It has been a few busy days since the last race at Greenwich. On Thursday I was preoccupied connecting the NBN HCF connection and on Friday preparing Passion X for a quick exit to Pittwater on Saturday. The weather was perfect for a very tight beat up and a broad reach home. The beat was perhaps just 2 degrees tighter than I would have liked and the speed difference was noticeable but I was too lazy to bear away and have to tack back out to sea.
Elaine enjoying the cruising on Passion x
A very quiet Refuge Bay on the weekend before Christmas
At Refuge Bay the boom tent awnings provided excellent protection from the sun and Passion X was more comfortable than Passion by a long way. On the run home we did miss the Bimini but made up for it with long pants, long sleeved shirt, wide brimmed hat and plenty of sunscreen.
I was disappointed with last weeks race at Greenwich. It was almost a retrial of a race earlier in the season where I said I would like a resail with the No 4 jib instead of the No 3. Well it was better on the work to Goat Island and on the run back to Cockatoo and we were still in contact at the West end of Cockatoo island until we became becalmed in too close to the lee of the island. The small jib and reefed main need plenty of wind to keep the boat moving and we had none of that.
The second windward work was also very gusty but with a lot of holes and in the holes we suffered probably more than most and the gains in the gusts were not material. The final disappointment was to see Soundtrack pull out the reef in the main and with a much larger genoa just power away from us on the work home from Cockatoo Island.
Well done to the crew on Flashback who set a very conservative rig for the first windward work and held on for a good win. We expect Much Ado 5 to do well and they did come second with a heavy air loving Lisdillon beating us by 4 minutes over the line and 7 minutes on handicap.