Report and Results for Autumn Race 7, 14 June 2020
/Skippers, Crews, Club members and Supporters
It was another lovely Winter’s afternoon and a good breeze for the second-last race of our 2019-20 season. BPYC’s race coincided with the first race of CYCA’s Winter Series which had about 107 yachts across nine divisions plus eight Sydney 38s. They were no doubt intimidated when they realised they’d be sharing the Harbour with four boats in the BPYC racing fleet, and pleased they weren’t racing against us
It was great to see so many boats out again, enjoying our wonderful sport.
The predicted Westerly arrived which allowed Course 1 (Rocky Point). BPYC hadn’t sailed this course for some time, so it was a good opportunity for navigators and crew to re-acquaint themselves with the location of the Rocky Point and Cannae Point marks.
As usual, Megisti was the first boat away with only one task: to keep all other competitors behind her. The others' handicaps had shortened by two to three minutes since Race 6, so it was going to be a harder task this time. Conquista was next to start, followed by Martela ahead of Blue Sky by one minute. Blue Sky decided it was time to add more sail power in order to overtake its friendly rival and so broke out the Code 0. It set well but still wasn’t sufficient to catch Martela which carried a symmetric spinnaker from broad to shy between Bradleys SWM and Middle Head. This allowed her to keep building on the one-minute lead.
After rounding the Rocky Point mark, Conquista tried her spinnaker to take advantage of the fresh Westerly, but after some trouble with setting, decided to abandon it before leaving Middle Harbour. At this stage, Megisti was still in the lead.
After rounding the Cannae Point mark, Megisti opted for the Eastern Channel whereas Conquista chose the Western Channel. This seemed to make a difference, because the latter had passed the former by the time they’d reached Steele Point. Meanwhile, Blue Sky was still unable to catch Martela, and indeed, unable to see any of the other competitors in front of them, scattered as they were amongst the CYCA fleet. Was Blue Sky destined to come last?
The picture wasn’t clear until about half-way between Shark and Clark Islands on the way to the finish. Conquista was well ahead, Martela not that far behind her, but Megisti was further North so there was a chance for Blue Sky to avoid last place. And that is how it finished.
Congratulations Conquista on a race well sailed!
Chris Winston
Commodore Blues Point Yacht Club
