross got to present the Cooler to himself and the rest of the Crooz Crew. Skipper Peter had the great idea to empty the Cloudy Bay into the trophy. Which meant the entire crowd could then drink the health of Sue. It was special, I tell you. You really had to be there.
It's a long day and you need to pace oneself, especially if you end up back at the Pub for the after party . . . . . . . And despite Alan going home with my phone (*&%$@#$//*&) I think that this event is way up there as one of my favourite days of the year - and this particular one was even better!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you on January 20 for Race 8.
Cheers, Paul Wilson