Passion X with the fat head main and the fractional code 0 flying
After a short delay the fifth race of the combined West Harbour Winter Series started in a freshening 6 knots of wind. Despite our best intention to get to the windward end of the line to have first go at the freshening wind we were stuck head to wind on the line in no breeze at the leeward end. To add insult to injury the wind headed as we worked up the Hunters Hill shore making life quite difficult. The work up the narrow waterway around Schnapper and Spectacle Islands was difficult with the large overlapping genoa so by the time we reached away along the Balmain shore we were playing catch up. The deficit was pretty apparent as we worked up to the Goat Island mark watching the leaders reach back up in good breeze.
From the Goat mark we carried the code 0 down the broad reach and along the shore all the way back to the islands. This tight reach made up some ground and the work up the islands was achieved in one board while yacht ahead had to two tack the work. Back down the Balmain shore the code 0 was again working a treat but not on the occasions the breeze was free enough for the surrounding yachts to fly their asymmetric spinnakers. Along this leg Another Planet loomed up to leeward and passed us until the breeze headed and we were able to keep the code 0 flying when they had to douse the spinnaker.
Again the work to the Goat mark had breeze in our favour so we made it in one board. On the broad reach back to Manns mark Another Planet caught us again but once on the tight reach back around Cockatoo we picked up speed and started to haul in the fleet ahead. We pay a very large penalty for the code 0 as it measures as a headsail so on the few occasions it can be flown when asymmetric spinnakers cannot we do well. This one leg let us pull away from Another Planet by three minutes and it appears we made up this time on the fleet ahead.
At the finish we managed a third on handicap courtesy of our good handicap from previous performances. We are only occasional users of spinnakers and so do not fare as well in spinnaker racing as in the no extras event. Anyway we are getting more practice and today it was good enough to get a third.