A view of The Red Hand which we saw for longer than usual.
After a couple of abandoned races in one week the wind returned in force on Wednesday and it was a pity that there was only three of the regular crew available for the day. The lure of warmer weather in Queensland and some serious Laser competition was too much for two crew and ailments kept three others off the water. Fortunately a Friday crew volunteered for double duty and made our total up to four for the RANSA race.
With a forecast of 20 knots rising to 25 late in the day we set sail with a reef in the main and the 110% jib. Strictly speaking if it is 110% it should probably be called a genoa but I will leave you to research that fine point of sailing terminology.
We started with the big boys and I do mean the big boys as we had Duende and Wild Thing in front and The Red Hand behind. We had discussed our tactics beforehand and had intended to let all the big boys zoom past to give us clear air but they would not go away. For a long time we held our own and had to change course to avoid Wild Thing’s stern ten minutes up the track. What kept us up with the faster yachts was a better path through the gusts including pulling the jib out to windward and sailing a little over square Laser style in the gusts to keep us in the wind.
Eventually when we were all on port gybe they pulled away so we could concentrate on staying in front of Blue Chip and Marloo.
We were a bit pleased with ourselves to manage to round the Cannai Point mark ahead of Blue Chip despite the reef in the main. With a full crew we might have left the reef until the downwind mark and had a bigger gap.
On the upwind leg the two genoa trimmers manned the windward rail and we set out to keep up with Blue Chip. For a short time we appeared to be be losing less ground than usual and it seemed Marloo was taking longer to catch us. I was feathering into the big gusts and the top of the main was reversing giving us noticeable righting moment but we did lay over in the gusts more than I can recall on any other occasion.
At the finish I timed Marloo across the line and thought we had a chance of beating her but a late knock and a line angled downwind from the finish boat meant a longer work to the line and a late tack to clear the pin.
With that I thought we might have been last on handicap but was pleased to find that only Blue Chip and Marloo had beaten us and we pulled back one point on the massive lead Duende has in the series.
A big thanks to the crew for one of the most exciting days on the Harbour this season.
Today the new boom was at Joe Walsh Rigging and I have unwrapped it and already cut the partial sleeve that will go inside the boom at the block hanger position. The partial sleeves fit nicely and should do the job along with the larger section higher moments. The photos show the first partial sleeve sitting inside the boom section from which it was cut. Subsequently the second partial sleeve was cut from the balance of the section leaving just the bottom track and top of the section as waste.
The partial sleeve sitting inside the remainder of the section from which it was cut.
Another view of the partial sleeve sitting inside the section from which it was cut.