Tonight was one of the more tricky twilight races with some pretty big holes in the breeze and some large changes of direction.
We were early on the start line and had to slow down to stay behind the line while Worlds Apart came in below at great speed, tacked onto Port right in front of us and cleared our bow with ease. We tacked in their wake and followed them into Humbug. Aggrovation was first into Humbug and sailed low along the Woolwich shore. We got a squirt from behind and went above the fleet only to run into our own dead patch just as the fleet below picked up the new breeze around Greenwich Point.
On the reach to Cockatoo Island no one could match the speed of Aggrovation and we were sailing along in Worlds Apart’s wake. Along the Cockatoo shore we got our one lucky break of the evening with another private gust from behind in close to the island. A few yards to leeward Worlds Apart was in dead calm with Tartan and Izzi while ahead Aggrovation had her own good breeze. Tartan emerged first from the group and tried to sneak inside us at the west end of Cockatoo Island but we kept them out and went off after Aggrovation.
On the work to Goat Island we stayed in phase with the breeze and were not troubled by the following fleet but Aggrovation built up an even bigger lead.
Worlds Apart and Izzi followed us out of the lee of Goat Island and we had a very nervous run back to Humbug. Our line back to Humbug was a little oversquare with the breeze so we gybed the boom leaving the genoa poled out to starboard and sailed a slightly higher angle for a while then gybed back with the genoa still poled out but this time to windward. This allowed us to sail a slightly higher line into Humbug and enabled us to just hold out Worlds Apart.
Into Humbug we sailed square to the Woolwich shore then dropped the pole off the genoa and hardened up along the shore. It was pretty crowded at Onion Point with Black and Green fleet yachts converging but somehow we managed to keep Worlds Apart just behind us at the finish.
The third second place on fastest time has us in the lead on fastest times but perhaps we have used up all our luck for the season in the first three races.