We set a new low benchmark for fastest times and handicap performance on Wednesday night and the only one to blame is the skipper for going low on the reach into Humbug on the way home. Many times this has worked very well and we have been able to lift up the Onions Point shore staying out of the tide. To make that side more appealing was the sight of yachts up in Humbug lifting on Port tack away from the Onions Point shore. In practice all we had was very light breeze swinging widely from tack to tack. It has taken me a day to realise that this was eddies of breeze rolling along the shore and not an oscillating sea breeze.
Today I took the opportunity to review the tracks from Wednesday night. The tacking angles going up to Goat Island were better than I had remembered and the ones going back into Humbug in the light and flukey conditions were nowhere near as bad as I had recollected so why did we set a new low benchmark?
For the evening we set our No 1 heavy genoa which seemed to be working very well for us while the breeze was fresh. We made a timely start and were on the tail of Jackpot going into Humbug with Joli reaching up from below looking for room around the new Onions Point clearance mark. In Humbug we died, the sails hung limp and could not decide which side of the yacht to hang. Embarrasingly Dump Truck again passed to windward with their sails drawing nicely in a light zephyr while ours were hanging like washing from the clothes line. When that little zephyr reached us Dump Truck was well gone and Lisdillon had progressed well along the Onions Point shore. Next it was Much Ado V turn to run over the top in still very light conditions but stronger breeze did come and we arrived at Cockatoo Island closely following the above mentioned yachts. Around Cockatoo we did pick up a shift to windward and made up some valuable distance on Joli, Much Ado V and Lisdillon so that by the moored yachts off Greenwich baths we were still on contact with Much Ado V and now ahead of Joli.
Around Goat Island the leading yachts, Jackpot, Dump Truck, Much Ado V and Lisdillon seemed to jump out from Passion X and Joli and also make their way back around Long Nose Point before the great doldrums set in. We sat there for a very long time while the Nor’easter battled with the southerly. During this phase the tail or the fleet arrived with fresher southerly breeze and carried momentum up past Passion X while Joli a few metres to windward got the next Nor’easter puff to pull away. We managed the run, reach, run, conditions back along the Balmain shore reasonably well to be in a close bunch of Sweet Chariot, Fireball and Joli around Cockatoo Island when I made the fatal decision to go low for speed and try to break through the lee of this group. It did not work as the pressure always seemed to be to windward and we were too close to the shore to be able to pull away in the knocks.
Looking back over the race we tacked well with the lifts and knocks when there was breeze and out tacking times were all very sharp. Where we seemed to fall down was in responding to the lulls too slowly and that is one area we will have to work on.
Another race and Dump Truck goes by again with sails drawing nicely. Note Passion X’s main hanging limply.
Passion X heeling in a nice patch of breeze.
Good angles tacking to Goat Island
Reasonable angles against the tide going back into Humbug